NEW YORK More Americans will hit the road this holiday weekend than a year ago. And they'll have a bit more money to spend thanks to lower gas prices.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Residents near a privately owned New Mexico ghost town were ordered Saturday to evacuate as a blaze in the Gila National Forest continued to burn erratically, as Colorado crews took to fighting a new fire along the Utah-Colorado border.

PORTLAND, Ore. The mother of three young children abandoned in a Portland shed was found by police on Friday, a day after the kids were taken to safety.

CENTRALIA, Pa. It's an anniversary the few remaining souls who live here won't be celebrating.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. The commanding Marine general in one of Afghanistan's hardest-fought regions said Friday he is seeing big improvements in the vetting of Afghan recruits to the country's security forces following attacks by Afghan soldiers on their NATO partners.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. A Florida man was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that swindled hundreds of victims out of $8 million.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska From the vantage point of the Comfort Inn parking lot near the entrance to Kodiak's airport, traffic moves north toward downtown or south to the Coast Guard air station, the home to cutters, helicopters and rescue swimmers that aid mariners in the Bering Sea or the Pacific Ocean.

VALPARAISO, Ind. A coroner says the gunman killed in a northwestern Indiana police standoff was a Texas man.

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. Federal prosecutors say a New Jersey mayor and his adult son hacked into websites of political foes who were seeking his recall.

BOSTON The widow of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy has called on Boston College Law School graduates to use training from their Catholic education to work for justice.

PHILADELPHIA A woman was charged Friday with killing her 18-month-old twins, named Adam and Eve, in the family home. Police said she also attempted suicide by cutting her wrists.

BILLINGS, Mont. Western lawmakers want to elevate the Plains bison to a status similar to that of the iconic bald eagle with legislation to declare the burly beasts America's "national mammal."

Restaurants are going to the dogs... and the cats, and various other friends of the four-legged variety.

RICHMOND, Va. Two women in the Army Reserve have sued the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army in a bid to reverse military policies banning women from serving in combat roles.

GILLETTE, Wyo. Federal land managers have rejected an application by a Colorado company to use bacteria to produce methane from northeast Wyoming coal beds.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. Authorities say an upstate New York man angry over getting tossed out of his brother's home poisoned his sibling's two toddlers by pouring bleach in their milk.

MIAMI A 24-year-old Canadian man is in federal custody for rushing toward the front of an American Airlines flight from Jamaica after the plane landed in Miami.

ATLANTA Passengers at the Atlanta airport's new international terminal are complaining that there are not enough shuttle buses.

WASHINGTON D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry says he misspoke when he referred to the Polish community with the disparaging term "Polacks."

WASHINGTON David Simon of Simon Property received a pay package worth more than $137 million for last year, and the typical CEO took home $9.6 million, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

NEWBERRY, Mich. A fast-moving wildfire fed by dry conditions in Michigan's Upper Peninsula continued to burn Friday, consuming 17,000 acres and prompting evacuations of homes and sections of a state park, officials said.

OAKLAND, Calif. A second federal judge in California has struck down a law denying benefits to partners in a gay marriage.

NEW YORK Matilda the cat is back at work at New York City's Algonquin Hotel.

-----

NEW YORK The price of oil held near the lowest levels of the year on a quiet Friday ahead of the holiday weekend.

NEW YORK The anniversary of the day 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished on his way to school dawned with his suspected killer in police custody, but it ended with a muddled portrait of the man who confessed to strangling the little boy and dumping his body in the trash.

RAVENA, N.Y. A 25-year-old upstate New York man has admitted driving his motorcycle at 170 mph as he tried to get away from police who caught him speeding on the Thruway.

CORONADO, Calif. Like a Hollywood star, Coronado's 1.5 mile-long beach literally sparkles, thanks to the mineral mica glinting in its sand.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT):

Weather Underground Forecast for Friday, May 25, 2012.