AP - The judge in O.J. Simpson's armed robbery trial on Wednesday rejected prosecutors' attempts to present the jury with evidence related to his acquittal in the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend.

AP - Thousands of people returned on Wednesday for the first time since their island city was blasted by Hurricane Ike nearly two weeks ago, choosing home over warnings that Galveston is "broken" and infested with germs and snakes.

AP - It was shocking enough when six high school football players were accused of sodomizing six younger teammates with a broomstick during training camp. But the scandal was raised to a whole new level when the coaches were accused of turning a blind eye to the hazing.

AP - Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered all city agencies to slash spending this year and plan to do so the next to weather the significant local impact of the Wall Street meltdown.

AP - Gulf Coast officials asked lawmakers on Tuesday for fast federal money for hurricane recovery and a minimum of bureaucratic red tape.

AP - A former Afghan tribal leader was convicted Tuesday of smuggling $50 million worth of heroin into the United States.

AP - More than a week after Hurricane Ike's strike, drivers across the Southeast are still bouncing between dry pumps and shuttered stations in a frustrating hunt for a fill-up — and they're starting to get angry.

AP - A west Texas grand jury investigating allegations that members of a polygamist sect sexually abused girls indicted three more people Tuesday, raising the number of defendants in the case to nine.

AP - A city police officer pursuing an armed suspect Tuesday afternoon was fatally shot, the fourth Philadelphia officer to die in the line of duty in the last year, authorities said. Another officer was wounded and the suspect was killed.