Yahoo! News: U.S. News

Lawyer: Phone scheme meant to embarrass senator (AP)
Manslaughter defense ruled out in abortion slaying (AP)
Officials voice opposition to 9/11 trials in NYC (AP)
Parole recommended for Manson family member Davis (AP)
Edwards aide's book details trail of hush money (AP)
Fugitive Idaho developer captured in LA (AP)
AP Exclusive: States struggle to keep top teachers (AP)
Calif. Senate approves single-payer health care (AP)
No charge for Md. college student in sword slaying (AP)
Owners say AZ sweat lodge not to blame for deaths (AP)
Literary mystery: What's in J.D. Salinger's safe? (AP)
Brown says he can beat the president — at hoops (AP)
In NH town, Salinger's privacy is important to all (AP)
Voters say Obama's speech a call to lawmakers (AP)
Shiny gadget, icky name: iPad jokes fly on Web (AP)
Matthews' remark exposes complexity of 'transcending race' (AP)
NH teen gets 20 to 40 years in slaying of cashier (AP)
NASA to get more money, but must scratch moon plan (AP)
Michelle Obama makes obesity campaign personal (AP)
Beyonce? Taylor? Lady Gaga? The AP's Grammy Picks (AP)

Lawyer: Phone scheme meant to embarrass senator (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 05:11 PM PST

AP - Four conservative activists accused of trying to tamper with a senator's phones were just trying to record embarrassing undercover video of her staff ignoring phone calls from constituents angry that she supported health care reform, one of their attorneys said Thurday.

Manslaughter defense ruled out in abortion slaying (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 05:11 PM PST

AP - The judge in the trial of a man accused of murdering an abortion doctor dealt the defense a major setback Thursday, ruling that the jury cannot consider a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Officials voice opposition to 9/11 trials in NYC (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:53 PM PST

AP - Opposition to the government's plans to hold the Sept. 11 terrorist trial in New York City intensified Thursday, one day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed he had changed his mind and now hoped the trial would be held elsewhere.

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 05:32 PM PST

AP - Bruce Davis, a member of Charles Manson's murderous cult who participated in two killings, was recommended for parole Thursday after nearly four decades in prison.

Edwards aide's book details trail of hush money (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 03:57 PM PST

AP - Dealing with a pregnant mistress and a suspicious wife, John Edwards and a close aide agreed by the middle of 2007 to solicit funds from a wealthy widow who had promised to "do whatever it takes" to make him president, according to the former confidant's new book.

Fugitive Idaho developer captured in LA (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:07 PM PST

AP - A fugitive lawyer accused of stealing millions of dollars in an Idaho real estate development has been captured in Los Angeles after living for years in Mexico.

AP Exclusive: States struggle to keep top teachers (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 12:00 PM PST

AP - Most states are holding tight to policies that protect incompetent teachers and poor training programs, shortchanging educators and their students before new teachers even step into the classroom, according to a new national report card.

Calif. Senate approves single-payer health care (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 01:20 PM PST

AP - The California Senate approved creating a government-run health care system for the nation's most populous state on Thursday, ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

No charge for Md. college student in sword slaying (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:01 PM PST

AP - Prosecutors say a Johns Hopkins University student feared for his life when he used a samurai sword to kill an unarmed intruder and they have decided not to file any charges.

Owners say AZ sweat lodge not to blame for deaths (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 03:24 AM PST

AP - The owner of the Arizona retreat where a sweat lodge ceremony turned deadly said the man who led it was a perfectionist who controlled every detail of an event meant to push people beyond their physical limits.

Literary mystery: What's in J.D. Salinger's safe? (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:26 PM PST

AP - So what about the safe?

Brown says he can beat the president — at hoops (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 05:09 PM PST

AP - Barely a week after his knockout win in the Massachusetts Senate race, Scott Brown is boasting that he can beat President Barack Obama.

In NH town, Salinger's privacy is important to all (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:05 PM PST

AP - In the small New Hampshire town where recluse J.D. Salinger hid from the world, he lived in bucolic isolation in a hilltop home with commanding southerly views across the Connecticut River, Vermont's ski resorts visible in the distance.

Voters say Obama's speech a call to lawmakers (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 03:20 PM PST

AP - President Barack Obama's intense focus on jobs in his first State of the Union speech hit close to home for the millions of Americans who are in a bad mood over their financial distress a year into his term.

Shiny gadget, icky name: iPad jokes fly on Web (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 04:08 PM PST

AP - You have to wonder whether there were any women in the room when the marketing geniuses at Apple decided to call the company's new gadget the "iPad." Because the jokes about feminine hygiene products are flying.

Matthews' remark exposes complexity of 'transcending race' (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 02:09 PM PST

AP - Five little words â" "I forgot he was black" â" have exposed a contradiction in the idea of a post-racial nation.

NH teen gets 20 to 40 years in slaying of cashier (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 11:14 AM PST

AP - A New Hampshire teenager convicted in the killing of a disabled Wal-Mart cashier was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years in prison, capping the prosecutions of four young people who set out to avenge the victim's passes at a co-worker.

NASA to get more money, but must scratch moon plan (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 03:30 PM PST

AP - President Barack Obama is essentially grounding efforts to return astronauts to the moon and instead is sending NASA in new directions with roughly $6 billion more, according to officials familiar with the plans.

Michelle Obama makes obesity campaign personal (AP)

Posted: 28 Jan 2010 02:44 PM PST

AP - First lady Michelle Obama framed her national campaign against childhood obesity in intensely personal terms Thursday, relating that her own daughters were starting to get off-track before the family's pediatrician gave her a wake-up call and warned her to watch it.