stltoday.com

Safe room mandates remain rare in tornado states
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....

I-5 bridge collapse survivor: 'You hold on'
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when a bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."...

Swim coach sentenced to 7 years for sex abuse
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....

Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys
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....

Plastic ocean debris the target of new Calif. bill
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....

Distraught mom becomes face of Oklahoma storm
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- A massive tornado was carving its way through town. There was no time to hesitate. LaTisha Garcia had to get to her children....

Kid Rock, Rolling Stones on scalping, summer tours
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kid Rock is a scalper....

Hurricane center: Beware of the storm surge
MIAMI (AP) -- During a hurricane, the storm surge poses the greatest threat to life and land, yet many people don't even know what it means....

5.7-magnitude quake widely felt across N. Calif.
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- An earthquake in far northeastern California was felt by thousands of people as far away as San Francisco and in two other states, but there have been no reports of injury or serious damage....

Jury in Arias case gives up after no consensus
PHOENIX (AP) -- As jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial filed one by one from the courtroom after a dramatic five months of gut-wrenching testimony and gruesome photographs, three women on the panel cried and one looked to the victim's family, mouthing the word, "Sorry."...