PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Colleen LaRose spent long days caring for her boyfriend's father in a second-floor apartment in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia....

NORWALK, Calif. (AP) -- A 7-year-old boy who called 911 from a locked bathroom while armed robbers threatened his parents hugged and high-fived on Wednesday the sheriff's dispatcher who took his call....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Groups pushing for robust Hispanic participation in the 2010 census announced a new campaign Thursday that aims to reach the hard-to-count demographic through its smart-phone-toting youngsters....

SEATTLE (AP) -- Governors and education leaders on Wednesday proposed sweeping new school standards that could lead to students across the country using the same math and English textbooks and taking the same tests, replacing a patchwork of state and local systems in an attempt to raise student achievement nationwide....

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half the district's schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy....

SEATTLE (AP) -- After a $62 million overhaul, the Coast Guard will have its third icebeaker back in service in 2013, filling a critical need as the fleet takes on new responsibilities, the commandant of the service said Wednesday....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In his 28 years with the Burbank Police Department, Sgt. Robert Quesada had never heard of anything quite like it: A well-respected teacher at one of the city's public schools walks into police headquarters and confesses to having an affair with a 14-year-old boy....