A crash course in true political science
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Daniel Suson has a doctorate in astrophysics and has worked on the superconducting super collider and a forthcoming NASA probe. Now he's heading back to school to take on an even trickier task - getting elected to public office....

Records show Sharpton owes overdue taxes, other penalties
NEW YORK (AP) -- Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels....

Happy Mother's Day: Woman pregnant with 18th child
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman - she's pregnant with her 18th child. Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins....

Nevada judge accused of demanding royal treatment
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Elizabeth Halverson is a judge. But the way courthouse staffers see it, she expects to be treated like a queen....

Man who lost homes in Katrina claims $97M Powerball prize
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk....

Mo. woman pleads, will be sentenced in stolen baby attack
UNION, Mo. (AP) -- A woman who slashed a young mother and kidnapped her newborn entered into a plea deal Friday, and the prosecutor revealed additional details of the 2006 attack - including that the victim was stabbed repeatedly and her toddler son was tied up....

Mourners pay respects to slain Philadelphia police officer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Hundreds of mourners lined up in the pouring rain outside a cathedral Friday to pay their respects to a Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty....

Fans long to have their ashes scattered on sporting sites
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Even though he's only 37 and in good health, Nathan Davis has already made out his will. In it, he bequeaths money to the University of Alabama athletic department and his ashes to Bryant-Denny Stadium....

Dig for human remains to begin at ranch where Manson hid
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- The sheriff of the remote region where Charles Manson hid after a killing spree in the summer of 1969 said Friday that he will allow researchers to begin digging into the sandy soil in search of possible human remains....