Teen: I Am Not the Boston Marathon Bomber  —  The teenage boy authorities once investigated as possibly being connected to the Boston Marathon bombing told ABC News today he was shocked to see his face pop up on television and all over social media.  —  Salah Barhoun, 17 …

A Senate in the Gun Lobby's Grip  —  SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby.  But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets.  The fear that those children who survived …

MIND-BOGGLING DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT RICIN LETTER SUSPECT: 'I'M ON THE HIDDEN FRONT LINES OF A SECRET WAR'  —  Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, of Tupelo, Miss., has been arrested in connection with ricin letters that were sent to both Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and President Barack Obama," The New York Times reports.

The Senators Who Supported Background Checks Represent Nearly Two-Thirds Of Americans  —  Yesterday the Senate voted 54-46 in favor of a provision that would expand background checks for gun sales, which, in the bizarro world of the United States Senate, means that the provision fails.

EMS Director Says 60 To 70 Dead In West Explosion  —  West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and hundreds were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West.  —  A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths.

Former ‘Ex-Gay’ Superstar John Paulk Finally Renounces His ‘Ex-Gay’ Past  —  Paulk Must Now Begin The Hard Work Of Atoning For The Damage He Has Done To LGBT People, And Anne Paulk And The Religious Right Must Stop Peddling The Lie Of The Paulks' “Fairy-Tale ‘Ex-Gay’ Marriage” Immediately, Says Truth Wins Out

EXCLUSIVE: SAUDI NATIONAL ONCE CONSIDERED ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’ MAY BE DEPORTED ON ‘SECURITY’ GROUNDS — AND HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FRAMED  —  Editor's note: Please see the Editors' UPDATES we will be placing in order of most-recent below.  TheBlaze's Jonathon M. Seidl contributed to this report.

Biden Pledges More Executive Action On Guns “Later This Week”  —  On conference call with stakeholders, Biden says Obama will carry the gun control fight forward on his own.  Updated: The White House says it is only implementing some of the executive actions Obama announced in January.

Krauthammer Got Played  —  Gang of 8 Fakery, Part 1: Remember that wacky Charles Krauthammer column from a month ago-the one that began by shredding the Marco Rubio amnesty plan but wound up endorsring it?  Krauthammer's reasoning at the time was strange, but (barely) defensible.

One Wednesday last month, Ann Curry, camouflaged in a hat and trench coat, trudged into the art-deco lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  It had been nine months since she was pushed out as co-host of the “Today” show.  Curry was now NBC's “national and international correspondent” …

Sinkhole swallows 3 cars on Southeast Side: ‘I am lucky’  —  A sinkhole on the Southeast Side of Chicago swallowed three cars this morning, one of which was caught on tape.  (WGN-TV)  —  Staff report  —  One person was hospitalized after a sinkhole swallowed three cars in the South Deering neighborhood …

Gang of Eight aims to stop conservative attacks  —  The Senate's Gang of Eight is mounting an aggressive lobbying campaign with one major goal: weaken the conservative opposition to a sweeping immigration overhaul.  —  Hours after the bill was unveiled after 2 a.m. Wednesday …

Massachusetts Lawmakers Praise Obama's Boston Speech  —  “It was perfect,” said one.  “Historic,” another said.  —  Via: Pool photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images/MCT  —  Several members of Massachusetts's Congressional delegation praised President Obama's speech in Boston Thursday morning, with one calling it “historic.”