CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) Federal prosecutors investigating the West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 men are working their way up the corporate ladder with criminal charges. On Wednesday, the former superintendent of the Upper Big Branch mine became the

NC board vows to keep praying in Jesus' name SALISBURY, N.C. County commissioners plan to continue offering Christian prayers at public meetings, regardless of warnings from a civil liberties group about recent court rulings affirming a ban on the practice.

Southside Precinct detectives are seeking the public’s help in identifying two men who broke into two Habersham Woods houses and took electronics Monday.

The parents of a U.S. soldier ...

Rick Santorum is far from alon...

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NAR: large-scale REO-to-rental program not neededread more

'HyperSocial' agent search tool slated for Q2 releaseread more

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Beyond Dual Agencyread more

This hacienda-style ranch house is part of a sprawling development in Okeechobee, Fla., that offers quail hunting and amenities such as a 600-foot zip line across a lake.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose last month to the highest level in more than 1½ years, while the inventory of unsold homes contracted to a level economists consider healthy, positive signs for housing.

According to a key historical measure, rates should be even lower. The wide spread between mortgage rates and mortgage-backed bonds suggests the gears of the banking system are gummed up.

Toll Brothers reported a quarterly loss as fewer deliveries and increased cancellations weakened revenue, but the home builder said contracts are picking up.

The nation's rural regions saw much slower population growth over the past decade, reflecting a drop in the number of jobs in these often-isolated areas.

AP - Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.

AP - Rick Santorum acknowledged Wednesday that he's probably running behind Mitt Romney in Arizona, but he implored a tea party crowd not to settle for "a Johnny-come-lately to the conservative cause."

AP - President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end to dozens of loopholes he said helps companies move jobs and profits overseas. "It's not right and it needs to change," he said.

AP - A train packed with morning commuters slammed into a barrier at the end of a line in Buenos Aires Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds as passenger cars crumpled and windows exploded. It was Argentina's worst train accident in decades.

AP - The mayor and police director of New Jersey's largest city said Wednesday the New York Police Department misled their city and never told them it was conducting a widespread spying operation on Newark's Muslim neighborhoods. Had they known, they said, they never would have allowed it.