Archive By Section - Signal AP
Farm bill extension evidence of lost clout
WASHINGTON (AP) - A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger "fiscal cliff" bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to getting for their rural districts.
Sheriff: Calif. child reported missing was home
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Sheriff's officials say a Sacramento-area woman who reported her autistic son missing only to have deputies discover him in plain sight inside her messy apartment has been arrested on suspicion of child endangerment.
Calif. man sentenced for German tourist murder
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A South Los Angeles man who went on the run for a decade was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison Thursday for a botched robbery that killed a German tourist and shocked suburban Santa Monica.
Rare San Francisco river otter stumps researchers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A rapt crowd followed a trail of bubbles that zipped over the surface of a seaside pond in the ruins of a 19th century bath in San Francisco.
Calif. AG sues ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California Attorney General Kamala Harris is suing ConocoPhillips and its spinoff, Phillips 66, over underground tanks used to store gasoline at more than 500 gas stations in the state.
Lunch meat maker Hormel orders up Skippy sandwich
NEW YORK (AP) - Hormel Foods apparently has a hankering for a peanut butter and bacon sandwich. The company primarily known for Spam and other cured, smoked and deli meats said Thursday that it's buying Skippy, the country's No. 2 peanut butter brand, in its biggest-ever acquisition.
Baseball-size Martian rock recovered in the Sahara
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Scientists are abuzz about a rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara desert: A yearlong analysis revealed it's quite different from other Martian meteorites.
House re-elects Boehner speaker
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House and Senate ushered in a new Congress Thursday, re-electing embattled Republican John Boehner speaker and hailing one of its own senators who returned a year after being felled by a stroke.
New Congress sworn in
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House and Senate ushered in a new Congress Thursday, hewing to tradition and hailing one of its own who returned a year after being felled by a stroke.
Cat that spent a week in tree found
MARION, Mass. (AP) - A stray cat that spent at least a week stuck in a Massachusetts tree before plunging 80 feet to the ground and fleeing has been found, and all things considered, appears to be in good health.
Al-Jazeera buys Current TV from Al Gore
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach in the U.S. nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that cofounder Al Gore couldn't make relevant.
Rare Stephen King book for auction
ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) - A signed copy of a rare Stephen King book is up for auction at a Maine bookstore, with proceeds going to a nearby homeless shelter's emergency home heating fund.
Pa. governor sues NCAA over Penn State sanctions
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's governor, in a challenge to the NCAA's powers, claimed in a lawsuit Wednesday that college sports' governing body overstepped its authority and "piled on" when it penalized Penn State over the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.
Cliff deal is another pain-free punt
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress' hectic resolution of the "fiscal cliff" crisis is the latest in a long series of decisions by lawmakers and the White House to do less than promised - and to ask Americans for little sacrifice - in confronting the nation's burgeoning debt.
Google exec chairman to visit NKorea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.
Articles by Section - Signal AP
Brown defends education spending in L.A.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown is defending his proposal to shift some education spending to the state's neediest children.
Udall tells USFS to override air tanker protest
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado is urging the U.S. Forest Service to make sure a contract dispute doesn't ground large air tankers used to fight wildfires.
State jobless rate at 4 1/2-year low
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in 4 1/2 years as the state experienced one of the sharpest drops in joblessness nationwide, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.
Deal to sell Sacramento Kings signed
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced to screaming throngs of Kings fans Friday that the deal to sell the NBA franchise to a group led by software tycoon Vivek Ranadive has been signed.
Congress gets mixed advice on regulating drones
WASHINGTON (AP) - The growing use of unmanned surveillance "eyes in the sky" aircraft raises a thicket of privacy concerns, but Congress is getting mixed advice on what, if anything, to do about it.
'American Idol' finale draws record low ratings
NEW YORK (AP) - Ratings for the "American Idol" finale plunged to a record low for the 12-year-old show.
Alaska man runs onto frozen lake to avoid jail
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anchorage police say a young man who didn't want to return to jail ran out onto the uncertain ice of an Alaska lake to escape officers armed with an arrest warrant.
Arrests in New Orleans parade shootings cheered
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Days after a burst of gunfire brought a chaotic and bloody end to a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans, news of six arrests gave an organizer of the traditional event reason to celebrate again.
Obama picks budget official to run troubled IRS
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama picked a senior White House budget official to become the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, the same day another top official announced plans to leave the agency amid the controversy over agents targeting tea party groups.
Famed 'hatchet hitchhiker' arrested in NJ homicide
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) - A homeless, hatchet-wielding hitchhiker who became an Internet hero earlier this year was arrested Thursday for allegedly beating a New Jersey lawyer to death inside his home.
Afghans tell of US soldier's killing rampage
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Sitting on a dirty straw mat on the parched ground of southern Afghanistan, Masooma sank deeper inside a giant black shawl. Hidden from view, her words burst forth as she told her side of what happened to her family sometime before dawn on March 11, 2012.
Mom in NM chases down child abductor; man arrested
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A mother whose 4-year-old was being abducted chased the suspect down and crashed her vehicle into his car, triggering a manhunt and the arrest of the suspect, Albuquerque police said Thursday.
Report: Calif. short on key state water workers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California is losing key employees at the Department of Water Resources because it can't pay afford to pay them enough.
Justice Dept. faulted over terrorist identities
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government allowed "a small but significant number" of terrorists into America's witness protection program and then failed to provide the names of some of them for a watch list that's used to keep dangerous people off airline flights, the Justice Department's inspector general says.
Dying man's eye blinks lead to Ohio murder verdict
CINCINNATI (AP) - An Ohio man was found guilty Thursday of fatally shooting a man who authorities say identified his assailant by blinking his eyes while paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator.
