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The nation's biggest retailers began gearing up for the busy post-Thanksgiving shopping day months ago. The Conference Board predicts U.S. households will spend about 7 percent less on gifts this season than last year. At a Target store in Maryland, some shoppers were up early looking for specific items.

It was 40 years ago Tuesday that the Kent State University shootings -- which killed four people and wounded nine others -- stunned the nation. For many there on May 4, 1970, it was a life-changing event. But students on the Kent campus today say it had little bearing on their choice of college.

A U.S. citizen suspected in the failed car bombing in New York's Times Square seemed to have everything going for him. He had built a nice home for his family near Bridgeport, Conn. A neighbor said Shahzad seemed to be "a nice guy." But by last summer, Shahzad's life had started to turn sour.

One of the most difficult decisions facing seniors is where to live in their final years. Our series 'Aging in San Diego' continues with a visit to two senior communities that offer independent and assisted living.

The overwhelming conviction of Raj Rajaratnam this week didn't give federal prosecutors a breather in their campaign against insider trading. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan has 11 defendants waiting in the dock and another big trial scheduled to begin Monday.

Many families are living with what one researcher calls "financial fragility." That is they're just one job loss — or even one car breakdown — away from tumbling into real financial trouble.

California has some of the toughest campaign finance disclosure laws in the country. But when it comes to how much people can donate, there are plenty of loopholes to be exploited by savvy donors.

Public support for the medical use of marijuana is rising, but the Obama administration has begun lashing out against the drug. The Justice Department has warned that dispensaries aren't immune from prosecution, even in states where medical use is legal.

Prosecutors admit that the constitutional right to an attorney is inconsistently applied for indigent criminal defendants in some states. In Michigan, officials have repeatedly ignored pleas to change how it pays lawyers for the poor. But lawsuits and exonerations may be starting to change that.

Citing political risks and a rising debt burden, Standard & Poor's lowered the U.S. AAA credit rating by one notch to AA-plus. This is the first time in history that the United States has had its credit rating lowered. The agency said the deficit plan passed by Congress did not go far enough to stabilize the country.