MAYS LANDING, N.J. – Clandestine meetings in a dark sport utility vehicle hidden near the Boardwalk. A secret pow-wow in a diner. A computer hard drive tossed into the ocean. A secret sex videotape and blackmail. It sounded like a TV crime drama. But Friday’s testimony in state Superior Court …

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: Resume Builder Barack Obama’s first general election ad says about 46 seconds in that the Illinois senator passed laws that “extended health care for wounded troops who’d been neglected.” The ad “Country I Love”, which was released Friday, provides a citation at …

You could call it a trickle down benefit of the end to the Cold War. Space race technology from Russia is yielding big rewards for disabled kids here on planet Earth. MyFOXHouston.com reports that a Soviet-era spacesuit design originally meant to counter the effects of long-term weightlessness is getting raves …

WASHINGTON – A leading cellular phone company declined to charge the government the same expensive fees it charges consumers for canceling their contracts early, acknowledging that “the government will never, never accept such penalty amounts,” according to internal corporate e-mails obtained by The Associated Press. The exasperating fees are the …

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The owner of a clinic has been charged with posing as a doctor to perform abortions, some of them unsuccessful or resulting in severe complications and hospitalization, prosecutors said Friday. Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, was arrested Thursday after a yearlong investigation, San Diego County district attorney …

SEATTLE – Police and federal agents have raided strip clubs in the Seattle area as part of a racketeering investigation involving the clubs’ owner. Robbie Burroughs, a spokeswoman for the FBI, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer warrants were served Monday at multiple locations as part of an investigation into strip-club owner …

DOTHAN, Ala. – Authorities say an 11-year-old boy who was riding in a pickup truck has died from injuries suffered when the truck collided in Dothan with a church bus from Kentucky. Dothan police declined to release the name of the boy Monday. Another child in the pickup truck, described …

NASHVILLE, Tenn – After years of investigation, authorities are indicting a man in the 1975 slaying of a 9-year-old Girl Scout who disappeared while delivering cookies. District Attorney Torry Johnson announced the indictment against Jerome Sidney Barrett on Friday. Barrett is already in jail after being charged in another 1975 …

BAGHDAD – A member of an extremist cell believed behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people — including three U.S. Marines — has been arrested, the U.S. military said Friday. U.S. spokesmen said it was unclear if the suspect, who was not identified, was directly involved in …

PHILADELPHIA – An evening news anchor is under federal investigation and off the air after his fired co-anchor complained that someone may have hacked into her e-mails and leaked them to gossip columnists. The investigation became public after the FBI last Thursday raided the home of anchor Larry Mendte of …