Kevin West

SunTrust Banks Inc. said Wednesday its net income fell 10 percent in the first quarter as it wrote off more than $118 million in loans to failed energy trader Enron Corp.

A company that has operated in Georgia since 1979 will close its plant and lay off all 117 employees next month.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service said Wednesday that five whooping cranes that migrated to Florida's Gulf Coast for the winter have started their flight home to Wisconsin.

Farm groups representing six states say the new tax on tobacco products sold in the U.S. should go toward ending the price-control system for tobacco and compensating quota holders.

Despite the second largest jackpot in the history of the multistate Big Game lottery -- $200 million up for grabs for Friday's drawing -- a new game called Mega Millions will be introduced next month.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers President Bush "a great friend of Israel," but he disagrees with the U.S. leader's call for a swift Israeli troop withdrawal from Palestinian cities.

Shares in Sears, Roebuck and Co. surged 7 percent to a four-year high Wednesday after the retailer reported preliminary first-quarter profits far exceeding Wall Street's estimates.

Prolonged security checks since Sept. 11 have caused a slowdown of almost 14 percent in the number of overseas Muslims granted permission to live in the United States through a special green card program.

Police Chief Bernard Parks, determined to stay in charge of the troubled department, vowed to take his fight to the City Council after a civilian panel decided not to grant him a second five-year term.

Hall County native, markswoman Jodie Briggs, has added to her many awards with a second place finish at the U.S. Shooting's 2002 Junior Olympic Championships in Colorado over the weekend.