Children categories
JENNIFER KAY, MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — It was a cold-hearted online post that a Florida sheriff said hastened the arrest of two girls, aged 12 and 14, in the bullying-suicide case of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd repeated the older girl's Facebook comment almost word for word at a news conference Tuesday. "'Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don't give a ...' and you can add the last word yourself," Judd said. But in an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday, a couple identified as the 14-year-old's parents said their daughter would never write something like that and that the girl's Facebook page had been hacked.
Stocks rise sharply on optimism for a debt deal
STEVE ROTHWELL, AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market surged in late morning trading as Washington closed in on a deal to avoid a default by the U.S. government.
The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 200 points, or 1.3 percent, to 15,370 in midday trading shortly after news that Senate leaders reached an agreement to avert a default. Rates on short-term U.S. government debt also fell as investors became less nervous.
MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for killing his parents at their Lubbock home 15 years ago during a drug-influenced rampage that also left his 89-year-old grandmother dead. Michael Yowell, 43, told witnesses, including his daughters and his ex-wife, that he loved them. "Punch the button," he told the warden. He took several deep breaths, then began snoring. Within about 30 seconds, all movement stopped. His daughters and ex-wife hugged as they watched through a window in the death chamber.