By JENNIFER PELTZ
2010-09-02T17:56:48Z
NEW YORK (AP) -- The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman was freed Thursday after four months in jail for a plot that put a spotlight on the comic icon's office affairs, city Correction Department records show....
By MIKE BAKER
2010-09-02T17:52:36Z
BUXTON, N.C. (AP) -- Hurricane Earl packed winds near 140 mph as it blew toward North Carolina on Thursday, putting the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Maine on alert for a Labor Day weekend pounding by waves, gales and rain....
By ALAN SAYRE
2010-09-02T17:47:52Z
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) -- An offshore petroleum platform exploded and burned Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, west of the site of BP's massive spill, but no leaks were reported....
By CHRIS KAHN
2010-09-02T17:42:19Z
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mariner Energy, Inc. shares dropped more than 4 percent Thursday following news that one of its production platforms exploded in the Gulf of Mexico....
By
2010-09-02T17:15:51Z
CHICAGO (AP) -- Several current and former gang members say an initiative by Chicago's police chief is unfairly targeting them for the city's violence....
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
2010-09-02T17:08:27Z
PHOENIX (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics....
By DAVID DISHNEAU and SARAH BRUMFIELD
2010-09-02T16:21:09Z
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- As the three hostages at Discovery Channel's headquarters appeared ready to make a run for it, police said Thursday that a SWAT team officer quickly shot and killed the increasingly agitated gunman who had explosives strapped to himself, ending the four-hour standoff....
By CHRIS BLANK
2010-09-02T15:57:24Z
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- It's been three years since Scott Eckersley was fired after asserting that his then-boss, former Gov. Matt Blunt, and others in Blunt's administration should not be deleting certain e-mails because they belonged to the public record....
By HARRY R. WEBER
2010-09-02T13:57:10Z
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The cap that ended BP's three-month oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico was set to come off Thursday as a prelude to raising a massive, failed piece of equipment and preparing for a final seal on the broken seafloor well....
By RACHEL D'ORO
2010-09-02T08:43:04Z
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The defeat of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski by an upstart fiscal conservative in Alaska's GOP primary could mark a significant shift for a state that has so long relied on federal pork to survive. The outcome was also an unexpected blow to the seniority Alaska has enjoyed in the Senate....
