AP - The coast here doesn't have the whitest sand or the clearest water, but to millions of Houstonians and other Texans, this is the beach. And thanks to Hurricane Ike, it's also a mess.

AP - The casinos run by American Indian tribes in Northern California work to attract lonely seniors on fixed incomes by offering cheap transportation on charter buses like the one that crashed over the weekend, killing eight people and injuring dozens.

AP - More than a dozen children have been abandoned under Nebraska's unique safe-haven law, which allows children as old as 18 to be abandoned without fear of prosecution. But the case of a 14-year-old girl from Iowa has stoked fears of an influx of unwanted out-of-state children.

AP - Chunks of granite crashed to the Yosemite Valley floor in a cloud of dust Wednesday, injuring at least three people and destroying several cabins and trees at one of the park's most popular lodging areas, officials said.

AP - The bear market that is ravaging investor portfolios is now one of the worst in modern U.S. history and has wiped out more than $7 trillion in shareholder value, with no bottom clearly in sight.

AP - A customer opened fire in a crowded shopping mall Wednesday afternoon, killing a clothing store employee before he was shot and wounded by police officers, authorities said. Witnesses said the gunfire sent people "stampeding" for cover.

AP - The attorney for a man accused of throwing a couple off their yacht bound to an anchor told a jury Tuesday his client is guilty of those two murders and a third, but shouldn't be put to death.