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  Texas sinkhole becomes a lake, home to alligator AP - Sat May 17, 5:01 AM ET

  DAISETTA, Texas - The giant Texas sinkhole that formed last week is now a lake big enough to become the home of an alligator.

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  Olympian Montgomery gets 46 months for check fraud AP - Sat May 17, 7:09 AM ET

  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Olympian Tim Montgomery had everything he ever wanted. Once known as the "world's fastest man," Montgomery won a silver medal in the 400 relay at the 1996 Olympics and gold in the same event in 2000. In 2002, he set a record of 9.78 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

• Winning Mega Millions ticket sold near Cincinnati AP - Sat May 17, 7:48 AM ET

  CLEVELAND - A lucky lottery player who stopped into a suburban Cincinnati liquor store has a Mega Millions ticket worth $196 million.

• Texas minister charged in Internet sex sting AP - Sat May 17, 3:01 AM ET

  BRYAN, Texas - A minister from a Dallas-area Baptist megachurch was caught in an Internet sex sting and charged with online solicitation of a minor, police said Friday.

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  Artist covers old gas station with huge blanket AP - Sat May 17, 6:47 AM ET

  DEWITT, N.Y. - Jennifer Marsh was sick of paying high gas prices and bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day.

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  Texas assesses whether sect 'girls' are adults AP - Fri May 16, 8:59 PM ET

  SAN ANTONIO - When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.

• Ill fugitive headed back to Md. years after escape AP - Sat May 17, 2:59 AM ET

  RALEIGH, N.C. - An ailing 81-year-old North Carolina man who escaped from a Maryland prison 43 years ago was taken into custody Friday to face extradition, a move his attorneys decried as a waste of time because he is ill and aging.

• Van jumps curb in NYC; trolley crashes in LA AP - Sat May 17, 7:24 AM ET

  NEW YORK - An out-of-control van jumped a curb and barreled into bystanders near the entrance to a crowded subway station, killing the driver and hurting seven people, authorities said.

• Chemist gets life for killing husband in acid vat AP - Sat May 17, 3:06 AM ET

  FRESNO, Calif. - A biochemist was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for killing her estranged husband by knocking him out and stuffing him into a vat of acid, possibly while he was still alive.

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  Alabama sheriffs feed inmates on $1.75 a day AP - Sat May 17, 12:58 AM ET

  - BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Back in the day of chain gangs, Alabama passed a law that gave sheriffs $1.75 a day to feed each prisoner in their jails, and the sheriffs got to pocket anything that was left over. More than 80 years later, most Alabama counties still operate under this system, with the same $1.75-a-day allowance, and some sheriffs are actually making money on top of their salaries.

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  Court sides with MySpace in suit over sex assault AP - Sat May 17, 3:34 AM ET

  NEW ORLEANS - Federal law gives MySpace.com immunity from a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by a man she met on the social networking Web site, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

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  Robert Mondavi, California wine pioneer, dies at 94 AP - Sat May 17, 4:15 AM ET

  BERKELEY, Calif. - Robert Mondavi, the vintner who built his career and helped an iconic Northern California industry blossom by insisting that Napa Valley wines can compete with the best in the world, died in the valley Friday. He was 94.

• Mexicans arrested at filthy 'drop house' charged AP - Sat May 17, 3:00 AM ET

  LOS ANGELES - Three Mexican men held dozens of illegal immigrants in a squalid "drop house" in South Los Angeles, where one woman was raped and others say they were threatened with sexual assault, authorities said Friday.

• Survival of quake victims depends on many factors AP - Fri May 16, 6:22 PM ET

  NEW YORK - A nurse survived eight days in the wreckage of a Turkish hospital destroyed by an earthquake in 1992. A newborn was rescued after more than a week in the rubble of Mexico City's 1985 quake. Now, in China, rescuers are pulling out victims days after they were buried by a powerful earthquake.

• Texas: Immigration checks, hurricanes don't mix AP - Fri May 16, 5:05 PM ET

  McALLEN, Texas - Federal border agents say they will search for illegal immigrants at inland Texas checkpoints even during a hurricane evacuation, a plan state and local officials say could lead to disastrous delays and discourage some people from getting out.

Crimes and Trials News

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  Colombian paramilitary member appears in US court AP - Fri May 16, 9:53 PM ET

  HOUSTON - A member of a right-wing paramilitary group who was extradited from Colombia made his first appearance in Houston federal court Friday on a charge he participated in a $25 million arms-for-cocaine deal.

• Ex-chief of UCLA willed-bodies program indicted AP - Fri May 16, 5:37 PM ET

  LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles County grand jury has indicted the former head of UCLA's cadaver program on eight felony counts for allegedly trafficking in parts of bodies donated to the university.

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  Judge denies media motion in R. Kelly trial AP - Fri May 16, 11:56 AM ET

  CHICAGO - A judge has denied a motion from news organizations seeking immediate access to sealed court records and transcripts in the R. Kelly child pornography trial.

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  Marine sentenced for sex abuse of Japan teen Reuters - Fri May 16, 5:12 AM ET

  TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. court martial sentenced a Marine to four years in prison on Friday for sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl on the southern island of Okinawa, in a case that has sparked widespread public anger.

• Prosecutor: Landlord tried to kill man over rent AP - Fri May 16, 3:30 AM ET

  NEW YORK - Prosecutors say a New York landlord who tried to kill a tenant with a bomb has been indicted on attempted murder and other charges. The tenant lost a leg in the blast.