AP - Orange County prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a man who's charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend's father and sister nearly three years ago.

AP - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton didn't flinch when comedian Stephen Colbert congratulated her on D.C. becoming a state.

AP - The son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy said he was 'horrified' when he learned earlier this week that clothing that his father was wearing when he was assassinated in 1968 was being displayed at an exhibit in Las Vegas.

AP - He shoveled snow and carried groceries for a neighbor. He cared for a sick girlfriend by pressing a cool cloth to her head all afternoon. A former high school girlfriend called him 'the one person who has made me feel completely safe in this world.'

AP - Authorities say snow and wind affected visibility in remote Utah mountains where a Coast Guard helicopter went down as it returned home from the Olympics, but they still don't know if that's what caused the crash. All five people aboard survived.

AP - Illinois' Democratic voters picked a pawnbroker as their candidate for lieutenant governor, and that didn't exactly end well. So perhaps they won't mind if the next candidate doesn't have a job. Or is still in school. Or isn't actually a Democrat.

AP - The thousands of California sea lions that showed up this winter off the central Oregon coast seem to have largely moved on.

AP - John Pilkington's boss wouldn't take no for an answer.

AP - The Rev. Al Sharpton is convening a group of black Democratic leaders who could urge Gov. David Paterson, who is embroiled in two misconduct scandals, to resign, a party adviser told The Associated Press on Thursday.

AP - The Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader who holds sway in the New York City community that's Gov. David Paterson's home and political base, is convening a group of black Democratic leaders there who could urge him to resign amid two misconduct scandals, a party adviser told The Associated Press on Thursday.

AP - Los Angeles is escalating the war against gigantic billboards.

AP - The son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy said he was 'horrified' when he learned earlier this week that clothing that his father was wearing when he was assassinated in 1968 was being displayed at an exhibit in Las Vegas.

AP - The throw-the-bums-out mentality is so strong in American politics that even the ultimate insider — the president of the United States — is running against Washington.

AP - A convicted sex offender charged with murdering Chelsea King in Southern California is under investigation in last year's disappearance of a 14-year-old girl and the attempted kidnapping of another teenager, authorities said.

AP - The U.S. Department of Education named 16 finalists Thursday in the first round of its 'Race to the Top' competition, which will deliver $4.35 billion in school reform grants.

AP - Jonathan Pilkington's boss wouldn't take no for an answer.

AP - Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Thursday he will not seek re-election, ending speculation that the popular Democrat might try to overturn a state law that would have prohibited him from pursuing a third term.

AP - A judge has dismissed all charges against a black teenage arts student who accused three white Pittsburgh police officers of wrongly beating him during his arrest.

AP - Millions of students, teachers and parents are expected to rally throughout California and many other states to protest deep cuts in funding for schools and universities.

AP - The top spokesman for Gov. David Paterson resigned Thursday, saying he couldn't 'in good conscience continue' in his job, becoming the third key administration member to jump ship as the governor faces two misconduct investigations and increasing calls for him to quit.

AP - Officials at the University of California, Santa Cruz are telling employees and others to stay away from the campus because of safety concerns involving protesters.

AP - City prosecutors have obtained arrest warrants for four people connected to giant billboards at an intersection near the site of the upcoming Oscars, days after they jailed a man accused of putting up a separate eight-story supergraphic ad there without a permit.

AP - One of the nation's best-known and most prosperous American Indian tribes will soon have a new public face: that of a woman, its first female tribal chief in almost 300 years.

AP - The Los Angeles police chief and district attorney are defending their exhibit of evidence from famous crimes including Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassination.

AP - More Toyota drivers say their cars have sped up by themselves even after being fixed to correct the problem.

AP - The governor of this Bible Belt state is waging a one-man crusade against gambling — and stirring racial tensions in the process — by sending state troopers on late-night raids to shut down electronic bingo parlors.

AP - As the high-speed Acela train came thundering down the rails, a teenage girl screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.

AP - An imam has pleaded guilty to charges he lied to FBI agents investigating a foiled suicide bomb plot against New York City.

AP - Rowdy protesters blocked major gates at two California universities and smashed the windows of a car Thursday amid campus protests across the nation against deep cuts in education funding.

AP - A Florida language school helped illegally obtain student visas for foreign nationals who never went to class, violating laws enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks exposed weaknesses in the program, authorities said Thursday.

AP - A judge has dismissed charges against a teenage arts student who says three Pittsburgh police officers beat him during his arrest on prowling and other charges near his home, in a case that led to an FBI investigation into possible civil rights violations.

AP - Students carried out raucous rallies on college campuses nationwide Thursday in protests against deep education cuts that turned violent as demonstrators threw punches and ice chunks in Wisconsin and blocked university gates and smashed car windows in California.

AP - Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey said Thursday he sees anxiety in the armed services over how possible changes in the law that bans openly gay servicemen and women would be implemented.

AP - When all the teachers were fired from Central Falls High School last week in a sweeping effort at school reform, their superintendent gave them a taste of the accountability President Barack Obama says is necessary.

AP - Sarah Palin showed up at a celebrity gift suite with two daughters, her brother and a small entourage in tow and loaded up with free cosmetic and fashion items being given away in connection with Oscar-week festivities. But she also left a check for charity, organizers say.

AP - U.S. Sen. David Vitter has called for federal officials to do a more thorough review of the deaths of several people who lived in homes that contained smelly, possibly toxic Chinese drywall.

AP - Shoppers returned to the nation's malls last month, buying a surprising amount of spring clothing and other items and helping stores post the strongest retail sales since November 2007, a month before the recession began.

AP - When 17-year-old Chelsea King disappeared in a park last week, authorities checked photographs of sex offenders registered in the San Diego area. John Albert Gardner III was not among them.

AP - Three Providence police officers, including a narcotics detective and a school resource officer, were arrested Thursday on charges that they helped with a cocaine-dealing operation.

AP - Two felons were charged Thursday with homicide and arson in the deaths of a mother, her two young children and a woman who also was the men's alleged accomplice in a case that began with an $800 robbery.