Updated: 8:14 PM A Dallas man with ties to the hacking group Anonymous has been declared mentally competent to stand trial on three separate federal indictments.

Posted: 3:21 PM Time is almost out for people living in Brazos County to pay their 2012 property taxes.

Updated: 2:15 PM A 15-year-old majorette who performed at some of President Barack Obama's recent inauguration festivities has been shot to death in Chicago.

Posted: 12:09 PM Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has tapped his former chief-of-staff William "Mo" Cowan to serve as interim U.S. senator until a special election to fill the seat left vacant by Secretary of State-designate John Kerry.

Posted: 11:43 AM A private survey shows U.S. businesses increased hiring in January compared with a revised December reading.

Posted: 11:28 AM Freshman Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is opposing a ban on assault weapons sought by President Barack Obama.

Updated: 11:19 AM The Alabama man whose property is surrounded by police after a school bus shooting had been due in court on a charge of threatening neighbors.

Posted: 11:07 AM The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says closing loopholes in the background check system for gun purchasers won't threaten firearms owners' Second Amendment rights to own a gun and is a matter of common sense.

Posted: 10:55 AM The husband of wounded former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords says that while curbing gun violence is a complex problem, it is no excuse for inaction by lawmakers.

Posted: 10:49 AM Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords says Congress should be bold in writing new laws to address gun violence in America.

Posted: 9:45 AM The White House says Superstorm Sandy is partially to blame for the unexpected contraction of the U.S. economy.

Updated: 9:26 AM Wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will appear as an unscheduled witness Wednesday at the year's first congressional hearing on curbing gun violence, adding drama to a session that was already slated to hear from a top official of the National Rifle Association.

Posted: 7:56 AM A winter storm has been ripping through the nation's midsection, with thunderstorms, damaging winds and possible tornadoes.

Posted: 11:10 PM Authorities in Alabama say a man boarded a school bus, shot the driver several times, then removed a 6-year-old passenger and ran.

Updated: 10:57 PM Some grass-roots supporters of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have formed a super PAC to help a potential Clinton presidential campaign in 2016 - even though Clinton says she hasn't decided her plans.

Updated: 9:01 AM The Senate has confirmed Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as the next secretary of state.

Updated: 4:51 PM Declaring "now is the time" to fix broken immigration laws, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to put millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to U.S. citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders.

Updated: 9:19 AM Congress is sending a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for Superstorm Sandy victims to President Obama for his signature.

Posted: 11:34 AM Scientists say the submarine that was the first in history to sink an enemy warship was much closer than thought to a Union ship it sank in 1864.

Posted: 11:08 AM President Barack Obama says he wants police from three communities that have experienced mass shootings and across the country to help convince Congress to pass gun legislation

Posted: 10:25 AM A New York judge has ordered a mental exam for a man accused of fatally stabbing three women in 20 years.

Posted: 7:33 AM A Boeing plan to redesign the 787 Dreamliner's fire-plagued lithium-ion batteries won approval Tuesday from the Federal Aviation Administration, moving the cutting-edge planes a step closer to flying passengers again.

Posted: 10:00 AM West Virginia University's School of Journalism could soon expand the availability of online and traditional classes for military service members and others who have studied in a Defense Department training program.

Updated: 9:51 AM A large-scale peace agreement to end fighting in Congo that would see more peacekeeping forces enter the region was delayed Monday over what the United Nations chief called "procedural issues."

Posted: 8:45 AM The Coast Guard says a normally bustling stretch of the Mississippi River remains closed to barge and ship traffic as cleanup crews with booms work to remove an oily sheen near Vicksburg after a barge with 80,000 gallons of oil hit a railroad bridge last weekend.