AP - Two convicts whose escape from a work detail last year led to the death of a corrections officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to capital murder. -- read full article
AP - Firefighters worked to keep flames from reaching more homes after a lightning-sparked wildfire advanced Thursday in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.
AP - The Smithsonian Institution issued a call for architects Thursday to submit their qualifications for a competition to build the newest museum on the National Mall, which will be dedicated to black history. -- read full article
AP - A man suspected of killing his wife and two young children in the family's rural home in western Pennsylvania was arrested Thursday after a daylong manhunt and charged in their deaths.
AP - An ex-diplomat convicted of having sex with teenage girls in the Congo and Brazil and taping the encounters is asking a judge for leniency, claiming that cultural differences in those countries make sex with girls more acceptable. -- read full article
AP - A New Orleans police officer retired wearing a light blue uniform shirt phased out after Hurricane Katrina, saying he wanted to salute 18 colleagues who died in the line of duty. Never mind that he was dressed down by superiors for a rules violation on his last work day. -- read full article
AP - An Iranian photograph showing a cluster of missile launches was apparently altered to add a fourth missile lifting off from a desert range, a defense analyst said Thursday.
AP - A state lawmaker, a former legislative leader and 10 other people connected to the state House Democratic caucus were charged Thursday over allegations that millions of taxpayer dollars were illegally siphoned to underwrite political campaigns. -- read full article
AP - A grand jury indicted an Alaska legislator on bribery and conspiracy counts in a federal investigation of corruption that already has led to convictions against three former state lawmakers. -- read full article
AP - The federal Environmental Protection Agency strengthened regulations Thursday on five common pesticides and for the first time required farmers to set up sizable buffer zones around fields treated with the chemicals. -- read full article
AP - A Florida woman followed her ex-husband across the country and fatally stabbed him inside an Iowa mall where he was working for a traveling circus set up in the parking lot, police said Thursday. -- read full article
AP - A Marine sergeant accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi captive during heavy fighting in Fallujah in 2004 was heard on tape Thursday telling how his squad argued over what to do with their prisoners and saying he "did one guy" as they sought to keep up with their unit. -- read full article
AP - It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be. -- read full article
