4 Fla. counties declared disaster areas
LADY LAKE, Fla. (AP) -- Search efforts resumed amid fresh rain Saturday across a swath of central Florida devastated by tornado-bearing thunderstorms that killed at least 20 people, including a high school girl struck by a tree as she lay in bed....

Orlando homeless laws stir heated debate
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- At Lake Eola park, there is much beauty to behold: robust palms, beds of cheery begonias, a cascading lake fountain, clusters of friendly egrets and swans, an amphitheater named in honor of Walt Disney....

Police: Adult sex offender posed as boy
PHOENIX (AP) -- A convicted sex offender who posed as a 12-year-old boy to enroll in Arizona schools brought home children that had joined a skateboarding club he started in Payson in northern Arizona, police said....

Crash spurs concerns about older drivers
SHILOH, Ill. (AP) -- After an 84-year-old driver plowed through an elementary school lunchroom this week, killing an 8-year-old boy, his mother pressed lawmakers to bar the elderly from getting behind the wheel....

Court rules in favor of cursing man
DETROIT (AP) -- An officer who arrested a man for cursing in a public meeting violated the man's right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Friday....

4 hate-crime beating teens get probation
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Four of nine black teenagers convicted in the racially charged beating of three white women on Halloween were sentenced to probation Friday....

Fla. killing suspect had troubled past
MARIANNA, Fla. (AP) -- Long before authorities say Lionel Sands put on a disguise and killed the local sheriff's wife and a deputy, he was enmeshed in a battle over life insurance from his second wife's mysterious death - a death in which he was the prime suspect....

Michigan court: No same-sex benefits
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan's ban on gay marriage also blocks public universities and state and local governments from providing health insurance benefits to the partners of gay workers, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday....

Boyfriend of slain NYC dancer testifies
NEW YORK (AP) -- The former boyfriend of a slain dancer testified Friday he found her body drenched in blood in the apartment they shared and tugged at her shirt to see if she was alive....

PETA workers cleared of animal cruelty
WINTON, N.C. (AP) -- A jury cleared two animal rights workers of animal cruelty charges Friday for euthanizing cats and dogs they took from shelters, but both were convicted of littering for dumping the carcasses in a trash bin....