Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program  —  SAN FRANCISCO — When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world's largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled.  In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit.

PD: Boy, 4, accidentally shoots, kills father  —  PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — A 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father at a home in Prescott Valley Friday, according to a spokesman for the Prescott Valley Police Dept.  —  Police have identified the victim as 35-year-old Justin Stanfield Thomas …

Cleta Mitchell: How to Investigate the IRS  —  Cleta Mitchell, the attorney who helped expose the tax agency's abuses, has a road map for identifying the culprits.  It doesn't stop in Cincinnati.  —  Washington  —  The woman who helped expose IRS abuse of conservative activists has more news to share …

First on CNN: Republican Party to step up outreach to evangelicals  —  (CNN) - The Republican National Committee has brought on a director of evangelical outreach to massage the party's complicated relationship with religious conservatives, GOP sources told CNN on Saturday.

Why I confronted the first lady  —  Ellen Sturtz is a retired public servant and an advocate for LGBT equality.  —  When Barack Obama was running for President in 2008, I thought he was serious about protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from workplace discrimination.

U.S. Internet spying foiled plot to attack NY subways - sources  —  (Reuters) - A secret U.S. intelligence program to collect emails that is at the heart of an uproar over government surveillance helped foil an Islamist militant plot to bomb the New York City subway system in 2009, U.S. government sources said on Friday.

Intelligence for Dummies  —  Question for the day: Do you feel more secure or less secure, now that you know the government is keeping a gargantuan pile of information about everybody's telephone calls in the name of national security?  —  You have heard, I'm sure, that the National Security Agency …

REPORT: HOMESCHOOLING GROWING SEVEN TIMES FASTER THAN PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT  —  As dissatisfaction with the U.S. public school system grows, apparently so has the appeal of homeschooling.  Educational researchers, in fact, are expecting a surge in the number of students educated at home …

Rep. Israel: Repeal Dishonorable Discharges For Gay Veterans  —  HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Before the repeal of the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, some servicemembers were subjected to dishonorable discharges because they were gay.  —  And as WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported Saturday …

Santa Monica gunman killed father, brother, sources say  —  The two bodies found in a burning Santa Monica house - the starting point in a shooting rampage - are believe to be the brother and father of the suspected gunman, law enforcement sources told The Times.

Government likely to open criminal probe into NSA leaks: officials  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday.

Hayward school to sponsor toy gun exchange  —  HAYWARD — An elementary school will hold a toy gun exchange Saturday, offering students a book and a chance to win a bicycle if they turn in their play weapons.  —  Strobridge Elementary Principal Charles Hill maintains …