ESCONDIDO, Calif. A U.S. Border Patrol worker has been arrested in Escondido following a hatchet attack that left a couple seriously injured in their home.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. Starting Friday, most state government offices will begin closing three days a month to save California some money.

SAN FRANCISCO The California Supreme Court has joined a handful of other courts in the country that have said Breathalyzer results mean different things for different people and ruled that suspected drunken drivers can attack the test results in court.

LAS VEGAS Sen. John Ensign said Thursday his parents gave his mistress and her family nearly $100,000 "out of concern for the well being of longtime family friends during a difficult time," providing his first public acknowledgment that the woman received payments tied to the affair.

WASHINGTON The aircrash that killed entrepreneur Steve Fossett, famed for his daredevil aerial feats, probably was caused by downdrafts that exceeded the ability of his small plane to recover before slamming into a California mountainside, federal safety officials said Thursday.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Conservation groups asked the federal government Thursday to investigate the deaths of three endangered Mexican gray wolves found dead in southwestern New Mexico.

LOS ANGELES Forty-two people have been indicted in Los Angeles in what prosecutors say was a ring that defrauded Medi-Cal out of nearly $4.6 million by using unlicensed nurses to provide care to disabled patients.

LOS ANGELES Officials say a power outage is causing traffic jams across the west side of Los Angeles and leaving people trapped in elevators.

LOS ANGELES The U.S. attorney's office has indicted more than 40 people in Southern California linked to a ring that allegedly defrauded the Medi-Cal system out of millions of dollars.

WASHINGTON U.S. authorities trying to unravel the widespread cyber attacks against government Web sites in the United States and South Korea this week are facing a lengthy, complex investigation that may never identify a culprit, at least not one they would be willing to reveal.

WASHINGTON The share of Americans who see science as the nation's greatest achievement is down sharply, even as the public continues to hold scientists in high regard. A new Pew Research Center poll indicates that 27 percent of Americans say the nation's greatest achievements are in science, medicine and technology, more than any category other than don't know.

PORT RICHEY, Fla. The Coast Guard ended its search Thursday for five people aboard a small plane that crashed off Florida's Gulf Coast, saying it believes all are dead.

SAN ANTONIO The Shriners will continue treating children in all 22 cities where they operate hospitals, but some of the facilities may be downgraded to outpatient surgical centers and the sale or lease of real estate will be explored, the nonprofit's new CEO said Thursday.

MIAMI Leaders of Cuban and Venezuelan communities across the U.S. have become among the loudest supporters of the military ouster of Honduras' president because they see it as a strike against socialist influence in Latin America.

McLEAN, Va. The federal government's most secure prison has determined that two books written by President Barack Obama contain material "potentially detrimental to national security" and rejected an inmate's request to read them.

ALSIP, Ill. Workers at a historic Illinois cemetery may have dug up more than 100 bodies and dumped them in mass graves at the back of the 150-acre property in a scheme to resell plots to unsuspecting customers, authorities said Wednesday.

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. A suburban Philadelphia swim club accused of kicking out a group of minority children visiting from the city denies any racial discrimination.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. A prominent San Francisco Bay area child psychiatrist accused of molesting several patients says he does not remember any of the alleged victims.

NEW YORK Retail sales were weak in June for the 11th consecutive month, raising worries about how consumers will approach the back-to-school shopping season.