FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) - Two commuter trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in an accident that sent more than 60 people to the hospital, severely damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the congested Northeast Corridor. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said five people were critically injured and one was very critically hurt in Friday evening's crash on the Metro-North Railroad, which serves the northern suburbs of New York City.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite Democratic fears, predictions of the demise of President Barack Obama's agenda appear exaggerated after a week of cascading controversies, political triage by the administration and party leaders in Congress and lack of evidence to date of wrongdoing close to the Oval Office. "Absolutely not," Steven Miller, the recently resigned acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, responded Friday when asked if he had any contact with the White House about targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for special treatment.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senior Treasury officials were made aware in June 2012 that investigators were looking into complaints from tea party groups that they were being harassed by the Internal Revenue Service, a Treasury inspector general said Friday, disclosing that Obama administration officials knew there was a probe during the heat of the presidential campaign. J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, testified alongside ousted IRS head Steven Miller, who did little to subdue Republican outrage during hours of intense congressional questioning. Both defiant and apologetic, Miller acknowledged agency mistakes in targeting tea party groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, but he insisted that agents broke no laws and that there was no effort to cover up their actions.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - O.J. Simpson's former lawyer defended himself point-by-point Friday against allegations he botched the former football star's armed-robbery trial, after giving damaging testimony that Simpson actually knew his buddies had guns when they went to a hotel room together to reclaim some sports memorabilia. Miami-based attorney Yale Galanter quickly found himself under withering cross-examination from a Simpson lawyer intent on proving that Galanter's word couldn't be trusted - that he knew ahead of time of Simpson's plan and spent more effort covering up his involvement than representing Simpson.
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) - Two cups of coffee ended life on the run for an Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker. An employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia is credited with recognizing 24-year-old Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, whose fledgling celebrity took a turn toward notoriety when authorities announced this week that he was wanted in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer three times his age.
Tornado-ravaged Texas town to start recovery GRANBURY, Texas (AP) - Residents whose homes were torn apart or blown away by a North Texas deadly tornado can soon return to retrieve what belongings may be left and start cleaning up, authorities said Friday. In Granbury, the area hardest hit by Wednesday night's exceptionally strong tornado, workers are trying to restore water service, raise electrical lines and clear debris piles filled with insulation, roof tiles, pieces of carpet, a shoe, a teddy bear, a woman's purse.
2 fires north of LA persist after long fire week SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) - A pair of tamed but persistent wildfires still burned in the hills and mountains around Interstate 5 after a wild week of burning brush in the area north of Los Angeles. A new fire that broke out Friday, the third major blaze in the area in a week, quickly surged to more than 500 acres, briefly threatened an elementary school and led to the temporary evacuation of about 20 homes.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Melissa Torrez didn't even think when teenagers in her apartment complex said a man had just grabbed her 4-year-old girl and drove away. She jumped in her car and began chasing the brown Buick through traffic, zigzagging on Interstate 40 at high speeds and staying with the car even as it bluffed trying to exit in an attempt to lose her.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Orb is ready for his whirl at history. The Kentucky Derby winner was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course.
BALTIMORE (AP) - There are only two outcomes when it comes to Saturday's Preakness Stakes - either the Kentucky Derby winner Orb wins the race to set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks, or another horse pulls an upset and prevents a shot at history. With that in mind, here are 10 things to know about the Preakness - and beyond.
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