• ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe 10/7/2008, 7:51 p.m. EDT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada authorities seized records Tuesday from a group they accused of submitting fraudulent voter-registration forms — including for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.

• Palin stretches truth in campaign speeches 10/7/2008, 7:44 p.m. EDT
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tells audiences the election is about the "truthfulness and judgment" needed to be president. But the Alaska governor often stretches the truth herself.

• Half-ton Mexican man dies after pleading for help 10/7/2008, 7:35 p.m. EDT
JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — A 990-pound bedridden man who had appealed on Mexican television for help tackling his weight problem died Tuesday of heart failure, his family said.

• Yosemite visitors, workers evacuate rock fall area 10/7/2008, 7:34 p.m. EDT
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are evacuating the Staircase Falls area of Yosemite National Park after a rock slide.

• State reviewing per diem payments to Palin 10/7/2008, 7:27 p.m. EDT
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's practice of charging the state when she stays in her home must be reviewed to determine if she should pay taxes on the payments, state Finance Director Kim Garnero said Tuesday.

• Trailing Obama, McCain hopes to gain in debate 10/7/2008, 7:25 p.m. EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Leading in the polls, Barack Obama hopes to cement his standing while John McCain is trying to turn his fortunes around in their second presidential debate — with economic turmoil bordering on chaos suddenly serving as the backdrop.

• Feds question new voter checks in 6 states 10/7/2008, 7:25 p.m. EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — Federal officials have asked election officials in six states to investigate whether social security number checks are being improperly run on people registering to vote.

• Defense: Man killed 2 by throwing them off yacht 10/7/2008, 7:19 p.m. EDT
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The attorney for a man accused of throwing a couple off their yacht bound to an anchor told a jury Tuesday his client is guilty of those two murders and a third, but shouldn't be put to death.

• AP Exclusive: Documents say detainee near insanity 10/7/2008, 7:18 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. military officer warned Pentagon officials that an American detainee was being driven nearly insane by months of punishing isolation and sensory deprivation in a U.S. military brig, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

• Ex-Mich. teacher gets 180 days for upskirt photos 10/7/2008, 7:12 p.m. EDT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A former Michigan teacher convicted of trying to take photos up a 15-year-old student's skirt during class has been sentenced to 180 days in jail.

• Obama wishes he had more time for staying fit 10/7/2008, 7:10 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama says he wishes he had more time for staying fit. And the Democratic presidential candidate admits that he still occasionally smokes a cigarette.

• Divers reach steamship that sank off Mass. in 1898 10/7/2008, 7:08 p.m. EDT
BOSTON (AP) — Five Massachusetts men became the first divers to reach the wreck of a 19th-century steamship that sank in one of the most destructive storms in New England history, and say they saw an array of artifacts like dishes and mugs but no human remains.

• Ike windstorm costs insurers $550M in Ohio damages 10/7/2008, 7:07 p.m. EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Winds from Hurricane Ike will cost insurance companies at least $553.1 million to cover property damage and other losses in Ohio, making it the state's most expensive natural disaster in more than three decades, a trade group said Tuesday.

• Far-right Austria governor isolates asylum seekers 10/7/2008, 7:01 p.m. EDT
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Far-right Gov. Joerg Haider has set up a facility in the remote mountains of southern Austria to handle asylum seekers suspected as criminals, saying they need to be isolated to protect the people in the area.

• Boat of congresswomen's brother believed found 10/7/2008, 6:51 p.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Divers searching outside Los Angeles harbor have found a recreational boat believed to belong to the missing brother of U.S. Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez.

• Ill. gov to convicted fundraiser: Tell the truth 10/7/2008, 6:39 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday called on Antoin "Tony" Rezko to tell the truth, a day after federal prosecutors strongly hinted that the political fundraiser, convicted in a state corruption scandal, might be cooperating in their investigation.

• Bush to America: Hang in there 10/7/2008, 6:25 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Tuesday told a country engulfed by dire economic news that it should not expect a sudden recovery, but rather a gradual rebound that will test people's patience.

• Ohio top court mulls Planned Parenthood files 10/7/2008, 6:24 p.m. EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Tuesday that an abortion clinic's medical records on other patients are relevant to a lawsuit brought by parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion without their consent.

• Obama money from abroad could total $3.3 million 10/7/2008, 6:24 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised about $3.3 million from contributors who did not list a home state or who designated their state with an abbreviation that did not match one of the 50 states or U.S. territories, according to records provided by the Federal Election Commission.

• Former officials say Iran helped on al-Qaida 10/7/2008, 6:23 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an effort to help the United States counter al-Qaida after the 9/11 attack, Iran rounded up hundreds of Arabs who had crossed the border from Afghanistan, expelled many of them and made copies of nearly 300 of their passports, a former Bush administration official said Tuesday.

• UAW launches advertising campaign against McCain 10/7/2008, 6:18 p.m. EDT
DETROIT (AP) — United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Tuesday the union would run $3 million worth of advertising criticizing Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his economic policies in four key states.

• Police: 4 were dead before southwest Michigan fire 10/7/2008, 6:15 p.m. EDT
WRIGHT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Police say a fire at a southwestern Michigan home was intentionally set to cover up the shooting deaths of a mother and her two sons, and the fatal beating of a son's girlfriend.

• Judge orders release of Chinese Muslims into US 10/7/2008, 6:12 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States, a dramatic ruling that could set the course for releasing dozens of other prisoners at the naval facility in Cuba.

• Questioning of jurors begins in Fort Dix case 10/7/2008, 6:09 p.m. EDT
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Prospective jurors discussed their attitudes toward religion and immigrants Tuesday as a complex process began to seat a jury in the case of five men accused of planning to attack Fort Dix.

• Museum agrees to ax Lizzie Borden name, ending row 10/7/2008, 6:04 p.m. EDT
BOSTON (AP) — A museum and a bed and breakfast have settled a trademark dispute over the macabre legacy of Lizzie Borden, a Sunday school teacher accused in the hatchet deaths of her father and stepmother, a museum official said Tuesday.