President calls Jennas wedding "spectacular"

By Shealah Craighead (AP)

President Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but on Sunday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime bow.

\"Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy, Henry Hager,\" Bush said, standing next Mrs. Bush at an airport in Waco where he boarded Air Force One for his flight back to Washington. \"The wedding was spectacular. It\'s just _ it\'s all we could have hoped for.\"

Unlike other first family weddings that have been broadcast live, the Bushes didn\'t share their daughter\'s nuptials with the nation. The day...

By SHEILAH MILLER (AP)

Many have fled this depressed, pollution-scarred mining town. Those who have chosen to stay or have not yet relocated face a new heartache.

A tornado ripped through a 20-block swath of Picher late Saturday afternoon, killing at least seven people. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes took the lives of at least 12 others, authorities said.

On Sunday, storms rumbled across Georgia, killing at least one person in Dublin, about a 121 miles southeast of Atlanta, authorities said. Weather officials had not yet confirmed whether the storms...

By Chris Hollo (AP)

Carrie Underwood is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry.

The singer joined the cast of the long-running country music show Saturday. Garth Brooks handled her formal induction and Vince Gill sang a duet with her.

\"This really seems like a great family to be part of,\" Underwood said, as she fought back tears. \"I promise I\'ll do everything I possibly can to not make you regret it.\"

The former \"American Idol\" winner sold 7 million copies of her debut album \"Some Hearts\" and shot to superstardom almost overnight with hits including \"Before He Cheats\" and...

By ROGER NOMER (AP)

Many have fled this depressed, pollution-scarred mining town. Those who have chosen to stay or have not yet relocated face a new heartache. A tornado ripped through a 20-block swath of Picher late Saturday afternoon, killing at least seven people. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes took the lives of at least 12 others, authorities said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher\'s victims included an infant. He said at least three people were confirmed missing.

\"We\'ve seen homes that were completely leveled to the...

By Marc F. Henning (AP)

Many have fled this depressed, pollution-scarred mining town. Those who have chosen to stay or have not yet relocated face a new heartache.

A tornado ripped through a 20-block swath of Picher late Saturday afternoon, killing at least seven people. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes took the lives of at least 12 others, authorities said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher\'s victims included an infant. He said at least three people were confirmed missing.

\"We\'ve seen homes that were completely leveled to the...

By Chris Hollo (AP)

Carrie Underwood is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry.

The singer joined the cast of the long-running country music show Saturday. Garth Brooks handled her formal induction and Vince Gill sang a duet with her.

\"This really seems like a great family to be part of,\" Underwood said, as she fought back tears. \"I promise I\'ll do everything I possibly can to not make you regret it.\"

The former \"American Idol\" winner sold 7 million copies of her debut album \"Some Hearts\" and shot to superstardom almost overnight with hits including \"Before He Cheats\" and...

By ROGER NOMER (AP)

A tornado that spun across the Oklahoma-Missouri border killed at least 18 people as severe storms raked the nation\'s heart Saturday, injuring many and mangling buildings in the storm-weary region.

At least 12 people were killed after severe storms spawned tornadoes and high winds across sections of southwestern Missouri, the State Emergency Management Agency said. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca, near the Oklahoma border.

At least six people were killed as the tornado flattened the northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher, authorities...

By Marc F. Henning (AP)

A tornado that spun across the Oklahoma-Missouri border killed at least 18 people as severe storms raked the nation\'s heart Saturday, injuring many and mangling buildings in the storm-weary region.

At least 12 people were killed after severe storms spawned tornadoes and high winds across sections of southwestern Missouri, the State Emergency Management Agency said. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca, near the Oklahoma border.

At least six people were killed as the tornado flattened the northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher, authorities...

By Matt Slocum (AP)

Jenna Bush picked \"You Are So Beautiful,\" the ballad made famous by Joe Cocker, for the father-daughter dance with President Bush at her wedding reception Saturday night in Texas, the band leader said.

Tyrone Smith of Nashville and his 10-piece party band, The Tyrone Smith Revue, were hired to play at the reception in Crawford.

The band was asked to do \"Lovin\' in My Baby\'s Eyes\" by Taj Mahal for the newlyweds\' first dance. Smith spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday about the music plans, on the condition that the reporter honor a request by the Bush family not to...

By Kimberlee Hewitt (AP)

Jenna Bush couldn\'t see herself getting married at the White House surrounded by antique furniture and oil portraits of presidents. She and Henry Hager said \"I do\" Saturday at President Bush\'s ranch in Crawford where the corn is thigh-high, roads are named Cattle Drive and the Texas flag is painted on the rooftops of barns.

The president and the bride picked \"You Are So Beautiful\" for their father-daughter dance, according to band leader Tyrone Smith of Nashville, Tenn. Smith and his 10-piece party band, The Tyrone Smith Revue, was asked to do \"Lovin\' in My Baby\'s Eyes\"...

By Rogelio V. Solis (AP)

With his 93rd birthday a month away, David \"Honeyboy\" Edwards admits it\'s getting hard to walk long distances.

Fortunately for the man believed to be the oldest surviving Delta bluesman, fans and admirers never let him walk more than a few feet at a time. Every few steps, someone wants to shake his hand, offer a gift or share news of common friends.

\"It\'s like this everywhere we go,\" Edwards\' manager, Michael Frank, said during the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation ceremony Friday to honor the Shaw native. \"He can\'t walk through a crowded room.\"

Edwards has a...

By Paul Drinkwater (AP)

Former President Jimmy Carter often sent his mother to meet with foreign dignitaries and attend state funerals, but it wasn\'t until he started researching a new book about her life that he learned just what the woman known as \"Miss Lillian\" did on those visits.

\"Mama had developed a reputation for expressing unorthodox opinions and not being constrained by any outside advice,\" Carter writes in \"A Remarkable Mother,\" which chronicles Lillian\'s life from her birth in 1898 to her death from cancer in 1983. \"The officials in the State Department were always quite nervous about...

By Chuck France (AP)

As a boy, Michael Conner Humphreys made a splash on the silver screen as \"Young Forrest Gump.\" As an adult, he somewhat mirrored the life of his movie character: He joined the Army and fought in an unpopular war.

Humphreys\' enlistment ends June 4 and Hollywood is already calling. He\'s landed a role in an independent film, playing, of course, a soldier.

It\'s a route similar to that of Tom Hanks, who won the Oscar for playing adult Forrest Gump.

Hanks later starred in \"Saving Private Ryan\" and produced \"Band of Brothers,\" a series about the men of Easy Company of...

By Rob Carr (AP)

Nick Saban normally spends this time of year on the road evaluating prep prospects and visiting with high school coaches.

The Alabama coach is doing a different kind of networking these days _ all from the comfort of his office. Saban is among a handful of college head coaches using video conferences to chat with recruits because they can\'t meet in person.

A new NCAA regulation _ dubbed the \"Saban Rule\" _ is keeping coaches from making those traditional visits to high school campuses during the spring evaluation period that runs through May.

Web cams have hardly...

By Seth Perlman (AP)

FedEx is cutting its fourth-quarter guidance, blaming a steep increase in fuel costs.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based shipping company says it now expects to post a fourth-quarter profit of $1.45 to $1.50 per share, down from its previous prediction of $1.60 to $1.80 per share.

Thomson Financial says analysts expect, on average, a profit of $1.69 per share.

Fedex says its fuel costs have risen by more than 7 percent since it issued its previous guidance in March.

In addition, weak economic conditions have resulted in lower demand for shipping and freight services, the...

By RYAN MOORE (AP)

Amber Parker watched on television as the storm near her home grew into a tornado threat. Then, when the roaring wind outside suddenly fell silent, she grabbed her two toddlers and rushed to get under the stairwell.

\"We just got inside the door frame when I was pushed inside ... then everything went,\" said Parker, tears welling in her eyes as she described the chaotic scene during a brief discussion with reporters near her demolished home in central North Carolina.

Neighbors helped the 36-year-old Parker and her two children _ a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old _ out of the...

By MARK HUMPHREY (AP)

Eddy Arnold, whose mellow baritone on songs like \"Make the World Go Away\" made him one of the most successful country singers in history, died Thursday morning, days short of his 90th birthday.

Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville, said Don Cusic, a professor at Belmont University and author of the biography \"Eddy Arnold: I\'ll Hold You in My Heart.\" His wife of 66 years, Sally, had died in March, and in the same month, Arnold fell outside his home, injuring his hip.

Arnold\'s vocals on songs like the 1965 \"Make the World Go Away,\" one of his many No. 1 country...

By RYAN MOORE (AP)

Authorities were waiting for daylight early Friday so they could begin assessing the damage from a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina.

What law enforcement officers said was a tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states.

An apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few...

By RYAN MOORE (AP)

A line of severe storms swept across the Southeast on Thursday, damaging homes and businesses in at least four states. One person was killed and three were injured by a tornado in North Carolina, authorities said.

An apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.

A tornado touched down late Thursday on the outskirts of Greensboro, N.C., blowing three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40, authorities said. One person was killed and two were...

By RYAN MOORE (AP)

A line of severe storms swept across the Southeast on Thursday, damaging homes and businesses in at least four states. No injuries were reported.

An apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged, and an apparent tornado blews cars off the road in North Carolina.

In Alabama, at least 15 school systems released students early, while others held students late as squalls passed. Winds blew a piece of metal roofing off Hamilton High School,...

By RYAN MOORE (AP)

A line of severe storms swept across the Southeast on Thursday, damaging homes and businesses in at least three states. No injuries were reported.

An apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged. Portions of Alabama remained under tornado watches until early Thursday evening.

In Alabama, at least 15 school systems released students early, while others held students late as squalls passed. Winds blew a piece of metal roofing off Hamilton...

By Randy Snyder (AP)

Kriss Riggs isn\'t one to spend her money on politicians.

\"Even the place you can donate a dollar on your taxes, I refuse to do it,\" says the 60-year-old photographer from Blue River, Ore.

Likewise for Kate Schwartz, a 24-year-old marketing expert from Chicago. Past elections, she says, always seemed far removed from young people.

\"A lot of people felt like it wasn\'t happening in my demographic,\" Schwartz said.

Not this time.

Riggs and Schwartz are foot soldiers in Barack Obama\'s 1.5-million-strong army of campaign contributors. Dozens of Associated...

By MARK HUMPHREY (AP)

A biographer for country music superstar Eddy Arnold says the singer has died at the age of 89.

Belmont University Professor Don Cusic says Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville Thursday morning. Arnold was just days short of his 90th birthday.

Arnold\'s mellow baritone on songs like \"Make the World Go Away\" _ a crossover hit on the pop charts in 1965 _ made him one of the most successful country singers in history.

He became a pioneer of \"The Nashville Sound,\" also called \"countrypolitan,\" a mixture of country and pop styles.

He was elected to the...