NEW YORK (AP) -- Noisy protesters with signs took over three bank building lobbies on Thursday in a prelude to a Wall Street rally by workers and union leaders angry over lost jobs, the taxpayer-funded bailout of financial institutions and questionable lending practices by big banks.

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Workers are stringing out oil-absorbing booms along Alabama's coast to protect against the huge petroleum spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but the Coast Guard says they investigating the possibility that the spill has already reached the sensitive coast areas of Louisiana.

DETROIT (AP) -- Dennis Talbert turns onto Heyden Street toward the safety and security of his modest wood bungalow at the far end of the block. But first he must pass through a wasteland.

PHOENIX (AP) -- The debate over Arizona's new illegal immigrant law promises to move from protest lines and talk shows to the courtroom, where a judge could be asked to decide whether the state can enforce laws that until now had been the federal government's exclusive domain.

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Federal officials will not file charges against seven guards and a nurse in the Florida boot camp death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson.

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Christine Tony, the faithful assistant of Dr. Dorothy I. Height, briefed the 13 young ladies before the entry of the civil rights icon. "My 97-year-old is feeling 97 today," said the smiling Tony.

(NNPA) - The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that it is considering taking an active role in reforming the New Orleans Police Department.

TRENTON, N.J. (NNPA) - What was promoted as a "Stop the Violence" rally at the First Baptist Church of Pennington to respond to the alleged rape of a 7-year-old girl in a housing complex quickly became the largest recruitment of community men to join the Peace Keepers, a neighborhood watch program to protect women and children.

(NNPA) - Something once thought to be just a figment of African American imagination – racial discrimination at the doctor's office – might get a reality check soon in light of the new numbers.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate's top negotiators on financial overhaul legislation said Sunday they were not optimistic about striking a bipartisan agreement on key features of the sweeping bill before a showdown vote on Monday.