Professional racecar driver Scott Tucker has been charged in a payday lending operation offering quick cash over the Internet to desperate people. Authorities said Tucker was arrested Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, on charges in an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York City. The indictment says Tucker and… Read More

For more than half a century, the unsolved killing of a young schoolteacher and beauty queen who was last seen at church haunted the Texas city of McAllen. But now, nearly 56 years after the bludgeoned body of 25-year-old Irene Garza was pulled from an irrigation canal, police have arrested… Read More

Sonja Thompson lives so close to the edge of an 80-foot bluff above the Pacific Ocean that when paragliders fly by “you can almost high-five them.” Having the Pacific as your backyard has its benefits, and its dangers. Crumbling cliffs have forced dozens to leave their homes and others like… Read More

A wild elephant rampaged through an east Indian town on Wednesday, smashing homes and sending panicked residents running. As the frightened elephant ran amok, trampling parked cars and motorbikes, crowds of people gathered to watch from balconies and roof tops. Some followed from a distance as the elephant moved through… Read More

Thousands of people bundled up against the cold winds in New Orleans on Tuesday, screaming for beads from passing floats and dancing to marching bands as the city marked the culmination of the famous Mardi Gras celebration. The last day of parades rolled along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street… Read More

A wind-driven winter storm that brought blizzard conditions to Cape Cod fell short of forecast snowfall totals and spared the Northeast the widespread power outages that had been predicted. Snowflakes were still flying Tuesday as New England residents continued to mop up from Monday’s storm. And the misery may not… Read More

Police say a woman tried to get a couple to rob the Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant where she worked. Police say 23-year-old Alayna Weishner-Rush asked the duo to rob the Burger King in Washington, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 14. The suspect wanted them to rob the restaurant while she was working the… Read More

The Utah Red Cross plans to honor a year-old red kangaroo that works as a therapy animal at a Salt Lake City veterans home. Charlie is one of about a dozen therapy animals at William E. Christoffersen Veterans home. The marsupial has also visited special education classes and hospice care… Read More

Alligators have been used as shoes, briefcases, university mascots, lunch and now, authorities say, a deadly weapon. Joshua James, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials say he threw a 3.5-foot alligator through a… Read More

For nearly 50 years, Sirhan Sirhan has been consistent: He says he doesn’t remember fatally shooting Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in a crowded kitchen pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The Jerusalem native, now 71, has given no inkling that he will change his version of events at… Read More