Around the Nation

The historic Colorado floods actually changed the course of some rivers and creeks. That has left many agricultural irrigation ditches and diversion dams useless. Farmers and irrigation companies now find themselves footing the bill to reroute these waterways before spring planting season.

A few determined people are doing their best to keep letters arriving in U.S. mailboxes. One Michigan woman writes up to 60 letters a week — some of them to the students she's met in 50 years of teaching. Some young people are getting into the act, too — including a group at Central Michigan University.

The Justice Department on Tuesday announced a landmark $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase. That's the largest settlement the federal government has ever made with a single company. It's three times the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill settlement.

The Obama administration is asking for people who've been turned off by the government's problem-plagued insurance website to come back. Officials say the website is working better now, though it's still far from fixed.

The death toll from Sunday's tornado outbreak across the Midwest stands at eight. Many of those who witnessed the devastation say they're shocked that number isn't higher. Early warnings delivered by text message may have helped limit the casualties.

The Los Angeles County supervisor wants to create an independent commission to oversee the department following charges of inmate abuse and racial profiling.

Clothes donated to charity in the U.S. often wind up for sale in African markets. Here's the story of one shirt that started out at a bat mitzvah in Michigan and wound up in a market in Nairobi.

Colorado enacted several tough gun control measures after the shooting in Newtown, Conn. — and then voters ousted two lawmakers who backed those laws. One former senator says he has no regrets, while the man who helped remove him is now focused on other gun rights supporters.

On Wednesday, Chaz Stevens' beer can-covered pole joined a number of other displays in the state Capitol in Tallahassee. There are also a religious Nativity scene and an atheist display. Stevens says he's protesting what he sees as a flagrant disregard for the separation of church and state.

The once-sleepy tourist town of Noel, Mo., in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, is now home to hundreds of immigrants and newly arrived refugees, thanks largely to the huge Tyson Food Inc. poultry plant. And since the town lacks the infrastructure to serve these new residents, schools have become the de facto safety net.