Supreme Court clears expansion of Arizona ski resort on mountain sacred to Indian tribes

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from Indian tribes that wanted to block expansion of a ski resort on a mountain they consider sacred, but an attorney for some of the tribes said the fight may not be over.

Bad weather hampers search for missing US mountain climbers in China

BEIJING — High winds and blizzards hampered the search Monday for two U.S. mountain climbers after the body of a third American climber was found buried in an avalanche in southwestern China, an official said.

Skydiver misses landing spot in western NY nighttime jump, escapes with minor injuries

BARRE, N.Y. — Authorities say a skydiver who bungled the landing on a roughly 10,000-foot nighttime jump was flown to a hospital but ended up with little more than a broken nose.

Sewage concerns close NYC’s Coney Island, Manhattan beaches

NEW YORK — Swimmers are being kept out of the water at Coney Island and nearby Manhattan Beach because of concerns about a sewage overflow.

Skydiver fails to slow descent in nighttime jump over western NY but survives

BARRE, N.Y. — Officials say a skydiver who fell too fast and was knocked unconscious when she hit the ground in western New York has been treated at a hospital.

Miami Beach seeks to evict bicycle-riding rooster for offense of crowing at the break of day

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Miami Beach tolerates all kinds of eccentricity, but the south Florida playground of the rich and famous draws the line at a bicycle riding rooster named Mr. Clucky.

No free fishing: Northeast’s stubborn saltwater fishermen resist US registry, but it’s coming

BOURNE, Mass. — People have tossed hooks and lines into the New England tides since long before there was a Cape Cod Canal for Eddie Pachucki to fish in. So Pachucki, casting into the canal’s current for striped bass, couldn’t fathom why he’d soon owe the state for the privilege.

Government says it will negotiate for 1 week before seizing land for Flight 93 memorial

SOMERSET, Pa. — The federal government will negotiate with landowners for one week in an attempt to get property needed to build a Flight 93 memorial without using eminent domain, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday.

Give it up for Sonia Sotomayor: Documents from Supreme Court nominee show a flash of humor

WASHINGTON — Did you hear the one about the three judges who go duck hunting? Sonia Sotomayor has.

Luxurious Las Vegas community not isolated from real estate meltdown

LAS VEGAS — It was a symbol of Las Vegas largesse during the good times. Now it’s an emblem of recession blues.

Adorable and multiplying, black bears starting to invade roads and cities

ALBANY, N.Y. — Black bears are multiplying and on the move across North America, snooping around cities where they’ve been a rarity, becoming roadkill and leading states to start or expand hunting seasons.

US envoy Holbrooke meets Pakistanis made refugees by military-Taliban fight in Swat Valley

MARDAN, Pakistan — A top U.S. envoy visited Pakistani refugees who have fled fighting between their country’s military and Taliban guerrillas and told them Thursday that the United States can’t offer them security, but it can offer them aid.

Lawsuits over hunting of gray wolves filed in federal courts in Montana, Wyoming

BILLINGS, Mont. — A pair of federal judges will decide which states in the Northern Rockies have enough gray wolves to allow public hunting, as the bitter debate over the region’s wolves heads to courts in Wyoming and Montana.

US soldiers leaving Iraqi cities for sweltering tents while military builds new housing

CAMP CARVER, Iraq — The U.S. military is expanding some rural bases and building others to house thousands of troops displaced by a June deadline to withdraw from Iraq’s major cities.

National Park Service will waive fees for 3 weekends this summer

WASHINGTON — The National Park Service is looking to stimulate summer vacations at national parks.

Smoky Mountains Park marks 75th anniversary with hikes, homecomings

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — The ancient blue-green mountains with breathtaking vistas and distinctive mists are home to salamanders and black bears, 19th century log cabins, rippling streams, waterfalls and more than 800 miles of trails, including a large section of the Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail.

Travel briefs

Washington tourism launches ‘Lost Symbol’ Web site for Dan Brown book

Dozens of whales perish after beaching near southern tip of South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Authorities shot dozens of exhausted whales that beached on a shore near South Africa’s storm-lashed southern tip Saturday amid scenes of grief and despair from volunteers who had tried to save them.

One of nation’s most endangered Civil War battlefields being restored after 2 hurricanes

SABINE PASS, Texas — The bronze likeness of Confederate Lt. Dick Dowling has survived two hurricanes in the last five years, as against the odds as the few dozen rebel Texas soldiers he led to victory against a huge Union force almost 150 years ago.

About 950 acres of land acquired for Flight 93 memorial in southwestern Pa.

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — The National Park Service has acquired about 950 acres of land for the Flight 93 National Memorial in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Alabama golfers hit back-to-back aces after both balls stop behind hole and spin back

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — Pierre Fournier and Ken Osborne hit back-to-back holes in one — just not necessarily in that order. Playing in the same five-person group, Fournier teed off first, but his ball landed some eight feet past the hole, rolled back to the cup and didn’t go in until after Osborne’s had gone in. The two Muscle Shoals golfers managed that bizarre feat at Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club recently on the 112-yard par 3 12th hole.

Covering Brazil’s floods: faith, adrenaline _ and a sharp eye for the ‘two-headed snake’

SAO SIMAO, Brazil — The leaky canoe is taking on water fast as our two guides fight the river in a driving rain.

Actor’s Idaho ski resort plans to rebuild lodge at Soldier Mountain

FAIRFIELD, Idaho — Managers of a small ski operation owned by “Die Hard” actor Bruce Willis through his Idaho-based company, Valley Entertainment Group, say the main lodge at the Soldier Mountain Ski Resort will be rebuilt.

Recession could make a walk in the park or a stroll on the beach harder this year

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Cash-strapped Americans looking for a cheap getaway at a state park or campground this summer are likely to find instead reduced hours, higher fees and closed beaches and pools.

11-year-old golfer aces 115-yard Hole Number 8 using a nine-iron in Minnesota

DULUTH, Minn. — An 11-year-old golfer can brag about what many golfers never achieve in a lifetime on the links: A hole in one. Ethan Clay was golfing last Saturday on Lester Park’s Lake Nine with his father Tim Clay, golf pro Paul Schintz, and Schintz’s two children. Ethan aced the 115-yard Hole Number 8 using a nine-iron. He said he sprinted toward the hole after he saw his ball bounce before the cup and disappear.

Mountain lion mauls dog that defended owners hiking in Santa Ana Mountains

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — A mountain lion attacked and nearly killed a dog that defended its owners Tuesday on a trail in the Santa Ana Mountains.

European Parliament bans seal imports, hoping to force Canada to end its annual hunt

STRASBOURG, France — The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to ban imports of seal products, including fur coats and even some omega-3 pills, in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt, the world’s largest.

Jersey shore businesses optimistic about tourism this summer

TRENTON, N.J. — Good, but not great.

California wild: whitewater rafting and mountain scenery along 3 forks of the American River

There is white water to ride on California’s American River, and it flows through the mountain scenery of the Sierra Nevada and some of the state’s historic Gold Rush country.

After endangered status stripped, gray wolf hunting to start this fall _ except in Wyoming

BILLINGS, Mont. — Wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region come off the endangered species list on Monday, opening them to public hunts in some states for the first time in decades.