AP - Hurricane Katrina made them worthless feds in windbreakers, a four-letter agency for which some couldn't find enough four-letter words. And in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, FEMA is again the easy target for displaced residents and frustrated local authorities.

AP - In the years leading up to his death in the locomotive of a commuter train, engineer Robert Sanchez's life was marked by personal tragedy, jail time, and concerns about his health and job security.

AP - A man who raped and murdered a 93-year-old woman in her Dallas-area home was executed Wednesday after he apologized to his victim's relatives.

AP - A man charged with failing to help a toddler who died of dehydration under his sister's care accepted a plea deal that will likely keep him out of prison.

AP - Officials urged patience Wednesday on the part of Midwesterners waiting for power to be restored as crews worked feverishly to clean up the soggy mess left by the deadly remnants of Hurricane Ike over the weekend.

AP - A head-on collision that left 25 people dead has brought new scrutiny to the safety of Southern California's regional rail service — a system that has logged more fatalities than any similarly sized system in the nation in recent years.

AP - One by one they left the sodden Hitchin' Post Package Store like a boozy bucket brigade — four generations of the DeVillier family schlepping muddy plastic laundry baskets full of clinking liquor bottles.

AP - The death toll from Hurricane Ike is remarkably low so far, considering that legions of people stayed behind as the storm obliterated row after row of homes along the Texas coast. But officials suspect there are more victims out there and say some might simply have been swept out to sea.

AP - Grown-up evacuees among a sea of cots anxiously chatter on cell phones, figuring out what comes next. But arranged in a nearby corner are hula hoops, toy cars and crayons — a reminder that many of those chased out by Hurricane Ike are old enough to feel fear but too young to really understand.

AP - When police detective Andy Caldwell heard that O.J. Simpson was a suspect in a robbery, he said he couldn't believe it.

AP - With oil and gas drilling heating up as an issue in the presidential race, environmentalists and the governor reiterated their opposition to tapping reserves off the state's coast, saying it would endanger the environment and the tourism industry on which New Jersey is so dependent.

AP - It was held at the home of Red Sox Nation, but the thousands gathered in the seats were there to swear allegiance to an even larger and more powerful nation.

AP - More than a year after a key Minneapolis bridge collapsed and killed 13 people, state troopers prepared to lead motorists in a slow procession Thursday morning across the new span that reconnects Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River.

AP - Officials were stung by an ill-fated attempt to let residents and business owners "look and leave" their hurricane-battered city, which only created frustrating traffic jams for two days. Now, their message is clear: Stay away from Galveston.