School storm protection is spotty in tornado zones
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- With its single-story design and cinder-block walls, Plaza Towers Elementary School may have seemed sturdy when it was built a couple of generations ago. But a powerful tornado revealed the building's lack of modern safety standards, destroying the school and killing seven students....

$2B in Okla. tornado damage means hard recovery
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- All that is left of Shayne Patterson's three-bedroom home is the tiny area where his wife hunkered down under a mattress to protect their three children when a tornado packing winds of at least 200 mph slammed through his neighborhood....

Birth control coverage up for federal appeal
DENVER (AP) -- In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill....

Nixon library hosts 40th reunion for Vietnam POWs
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) -- U.S. Navy Lt. Mike McGrath was just 27 years old, with a wife and two toddler sons in the U.S., when he was shot down and taken prisoner on his 179th bombing mission during the Vietnam War....

Jury in Jodi Arias trial resumes deliberations
PHOENIX (AP) -- Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial resume deliberations Thursday after they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying....

Youngest Okla. tornado victims remembered by kin
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- Nine-year-old Sydney Angle was "everywhere at once" when she was out on the softball field. Kyle Davis, 8, was nicknamed "The Wall" because of his size and presence on the soccer field. JaNae Hornsby, also 9, was the life of the party....

Man shot by FBI had spoken with bombing suspect
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A Chechen immigrant shot to death in central Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent had several ties to that of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who authorities were questioning him about at the time....

Nearly all US states see hefty drop in teen births
NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's record-low teen birth rate stems from robust declines in nearly every state, but most dramatically in several Mountain States and among Hispanics, according to a new government report....

Urban renewal? Big US cities showing strong growth
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Urban renewal? New census estimates show that most of the nation's largest cities further enhanced their allure last year, posting strong population growth for a second straight year....

Bronx 'ghetto' tours stop amid residents' outrage
NEW YORK (AP) -- A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City "ghetto" has stopped the bus rides under fire from an outraged neighborhood....