TAMPA, Fla. – Authorities in Florida say a man and woman who were intoxicated had to be rescued after falling asleep in a dumpster that was later emptied into a garbage truck. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s officials say the couple had been sleeping in a dumpster outside a convenience store near …

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – For the second consecutive winter, bitter weather threatens to turn the surface of the Great Lakes into a vast frozen plain. The federal Great Lakes research laboratory in Ann Arbor reports Friday that nearly 81 percent of the five lakes’ surface area is ice-covered. On Thursday, …

WASHINGTON – Josh Lederman of The Associated Press and Jim Avila of ABC News have won the Merriman Smith Award for presidential coverage under deadline pressure. Lederman won in the print category for his breaking stories about a fence jumper who made it inside the White House before being apprehended. …

ALBERT LEA, Minn. – The first phase of an autopsy on some skeletal remains found in southern Minnesota is complete, but authorities still don’t know the cause of what they are calling a suspicious death. The Freeborn County sheriff’s officials say a property owner found the bones Monday along Interstate …

PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia family has been awarded the rights to 10 rare gold coins possibly worth $80 million or more after a U.S. appeals court overturned a jury verdict. U.S. Department of the Treasury officials insist the $20 Double Eagles were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before …

CRISP POINT, Mich. – Two sisters from Oklahoma and Nebraska who were missing for nearly two weeks in Michigan were found Friday near Lake Superior in a remote part of the Upper Peninsula where their car got stuck. “They’re walking. … They’re alive and well, just a little weak from …

MIAMI – Rosa Salgado is a 79-year-old grandmother who’s English was limited when she moved to Miami from her native Colombia in 1995. Despite her age and language difficulties, Salgado graduated from college with a degree in education on Saturday, the Miami Herald reported. Salgado graduated from Miami Dade College’s …

FLINT, Mich. – A lawyer wants to enter his pet pig into the Flint mayoral race after a mix-up threated to keep candidates’ names off the primary election ballot. Michael Ewing started the “Giggles the Pig for Flint Mayor” effort after learning that the August primary could be skipped unless …

FERGUSON, Mo. – The city of Ferguson has a new acting city manager. The city council on Tuesday named Matt Unrein to the position. He is the public works director and will continue at his current salary of $90,000 while the city seeks a permanent city manager. Unrein replaces interim …

WASHINGTON – Faced with accusations that taxpayer money was used illegally in the last election to fight pro-pot referenda in several states, lawmakers are trying to give the White House drug czar cover to run anti-drug ads during elections without being accused of political partisanship. But groups supporting reforms in …