US Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) , Luke Bryan heard his name called at the end of the Academy of Country Music Awards, accepted the entertainer of the year trophy and then things became a blur. "It was like I was on the tilt-a-whirl," Bryan said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) , For all his on-camera carousing and cussing, "BUCKWILD" reality TV star Shain Gandee was a publicly proclaimed and baptized Christian, and his mother told hundreds of mourners Sunday that she will see him again.

MIAMI (AP) , Lilly Pulitzer hosted parties in her bare feet and wasn't afraid to get a little messy , just as long as she looked good and had fun, too. In the late 1950s, the Palm Beach socialite had time to spare and a wealthy husband who owned citrus groves, so she opened an orange juice stand just off the island's main shopping street.

SEATTLE (AP) , Mud, trees and rocks hit an Amtrak passenger train traveling through Washington state Sunday morning, causing several cars to derail, according to a railway spokesman. There were...

LOS ANGELES (AP) , Resurrected demons and resurrected dinosaurs are helping to put some life back into the weekend box office. The demonic horror remake "Evil Dead" debuted at No. 1 with $26 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

ATLANTA (AP) , Around the Final Four and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything surrounding the games. ___ BIG FANS Russ Smith has a reputation for being a little, shall we say, out there.

CHICAGO (AP) , Anne Smedinghoff had a quiet ambition and displayed a love of global affairs from an early age, joining the U.S. Foreign Service straight out of college and volunteering for missions in perilous locations worldwide.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) , Philadelphia firefighters mourned the loss of one of their own in the line of duty for the third time in less than a year, saluting the body of a veteran captain as it was carried from the ruins of a three-story building that collapsed underneath him during a blaze.

The FBI is investigating whether a former Rutgers basketball employee tried to extort the university before he made videos that showed ex-coach Mike Rice shoving and kicking players and berating them with gay slurs.

U.S. drug agents have disrupted a suspected major drug smuggling operation accused of engaging in narcoterrorism, conspiring to import drugs into the United States, and providing aid and weapons , including surface-to-air missiles , to a South American paramiltary terrorist group.

LOS ANGELES (AP) , Authorities have pieced together a 24-page timeline that tracks accused killer Samuel Little's activity across the country since his birth. Little stands charged in the slayings of three Los Angeles women in the 1980s, and investigators in other states are now scouring cold case files and running DNA tests to determine whether Little may be a suspect in other crimes.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) , A phrase declaring that life begins "at fertilization" tucked into new abortion legislation in Kansas is creating concern among abortion rights advocates that the wording will inspire new attempts to prevent the procedure.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan , Six American troops and civilians and an Afghan doctor were killed in attacks on Saturday in southern and eastern Afghanistan as the U.S. military's top officer began a weekend visit to the country, officials said.

WASHINGTON (AP) , President Barack Obama supports requiring girls younger than 17 to see a doctor before buying the morning-after pill. But fighting that battle in court comes with its own set of risks.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) , The Mormon church is planning to build two new temples in Rio de Janeiro and Cedar City, Utah. The faith's president, Thomas S. Monson, announced the new temples on Saturday during the 183rd semi-annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.