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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery. Authorities stopped the dig after just a few hours on the third day. "We did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa," said Robert Foley, head of the FBI in Detroit. "I am very confident of our result here after two-days plus of diligent effort," he said. "As of this point, we'll be closing down the excavation operation." Authorities have pursued multiple leads as to Hoffa's whereabouts since his disappearance in 1975.

The NHL's Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars will face off in Oklahoma City for a 2013-14 preseason game. The game, announced Wednesday by the Oklahoma City Barons, will be Sept. 27 inside the Cox Convention Center. Oklahoma City opens its 38-game AHL home schedule with a weekend set of games October 4 and 5. In addition to the home opener, the Barons are scheduled to play at home Nov. 12, 15 and 16 and Dec. 20 and 21. The Barons annual Education Field Trip Day will be Nov. 12. Tickets for the Oilers vs. Stars, which is being called the NHL Showcase presented by Mercy, are included in all Barons full-season seat holder packages and will be available to partial plan holders and group leaders in the near future.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47. Flynn was supporting himself by bartending when he self-published his first novel, "Term Limits," in 1997 after getting more than 60 rejection letters. After it became a local best-seller, Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint, signed him to a two-book deal — and "Term Limits" became a New York Times best-seller in paperback. The St.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions. Supporters of the legislation moving toward a vote on the Senate floor seized on the deficit-reduction findings by Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeping agency, along with the agency's forecast that the immigration measure would boost economic growth as millions of workers join the workforce and begin to pay taxes. But the CBO report also found that the bill, which takes steps to prevent people coming to the U.S.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys quizzed a whittled-down group of prospective jurors Wednesday in the Trayvon Martin case, asking if any were neighborhood watch volunteers like the teen's shooter and reminding them the trial would be different from what they've seen on shows like "CSI." The day began with a judge reading the formal second-degree murder charge against George Zimmerman, who shot the unarmed, 17-year-old Martin in February 2012. Zimmerman, 29, is pleading not guilty and says he acted in self-defense. Martin's death prompted public outrage around the nation, with some accusing Sanford police of failing to investigate the shooting thoroughly from the beginning because of Martin's race and because he was from the M

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling after the Federal Reserve gave a slightly more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy, which investors took as a hint that the bank was nearer to a decision to reduce its economic stimulus program. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 70 points to 15,249 points at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, half an hour after the Fed released its policy statement and economic outlook. The Dow was down 16 points shortly before the announcement. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down five points, 0.3 percent, to 1,645. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.27 percent from 2.21 percent as traders sold the bonds.

MIAMI (AP) — Country singer Slim Whitman, the high-pitched yodeler who sold millions of records through ever-present TV ads in the 1980s and 1990s and whose song saved the world in the film comedy "Mars Attacks!," died Wednesday at a Florida hospital. He was 90. Whitman died of heart failure at Orange Park Medical Center, his son-in-law Roy Beagle said. Whitman's tenor falsetto and ebony mustache and sideburns became global trademarks — and an inspiration for countless jokes — thanks to the TV commercials that pitched his records. But he was a serious musical influence on early rock, and in the British Isles, he was known as a pioneer of country music for popularizing the style there.

SEATTLE (AP) — Passengers from a United Airlines Denver-to-Tokyo flight that diverted to Seattle Tuesday when the Boeing 787 had an oil filter issue are on their way again. United spokeswoman Mary Ryan says in an email that the airline put them up in hotel rooms overnight and they took off from Sea-Tac Airport Wednesday morning in another 787. Ryan says there's no further information about the oil filter or aircraft maintenance. A Boeing spokeswoman told The Seattle Times Tuesday the problem was unrelated to any battery issues that grounded the 787 fleet from January to May.

NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore. In a terse release issued Wednesday, Men's Wearhouse said it has fired the face of the company and its executive chairman, George Zimmer, who appeared in many of its TV commercials with the slogan "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it." In a statement issued to CNBC, Zimmer said that over the past several months he and the company's board disagreed about the company's direction and that the board "inappropriately has chosen to silence my concerns," by firing him.

DENVER (AP) — Bob and Barbara Schmidt dashed to their home on a dirt road in a heavily wooded area northeast of Colorado Springs as smoke from what would become the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history filled the air. After quickly grabbing a few items, they spotted their neighbors. "They were sitting on their porch, watching TV," said Bob Schmidt, adding that his wife urged their neighbors to immediately flee as smoke rolled in at 4:35 p.m. on June 11. "They said they'd leave when they needed to." The couple, Marc and Robin Herklotz, told the Schmidts they hadn't gotten automated calls from authorities ordering them to evacuate and that, while they were packing and monitoring the approaching blaze on TV, the

LONDON (AP) — With Prince William and the former Kate Middleton expecting their first child in mid-July — and much of the world interested in the birth of a future monarch — the royals' office has released some of the couple's plans, although many details are still being kept private. Kate has made several public appearances recently but is expected to keep a low profile in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Here is the latest news about the infant who will, upon entering the world, be third in line for the British throne. KING OR QUEEN? Royal officials can't say — and it's not because they are being coy, it's because Kate and William have not found out — and don't plan to.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet. The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. The effort to reopen the probe is being made in tandem with the release next month of a documentary that features the testimony of former investigators who raise doubts about the National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion that the crash was caused by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-c

BERLIN (AP) — President Barack Obama raised the prospect Wednesday that Europe might need to adjust its economic policies to tackle high youth unemployment and make sure that some countries don't "lose a generation." Obama warned during his visit to Berlin that, while he was confident the euro area's leaders will resolve their debt crisis, austerity and structural reforms must not cause policymakers to lose sight of the main goal: Improving people's lives. Unemployment in the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro, which is stuck in recession, has shot up to a record 12.2 percent. Youth unemployment in southern Europe's crisis-hit economies, such as Spain and Greece, is now well above 50 percent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she now supports gay marriage, becoming the third Senate Republican to do so. Murkowski says she believes same-sex marriage will encourage family values. She says she supports the right of all Americans to marry the person they love. She says allowing gay marriage "keeps politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples' lives." Murkowski previously said she was "evolving" on the issue. She announced her decision in an opinion piece posted on her website Wednesday. Two other GOP senators — Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio — previously announced their support for gay marriage. Forty-nine Democratic senators and two independents s

A fatality has been reported on Interstate 40 in south Oklahoma City. The eastbound lanes of I-40 at Shields Boulevard are open again after being closed for more than an hour.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations, while also insisting the militant group stop its violent attacks on the ground after it claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that killed four Americans. Hamid Karzai's strong response and the Taliban attack deflated hopes for long-stalled talks aimed at ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, just a day after the United States and the Taliban said they would begin initial meetings in Qatar.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe says now is not the time to reduce the country's nuclear arms forces around the globe.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting lower on Wall Street as investors hold back ahead of a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 10 points, or 0.1 percent, at 15,307 at midday Eastern Daylight Time Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down two points, or 0.2 percent, at 1,649. Telecommunications stocks fell the most in index, 0.9 percent. The Nasdaq composite index edged down four points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,478. The Fed is winding up a two-day policy meeting. Traders hope the bank will clarify when it plans to slow down its bond-buying program. Men's Wearhouse fell 84 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $36.63 after the company's board dismissed its found

MOORE — More than 56,000 tons of debris has been removed from neighborhoods in Moore as the city reaches the one-month mark since a deadly tornado carved through the Oklahoma City suburb on May 20.

NEW YORK (AP) — Men's Wearhouse Inc. has dismissed its founder and executive chairman George Zimmer. In a terse release issued Wednesday, the company didn't give a reason for the abrupt firing of Zimmer, who built Men's Wearhouse from one small Texas store using a cigar box as a cash register to one of the nation's largest specialty retailers in men's clothing, with 1,143 locations. In light of Zimmer's termination, the company postponed its annual shareholders' meeting scheduled for Wednesday. It said the purpose of the postponement is to re-nominate the existing slate of directors without him.