NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit brought by a black Connecticut firefighter over a 2003 exam that led to the promotions of more than a dozen white firefighters ahead of him.

As they embark on a nationwide tour, Professor Cornel West and Tavis Smiley have said that they will highlight hardships in communities across the nation, especially the Black and poor communities.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that he has the best economic record and executive experience in government of any rival in the Republican presidential field, contrasting his credentials with those of his top two opponents, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann.

UKIAH, Calif. (AP) -- An estimated $800 million worth of marijuana has been seized following a massive raid on illegal grows on public lands deep in Northern California's pot country, authorities said last week.

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) -- Bob Howe points to an overgrown, muddy patch of land in a cemetery in Owensboro, gesturing to where the grave of the last man publicly executed in the United States may be.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stephen Colbert's latest attempt at campaign mischief-making involves encouraging Iowans to write in a false name during the weekend's presidential straw poll, but one television station in Des Moines isn't playing along.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Pittsburgh woman will spend nine years in prison for taking advantage of a computer glitch to steal $1.1 million from the city's only minority-owned bank, which regulators closed as insolvent two years ago.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A serial killer will be put to death for murdering 11 women and dumping their bodies around his property, a judge ruled Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- An 18-year-old was dismissed from the U.S. Ski Team's development squad after he was accused of getting drunk and then urinating on a fellow passenger aboard a JetBlue flight.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Carlton J. Roy Sr., a black businessman who worked against segregation alongside influential New Orleans civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Avery Alexander and Dorothy Mae Taylor, has died. He was 94.