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Nation and World

People who text and drive know dangers, survey shows

Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is dangerous. Many people do it anyway. In an AT&T-sponsored survey of drivers who text daily — regardless of where they are — 98 percent said they were aware of the dangers of texting behind the wheel.

 
Berkeley first US city to approve soda tax

The California city of Berkeley overwhelmingly approved the first U.S. ballot measure to tax sugary soft drinks, but while supporters hope it will unleash similar efforts nationwide, organizers of the measure said their grassroots effort would not be easy to duplicate.

 
2 states, nation’s capital approve pot legalization

Residents of Oregon, Alaska, and the U.S. capital voted to legalize marijuana on Tuesday in key victories that could fuel the legalization movement as cannabis usage is increasingly recognized by the American mainstream.

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NY socialite found guilty in autistic son’s death

A wealthy New York socialite accused of killing her 8-year-old autistic son was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday, said prosecutors, who had sought a second-degree murder conviction.

 
Ore. mom posted cheery videos before tossing son from bridge

A mother accused of throwing her son to his death from an Oregon bridge posted cheery videos on YouTube nearly a year ago of her 6-year-old boy holding a stuffed toy lion while tossing coins in a fountain to make a wish.

 
Sixth person dies from Maine fire

A hospital spokeswoman says a man has died from injuries suffered during a weekend Portland house fire, bringing total deaths to six.

 
Man sought in Philadelphia abduction shown in store video

Relatives of a woman violently abducted from a Philadelphia street pleaded for her safe return Tuesday as police sought the public’s help in tracking down the man seen in photographs using the woman’s bank card and in video walking through a Maryland store.

Republicans grab U.S. Senate from Reid

Republicans grabbed the keys from Sen. Harry Reid on Tuesday as they swept into control of the U.S. Senate.

 
Fugitive Mexico mayor may be mastermind of mass abductions, killings

Mexican police on Tuesday captured a fugitive former mayor and his wife suspected of being the probable masterminds behind the abduction of 43 student teachers feared massacred in September, officials said.

 
Calif. driver charged in fatal Halloween hit-and-run

Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a driver accused of fleeing in his SUV after fatally striking three Southern California teenage girls as they were trick-or-treating on Halloween.

 
Ore. mom charged after throwing son from bridge

A woman who appealed for money online to help care for her autistic son and disabled husband has been accused of throwing her 6-year-old boy to his death off an historic bridge on the Oregon coast.

How did the co-pilot survive the Virgin Galactic spacecraft crash?

Federal accident investigators have an early sense of what went wrong before an experimental spaceship designed to ferry tourists beyond the Earth’s atmosphere broke apart during a test flight. But they still don’t know why the craft prematurely shifted its shape prior to the deadly crash.

Air Force fires 2 commanders at missile bases

The Air Force fired two commanders and disciplined a third in response to internal investigations of leadership lapses and misbehavior at two of its three intercontinental ballistic missile bases.