Top National Stories from the AP

• BP report blames itself, others for oil spill Sept. 8, 2010, 2:15 a.m. CDT

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In an internal report released Wednesday, BP blames itself, other companies' workers and a complex series of failures for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the drilling rig explosion that preceded it. The 193-page report was posted on the company's website even though investigators ...

• FBI: Aircraft searched, no credible threat found Sept. 8, 2010, 12:10 a.m. CDT

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators found no explosives aboard a Los Angeles-bound Thai Airways flight in which a bomb threat was found scrawled on a bathroom mirror, the FBI said Wednesday. Airport officials were notified at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday of the alleged threat, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. Flight ...

• Imam: NYC Islamic center to include other faiths Sept. 7, 2010, 8:39 p.m. CDT

  NEW YORK (AP) — A proposed Islamic community center near ground zero will include separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of other faiths, the imam behind plans for the facility wrote in an op-ed piece published online Tuesday. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wrote in The New York Times ...

• Hermine swamps Texas, prompts search for victims Sept. 7, 2010, 6:17 p.m. CDT

  RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — Its power spent, what was left of Tropical Storm Hermine made its way north Wednesday, drenching a large swath of Texas and prompting a search for possible flood victims near Austin. Remnants of the storm that was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday night could spread as ...

• Chicago Mayor Daley won't run for re-election Sept. 7, 2010, 1:51 p.m. CDT

  CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has presided over the nation's third-largest city for 21 years, announced Tuesday that he will not run for a seventh term. Daley, 68, said he'd been thinking about not running for several months and became comfortable with his decision over ...

• Chicago mayor race wide open as Daley steps aside Sept. 7, 2010, 1:48 p.m. CDT

  CHICAGO (AP) — Suddenly, the race for Chicago mayor is on. Mayor Richard M. Daley has thrown the competition for the city's top job wide open by announcing he won't run for a seventh term, ending 21 years of token opposition and prompting speculation about who's next in ...

• 8 missing in Colo. fire that has burned 53 homes Sept. 7, 2010, 10:39 a.m. CDT

  BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Authorities in Colorado are searching for eight people who didn't leave their homes as a wildfire tore through a canyon in the foothills near Boulder. Sheriff's Cmdr. Rich Brough said Wednesday that 20 people were initially reported missing and 12 have been accounted for. It ...

• Fla. minister: Sept. 11 Quran burn still planned Sept. 7, 2010, 10:31 a.m. CDT

  GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy said Wednesday he was determined to go through with his plan to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off. "We are ...

• Gates Foundation acknowledges flaws in report Sept. 7, 2010, 10:30 a.m. CDT

  SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has taken another baby step toward increased transparency, acknowledging in its annual report that the world's largest charitable foundation is too secretive and hard to work with. The report, posted online Tuesday, includes the usual financial information and a look at the ...

• A class to die for: Zombies 101 at U. Baltimore Sept. 7, 2010, 9:59 a.m. CDT

  BALTIMORE (AP) — Call it Zombies 101. The University of Baltimore is offering a new class on the undead. The course is being taught by Arnold Blumberg, the author of a book on zombie movies, "Zombiemania," and the curator of Geppi's Entertainment Museum, which focuses on American pop culture. Students ...

• John Lennon's killer is again denied parole in NY Sept. 7, 2010, 7:46 a.m. CDT

  BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — John Lennon's killer was again denied parole in New York, nearly 30 years after gunning down the ex-Beatle outside the musician's New York City apartment building. A parole board decided not to release Mark David Chapman after interviewing him Tuesday by teleconference at Attica ...

• Wrigley rooftops hurting as Cubs, economy struggle Sept. 7, 2010, 4:30 a.m. CDT

  CHICAGO (AP) — A national recession and a baseball team that is in the midst of its own depression are adding up to tough times for the rooftop bleachers surrounding Chicago's Wrigley Field. The rooftops are scrambling to find Chicago Cubs fans to sit in the gleaming mini-stadiums they've ...

• Flight attendant in passenger tiff to be evaluated Sept. 7, 2010, 2:49 a.m. CDT

  NEW YORK (AP) — The flight attendant accused of onboard antics that captured the nation's attention when he told off a passenger and slid down the plane's emergency chute with a beer will undergo a mental health evaluation with the aim of avoiding jail time in a possible plea ...

• Today in History Sept. 6, 2010, 11 p.m. CDT

  Today is Tuesday, Sept. 7, the 250th day of 2010. There are 115 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Sept. 7, 1940, Nazi Germany began its eight-month blitz of Britain during World War II with the first air attack on London. On this date: In ...

• Hermine gives south Texas another tropical lashing Sept. 6, 2010, 7:07 p.m. CDT

  RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — Tropical Storm Hermine gave a wet and windy punch to Texas on Tuesday but left only minor scrapes in the storm-weary Rio Grande Valley, which is proving resilient this hurricane season after taking a third tropical system on the chin. Hermine lost steam after crossing into Texas ...

• AP News in Brief Sept. 6, 2010, 5:17 p.m. CDT

  More contests, more at stake, looser rules send election spending into the stratosphere WASHINGTON (AP) — Turns out politics, for all its focus on the gloomy economy, is a recession-proof industry. This year's volatile election is bursting with money, setting fundraising and spending records in a high-stakes struggle for control ...

• Colleges buy land they don't know how they'll use Sept. 6, 2010, 1:26 p.m. CDT

  NEW YORK (AP) — Colleges and universities are buying up chunks of land at bargain prices, sometimes without a clear idea how they'll be used. Some are taking advantage of good sales during a sluggish economy, while others, like Columbia University, are continuing a practice they've done for decades ...

• Colorado wildfire destroys dozens of homes Sept. 6, 2010, 12:59 p.m. CDT

  BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A wind-whipped wildfire sent flames roaring through a rugged canyon in the Colorado foothills, forcing about 3,000 people to flee the area and destroying dozens of homes — some that belonged to the firefighters themselves, authorities said Tuesday. Fire officials were assessing the extent of the damage ...

• Plane crash on NV street kills 1, injures 3 Sept. 6, 2010, 11:29 a.m. CDT

  HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — A small plane crashed and burst into flames on a street in a southern Nevada residential neighborhood Monday, killing one person and badly injuring three others, authorities said. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. John Sheahan said two males and two females were aboard the single-engine Piper Cherokee ...

• Little Rock 9 member Jefferson Thomas dies in Ohio Sept. 6, 2010, 10:47 a.m. CDT

  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Jefferson Thomas was fast and athletic and often played pickup basketball with white students while growing up in Little Rock in the 1950s. But when Thomas became one of nine black students to integrate Arkansas' largest high school, many of his basketball buddies weren't happy ...

• Hurricane watch issued for coasts of Mexico, Texas Sept. 5, 2010, 9:59 p.m. CDT

  NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) — Mexican authorities opened shelters and warned people to watch out for mudslides Monday as Tropical Storm Hermine approached the northeastern border with Texas, the second major storm to hit the area this season. Hermine could approach hurricane strength before making landfall early Tuesday in a sparsely ...

• AP News in Brief at 6:13 a.m. EDT Sept. 5, 2010, 5:06 p.m. CDT

  Officials: Obama to call for more spending on roads, railways, airports to stimulate economy WASHINGTON (AP) — Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and airports that would cost at least $50 billion, administration ...

• Backyard volunteers helping track firefly numbers Sept. 5, 2010, 1:11 p.m. CDT

  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The yellow-green streaks of fireflies that bring a magical air to summer nights, inspire camp songs and often end up in jars in children's bedrooms may be flickering out in the nation's backyards as suburban sprawl encroaches on their habitats. Scientists concerned by reports from the ...

• Craigslist strikes adult services under pressure Sept. 4, 2010, 11:57 a.m. CDT

  Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section Saturday and replacing it with a black bar that simply says "censored." The move comes just over a week after a group of state attorneys general said there ...

• Key oil spill evidence raised to Gulf's surface Sept. 4, 2010, 7:32 a.m. CDT

  ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — Investigators looking into what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are a step closer to answers now that a key piece evidence is secure aboard a ship. Engineers took 29½ hours to lift the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from a mile ...