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NEW ORLEANS — BP said its capped-off well appeared to be holding steady Friday morning, almost midway into a white-knuckle waiting period in which engineers watched the pressure gauges for signs of a leak.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s new chief justice, Lorie Skjerven Gildea, said Tuesday that her top priority will be securing enough money for a judicial system that’s slowing down due to budget cuts that have left the courts short-staffed.

“Ensuring adequate funding for the judiciary is the No. 1 priority,” Gildea said in an interview with The Associated Press, one day after she was ceremonially sworn in as Minnesota’s 22nd chief justice.

NASSAU, Bahamas — The American teenager who police call the “Barefoot Bandit” pleaded guilty Tuesday to a minor offense in the Bahamas and will be deported soon to face prosecution for a string of break-ins and plane thefts across the United States.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s party could lose its House majority in this fall’s elections, his spokesman said Sunday, perhaps trying to jolt Democratic voters with the specter of GOP lawmakers rolling back White House policies.

DOVER, N.H. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who campaigned in New Hampshire for John McCain during the 2008 presidential primary, said Saturday he would offer voters here the same kind of blunt talk and authenticity if he runs for president.

NEW ORLEANS — The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the government official in charge of the crisis said Friday in some of the most encouraging news to come out of the Gulf in the 2 1/2 months since the disaster struck.

MINNEAPOLIS — An engineering company that consulted on the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis said Thursday it should not have to pay punitive damages because it didn’t know about the design flaw that caused the bridge to collapse in 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

PHOENIX — The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s new law targeting illegal immigrants, setting the stage for a clash between the federal government and the state over the nation’s toughest immigration crackdown.

KABUL, Afghanistan — “We are in this to win,” Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday as he took the reins of an Afghan war effort troubled by waning support, an emboldened enemy, government corruption and a looming commitment to withdraw troops even with no sign of violence easing.

NEW ORLEANS — Gulf of Mexico cleanup crews working to block millions of gallons of oil from reaching land may soon have a giant on their side, if a weekend test of a new skimmer goes well.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Investigators searched a central Minnesota property Wednesday where an 11-year-old boy was abducted at gunpoint nearly 21 years ago and never heard from again.

Authorities said little about the search in St. Joseph. But aerial photos taken by the St. Cloud Times showed as many as 17 vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and trailers on the property.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Hurricane Alex churned westward through the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday, far from oil spill cleanup efforts but on a collision course with Mexico and the southern Texas coastline.

WASHINGTON — Challenged by Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan said Tuesday the Pentagon’s recruiters had access to Harvard Law School students “every single day I was dean” and rejected GOP claims she maneuvered to thwart them.

Summer vacation doesn’t mean all students get a break from studying.  Many enroll in summer courses, and for some of those students, taking summer courses at St. Thomas is not convenient or cost-efficient. They take classes at other four-year colleges closer to home or at local community colleges instead.