Last-minute fortune seekers buy Powerball tickets
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- It's all about the odds....

Official: `Amazing' no one died in train crash
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) -- Officials described a devastating scene of shattered cars and other damage where two trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in Connecticut, saying Saturday it's fortunate that no one was killed and that there weren't even more injuries....

FBI searches apartment in ricin letter case
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Authorities in hazardous materials suits are searching an apartment in downtown Spokane, Wash., as they investigate the recent discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin....

Victims: Marines failed to safeguard water supply
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) -- A simple test could have alerted officials that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated, long before authorities determined that as many as a million Marines and their families were exposed to a witch's brew of cancer-causing chemicals....

Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent
With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units....

OJ's ex-lawyer contradicts his testimony on guns
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....

Obama's Morehouse visit shines spotlight on HBCUs
ATLANTA (AP) -- When President Barack Obama addresses graduates at Morehouse College on Sunday, he'll also be speaking to the broader community of historically black colleges and universities - a proud corner of higher education that has struggled more than most during the last few years of economic distress....

Ore. timber country ponders future with fewer logs
O'BRIEN, Ore. (AP) -- Jennifer Phillippi's grandparents started producing lumber in this corner of Oregon timber country in 1922, when a man could set up a mill, log the trees within range of a team of horses and move the mill to a new stand when those trees ran out....

First lady to high school grads: live your dreams
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit....

A look at why the Benghazi issue keeps coming back
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The night of smoke, chaos, gunfire and grenades that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, is well-documented. Eight months later, it is the decisions made back in Washington that remain murky and in perpetual dispute....