AP - Members of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel say they will move forward despite the possibility that they might not get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor's conversations with aides and others.

AP - A table piled with donated clothes is being eyed as the potential origin of a fire that killed five people at a Texas homeless shelter, forcing some residents to flee into the cold streets barefoot and coatless.

AP - The morning after the Nov. 4 election, Norm Coleman stood before TV cameras, declared victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate election and said that if he were opponent Al Franken he'd "step aside."

AP - Sponsors of California's voter-approved gay marriage ban accused Attorney General Jerry Brown on Monday of advancing a far-fetched legal theory to justify overturning it.

AP - Although he calls himself a senator, Roland Burris has found little support among fellow Democrats in his effort to take the Senate seat to which embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him.

AP - A fire fueled by donated clothes ripped through a homeless shelter in northeastern Texas early Monday, killing five residents as some tried dousing the blaze with pans of water.

AP - A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months.

AP - The nation's largest owner of timberland disclosed Monday that it will no longer pursue changes in agreements governing its use of U.S. Forest Service roads — changes that critics complained could transform forests into housing subdivisions.

AP - A whopper about a devious baby and his diapers is the top lie of 2008, an organization of champion fibbers declared Monday.

AP - The Kansas parents who failed to report their 11-year-old adopted son missing nearly a decade ago are "people of interest" as authorities search for him nationwide, a sheriff said Monday.

AP - Anthrax mailing suspect Bruce Ivins tormented his wife with rudeness and behaved erratically in the weeks before the Army scientist took his own life by overdosing on Tylenol, according to documents released Monday.

AP - State legislators weighing evidence against Gov. Rod Blagojevich may finish their work before getting any tapes of the governor's conversations that were made secretly by the FBI, attorneys indicated Monday.

AP - Gov. Bill Richardson's gold-plated resume had never been tarnished as he moved up the political ladder from congressman and diplomat to governor.

AP - Caroline Kennedy's missteps and halting speech patterns have been replayed endlessly since she announced her bid to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

AP - A 13-hour hostage standoff at a Georgia motel ended peacefully Monday when a former South Carolina police officer and a teenage girl surrendered, freeing his estranged wife and infant son.

AP - A contractor was charged with manslaughter Monday for allegedly using worn, fraying safety straps that broke apart and caused a crane to crash down on a Manhattan neighborhood, killing seven people in one of the city's worst construction accidents in decades.

AP - Senate Democrats struggled to avert a showdown steeped in race and corruption Monday as a defiant Roland Burris declared, "I'm a United States senator" and flew to the capital to claim President-elect Barack Obama's old seat in Congress.

AP - A person with knowledge of the discussions says former eBay Inc. chief executive Meg Whitman plans to run for governor of California.

AP - A former South Carolina trooper caught on video kicking a suspect in the head after a highway chase pleaded guilty Monday to violating the man's civil rights, according to federal court documents.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's decision to fill the nation's top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.

AP - Authorities combing through 60 tons of trash, searching for the body of a baby allegedly dumped by his 16-year-old mother, found a dead infant in the garbage Monday.

AP - A missing Kansas boy's adoptive parents, who failed to report his disappearance for nearly a decade, are considered "people of interest" in the case as authorities expand their search nationwide, a sheriff said Monday.

AP - A former South Carolina policeman who fired shots from a Georgia motel while holding his infant son and two women hostage surrendered peacefully Monday after a 13-hour standoff.

AP - Senate Democrats struggled to avert a showdown steeped in race and corruption Monday as a defiant Roland Burris declared, "I'm a United States senator" despite boiling controversy over his appointment to President-elect Barack Obama's seat in Congress.

AP - A former Boeing employee who vandalized a $24 million military helicopter was sentenced Monday to five months in prison and five months on home confinement after telling the judge the tension and tedium of his assembly-line job had gotten to him.