Despite life-saving potential, many states and cities reluctant to mandate home storm shelters
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- After living nearly 20 years in their one-story brick home, Sherry and Larry Wells finally won the lottery - for a state rebate on a home storm shelter, that is. A contractor finished installing the concrete bunker beneath the slab of their garage in early May. About three weeks later, the shelter saved their lives when a tornado that killed 24 people tore through their neighborhood....

APNewsBreak: Canadian trucking co. says it had Wash. permit to cross I-5 bridge that collapsed
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- A truck hauling an oversized load of drilling equipment hit an overhead bridge girder on the major interstate between Seattle and Canada, sending a section of the span into a river below as the driver watched the structure collapse in his rearview mirror....

Ex-swimming coach banned from sport because of sex abuse sentenced to 7 years in prison
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A once-prominent swimming coach who trained thousands of children was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing one of the girls he instructed....

`The bull's-eye for awful tornadoes': Oklahoma gets an outsized share of natural disasters
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Many states get hit frequently with tornadoes and other natural catastrophes, but Oklahoma is Disaster Central....

Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys as Scouts, but controversy likely to persist
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over....

Jersey shore hopes for a record-setting summer after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey used a record-breaking gesture Friday to celebrate its recovery from a record-setting storm, proclaiming to the nation that the Jersey shore is back in business following Superstorm Sandy....

US: American suspect in Czech slayings stabbed, uncle, aunt, cousins before fleeing to US
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- An American man killed his uncle, aunt and cousins in the Czech Republic and then flew to the United States, where he was arrested at an airport, authorities said Friday....

Obama: Sexual assault threatens trust and discipline that makes US military strong
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- With a growing sexual assault epidemic staining the military, President Barack Obama urged U.S. Naval Academy graduates Friday to remember their honor depends on what they do when nobody is looking and said the crime has "no place in the greatest military on earth."...

Calif. bill would require product makers to help reduce plastic trash polluting the ocean
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- It's a common sight on the nation's beaches: among the sand, sea foam and gnarled kelp lay plastic bottles, bags and other garbage....

Authorities: Utah Army veteran charged with killing officer is found dead hanging in jail cell
OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- A Utah Army veteran charged with killing a police officer and wounding five others in a shootout during a marijuana raid was found Friday hanging dead in his cell, authorities said....