TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A civilian border watch group dismissed a volunteer who had an illegal immigrant pose for a mocking photograph. Organizers of the Minuteman Project said that although authorities determined the man had not illegally detained the immigrant, he still violated the group’s procedures. They added that the volunteer had given the immigrant…

By ROBERT TANNER / AP National Writer With more than four out of five states allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons, that argument is finished. Now, the nation’s long-running argument over guns turns on how much to loosen the rules — should guns be allowed in judge’s chambers? Bars? In workplace parking lots? The…

BOSTON (AP) — To Alice Letteney, the community college she oversees 30 miles south of Albuquerque, N.M., has little in common with the big chains of profit-making schools whose radio and TV ads blanket the airwaves over much of the country. As Letteney sees it, her mission is providing essential skills to students in Valencia…

Packages of Smucker’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can be seen in this photograph provided by the J.M Smucker Company. (AP Photo/J.M. Smucker Co.) WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s only so far you can go in trying to patent the ever-popular peanut butter and jelly sandwich. On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The post office wants an extra 2-cents-worth for its stamps. However, at the same time Friday that the agency proposed the stamp price increase, it also invited Congress to eliminate the need for it. The proposal sent to the independent Postal Rate Commission calls for increases to take effect early next year.…

JAYNES LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — He was once considered among the top 10 spammers in the world, using the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services like the “FedEx refunding processor,” prosecutors say. Convicted in the nation’s first felony case against illegal spamming, Jeremy Jaynes, 30, on Friday was sentenced to nine years…

By RICHARD N. OSTLING / AP Religion Writer The majority of America’s Roman Catholics tell pollsters they want a greater voice for the laity in the church, that priests should be allowed to marry and that there should even be women in the clergy. As the world’s focus turns to the secretive election of the…

Peru’s Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani says mass at the Cathedral of Lima, Peru in this March 25, 2005 file photo. (AP Photo) VATICAN CITY (AP) — Each morning brings the same scene: a procession of scarlet-capped cardinals off to plan the conclave that will pick the papal successor. As the days tick down to the…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is lukewarm on President Bush’s proposal to create personal accounts in Social Security, but even if that plan dies, the program’s looming financial problems will remain. A $4 trillion hole will need to be filled so Social Security can stay solvent for the next 75 years, regardless of the fate of…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — When Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., soldiers from the 63rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry were there. Exactly 140 years later the present day version of the 63rd, a group of Civil War re-enactors, were tapped to participate in a recreation of the event that ended the war. Capt. Jeff…