LAKEHURST, N.J. (AP) -- The mother of a toddler killed in New Jersey last week sought help from the state to protect her from the girl's father, who's charged with killing the 2-year-old by tossing her into a creek while she was still strapped in her car seat. But the toddler's maternal grandmother said the state's child-protection system failed her.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The doctor who was convicted in the overdose death of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years in prison Tuesday in a finale to the tormented saga of the King of Pop.

MIAMI (AP) -- In a distressed neighborhood north of Miami's gleaming downtown, a group of enthusiastic but inexperienced instructors from Teach for America is trying to make progress where more veteran teachers have had difficulty: raising students' reading and math scores.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A hail of gunfire along an Oakland street left eight people wounded, including a 1-year-old boy and a woman who authorities say were hospitalized in critical condition.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The case of an 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy taken from his family because he weighs more than 200 pounds has renewed a debate on whether parents should lose custody if a child is severely obese.

Washington (AP) -- The Obama administration is proposing new rules that it says should make it easier for Native Americans to build homes and develop businesses on tribal lands.

ATLANTA (AP) -- More parents are opting out of school shots for their kids. In eight states now, more than 1 in 20 public school kindergartners aren't getting all the vaccines required for attendance, an Associated Press analysis found.

LITHONIA, Ga. (AP) -- Florida A&M University had a "culture of hazing" that led to the recent death of a marching band member, an attorney for the student's family said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans bought slightly more new homes in October, a hopeful sign for the troubled housing market. But the median sales price fell to its lowest level of the year, and the overall sales pace is trailing last year's - the worst in half a century.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michele Bachmann did not intend to be taken literally when she told the Republican presidential debate Tuesday that civil-liberties activists have taken over the interrogation of terrorists from the CIA. But even as a rhetorical point, it didn't hold water.