KENNER, La. -- An electronics technician aboard the ill-fated oil rig Deepwater Horizon told an investigative panel Friday that an alarm system was partially shut down on the day the rig exploded.

After being laid off from her job as a high school teacher in Dayton, Ohio, Nicole Massey decided to go back to college. For months, she scoured the Web for ways to fund her tuition, while supporting her 10-year-old son, Tyler. So when ads turned up in Massey's inbox claiming that President Barack Obama had created special college grants and scholarships for single mothers, her hopes soared

The Obama White House is back to a teaching moment on race, once again playing the student. But the incident proves that nearly halfway through his term as the nation's first black president, Obama is still struggling to strike the right balance between taking a stand on race and leading the country past it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that the outlook for the economy remains "unusually uncertain" but that the Fed plans no specific steps "in the near term" to try to fuel the struggling recovery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reveling in victory, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression, a package that aims to protect consumers and ensure economic stability from Main Street to Wall Street

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats broke a GOP filibuster safely and set the stage for a vote Wednesday on legislation that would restore jobless benefits for millions of people unable to find work. After the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 60-40 on Tuesday to move ahead on the bill, approval became a formality. The measure would go to the House for a final vote and on to President Barack Obama

The Oakland, Calif. city council voted Tuesday to approve four large, city-licensed medical cannabis production plants

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP's broken oil well is buckling.

ATLANTA (AP) — A Black federal worker has resigned from a Georgia agricultural job after a video clip showed her saying she had not helped a farmer as much as she could have because he was White ... but officials seem to have ignored the larger message of racial tolerance that took place 24 years ago.