U.S. National News

PHILADELPHIA - Members of Philadelphia's largest transit union and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority are set to vote on a contract to end the strike that has idled buses, subways and trolleys for five days.

NEW YORK - The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

MIAMI - Ida has become a tropical storm again, with top winds of 45 mph (72 kph), as it swirls in the Caribbean on a track that could bring it to the U.S. Gulf Coast next week.

FORT HOOD, Texas - Pfc. Marquest Smith, on his way to Afghanistan in January, was completing routine paperwork about a bee-sting allergy when the sounds erupted.

GALVESTON, Texas - Two years after the remains of a toddler who came to be known as "Baby Grace" were dumped in Galveston Bay, the child's stepfather was convicted of capital murder in her beating death.

NEW ORLEANS - State investigators raided ACORN offices on Friday, taking away computer hard drives and documents as part of a probe into alleged embezzlement and tax fraud when the organization's national headquarters was based in New Orleans.

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Here is a look at some of the victims.

JERUSALEM - Hamas militants in Gaza have successfully test-fired an Iranian rocket able to reach Israel's largest urban center, the country's military intelligence chief said Tuesday.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - A federal appeals court has ruled that Santa Cruz City Council members did not violate a man's rights when they ordered him removed from a council meeting after he made a one-armed Nazi salute.

DICKINSON, N.D. - Authorities say preliminary autopsy results show drowning as the cause of death for three North Dakota college softball players found dead inside a sport utility vehicle that sunk in a rural farm pond.

KILLEEN, Texas - A civilian police officer is being praised for taking down a man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood when she shot him in the torso.

HONOLULU - The Honolulu Symphony said Friday it's canceling concerts for the rest of the year and filing for bankruptcy, citing a big drop in donations.

LOS ANGELES - A Seattle teams has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space — an idea spurred by science fiction novels.

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's father is seeking an allowance from his son's estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday. The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate to not seek an allowance for the Jackson family patriarch.

MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin man who got his cheesehead hat signed by President Barack Obama has decided to donate it to a museum rather than sell it on eBay.