DENVER (AP) _ Surrounded by an enormous, adoring crowd, Barack Obama promised a clean break from the "broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush" Thursday night as he embarked on the final lap of his audacious bid to become the nation's first black president. "America, now is not the time for small plans," the 47-year-old Illinois senator told an estimated 84,000 people packed into Invesco Field, a huge football stadium at the base of the Rocky Mountains.More than 84,000 attend Obama speech

DENVER (AP) _ More than 84,000 people have jammed into Invesco Field at Mile High stadium to hear Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech, city officials say. Nancy Kuhn of Denver's public works department says the figure is based on the number of credentials that were scanned as delegates, individuals and news media entered the football stadium where Obama was accepting the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night.As Gustav nears, Gulf Coast puts faith in planning

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline. The first batch of 700 buses that could ferry residents inland were being sent to a staging area near New Orleans, and officials in Mississippi were trying to decide when to move Katrina-battered residents along the coast who were still living in temporary homes, including trailers vulnerable to high wind.Walkway collapses in San Diego, injuring 16

SAN DIEGO (AP) _ A block-long covered walkway next to a construction scaffold collapsed on Thursday, trapping and injuring 16 pedestrians, three critically. About 25 people were on the walkway when its wooden walls and roof fell in, authorities said. Some scaffolding along the 3-story building also fell.Jury acquits former Marine in killing of detainees

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) _ A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial that ended with some of the jurors shaking hands and hugging the defendant and his sobbing mother. The jury took less than six hours to find Jose Luis Nazario Jr. not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.New Katrina death tally: Half of victims 75 and up

CHICAGO (AP) _ As New Orleans residents warily track another threatening storm, a new report presents the clearest picture yet of deaths from Katrina in Louisiana. Of the nearly 1,000 who died, almost half were 75 or older, according to researchers. Most died on the day of the storm _ August 29, 2005 _ and drowning was the leading cause of death. More than one-third died in homes.

Please enable JavascriptHuge underground water plant takes shape under NYC

NEW YORK (AP) _ It requires enough concrete to build a sidewalk from New York to Miami and enough pipe to reach the top of the Empire State Building 140 times over. Workers carved out enough dirt from the ground to fill more than 100,000 dump trucks. The colossal effort is a water filtration plant being built 10 stories beneath a Bronx driving range, a one-of-a-kind project intended to become a nearly invisible part of the city's infrastructure.Small GPS devices help prosecutors win convictions

Like millions of motorists, Eric Hanson used a GPS unit in his Chevrolet TrailBlazer to find his way around. He probably didn't expect that prosecutors would eventually use it too _ to help convict him of killing four family members. Prosecutors in suburban Chicago analyzed data from the Garmin GPS device to pinpoint where Hanson had been on the morning after his parents were fatally shot and his sister and brother-in-law bludgeoned to death in 2005. He was convicted of the killings earlier this year and sentenced to death.Iowa college president steps down after beer photo

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) _ An Iowa community college president resigned less than a week after a photo was published appearing to show him pouring beer into a young woman's mouth. The school's board of trustees on Thursday unanimously approved Robert Paxton's resignation. It also approved a severance package that officials said was valued at about $400,000.Trying to stop removal hearing, Detroit mayor sues

DETROIT (AP) _ Lawyers for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick filed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at scuttling a hearing that could lead to his ouster, saying the proceedings would be unfair and presided over by a governor who is biased against him. Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski is expected to hear a request Friday to halt removal proceedings scheduled to start Wednesday.

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