By LEANNE ITALIE, AP “Why are you so sad?” a TV reporter asked the little girl with a bright pink bow in her hair. “Because they didn’t like my dreads,”… Read more »

By MATTHEW BARAKAT (McLEAN, Va., AP) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says the courts will ultimately have to determine the legality of wiretapping by the National Security Agency. And… Read more »

By RACHEL ZOLL (NEW YORK, AP) — In recent years, many American bishops have drawn a harder line with parishioners on what could be considered truly Roman Catholic, adopting a… Read more »

By MARTIN GRIFFITH (RENO, Nev., AP) — A World War II soldier’s heartfelt letter to his daughter has finally reached her, seven decades after it was written. Peggy Eddington-Smith received… Read more »

(CHICAGO, AP) — Chicago rapper Common says his hometown needs to better understand the young people contributing to its violence problem and be more consistent in efforts to help them…. Read more »

(TUSCALOOSA, Ala., AP) — Black women are joining traditionally white sororities at the University of Alabama amid efforts to end racial segregation within Greek-letter social groups, the head of the… Read more »

By MANUEL VALDES and P. SOLOMON BANDA (LYONS, Colo., AP) — Residents displaced by last week’s flooding in the Colorado canyon town of Lyons were allowed past National Guard roadblocks Thursday… Read more »

By MARIA SUDEKUM (PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan., AP) — A Kansas man whose online lecture about the Bible and same-sex relationships gained considerable attention has gathered about 50 Christians from around… Read more »

By ERIC TUCKER and JACK GILLUM (WASHINGTON, AP) — The government’s sprawling system of background checks and security clearances is so unreliable it’s virtually impossible to adequately investigate the nearly 5… Read more »