U.S. National News

• Fans sue Ohio nightclub over shooting AP - Sat Dec 9, 1:56 PM ET

  COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two rock fans who witnessed the killing of heavy metal guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in a nightclub shooting spree that left five dead are suing the club's owners, saying the club provided inadequate security.

• Wash. state workers tell it like it is AP - Sat Dec 9, 1:31 PM ET

  OLYMPIA, Wash. - The average person may find it tough to understand state government, but Washington state officials want to deploy changes to alleviate state personnel's employment of acronyms, jargon and legalese that routinely pervade interfaces with constituents.

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  Pilots in Brazil crash return to U.S. AP - 32 minutes ago

  RONKONKOMA, N.Y. - Two U.S. pilots detained in Brazil for more than two months following a midair collision that killed 154 people arrived home in Long Island on Saturday to a rousing welcome from friends and family.

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  Witness targeted in Calif. beating case AP - Sat Dec 9, 2:35 PM ET

  LONG BEACH, Calif. - A key prosecution witness was afraid to testify against a group of black teens she said she saw brutally attack three white women, fearful that taking the stand would endanger her and her 1-year-old son.

• Bill helps dead Calif. firefighters' kin AP - Sat Dec 9, 2:53 PM ET

  WASHINGTON - As it did for relatives of Sept. 11 victims, Congress passed legislation early Saturday to ensure the families of five firefighters killed in Southern California get more than $1 million in donations.

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  Fiancee of shooting victim changes name AP - Sat Dec 9, 3:10 PM ET

  NEW YORK - She lost her fiance in a hail of police gunfire on their wedding day, but a court has ruled that Nicole Paultre can still have his name.

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  2 dead, 18 hurt in SoCal apartment fire AP - Sat Dec 9, 6:54 AM ET

  LONG BEACH, Calif. - Investigators combed through an apartment complex early Saturday, trying to determine what caused a fire that killed two people, injured 18 others and forced rescuers to pull trapped residents from balconies.

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  Stranded family took road vandal opened AP - Sat Dec 9, 4:16 AM ET

  GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A San Francisco man who got stranded with his family in the snowy wilderness had taken a wrong turn in the car down a logging road that is normally blocked by a gate, but vandals had cut the lock, authorities said Friday.

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  Wet concrete collapses in Va.; 17 hurt AP - Sat Dec 9, 4:21 AM ET

  ARLINGTON, Va. - It was supposed to be a day to celebrate their accomplishment. Workers would pour the last of the concrete onto a high-rise building under construction, then the company would hold a "topping-off" party. Instead, the concrete collapsed from the roof of the 300-foot tall skyscraper onto the 24th floor, injuring 16 workers — at least one critically.

• Older girl to testify in Wis. rape case AP - Sat Dec 9, 12:35 AM ET

  MILWAUKEE - A teenage girl has agreed to testify against more than a dozen males accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, a prosecutor said Friday.

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  Police link man to Phoenix killings case AP - Fri Dec 8, 8:19 PM ET

  PHOENIX - An attorney for a man police allege shot nine people to death in the Phoenix area said Friday that his client is innocent and was shocked to hear about the new recommended charges.

• S.C. hunter pinned under ATV for 2 days AP - Sat Dec 9, 12:22 AM ET

  UNION, S.C. - A hunter was found alive Friday after he spent more than two days in the woods pinned under an all-terrain vehicle.

• Bus officials apologize to Muslim woman AP - Sat Dec 9, 12:20 AM ET

  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Public transit officials have apologized to a woman wearing an Islamic facial veil who was turned away from a bus and Friday rescinded a rule banning people with face coverings.

• School bus crash in Minn. injures 24 AP - Fri Dec 8, 8:04 PM ET

  HAM LAKE, Minn. - A bus loaded with elementary school students hurtled through an intersection and into two other vehicles Friday, sending two dozen people — all but three of them children — to hospitals. The driver told investigators the brakes had failed.

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  Married archbishop backed by Moon AP - 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

  PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The renegade Roman Catholic archbishop who was excommunicated by the Vatican after he installed married priests as bishops acknowledged Saturday that the Rev. Sun Myung Moon was supporting his crusade against mandatory celibacy.

Crimes and Trials News

• Witness: I have no idea why I told police that debutante's killers were white CourtTV - Fri Dec 8, 4:15 PM ET

  SAVANNAH, Ga. (Court TV) - A man who witnessed the shooting death of a Savannah debutante on Christmas Eve 2005 told jurors Friday that he has no idea why he initially told police that two of the assailants were white men.

• Prosecutors rest case against man accused of killing race car legend Mickey Thompson CourtTV - Fri Dec 8, 2:35 PM ET

  PASADENA, Calif. (Court TV) - Prosecutors rested their case Thursday against a man accused of plotting the deaths of famed race car driver Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy in the driveway of their home.

• Woman's Cinderella tale ends in courtroom, not ballroom CourtTV - Fri Dec 8, 2:34 PM ET

  (Court TV) - It was just like "Cinderella," only without the magical pumpkin, beautiful gown or handsome Prince.

• 2nd teen convicted in party beating AP - Fri Dec 8, 10:04 PM ET

  HOUSTON - A second teen was convicted Friday of aggravated sexual assault in the brutal attack of a Hispanic boy.

• Illness delays smuggling deaths case AP - Fri Dec 8, 9:45 PM ET

  HOUSTON - The sentencing of a truck driver convicted for his role in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt has been put off until January because his lead attorney is ill.