Megan Biretz, 17, never had an easy life. Her single mom struggled to support her while battling cervical cancer, then complications. Family demons - alcoholism, drugs and mental illness - hovered over the household with three adults and one child. Then, in two short days in early March, even that precarious family life vanished. ...more

March 29, 2009

Megan Biretz, 17, never had an easy life. Her single mom struggled to support her while battling cervical cancer, then complications. Family demons — alcoholism, drugs and mental illness — hovered over the household with three adults and one child. Then, in two short days in early March, even that precarious family life vanished. ...more

March 27, 2009

In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, nearly 300 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents. ...more

May 24, 2008

Democrat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York marked Veterans Day by calling for new assistance programs, but said she would move more carefully than her rivals on dealing with looming shortfalls facing the Social Security system. ...more

November 12, 2007

A rise in assault rifle use by criminals has spurred Miami's police chief to authorize patrol officers to carry similar weapons, he said Sunday. ...more

September 17, 2007

Sen. John McCain's famous 'Straight Talk Express' was gone, replaced by a bus emblazoned with a sign reading 'No Surrender.' ...more

September 13, 2007