PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Detectives re-interviewed witnesses, sorted through tips and examined evidence Thursday as they tried to piece together a more complete picture of what police describe as a horrific Social Security fraud scheme in which four people locked disabled adults in a squalid basement.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Wildlife biologists say black bears like the one that recently rambled through backyards in Atlanta's northern suburbs could soon be a permanent part of the community there, having cubs and multiplying.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and his allies in the Senate promise to press ahead with separate votes on pieces of his failed $447 billion jobs measure despite unanimous opposition from Republicans. But there also are signs of slippage among Democrats and evidence the strategy isn't working with voters.

DETROIT (AP) -- Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain is redefining his signature "9-9-9" tax plan, which would have meant a tax increase for more than four out of five Americans.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Two Minnesota women were convicted Thursday of conspiring to funnel money to a terrorist group in Somalia as part of what prosecutors called a "deadly pipeline" sending money and fighters from the U.S. to al-Shabab.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- An advocacy group sued a district attorney for two Alabama counties on Wednesday, saying he and his assistants deliberately exclude blacks from juries in serious criminal cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government forecasters say this winter looks to be cold and wet across the northern tier of states, and the drought will worsen in the South, where conditions are expected to be warmer and drier than usual.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A fourth person was arrested Wednesday in a scheme in which authorities said mentally disabled adults were locked up in a fetid basement while their captors cashed their Social Security checks. The latest suspect was the daughter of the alleged ringleader, officials said.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Republican presidential contenders attacked upstart Herman Cain's economic plan as a tax increase waiting to happen Tuesday night, moving swiftly in a fiery campaign debate to blunt the former businessman's unlikely rise in the race for the party's nomination.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- Townspeople cowered indoors Wednesday as deputies with high-powered rifles hunted down and killed lions, bears and dozens of other exotic beasts that escaped from a wild-animal preserve after the owner threw their cages open and committed suicide.