US Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, took in $26,400 in 2012 by renting a cottage on the property of their Delaware home to the Secret Service, tax records released by the White House revealed. They netted $17,944 of that rental money.

A House lawmaker Friday introduced a bill to end the conflict between the federal government and the states over legalized pot, five months after Colorado and Washington voters approved the first statewide ballot measures decriminalizing marijuana use for adults.

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. , Officials say two women have been shot and a suspect is in custody following a shooting at a community college section of a Virginia mall. Christianburg city spokeswoman Becky Wilburn says emergency officials received a 911 call around 2 p.m. Friday about someone with a gun at the New River Community College satellite location in the mall outside of Blacksburg.

The Obama administration on Friday officially welcomed Japan to the negotiating table of what officials hope will be the largest trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States joined negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2008, but Japan has been noticeably absent from the discussions that have been taking place in its backyard.

An 8-year-old girl fueled by her anti-welfare reform caretakers followed a lawmaker around the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday until he was shamed into dropping his bill that tied a portion of benefits to students' academic progress.

In a story April 11 about the song "Accidental Racist," The Associated Press reported incorrectly that Eric Weisbard is a professor at the University of Mississippi. He teaches at the University of Alabama. A corrected version of the story is below: A country song, assumptions , and a racial outcry

Dr. Kermit Gosnell's abortion trial in Philadelphia is ongoing, but it's receiving little attention in the media. There is one place where millions of concerned citizens are talking about it: Twitter. Conservatives and other pro-life advocates who are upset with the lack of coverage of the case are taking to social media sites in droves, causing 'Gosnell' to trend on Twitter.

Three who hold seats with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights warned the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus that granting amnesty to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States would negatively impact blacks.

Prominent religious right leader Tony Perkins called on conservatives to stop donating money to congressional Republicans until the party quits its soft talk on gay marriage. Mr. Perkins, who heads...

A Florida father is outraged at a scrawled crayon message he just found in his fourth-grade son's backpack, as dictated by the teacher during a lesson on the Constitution. "I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure," the statement read, as reported in The Blaze. The father, Aaron Harvey, said he was stunned.

The Obama administration's all-out push for the Senate to move forward on gun control this week included a rare foray into the legislative arena by first lady Michelle Obama, who urged senators in an emotional plea not to filibuster the proposals.

SUWANEE, Ga. (AP) , A gunman who lured firefighters to his home with an emergency call, then held four of them hostage for hours, planned the kidnapping for weeks, targeting them so he wouldn't be shot, authorities said Thursday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) , At least one death has been blamed on a strong spring storm system that's brought everything from tornadoes to ice and snow to much of the Midwest and parts of the southeast United States.

Secretary of State John Kerry may not be returning to U.S. soil with a new Middle East peace deal, or a diplomatic solution to how America might best deal with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's reported resignation - which leaves in charge the less friendly President Mahmoud Abbas. And the question of Iran's nuclear program still hovers.

HOLLAND, Mass. (AP) , The year was 1992, and Dick Hoyt and his son, Rick, wanted to run and bike across the country to raise funds for a charity for cerebral palsy , a condition 30-year-old Rick developed at birth. But the charity didn't want anything to do with a trek across the United States.