WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have a message for any local officials who think farmland on the edge of town might make a nice shopping mall: Seize the property and you’ll lose federal funding for your community. Republicans and Democrats alike want to negate a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave cities broad power to take…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kathy Bates fell hard for “Ambulance Girl.” “I just didn’t want to let anyone else get their mitts on it. I knew what I wanted to do with it. I didn’t want anyone else telling me what to do,” says the Oscar-winning actress, who is both star and director of the…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hurricane Katrina’s devastating blow has put a spotlight on the military’s helping hand and largely diverted Americans’ attention from the mix of grim and hopeful events playing out in Iraq. Even as thousands more troops poured into Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday to accelerate the search and rescue of stranded Katrina survivors,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. disaster official waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers, internal documents show. Part of the mission, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press, was to “convey…

HAGERHILL, Ky. (AP) — The haunting scenes from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast has triggered an outpouring from residents of the central Appalachian region and some of the nation’s most impoverished communities. Hammered by devastating floods over the past two years, they have had to depend on the generosity of others. Now they’re gladly reaching out…

NASHVILLE (AP) — A Hurricane Katrina refugee on Tuesday attempted suicide aboard a commercial flight bound for Washington, D.C., causing the plane to be diverted. United Express flight 7565 originated in Houston and was bound for Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia. The passenger who attempted suicide was removed from the aircraft and taken to…

MEMPHIS (AP) — With thousands of refugees and dozens of charity groups converging on Memphis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some emergency officials are concerned that relief efforts aren’t being coordinated efficiently. More than 20 faith-based groups and others have been distributing aid and offering housing without consulting the Memphis Shelby County Emergency Management…

By ROSE FRENCH / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — A group of Republican lawmakers urged the governor Tuesday to temporarily halt the state’s gasoline tax to give Tennesseans a break on pump prices that have hovered near the $3-per-gallon mark for days. High gas prices in much of Tennessee are starting to level off and…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Candy, soda, pizza and other snacks compete with nutritious meals in nine out of 10 schools, a government survey found. Already plentiful in high schools, junk food has become more available in middle schools over the past five years, according to the Government Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. “Parents should…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show “Gilligan’s Island,” made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 70. Denver died Friday at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina of complications from treatment…