Top Stories - AP

CONCORD, Calif. - Oh Christmas tree, how puny are your branches. Full Story »

CLEVELAND - A registered sex offender charged with killing 11 women and hiding their remains in and around his home agreed Wednesday to let police fence off the house with barbed wire to preserve evidence. Full Story »

BERKELEY, Calif. - The Berkeley City Council has a pointed message for Democratic members of the U.S. House who voted to keep federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO - A controversial measure that dictates how San Francisco police deal with underage illegal immigrants goes into effect Thursday. Full Story »

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A driver who ran over and killed a mother duck walking her 12 ducklings across a Massachusetts mall parking lot has been sentenced to a year of probation. Full Story »

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State University researchers are predicting a more active Atlantic hurricane season next year, with six to eight hurricanes, at least three of them major. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES - The death of a prominent Los Angeles lawyer found in his driveway with a gunshot wound to the head has baffled investigators who tried to determine Wednesday if the killing was a murder. Full Story »

As of Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, at least 855 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST. Full Story »

HONOLULU - The military says the chief legislative liaison for the Office of the Secretary of the Army is due to become the commander of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii's Schofield Barracks. Full Story »

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - A community college student was upset about his grades when he walked into a classroom and fired two shots at his professor before his new rifle jammed, police said Wednesday. Full Story »