AP - Several states are facing the prospect of government shutdowns and program cuts as they enter the first weekend of the fiscal year and July Fourth holiday without a budget in place.
AP - The question of when and where a public memorial service will be held for Michael Jackson has finally been answered. But how city officials will handle the likelihood of a massive crowd remains to be settled.
AP - California's controller will start paying many of the state's bills with IOUs as soon as Thursday after lawmakers failed to close the state's worsening budget deficit, adding a new measure of indignity to a state sinking deeper into dysfunction.
AP - A jury on Thursday was set to consider the case of Jesse James Hollywood, who is accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old boy over a drug debt then ordering his death and going on the run for years, a string of events that inspired the 2007 movie "Alpha Dog." -- read full article
AP - A Missouri mother faces up to three years in prison at her sentencing Thursday in Los Angeles for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old neighbor girl who later killed herself. -- read full article
AP - Crewmembers hooted and applauded as the last boat in Honolulu's failed city ferry service sailed into another gorgeous Hawaii sunset to end one of the seas' best bargains for tourists and commuters. -- read full article
AP - The finances of several states around the nation are sinking deeper into chaos as lawmakers struggle to work out budget differences amid a recession that has wiped out tax revenue and set the stage for dramatic cuts in service and pay for government workers.
AP - In one especially soul-baring e-mail to his Argentine mistress, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford quoted from 1 Corinthians 13 about the nature of love.
AP - Los Angeles officials are holding closed-door talks about a possible event for Michael Jackson on Tuesday at a downtown arena, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.
AP - A judge will decide the case of a woman accused of killing her four daughters, whose bodies were found decomposing in the family's southeast Washington home in January 2008. -- read full article
AP - Police say a Connecticut girl overheard her mother's screams during sex and thought she was being assaulted, so she rounded up some friends to attack the woman's companion. -- read full article
AP - When carpenter Greg Douglas rolled his pickup truck, his toolbox hit him and smashed his ribs and collarbone. After a month in the hospital, the medical bills hit him even harder, totaling $165,000.
AP - Prosecutors are playing audiotapes of former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson talking with a woman about business deals he is accused of brokering in exchange for bribes.
