ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A peanut butter plant shuttered by a widespread salmonella outbreak has been given the go ahead to start harvesting a bumper crop of prized eastern New Mexico Valencia peanuts next week under an agreement that ends a tense, monthslong standoff with federal regulators.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heavy rain, pounding waves and plenty of snow in the mountains were all in the forecast as Northern Californians braced for a weekend of wintry weather and potential delays in holiday travel.
BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - A magnitude-4.0 earthquake has hit the San Diego County desert but there are no reports of damage or injuries.
MAD ISLAND, Texas (AP) - Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour Christmastime count of birds along the Texas Gulf Coast. Yellow rail. Barn owl. Bittern. Crested Cara-Cara. Kostecke rattled off the names and scribbled them in his notebook.
CHICAGO (AP) - If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A $371 million overhaul of California's government payroll system is in chaos and in danger of collapsing, the state controller's office warned in a letter demanding fixes from the contractor.
For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control. Yet the guns blazed on. It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style assault rifle and 30-bullet magazines. Twenty young children and six adults ...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Officials at grocery chain Raley's say union workers have ratified a new labor contract.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal fight over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - To play a mother torn from her husband and sons by the 2004 tsunami, Naomi Watts sure wasn't going Method.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law that bans therapy aimed at turning gay minors straight.
MIAMI (AP) - The nation's largest gun-rights lobby called Friday for the placement of an armed police officer in every school, but parents and educators questioned how safe such a move would keep kids, whether it would be economically feasible and how it would alter student life. Their reactions ranged from supportive to disgusted.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Prison officials tossed convicted killer Todd Ashker into California's notorious Security Housing Unit 25 years ago after "validating" him as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang.
YREKA, Calif. (AP) - A section of Interstate 5 in far Northern California that was closed because of snow is open again - but only to drivers with snow chains on their tires.
EAST AURORA, N.Y. (AP) - Toy maker Fisher-Price said Wednesday it's moving or eliminating roughly 100 jobs from its operations in the state as part of restructuring by parent company Mattel Inc.
LAKELAND, Minn. (AP) - When high school student Zach Sobiech learned he didn't have much longer to live, his mother suggested he write letters to tell his loved ones goodbye. Instead, the Minnesota teenager turned to writing music - and his farewell song, "Clouds," became a YouTube sensation that has attracted more than 4 million views.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A volunteer searcher who broke his back while looking for a teenager who was lost in Orange County wilderness wants restitution if the teen is convicted on drug charges.
In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.
NEW YORK (AP) - In running for mayor, Anthony Weiner is seeking to get past the tawdry-tweeter punch line that has dogged him since his congressional career imploded two years ago. And while he's facing an uphill sprint, his campaign could help his long-term prospects even if he loses, some experts say.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A dam that threatened to give way and flood a North Dakota town was holding back the water on Wednesday, though the 1,300 residents of Cavalier were still being told to stay away from their homes.
PHOENIX (AP) - Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial told the judge Wednesday they are unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether the convicted murderer should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to send them back to the deliberation room to work through their differences.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Wendy Greuel is thanking supporters who tried to make her Los Angeles' first woman mayor.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Coroner's officials have identified a man found dead at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus after an apparent fall from a building.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A Republican has won a hotly contested state Senate contest in the southern San Joaquin Valley, with his top Democratic rival conceding Wednesday that the race will not go to a runoff.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Chechen immigrant was shot to death by authorities at his home early Wednesday while being questioned in the Boston Marathon bombing case, officials said.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma medical examiner's office says two infants are among 24 people killed by the tornado that ripped across the Oklahoma City area this week.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles voters have approved a proposition limiting the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - City Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated Controller Wendy Greuel to become next mayor of Los Angeles after a caustic campaign in which he depicted his fellow Democrat as a pawn of powerful labor bosses.
MOORE, Okla. (AP) - Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children.