AP - Aging, frail survivors of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor gingerly sifted dirt as they helped to break ground on a new visitor's center for the USS Arizona Memorial.

AP - A day after Massachusetts voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, top law enforcement officials were scrambling to figure out what they need to do to put the law into effect — despite their efforts to defeat it at the polls.

AP - The campaign of change that led Barack Obama to the White House will bring tangible change to Illinois, where embattled Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich has the task of selecting the junior U.S. senator's replacement.

AP - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Paloma has formed off the coast of Nicaragua with winds reaching 40 mph, and could strengthen into a hurricane by Friday.

AP - Rural and evangelical voters propelled Arkansas to adopt one of the nation's few bans against unmarried couples becoming foster or adoptive parents.

AP - Christie's is auctioning a handwritten copy of the 1864 speech Abraham Lincoln delivered at the White House after being re-elected in the midst of an unpopular Civil War that both he and his opponents believed might cost him his job.

AP - Money used to be like religion or sex: It wasn't talked about in polite company.

AP - The city will close libraries and swimming pools, suspend planned tax reductions, cut more than 800 jobs and trim salaries for some administrators in order to weather 'an economic storm' that could leave the city with a $1 billion shortfall, Mayor Michael Nutter said Thursday.

AP - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Paloma is strengthening and turning to the north as it approaches the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

AP - Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they will not bring criminal charges against Eliot Spitzer for his role in a prostitution scandal, removing a huge legal cloud that has surrounded the former governor since his epic downfall eight months ago.

AP - Former FBI agent John Connolly was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for leaking information to Boston mobsters that led to the 1982 shooting death of a gambling executive who also had ties to gangsters.

AP - One Senate candidate says the voters have spoken. The other says the electorate still needs to be heard.

AP - A stretch of Interstate 95 southbound was closed for much of the day Thursday after a tanker truck rolled over, spilling thousands of gallons of jet fuel, injuring three people and forcing the evacuation of 14 nearby homes.

AP - The nation's economic meltdown is taking state budgets down with it — especially in California, where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday he wants to close a $11.2 billion gap in part by raising sales taxes on everything from cars to Disneyland tickets.

AP - Chicago's tourism Web site beckons visitors to 'experience the city the Obamas enjoy.' The Illinois Bureau of Tourism plans to launch a three-day getaway promotion featuring Barack Obama sites. And tour guides at the Old State Capitol in Springfield may get new scripts to stress two important speeches the president-elect made as a candidate.

AP - The barrier-crossing election of Barack Obama did little to bridge the deep racial divide in American churches. In fact, some clergy say it has only served to underscore their differences.

AP - The University of Chicago announced Thursday that an alumnus has given its business school a $300 million gift, a record sum that comes as many universities worry they'll see donations dry up amid the financial meltdown.

AP - Four Marines have been charged in Southern California with the execution-style killings of an Iraq war veteran and his wife.

AP - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her first public appearance since former rival Barack Obama was elected president, praised his choice for White House chief of staff, a former top aide to her husband.

AP - The University of Chicago announced Thursday that an alumnus has given its business school a $300 million gift, a record sum that comes as many universities worry they'll see donations dry up amid the financial meltdown.

AP - Four Marines, including one known as 'Psycho,' told investigators they robbed and murdered a fellow Marine and his wife last month after breaking into their home in search of valuables and sexually assaulting the woman, according to court documents.

AP - Federal prosecutors played secretly recorded conversations Thursday that they said show former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona discussing whether tens of thousands of dollars in alleged cash bribes can be traced.