U.S.

A veterans group handed the White House a petition to take action on the "million veteran backlog" on Tuesday. But the Veterans Administration says that backlogged claims are dropping for the fifth month in a row and are now under half a million.

They want to get involved with both the local food movement and more conventional forms of agriculture. But many of them are finding their options limited. Ranch and farmland across the plains is going for several thousand dollars an acre, keeping many aspiring farmers out of the market.

Several vintage sports have seen resurgence among young people lately: roller derby, kickball and even bocce ball. But one century-old sport hasn't just found new fans; it's getting an urban face-lift.

The centerpiece of Fox's new all-sports network is a talk show hosted by Regis Philbin, who says his credentials for the job are that he's a fan. Poor Fox. Poor Regis Philbin. This is no way to start a sports network.

Melissa Block talks with Lolis Eric Elie, a writer and editor behind the HBO series Treme about a new cookbook written in the voices of the show's characters. Elie says it reflects both old New Orleans traditions and more recent influences.

According to numbers released Tuesday, Twitter's one-year-old video-sharing app Vine now has about 40 million registered users. The app lets users shoot a maximum of six seconds per Vine, so we wanted to know why the limit's set at six seconds and not a second longer.

Embattled San Diego mayor Bob Filner and attorneys met Tuesday about his future as the leader of the city. The mayor is under pressure to resign following allegations of sexual harassment by at least 16 women. Meanwhile, a recall petition drive is under way while the mayor's supporters try to counter criticism.

Alberto Carvalho runs the nation's fourth largest school district — Miami Dade Public Schools. Since he took over four years ago, the district's turnaround has been nothing short of "miraculous", or so his supporters say. During his tenure the dropout rate has plummeted. The high school graduation rate has climbed to record levels and test scores for all students are way up. How did Carvalho do it?

A massive wildfire is continuing to burn near the resort towns of Ketchum and Sun Valley in Idaho. While some evacuees have been allowed to return to their homes, the fire could burn until the first snows come this fall.

California is currently the only state with a program to confiscate guns from residents prohibited from owning firearms. To find them, agents comb through a database of people who legally owned a gun until mental illness or a brush with the law rendered them no longer eligible for gun ownership.