U.S. National News

First ships crawl down Mississippi after spill

In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard a 41-foot smallboat from Coast Guard Station New Orleans patrols a safety zone around the partially sunken barge Wednesday July 23, 2008 as industry officials prepare a salvage plan for the barge. Early Wednesday morning the motor vessel Tintomara and the tugboat Mel Oliver collided in the Mississippi River in New Orleans spilling approximately 419,286 gals. of number six fuel oil. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard - Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas M. Blue)
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AP - Fri Jul 25, 3:35 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS - The first of 200 ships idled by a massive oil spill began crawling down the Mississippi River Friday after the Coast Guard reopened the waterway to traffic, but it could be days before all of the ships are cleared.

  • A sign advertising a reduced price is seen in front of a home for sale in Richmond, California, June 2008. US home sales have fallen another 2.6 percent in June as inventories rose and prices fell with buyers still hesitant in the face of a horrific market slump, industry data has shown.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)
    For the economy, finally some news not half bad AP - 21 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - After weeks of one negative report after another, the economy finally got some news Friday that wasn't half bad.

  • A Phoenix police cruiser passes by a sign cancelling classes at South Mountain Community College after three people were shot Thursday, July 24, 2008 at the college in Phoenix. Officials say three people were shot Thursday afternoon at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, and two of them were critically injured.(AP Photo/Matt York)
    Phoenix police: College shooter was punched first AP - 29 minutes ago

    PHOENIX - The most seriously wounded of three people shot in a community-college computer lab had punched the gunman in the face before he opened fire, police said Friday.

  • In this file photo provided Crystal Dillman, Luis Ramirez lies in his hospital bed hours before his death at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.. Ramirez, 25, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, died Monday, July 14, 2008 from injuries he received in a beating in Shenandoah, Pa. Three white teens were charged Friday, July 25, 2008 in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in the small northeast Pennsylvania coal town. (AP Photo/Crystal Dillman)
    Pa. teens charged in fatal beating of immigrant AP - 29 minutes ago

    PORT CARBON, Pa. - Three white teens were charged Friday in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in a small northeast Pennsylvania coal town. Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation in the July 12 attack on Luis Ramirez.

  • Assault claim tightens terms against Detroit mayor AP - 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

    DETROIT - Investigators alleged Friday that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick berated and attacked them as they tried to serve a subpoena to a friend, and a judge ordered the troubled mayor to pay $7,500 and undergo random drug testing.

  • In a courtroom artist's sketch, former Atlantic City Mayor Robert Levy, second left, addresses U.S. District Court Judge Jerome Simandle, left, during his sentencing hearing as defense attorney Edwin Jacobs, Jr. ,standing right, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richardson watch in Camden, N.J., Friday, July 25, 2008. Judge Simandle ordered Levy to serve three years probation and pay a $5,000 fine for lying about his Vietnam War service to receive extra veteran's benefits. He also ordered Levy to repay the $25,000 in extra benefits he received as a result of the lies. (AP Photo/Andrea Shepard)
    Former NJ mayor gets probation in war lies case AP - 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

    CAMDEN, N.J. - A judge ordered former Atlantic City Mayor Robert Levy on Friday to serve three years' probation and pay a $5,000 fine for lying about his Vietnam War service to pad his benefits check.

  • White House hopeful Barack Obama boards his plane in Berlin as he leaves Germany for France. The Pentagon advised Senator Barack Obama's staff that he could visit a US military hospital in Germany only in his official capacity as a member of Congress, without the trappings of a political campaign, Pentagon officials said Friday.(AFP/Paul J. Richards)
    Long-missing soldier's remains arrive in Mass. AP - 2 hours, 29 minutes ago

    LAWRENCE, Mass. - A procession of veterans on motorcycles and state police in their cruisers blocked parts of two interstates Friday as it finally brought home the body of an Army staff sergeant who was missing for months after being seized by insurgents in Iraq.

  • A man wades through a flooded street after Hurricane Dolly hit the area in Matamoros, Mexico, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Officials said no deaths were reported in Mexico from Dolly, which struck land just north of the border in Texas Wednesday. It ripped off roofs, flooded roads and downed power lines, but the Rio Grande levees held strong. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
    Tarantulas, fire ants lurk in Texas floodwaters AP - 2 hours, 53 minutes ago

    EDINBURG, Texas - South Texans eager to salvage what they can from waterlogged homes struck by Hurricane Dolly have another problem: The floodwaters they're slogging through are laced with stinging fire ants, snakes and tarantulas.

  • Grandmother pleads guilty in Texas child porn case AP - Fri Jul 25, 2:35 PM ET

    MARSHALL, Texas - A woman prosecutors say helped make a graphic videotape of her two visiting grandchildren has pleaded guilty in a Texas child pornography case.

  • Gordon Landrum stands outside his home in the United Spanish War Veterans Colony in Wilburton, Okla., Monday, July 21, 2008. A Vietnam vet and former board member of the United Spanish War Veterans Colony, Landrum says he is being harassed by colony leaders. (AP Photo)
    Vets allege mismanagement of retirement colony AP - Fri Jul 25, 2:23 PM ET

    WILBURTON, Okla. - Nestled among the lush forests and mountain foothills of rural southeastern Oklahoma is a soldier's utopia, a sleepy enclave where U.S. military veterans can claim their share of the American dream for pennies on the dollar.

  • Saad Hopkins, entering the University of Washington as a junior in the fall, gets groceries at the University District Food Bank Tuesday, July 15, 2008, in Seattle. In the past year, the price of groceries has jumped nearly 5 percent and the costs some staples like milk and bread--the core of a college diet--have shot up by more than 30 percent. That's driving up demand at food banks and prompting some students to apply for food stamps. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
    Struggling college students turn to food banks AP - Fri Jul 25, 2:36 PM ET

    SEATTLE - Just blocks from the University of Washington, a line of people shuffle toward a food pantry, awaiting handouts such as milk and bread.

  • Former football player sentenced in brawl AP - Fri Jul 25, 2:00 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - A former Tulane University football player convicted of attempted manslaughter for his role in a brawl outside a Bourbon Street nightclub was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

  • Racial issue raised in Atlantic City prosecution AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:45 AM ET

    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - As one notorious Atlantic City corruption case nears its end, another is heating up.

  • Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, center, talks to the media before boarding a new Metro light rail train in Phoenix, in this July 10, 2008 file photo. Anna Gaines, a retired teacher, is leading an effort to recall Gordon, because, she said, illegal immigrants are committing crimes in Phoenix and Gordon isn't doing enough to fix the problem. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
    Allies of Phoenix mayor fight recall effort AP - Fri Jul 25, 5:47 AM ET

    PHOENIX - It's a political oddity: a TV commercial extolling the public safety record of a sitting mayor, except the spot isn't soliciting votes and the politician's name isn't scheduled to appear on the November ballot.

  • This undated photo provided by the Steinhauer family on Thursday, July 24, 2008 shows Bryan Steinhauer. (AP Photo/courtesy of Steinhauer family)
    Beating at N.Y. bar strains US-Serbia relations AP - Fri Jul 25, 4:28 AM ET

    NEW YORK - It started as a bar fight in a college town in upstate New York. Police say a hulking basketball player from Serbia beat a fellow college student to a bloody pulp and fled to his home country, setting off a diplomatic crisis.

  • In this April 9, 2007 file photo, tourists visit the World War II memorial and the Lincoln Monument, background, on the National Mall in Washington. To the left and right of the reflecting pool are levees meant to hold back water in case of flooding. Built on swamp land with almost no natural barriers against high water, the District of Columbia is under the constant threat of flooding. Making matters worse is an out-of-date sewer system that needs to be expanded to handle more water and a levee system that engineers have said is inadequate. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)
    Gaps in aging levees leave D.C. landmarks exposed AP - Fri Jul 25, 7:02 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Strolling beside the Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the distance, it's easy to overlook a gentle rise in the landscape a few yards to the north.

Crimes and Trials News

  • Former football player sentenced in brawl AP - Fri Jul 25, 2:00 PM ET

    NEW ORLEANS - A former Tulane University football player convicted of attempted manslaughter for his role in a brawl outside a Bourbon Street nightclub was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

  • N.Y. jury convicts ex-Haitian strongman of fraud AP - Fri Jul 25, 12:47 PM ET

    NEW YORK - A once-feared Haitian paramilitary leader has been convicted in a New York mortgage fraud scheme to cheat lenders out of $1.7 million.

  • Family members and friends of the captain and crew of the 'Joe Cool' fishing charter boat leave federal court Thursday, July 24, 2008 in Miami. One of two men accused of the slayings last year of four people aboard the 'Joe Cool' changed his plea Thursday to guilty in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
    Ark. man accused in 4 boat deaths pleads guilty AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:42 AM ET

    MIAMI - One of two men accused of killing four people aboard a fishing charter last year pleaded guilty Thursday in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors will not seek the death penalty.