AP - Two former CVS executives were acquitted Friday of bribing a Rhode Island state senator for legislative favors, dealing a blow to the federal government's probe into corruption in the Statehouse.

AP - Scientists for the Phoenix Mars Lander are wrestling with an intermittent short circuit on the spacecraft.

AP - More than 80 years ago, the Hook brothers started trucking their catch of lobsters from Maine and Canada to Boston's fish piers, selling them directly to the city's top restaurants.

AP - An umpire teasingly calls him "Bat Man." His teammates consider it an embarrassment and a "slap in the face." His former ballclub sees it as a bit of harmless fun.

AP - Two veteran police officers were charged Friday with providing protection for purported shipments of cocaine and stolen goods in what was actually an undercover FBI operation.

AP - Tornado warning sirens chased lawmakers to the statehouse basement, a semitrailer was blown from a roadway and homes and an airport building were damaged as severe storms battered parts of Illinois and Indiana on Friday.

AP - After watching his sister try three times to win the Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee, Sameer Mishra put himself on a mission. "I told my mom I was going to do the bee," Sameer said. "And if I was going to do it, I was going to win it one day. And I guess it happened."

AP - A huge crane that broke apart, smashed into a New York City neighborhood and killed people for the second time in 2 1/2 months has renewed residents' fears about living near construction sites and has prompted beleaguered city officials to call a safety summit.