SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Twinkies are being sold on the Internet like exquisite delicacies. Hours after Twinkie-maker Hostess announced its plans to close its doors forever, people flocked to stores to fill their shopping baskets with boxes of the cream-filled sponge cakes and their sibling snacks - Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Zingers. Late Friday and Saturday, the opportunists took to eBay and Craigslist. They began marketing their hoard to whimsical collectors and junk-food lovers ...
NEW YORK (AP) - J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson seems unfazed that the department store chain's mounting losses and sales declines have led to growing criticism of his plan to change the way we shop. Perhaps that's because this isn't the first time during Johnson's 30-year career that he's attempted what seemed impossible.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - The demand of dozens of citizens has been denied in the Ecuadorean city of Guayaquil: There will be no jackass running for the legislature.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three low-rated new TV series are getting the ax. ABC is saying goodbye to freshman dramas "Last Resort" and "666 Park Avenue" after 13 episodes each. "Last Resort" stars Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman as officers of a U.S. nuclear sub targeted by the government. It airs at 8 p.m. EST Thursday. The other canceled ABC drama, "666 Park Avenue," is a supernatural tale set starring Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams. ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional leaders from both parties voiced fresh optimism Friday after meeting with newly re-elected President Barack Obama about avoiding year-end "fiscal cliff" tax increases and spending cuts that would hammer the middle class and risk plunging the economy into recession.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - A revolutionary Israeli rocket-defense system knocked down an incoming rocket fired by Gaza militants over the skies of this bustling metropolis on Saturday, eliciting cheers from relieved residents huddled in fear.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Four people were taken into custody during an intense overnight search following a shooting that wounded a sheriff's deputy in south Los Angeles.
DECLO, Idaho (AP) - A fourth-grade teacher in southern Idaho is being criticized after having her students use permanent markers to draw on the faces of classmates who failed to meet reading goals.
DENVER (AP) - A mediator handling the distribution of about $5.3 million in donations to victims of the Colorado theater shootings said Friday that disbursement amounts have been finalized.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A judge denied a request Friday from Central Valley farmers who sought to halt work on California's ambitious high-speed rail project, allowing work on the $68 billion project to continue at an aggressive pace.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A doctor's assistant in San Bernardino County has pleaded guilty to writing and selling prescriptions for addictive painkillers to people he did not examine.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a Southern California man was arrested at Oakland International Airport after security officers found materials they say could be used to make a bomb.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A lawyer for Bobby Brown has entered not guilty pleas to drunken driving and other charges faced by the R&B singer after his arrest last month in Los Angeles.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The terms of the competition are simple: Hunters in New Mexico have two days this weekend to shoot and kill as many coyotes as they can, and the winners get their choice of a free shotgun or a pair of semi-automatic rifles.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A judge has denied a request from Central Valley farmers to temporarily block California's ambitious high-speed rail project.
ROME (AP) - An influential Italian Catholic magazine is asking its readers if disgraced former Los Angeles archbishop Roger Mahony should participate in the upcoming election for a new pope.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migrating to North America weeks earlier than in decades past, and research indicates that higher temperatures in their winter habitat may be the reason.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers' playboy owner who shepherded the NBA franchise to 10 championships from the '80s Showtime dynasty to the Kobe Bryant era, died Monday, his assistant said.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Adults who've begun working toward their GED are being urged to finish up this year, before the test for a high school equivalency diploma changes and they have to start all over.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Police chiefs in New Hampshire wanted more money for their youth training program. A youth hockey team in North Dakota needed more ice time.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In mathematical terms, divide the circumference of the world by its diameter, and you have pi. In Hollywood terms, add a United Nations mix of ingredients and you have the blockbuster "Life of Pi."