CHICAGO (AP) — Cell phone footage showing a group of teens viciously kicking and striking a 16-year-old honors student with splintered railroad ties has ramped up pressure on Chicago officials to address chronic violence that has led to dozens of deaths of city teens each year. ...more

September 28, 2009

Aug. 29, 2009 ...more

August 29, 2009

A South Florida family says they were surprised to find their home was accidentally sold at a foreclosure auction. ...more

August 20, 2009

Mallory Horne, 84, the only person to serve as Florida's Senate president and House speaker since Reconstruction who later become the target of a federal money-laundering probe, died Thursday after a battle with lung cancer. ...more

May 1, 2009

I owe a lot to Elijah. The 17-year-old high school dropout came to the center where I tutor to try and earn his GED. Quiet, respectful and struggling, he was my student and we worked together on reading comprehension. ...more

March 25, 2009

Jennifer Hudson is returning to "American Idol" — for one night only. The Grammy- and Oscar-winning actress, singer and "Idol" alum is scheduled to tape a performance in front of the studio audience on Wednesday after the live broadcast has ended, says a person close to the show who did not want his or her name used because the person was not authorized to speak to reporters. ...more

March 24, 2009

A man fell off a hotel balcony in St. Pete Beach and was taken to the hospital with injuries Tuesday night, according to police. ...more

March 18, 2009

Prosecutors say they'll pursue first-degree murder charges in the death of a 17-month-old boy from injuries his uncle initially described as a fall against a table. ...more

March 17, 2009

After months of legal troubles, Earl and Clarissa Johnson were about to regain custody of their children. On Thursday, though, a month before they were to be reunited, Lakeland police say their youngest son, 17-month-old Zachary, was brutally beaten and killed by his uncle, Matthew Wyrosdick. ...more

March 15, 2009

If you met a Sun City Center resident returning from a hot afternoon on the golf course and asked how the day had been you might receive the facetious reply, "it was murder." But Sun City Center author Camille Mariani writes about a real murder on a golf course in her new mystery "Links to Death," subtitled "Murder in Maine." Young Beth Armstrong wanted a life change and jumped at the opportunity to work at a newspaper in Fairchance, Maine. ...more

March 4, 2009