WASHINGTON -- A U.S. court is set to hear a challenge to a law allowing the government to freeze assets of charities suspected of helping terrorists, observers say. The May 1 hearing in U.S. District Court in Ohio will mark the first legal challenge to a provision of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that allows the U.S. Treasury to block a charity's operations indefinitely if officials have a "reasonable basis" to suspect it is ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. cities and counties are reporting more homeless families as the deteriorating economy forces more people onto the streets, figures show. A one-day January count of the homeless in 56 U.S. cities revealed that 35 of them reported an increase in people living on the streets while 12 of logged a drop, USA Today reported Monday. The newspaper said that in Seattle 40 percent more people were homeless in the suburbs; in Miami, ... [full story]

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- A man walked into the American Civic Association building near downtown Binghamton, N.Y. Friday, and shot at least four people, police said.   Initial reports conflicted about number of deaths and injuries at the American Civic Association. As many as 13 reported dead.  Media reports were conflicted about whether the four people known to be shot were injured or killed. Up to 41 people were in the building, 15 in a closet and 26 in the ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich focused an attempted extortion scheme on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a federal indictment indicates. A 75-page indictment returned against Blagojevich and five others says Blagojevich wanted a Hollywood fundraiser held in exchange for a grant to benefit a public school in "Congressman A's" district, The Chicago Tribune reported Friday. A White House aide confirmed to the Tribune that Emanuel, a former U.S. representative from Illinois, is ... [full story]

RADFORD, Va. -- Radford University in Virginia returned to normal operations Friday after being locked down following an off-campus shooting in which a man died, police said. An e-mail message alerted the university community that the lockdown was canceled, Roanoke, Va., television station WCBJ reported. University police said they lifted the order because they don't believe the shooting was random and because neither the suspected shooter nor the victim attends the university. Police said the two were ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- A Senate vote on the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of Health and Human Services won't take place for two weeks, Democrats say. At least one Republican senator has objected to a quick floor vote on the Sebelius nomination, forcing the Senate to wait until after the congressional recess to take up the matter, The Washington Times reported Friday. It wasn't clear, the newspaper said, whether the objection had to do ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Nominees to two key seats in the U.S. federal appellate court system were announced by President Barack Obama. Obama nominated Andre Davis for the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., and Gerald Lynch for the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, The Washington Post reported Friday. Both nominees are federal judges. The 4th Circuit hears cases on national security, the Post said, while the 2nd Circuit hears terrorism and business ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Some issues behind the U.S. housing collapse are also behind a stockpile of vehicles awaiting shipment to showrooms, a U.S. Treasury Department aide says. Cheap credit, easy financing, excessive production, consumers overextending themselves -- all contributing to the burst housing bubble -- also undermined the auto industry, which has seen a sharp downturn in sales, The Washington Post reported Friday. "There was a car bubble," said Steven Rattner, whom U.S. President Barack Obama tapped to ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Conservatives on the Republican National Committee are pressing Chairman Michael Steele to call a special meeting on the U.S. economy next month, members say. The group, led by James Bopp Jr. of Indiana, wants the RNC chief to bring the entire committee together to focus criticism on President Obama's stimulus package and the lawmakers who voted for it, including three GOP senators, The Washington Times reported Friday. Steele nixed holding a special meeting but offered ... [full story]

DALLAS -- Repairs to the vast levee system in Dallas may not be paid for by $459 million in approved federal funds, an official says. Kevin Craig, director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Trinity River project, said while the U.S. Congress approved the funds in 2007 for the Texas project, those funds may be unavailable when levee repairs take place, The Dallas Morning News said Friday. "Right now, we are still looking at the policy ... [full story]

SHAKOPEE, Minn. -- A judge in Scott County, Minn., sentenced Michael Anderson to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a woman he found on Craigslist. Scott County District Judge Mary Theisen told Anderson, 20, she felt he showed no remorse during his six-day trial for killing 24-year-old Minneapolis resident Katherine Olson, the Star-Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis said Thursday. "You have shown no remorse, no empathy, and I have no sympathy for you," Theisen ... [full story]

SONORA, Calif. -- A mass e-mail warning of reservation problems at Yosemite National Park left the U.S. park besieged with telephone calls, an official says. Kenny Karst, public relations manager for Delaware North Cos. Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, said nearly 3,300 people with summer reservations at the national park received an e-mail saying an October landslide was threatening their plans, the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee said Thursday. Since the recent e-mail was initially intended to only be ... [full story]

STOCKTON, Calif. -- A California grand jury indicted four people accused of torturing a 16-year-old boy for a year before he escaped wearing underwear and an ankle shackle. Kelly Layne Lau, Caren Ramirez and Anthony Vincent Waiters pleaded not guilty to the accusations outlined in the 17-count indictment, which included charges of assault with caustic chemicals. Michael Luther Schumacher, Lau's husband, postponed his plea until his lawyer reviewed witness transcripts from the grand jury investigation. Lau and Schumacher ... [full story]