RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ From his early days as television commentator and on through a three-decade career in Congress, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms never left any doubt about his beliefs.
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NEW YORK (AP) _ The nation's largest fireworks display exploded in a spectrum of color over the East River, temporarily stealing the spotlight from New York's world-famous skyline and helping to creat » Full Story

BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) _ A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 h » Full Story

NEW YORK (AP) _ The National Park Service is considering reopening Lady Liberty's crown for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to documents a congressman released on July F » Full Story

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA

AP National Writer

Even folks in the Optimist Club are having a tough time toeing an upbeat line these days.

Eighteen members of the volunteer organization’s » Full Story

WASHINGTON (AP) — The problems do not get any easier as President Bush attends his final summit with leaders of industrialized democracies.

Disputes over global warming, worries about soaring » Full Story

BEND, Ore. (AP) — Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch succeeded Saturday in his third bid to fly from central Oregon all th » Full Story

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He » Full Story

SEA BRIGHT, N.J. (AP) _ Authorities protecting a dolphin family in a New Jersey river are stepping up enforcement over the July Fourth holiday.



State police and federal officials monito » Full Story

BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) _ Piles of charred rubble smoldered near California's scenic coastal highway Thursday as a ferocious wildfire descended on the storied tourist town of Big Sur, destroying vacation » Full Story