National

The Democratic senators were targeted by gun rights activists after sweeping gun control laws were passed. The elections have attracted donations from major players across the country.

The Congressional Gold Medals for Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley come 50 years after the black girls were killed by a Ku Klux Klan bomb. Just as the federal recognition is long in coming, so was justice.

That war gave us our national anthem and a stable border with Canada, but otherwise, not much is remembered about that conflict nowadays. This changed over Labor Day when the largest sailing re-enactment ever attempted in the U.S. marked the anniversary of a remarkable victory in that war.

On Tuesday night, President Obama will address the nation — asking for support of his plan to punish the Syrian regime for a chemical weapons attack near Damascus last month. The president must deal with widespread skepticism about his plan.

A new faith-based boys group is taking shape, just three months after the Boy Scouts of America decided to change its membership policy to allow gay youth to join. The group, Trail Life USA, calls itself a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts, and says it will focus on adventure, character and leadership.

Feral hogs have been a growing problem in Texas for years now. The 300-pound animals contaminate the water and ruin the parks, so Dallas is bringing in Osvaldo Rojas to keep the city pig-free.

Multilateralism has been the foundation of the president's foreign policy, and not just on issues of war and peace. At the G-20 summit in Russia this week, he used familiar words when urging military action in Syria. So far, few allies are onboard.

As the nation's public schools reopen this fall, many are facing budget deficits and scarce money due to sequestration. Experts say districts with large numbers of poor students are hit the hardest.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Minnesota, but not in Illinois. That has Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on a mission to attract gays and lesbians to spend their wedding dollars in his city.

The machines allow people to turn their old cellphones and other electronic devices into instant cash. But these ecoATMs could be banned in Baltimore, where at least one lawmaker believes the machines are a magnet for electronics thieves.