NATIONAL
April 9, 2014 | By Matt Pearce
When two hunters found Amber Gail Creek's body, a plastic bag had been wrapped around her head and the word "Hi" written on one of her hands. It was a bitter-cold day in February 1997, and the 14-year-old runaway's partially naked body had been dumped steps from a parking lot in the Karcher Wildlife Area in Racine County, Wis. Amber had been sexually assaulted, beaten and suffocated, and a $5 price tag had been stuck to one of her arms. The gruesome discovery launched a criminal investigation that spanned almost two decades -- and has now put a suspect in police custody thanks to the help of a crime lab in Oklahoma, two Wisconsin investigators stalking the streets of Chicago, and one half-smoked cigarette.
AUTOS
April 2, 2014 | By Jim Puzzanghera and Jerry Hirsch, This post has been updated. See the note below for details.
WASHINGTON -- Senators aggressively questioned General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra on Wednesday about the years of delays in recalling vehicles with faulty ignition switches, accusing the company of a coverup to hide the problem that caused at least 13 fatal accidents. "I think it's pretty much incontrovertible that GM knew about this safety defect, failed to correct it ... and then concealed it from the courts and the United States," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Barra during a hearing by a Senate Commerce subcommittee.
SPORTS
March 25, 2014 | By Chuck Schilken
Shaquille O'Neal is being investigated by Atlanta police in connection with the alleged assault of a co-worker at Turner Studios last year. The "NBA on TNT" analyst, who won three championships with the Lakers and another with the Miami Heat, has been accused of tackle-punching Robert Williams at the studio on May 9, 2013, according to the police report. "Shaquille O'Neal ran out of a room and hit me with a tackle punch to the back knocking me down and falling on top of me injuring my neck and back," Williams told police, according to the report.
WORLD
March 19, 2014 | By Mery Mogollon and Chris Kraul
CARACAS, Venezuela - One month after the arrest of a key opposition leader, Venezuelan government officials have moved to prosecute another: national assembly member Maria Corina Machado. The Venezuelan National Assembly has ordered Atty. Gen. Luisa Ortega Diaz to begin proceedings to strip Machado, a harsh critic of President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly leader Diosdado Cabello, of her legislative immunity and place her under criminal investigation related to recent antigovernment protests that have left at least 30 dead.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 25, 2014 | By Robin Abcarian
What would happen if the Energizer Bunny mated with Chucky? The result would probably look something like Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford. He has become the political horror show that just keeps going, and going, and going. After the Toronto City Council stripped him of all his non-statutory powers in November, reducing him to nothing more than a bobblehead , I mean figurehead, Ford was supposed to go away, get sober and engage in some meaningful introspection. Not that anyone would have noticed his absence from City Hall.
BUSINESS
February 10, 2014 | By Jerry Hirsch
Here's how Toyota Motor Corp. plans to finally put the sudden-acceleration issue to rest: Pull out the checkbook. The automaker is reportedly close to paying a $1-billion fine to settle a four-year federal criminal investigation into whether it properly reported safety complaints to regulators. Meanwhile, Toyota's lawyers are in settlement talks over hundreds of civil lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths or injuries, potentially adding hundreds of millions to the tab. Previously, Toyota agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle a class-action case brought by thousands of Toyota owners who contended that sudden-acceleration problems damaged the value of their vehicles.