Judge to hear plan to pay $657M to WTC responders (AP)

AP - Thousands of ground zero workers who claim to have been sickened by dust and debris from the World Trade Center will have 90 days to decide whether to accept a settlement worth up to $657.5 million.

NYC police pursue video leads in bar beating (AP)

AP - Security video has attracted some tips, but none so far have led police to the stranger who followed a woman into a bar restroom, savagely beating her and perhaps trying to sexually assault her after she rejected his advances.

Experts say US doctors overtesting, overtreating (AP)

AP - Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggest that too many Americans — maybe even President Barack Obama — are being overtreated.

Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom (AP)

AP - A lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district to reinstate the dance it canceled.

Old laws, raids leave Philly bar owners foaming (AP)

AP - A real brouhaha has beer lovers in the City of Brotherly love frothing over with anger.

Friend: Suspected US al-Qaida member grew radical (AP)

AP - Sharif Mobley had strong Muslim views as early as high school. But his old friend Roman Castro knew he had radicalized when he saw him about four years ago.

Former John Edwards aide returning to NC court (AP)

AP - A former aide to John Edwards is returning to court just days after a North Carolina judge nearly sent him to jail over his handling of a videotape purportedly showing the two-time presidential candidate in a sexual encounter.

Fed. appeals court upholds 'under God' in pledge (AP)

AP - An appellate court has upheld references to God on U.S. currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting arguments they violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

Autopsy: Animal fatally mauled teacher in Alaska (AP)

AP - A teacher jogging along a rural Alaskan road was killed in an animal attack and authorities say wolves are the chief suspects.

Man convicted in slaying of Broncos cornerback (AP)

AP - The group of Denver Broncos players arrived at the Safari nightclub to celebrate New Year's Eve and was whisked inside by bouncers. One of the dozens of people waiting in line to get in — an alleged Tre-Tre Crips gang member — took exception.

Lawmakers probe lax enforcement of animal rules (AP)

AP - The knives at the slaughterhouse weren't properly sanitized, a government investigator said, and employees at the meatpacking plant didn't know how to test the carcasses of days-old veal calves for a dangerous pathogen. Food safety conditions were so poor at the Vermont processing facility that it should close before someone got sick, officials warned.

After drop in poll, AG recuses himself in NY probe (AP)

AP - In recusing himself after two weeks of investigating Gov. David Paterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said there was no "technical conflict" but described the probe thus far as preliminary and bowed to pressure that included sinking approval ratings for the man widely expected to run for governor.

Indiana man who murdered 2 executed in Texas (AP)

AP - An Indiana man whose cross-country crime spree with his girlfriend a decade ago ended in a gun battle with police in San Francisco was executed Thursday in Texas for killing a sheriff's officer.

APNewsBreak: Calif. murder suspect broke parole (AP)

AP - A convicted sex offender charged with murdering one California teenager and under investigation for another killing violated his parole by moving too close to a school but was allowed to remain free, according to records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Toyota 'mystified' by runaway Prius case in Calif. (AP)

AP - A Toyota executive said Thursday the company is "mystified" by a report that a California man's Prius gas pedal became stuck and caused the car to speed out of control on a California freeway.

Feds recall more children jewelry in cadmium probe (AP)

AP - Federal safety regulators recalled a line of Christmas-themed bracelets Thursday, expanding their effort to purge children's jewelry boxes and store shelves of items containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium.

Few details about ambitious KC school closing plan (AP)

AP - Kansas City school officials promised Thursday to shut down nearly half the district's schools by the start of classes in the fall without offering details of how they intend to implement the complicated plan in just a matter of months.

Mass. club pleads no contest in boy's Uzi death (AP)

AP - A Massachusetts sporting club is donating $10,000 to children's charities as part of a deal settling criminal charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun fair.