US Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

FOREST HILL, Texas , The Rev. Danny Kirk Sr. greeted everyone walking into his Texas church on Sundays with a big hug and an "I love you." His weekdays were spent visiting folks in the hospital or mowing lawns and doing household repairs for members in need.

NEW YORK (AP) , Airlines hastily canceled flights in the Northeast Sunday as Hurricane Sandy moved up the coast. The massive storm threatens to bring a near halt to air travel for at least two days in a key region for both domestic and international flights.

HONOLULU (AP) , Officials in Hawaii reopened the state's ports on Sunday after canceling a tsunami advisory due to fears of waves generated from a powerful earthquake off the coast of Canada. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center lifted its tsunami advisory Sunday just before 4 a.m.

KENSINGTON, Md. (AP) , The projected storm surge from Hurricane Sandy is a "worst case scenario" with devastating waves and tides predicted for the highly populated New York City metro area, government forecasters said Sunday. The more they observe it, the more the experts worry about the water , which usually kills and does more damage than winds in hurricanes.

NEW YORK (AP) , While prosecutors weigh what to do about a suspect who surprisingly surfaced this spring in the landmark 1979 disappearance case of Etan Patz, the man who was the prime suspect for years is about to go free after more than two decades in prison for molesting other children.

CAPE CANAVERAL , An unmanned space capsule carrying medical samples from the International Space Station splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, completing the first official private interstellar shipment under a $1 billion contract with NASA.

NEW YORK (AP) , The New York Stock Exchange and the NYMEX are shutting their trading floors in New York Monday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the Big Apple. But trading will continue electronically on both exchanges. NYSE Euronext said Sunday it is putting in place its contingency plans beginning Monday and will announce later when the trading floor will reopen.

NEW YORK (AP) , Broadway took the threat of the mammoth storm seriously, with theater owners canceling all Sunday evening and Monday performances of shows like "The Book of Mormon" ''Once" and "Mama Mia!" long before a drop of rain fell in Times Square.

FREMONT, Calif. , Learning how to play tennis is hard enough. Now try it when you can't see. That's what students are doing at the California School for the Blind. They're learning a form of tennis adapted for the visually impaired , and expanding the boundaries of what the blind can do.

DETROIT (AP) , Nothing is stopping them , not even the Triple Crown winner at the plate with the bases loaded. Armed and accelerating, the San Francisco Giants became the first team to throw consecutive World Series shutouts in nearly a half-century, blanking Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on a chilly Saturday night for a commanding 3-0 lead.

LAKEWOOD CREST, Fla. (AP) , The 12-year-old daughter of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was in fair condition Saturday evening at Miami Children's Hospital after she was airlifted there following a golf-cart accident in a gated community, the senator's office said.

SHIP BOTTOM, N.J. (AP) , Forget distinctions like tropical storm or hurricane. Don't get fixated on a particular track. Wherever it hits, the rare behemoth storm inexorably gathering in the eastern U.S. will afflict a third of the country with sheets of rain, high winds and heavy snow, say officials who warned millions in coastal areas to get out of the way.

GLASSBORO, N.J. (AP) , Hundreds of mourners who packed a church Saturday to say goodbye to a 12-year-old who police say was killed by two teenage brothers were urged to do good works in her memory and dwell not so much on why she died so young but how she lived.

MIAMI (AP) , The megastorm expected to create massive problems along the Eastern Seaboard over the coming days is already affecting sports. Weather concerns prompted former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to postpone a scheduled Tuesday appeals hearing that he was to oversee in the New Orleans Saints' bounty-related case, with no new date immediately announced.

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) , It began around nightfall on Sept. 11 with around 150 bearded gunmen, some wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Islamic militants, sealing off the streets leading to the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. They set up roadblocks with pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, according to witnesses.