Mexican workers in US during WWII can get back pay

CHICAGO — Ramon Ibarra remembers his backbreaking days repairing railroads in the Southwest, a contract job for which he left Mexico in 1942 as part of a guest worker program. More than 60 years later, he's looking forward to the rest of his paycheck.

Biden says Obama would create 2 million jobs

LANCASTER, Ohio — Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that Barack Obama's plan to rebuild the nation's crumbing roads and bridges would help reverse the loss of 240,000 jobs in Ohio during the Bush years.

Ex-NY lawmaker quits parole board after sex sting

ALBANY, N.Y. — A member of the state parole board accused of using the Internet to set up a meeting for sex with underage girls has resigned, the board's chairman said Wednesday.

Hurricane Omar reaches Cat. 2; 105 mph winds

CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands — Forecasters say Omar has grown to a fierce Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 105 mph as it barrels toward the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

Dow plunges 733 on new disheartening economic data

WASHINGTON — The economy lurched deeper into the doldrums Wednesday and took the stock market down with it, sending the Dow Jones industrials to a staggering 733-point loss and erasing any hopes that the convulsions that have shaken Wall Street for a month were over.

Cindy McCain asked and got cell phone coverage

WASHINGTON — John McCain, a senior member of the Senate committee that oversees the telecom industry, now has cell phone coverage at the family's ranch near Sedona, Ariz., following a request from his wife, Cindy, early in 2007.

Murtha: Western Pa. 'racist' but Obama should win

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.

Law experts: Fla. conviction possible without body

ORLANDO, Fla. — Prosecutors have DNA tests and hair samples. They have testimony about "the smell of death" in the trunk of the suspect's car. What they do not have is a body. Prosecutors building a case against a single 22-year-old Florida mother accused of killing her young daughter will have to rely on forensic evidence and persuade a jury that Casey Anthony lacks credibility and had a motive, legal experts say.

One-time MLK lieutenant gets 15 years for incest

LEESBURG, Va. — A one-time top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter.

Nancy Reagan hospitalized with broken pelvis

LOS ANGELES — Nancy Reagan suffered a broken pelvis in a fall at her home and will be hospitalized for several days, her spokeswoman said Wednesday. The 87-year-old former first lady fell last week, spokeswoman Joanne Drake said. She did not seek immediate medical care but decided Monday to get checked out because of persistent pain, Drake said.