AP - U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris testified Thursday that he didn't strike any agreement with Gov. Rod Blagojevich to win the plum position, and said he's never been involved in an improper deal in his two decades in government.

AP - The Illinois House committee investigating Gov. Rod Blagojevich released a draft report Thursday that concludes the Democratic governor has abused his power and was poised to recommend he be impeached by the full chamber.

AP - Floods, mudslides and avalanches in the Pacific Northwest kept tens of thousands of people from their homes Thursday, brought freight trains to a standstill and stranded hundreds of trucks along the major highways that link Seattle's busy ports with markets around the country.

AP - In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back — then looks up.

AP - An attorney for a woman convicted in a MySpace hoax directed at a teen who ended up committing suicide asked a judge to dismiss her convictions Thursday, saying a computer-fraud law was improperly used to prosecute her.

AP - An Alabama sheriff who made $212,000 in the last three years by feeding inmates what a judge said were skimpy portions was released from prison Thursday after submitting a plan pledging to feed them better.