CHICAGO (AP) -- Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a national spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics.

DETROIT (AP) -- Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was speeding and weaving through traffic with an uncorked, half-empty bottle of champagne and a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she was arrested in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park, according to a police report released Tuesday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Federal regulators have issued a second set of violations against BP for activities related to the 2010 blown-out well that led to the deaths of 11 rig workers and the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A mother who had been denied welfare benefits killed herself and shot her two children after a seven-hour standoff at a government social services office, police said.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- An unexpected but fruitful relationship has blossomed between two potent forces in the swamps of South Florida: the American crocodile, and a nuclear power plant.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The new owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men were killed in an explosion agreed Tuesday to pay a record $210 million to cover fines, compensate victims' grieving families and improve underground safety.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Technology bloggers are asking if our cellphones are spying on us after a security researcher said a piece of software hidden on millions of phones was recording virtually everything people do with them.

DETROIT (AP) -- About three dozen volunteers joined Detroit police officers in a hunt Monday for a 2-year-old girl reported missing by her father, who said she was taken during a carjacking last week.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A second senior citizen is claiming the Transportation Security Administration made her pull down her pants as part of a search at New York's Kennedy Airport.

DALLAS (AP) -- Major U.S. airlines are again trying to raise prices on many domestic flights.