VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — A region of oak-studded hills in California, where big-city dwellers come to get away from crime, was on lockdown Monday, two days after a mysterious intruder stabbed an 8-year-old girl to death at home before being spotted by her 12-year-old brother.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Students will return for a prayer service before classes at an all-male Catholic high school in Ohio the day after police said a student shot himself in a classroom.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A jury in Galveston is to hear closing arguments in the capital murder trial of a Houston man charged with fatally shooting a 79-year-old bystander outside a Southeast Texas courthouse.

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey second-grade teacher will appeal his firing for insubordination and inappropriate behavior, including urinating in class, his lawyer says.

By Robbie Ward TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - A Mississippi martial arts instructor suspected of mailing letters containing the deadly poison ricin to President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials appeared in federal court on Monday for a brief hearing. James Everett Dutschke, 41, was arrested on Saturday in Tupelo, Mississippi, after authorities searched his home and former business. He is charged with developing and possessing ricin and attempting to use the poison as a weapon. ...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The FBI has begun looking at the relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and the chief executive of a nutritional supplements manufacturer that is the subject of an investigation, two people with knowledge of the review said.

By Sabina Zawadzki and Anna Louie Sussman NEW YORK (Reuters) - Six months after Hurricane Sandy ripped into the East Coast and triggered one of the worst energy crises in decades, there is scattered evidence companies and state agencies have moved to strengthen complex fuel supply networks against future storms. But the measures taken by energy firms in New York and New Jersey are uneven, state initiatives remain on paper for now, and in the absence of an industry-wide response it's unclear the region would fare much better should there be a next time. ...

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for a Mississippi man who was briefly charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president and others are encouraged after speaking with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office about repairing or replacing the man's house after an intensive search left it uninhabitable.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas-based social gambling company says it will launch the first legal, real-money poker website in the United States.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch planned to hit the campaign trail a day after a spirited debate in their race for a vacant congressional seat along the South Carolina coast.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) — Two small airplanes with a combined four people aboard collided in midair over the Southern California mountains, sending one crashing into a rocky ridge and killing its pilot while the second was able to maneuver a belly-flop landing on the fairway of a nearby golf course, officials said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A toy poodle that was rushed to the vet after swallowing a tube sock. A Great Dane that had to be operated on three times for eating his owner's shoulder pads.

BOSTON (AP) — One lawyer won acquittal for a Saudi man charged with carrying three firecracker-like devices on a plane, arguing he was a victim of hysteria over airport security after the Sept. 11 attacks. Another has managed to avert death sentences for some of the highest-profile criminals of our time, including the Unabomber and the gunman whose rampage injured former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Lawrence Capener was shaking hands with his fellow churchgoers at Sunday Mass, exchanging the traditional peace offerings when people next to him noticed something strange — his hands were quite sweaty and clammy. Then, as the choir began singing a hymn to wrap up Mass, the man bolted from his pew, ran to the choir area and started stabbing the choir leader and others, witnesses said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Depending on whom you ask, Rep. Bob Goodlatte is either trying to stand in the way of landmark immigration legislation or he illustrates the new face of the GOP trying to find common ground on a contentious issue.

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An attorney for the concert promotion company AEG Live warned jurors they would see a very different view of the charismatic Michael Jackson as the company seeks to prove it was not liable for the pop star's death. Marvin Putnam, making his opening statement in what is expected to be an emotional wrongful death trial, said AEG officials had no idea that Jackson was taking the surgical anesthetic that led to his death. He said the three-month civil case would bring to light "some ugly stuff" about the singer's private behavior. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A grand jury prepared to start examining evidence and hearing from witnesses in the case of a 16-year-old girl raped by two high school football players after an alcohol-fueled party last summer.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia jury is expected to start weighing murder charges in the trial of a veteran abortion provider charged with killing four viable babies after they were born alive.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) — Two small airplanes collided in midair over the Southern California mountains Monday, sending one crashing into a rocky ridge and killing its pilot while the second was able to maneuver a belly-flop landing on a nearby golf course, officials said.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The FBI has begun examining the relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen and the chief executive of a nutritional supplements manufacturer that is the subject of a federal investigation, two people with knowledge of the review said Monday.