Ken Stanford

An Arizona woman held in a Mexico jail for a week on a drug-smuggling charge was freed after a court reviewed her case, including key security footage, and dismissed the allegations.

Insurance companies are showing interest in providing coverage under the new health care law, a development likely to increase market competition and give uninsured people more choices than they now have, the White House said Thursday. Many of the 14 million people who currently buy their own insurance plans could also benefit.

At least two tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and another hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country, injuring at least nine people.

The stock market rose Thursday after a pair of lackluster economic reports raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to boost the economy with its stimulus program.

The average medical claim from a motorcycle crash rose by more than one-fifth last year in Michigan after the state stopped requiring all riders to wear helmets, according to an insurance industry study. Across the nation, motorcyclists opposed to mandatory helmet use have been chipping away at state helmet laws for years while crash deaths have been on the rise.

As the U.S. recovery slowly gathers steam, federal deficits are finally coming down from their nosebleed $1-trillion-plus heights. That will postpone until fall a new budget showdown between Congress and the White House - and also will probably delay the days of reckoning, feared by millions of aging Americans, when Social Security and Medicare could become insolvent.

The Historic Downtown Farmer's Market on the Square opens in Gainesville Friday.

Ricky Darracott of Flowery Branch High School (FBHS) has been nominated for selection as the National Sports Marketing Teacher of the Year and for the inaugural class of Teacher Sports Marketing Hall of Fame.

Final preparations are underway for this year's Hall County Relay for Life.

The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Leadership Hall County (LHC) program is celebrating its 30th year anniversary.