AP - Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, whose most noted drive was the final one of the 2000 Super Bowl, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head Saturday afternoon in a downtown condominium. Police said a woman was also shot dead.

AP - Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

AP - Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a woman were found shot to death Saturday afternoon inside a condominium in downtown Nashville, police said.

AP - The soldier who was photographed fighting the Taliban in his pink boxer shorts said Saturday he was glad to be back home in Texas after his yearlong deployment to Afghanistan — especially for the Fourth of July.

AP - Where is Sarah Palin? A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, the controversial hockey mom was keeping a low profile. Her spokesman, David Murrow, said Palin told him she was flying to Juneau, the state capital, for the Fourth of July weekend, but he wasn't sure what activities she planned to attend.

AP - Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, an annual showcase for flamboyant hot dogging contestants eager to show they really are what they eat.

AP - More than 1.2 million people have now registered to get tickets for Michael Jackson's memorial service next week.

AP - The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom, national pride — and for one couple, romance.

AP - A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer terrorizing a small South Carolina community, authorities said.

AP - Last November, more than 60 percent of voters on the San Francisco Peninsula supported a $9.9 billion bond measure to help pay for a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and the Los Angeles area.

AP - Cynthia Mary Roberson is an unemployed mother who police say led her 12- and 14-year-old sons and their friends to commit at least 20 armed robberies and assaults, including the beating of a teenage boy who had nothing more than an orange lollipop.

AP - By all accounts, Shiner beer shouldn't have made it this long. The Spoetzl Brewery ferments its brew in a one-stoplight town that's not on the way to anywhere, and much larger regional brewers long ago succumbed to consolidation and the muscle of national brewers.

AP - When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach brought his children to play with Michael Jackson's kids at Neverland Ranch some eight years ago, the rabbi's youngsters naturally made a beeline for the fabulous rides — the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the bumper cars.

AP - No matter how unusual their lives may have been so far, Michael Jackson's children now face a universal trauma felt by all kids who suddenly lose a parent.

AP - • 1992-1996 — Sarah Palin enters public life in Alaska, serving two terms on the Wasilla City Council.

AP - Ed Spaeth was researching his family tree when he discovered an 18th-century ancestor likely was buried in the woods just down the hill from his Hudson Valley home.