NEW YORK – What a difference a year makes. If last year’s Super Bowl ads (search) were fueled by gross humor, this year’s are running on nostalgia and cute cartoon characters. In a bid not to repeat the excesses of 2004, advertisers are employing a far safer stable of pitchmen, …

PUEBLO, Colo. – A small jet owned by electronics retailer Circuit City (search) crashed in freezing drizzle Wednesday as it approached a southern Colorado airport, killing all eight people aboard, including four company employees. Two witnesses told investigators they heard loud popping noises from the twin-jet Cessna Citation C-560 (search) …

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act (search) when it relaxed protections on many of the nation’s gray wolves. The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones (search) in Portland rescinds a rule change that allows ranchers to …

LOS ANGELES – “Meet the Parents” star Ben Stiller (search) is going to be a parent himself — again. Stiller’s wife, actress Christine Taylor (search), is pregnant with the couple’s second child and is expecting sometime this summer, publicist Kelly Bush said Thursday. Other details were not released. Stiller, 39, …

RALEIGH, N.C. – Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards (search) will not talk about whether he plans to run for the White House in 2008, but he is not pledging to stand aside if running mate John Kerry (search) tries again. Edwards said in an interview aired Sunday on ABC’s …

TORONTO – Investigators have found the so-called black boxes from an Air France (search) plane that skidded off a rainy runway in Toronto yesterday and burst into flames. They hope the flight data and voice recorders will provide insight into the cause of the accident. All 309 passengers and crew …

LOS ANGELES – California’s attorney general said on Thursday the state has filed a lawsuit accusing 39 pharmaceutical companies of bilking the state’s Medicaid program of hundreds of millions of dollars by inflating drug prices. Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he has added companies including Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and GlaxoSmithKline …

TBILISI, Georgia – Archaeologists in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have unearthed a skull they say is 1.8 million years old — part of a find that holds the oldest traces of humankind’s closest ancestors ever found in Europe. The skull from an early member of the genus Homo …

NEW YORK – U.S. consumer sentiment fell more than expected in August from July due to record gasoline prices at the height of the summer driving season, a report said Friday. The University of Michigan (search) said its reading on consumer confidence at the end of August was 89.1, down …

POMEROY, Wash. – A 48,000-acre wildfire (search) in southeastern Washington has destroyed more than 100 homes, ranging from modest summer cabins to full-time residences, a spokeswoman said Friday. The fire was about 40 percent contained, and firefighters were getting some relief as temperatures dropped and humidity rose in the region, …