NEW YORK An interactive exhibit featuring life-size models of Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old inventions and machines is opening in New York City's Times Square.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Wide-eyed children around the world will be hearing from Santa's "elves" at the North Pole after all.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. Authorities embarked on a nearly weeklong search that ended when the girl's body was found dumped off a rural road.

NEW ORLEANS New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush has been held out of practice for the third straight day, and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game in Tampa Bay.

JACKSON, Miss. Bria Danielle Morris was sentenced to nearly seven years Friday for stealing the identity of someone she met at a women's shelter and using it to rip off a charity, businesses and people.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. A two-vehicle accident involving a tractor and a cement truck claimed the life of a 24-year-old Sumrall man.

NEW YORK Investors can't shake their fears that the economy isn't keeping up with the stock market.

BILOXI — A Harrison County jury deliberated for 30 minutes this afternoon before convicting Mark Kee “Tupac” Brown of capital murder in the July 6, 2005, killing of D’Iberville resident Larry Darnell Turner.

BILOXI — An expansion of the Palace Casino Resort is one vote away from construction after the Biloxi Planning Commission unanimously approved of the project.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. A wild turkey that's taken up residence at a New Jersey tollbooth and spends its days scooting around 18-wheelers won't have to dodge Thanksgiving traffic. State Fish and Wildlife officials netted the bird Wednesday after failed attempts during the weekend.

NEW YORK Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware has played in dozens of important games and hung out with some of the biggest stars in sports.

PEARL, Miss. A judge in central Mississippi has set bond at $250,000 for an Arizona woman accused of carrying grenades, assault rifles and other weapons in her car.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. A search warrant says a man charged with kidnapping a 5-year-old North Carolina girl who was later found dead told police he took the girl to the hotel where she was last seen alive.

LOS ANGELES As hundreds of students demonstrated outside, University of California leaders on Thursday voted to approve a 32 percent hike in undergraduate fees, arguing the increase is crucial because of the state's budget crisis.

JACKSON, Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour's plan to merge Mississippi's three historically black universities has created a tense atmosphere in a state saddled with a violent civil rights past and a decades-long legal battle over the historic underfunding of those schools.

CLEVELAND LeBron James, NFL player. Just a fantasy, says New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is returning to Mississippi to help a yet-unnamed family in the Hattiesburg area.

LONG BEACH — Pat Joachim is retiring as associate provost for the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, the university announced Thursday.

ST. MARTIN — A teacher at St. Martin High School is in jail this morning, accused of growing marijuana at his home, according to Curtis Spiers, commander of the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County.

TRENTON, N.J. Retired NBA star Jayson Williams has agreed to a plea deal that would send him to prison for up to three years for accidentally shooting a driver at his New Jersey estate in 2002, a person with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Thursday.