SAN FRANCISCO -- The last time Lerone Matthis was released from the Division of Juvenile Justice in April 2008, he feared he had reached bottom.

NEW ORLEANS -- Good news seems hard to find these days, but New Orleans has plenty right now. The most recent test scores for the city's schools show students steadily improving. Widely considered one of the nation's worst school districts for years, New Orleans' schools have been showing remarkable gains.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A poet-historian representing a younger generation of writers will soon take office on Capitol Hill, overlooking the politicians, in a lesser-known post enshrined in federal law.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Friday strongly rejected Republican accusations that his administration deliberately leaked classified information about a U.S cyberattack on Iran's nuclear centrifuge program.

(CNN) -- The Florida A&M Board of Trustees issued a vote of no confidence against the university's president Thursday in the wake of last year's hazing death of a school band member.

(CNN) -- Florida's Republican-appointed secretary of state issued a tough rebuke to the United States Justice Department late Wednesday, writing his state's effort to remove non-U.S. citizens from voter rolls was both consistent with federal law and necessary to protect against fraud.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of historic U.S. post offices nationwide face uncertain futures as the U.S. Postal Service downsizes, so preservationists on Wednesday added these American institutions to the list of the country's most endangered historic places.

(CNN) -- The Southern Poverty Law Center is advocating a legal hot line for immigrants in Alabama in response to a recent change to that state's immigration law, the center said Wednesday.

(CNN) -- California's vote on a controversial cigarette tax remained too close to call Wednesday morning, although votes counted so far suggest it was narrowly rejected.

(CNN) -- Raids were conducted early Wednesday to arrest an array of alleged drug traffickers and airline employees who officials say formed a network that smuggled cocaine from Puerto Rico to the continental United States aboard commercial aircraft.