AP - On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.

AP - One of Hollywood's largest movie studios starred in a disastrous sequel as a fire ripped through a lot at Universal Studios, destroying a set from "Back to the Future," a King Kong exhibit and a streetscape seen frequently in movies and TV shows.

AP - Shuttle Discovery closed in on the international space station early Monday with a super-size delivery: a scientific lab that's as big as a school bus and a toilet pump.

AP - Each April, weather wizard William Gray emerges from his burrow near the Rocky Mountains to offer his forecast for the six-month hurricane season that starts June 1. And the news media are there, breathlessly awaiting his every word.

AP - Carol Race thinks it's important for her 13-year-old son to be in church for Mass on Sundays.

AP - On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.

AP - Space shuttle Discovery's seven-member crew completed an inspection of the spacecraft's wings Sunday afternoon, looking for any signs of damage after launching a day earlier.

AP - A large fire tore through a back lot at Universal Studios early Sunday, destroying a set from "Back to the Future," the King Kong exhibit and a video vault containing more than 40,000 videos and reels.

AP - Only five questions were allowed, but that was enough for exiled members of Ethiopia's Anuak minority to put Omot Obang Olom on the spot.

AP - Democratic Party officials agreed Saturday to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes, ruling on a long-running dispute that has threatened the party's chances in November and maintaining Barack Obama's front-runner status as he moves closer to the nomination.

AP - Voters here took the state's official permissiveness on marijuana to new heights in 2000, allowing residents to grow up to 25 pot plants for medical, recreational or personal use.

AP - The towering cranes that build America's skyscrapers are often not properly inspected for wear, fatigue and other potentially dangerous structural problems, several construction safety experts said following a deadly accident in New York.

AP - With her husband in command of space shuttle Discovery and on the verge of launching, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wanted to set the record straight.