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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Insurance Department says nearly 71,000 insurance claims have been filed after central Oklahoma was raked by a series of violent tornadoes last month. Insurance Commissioner John Doak says insurance payments from the storms have topped $560 million. Doak announced plans Tuesday to hold a series of weekly forums for storm victims to allow those impacted by the storms to to ask questions and receive assistance with insurance-related issues. Department experts will discuss how to file a claim, what to do if a claim is denied, how to file a complaint and how to spot fraud, among other concerns. Two of last month's tornadoes were top-of-the-scale EF5s.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Claire McCaskill endorsed an outside political group encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, saying it was important for Democrats to build a groundswell of support for the former secretary of state. The Missouri Democrat's support of the Ready for Hillary PAC on Tuesday marked the first time a member of Congress has endorsed the group. The organization does not have official ties to the former first lady, but it's trying to lay the foundation for another Clinton campaign. McCaskill, an early supporter of Barack Obama when he was running for president in 2008, said Clinton had to give up her political operation when she joined Obama's Cabinet in 2009.

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other G-8 leaders attempted to speak with one voice Tuesday on seeking a negotiated Syrian peace settlement — yet couldn't publicly agree whether this means President Bashar Assad must go. Their declaration at the end of the two-day Group of Eight summit sought to narrow the diplomatic chasm between Assad's key backer, Russia, and Western leaders on starting peace talks in Geneva to end a two-year civil war that has claimed an estimated 93,000 lives. Its key passage G-8 leaders also published sweeping goals for tightening the tax rules on globe-trotting corporations that long have exploited loopholes to shift profits into for

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence — a set-piece for supporters of the spying. The House Intelligence Committee, led by lawmakers sympathetic to the extraordinary surveillance, provided a venue for officials to defend the once-secret programs. There was limited probing of claims that the collection of people's phone records and Internet usage has disrupted dozens of terrorist plots, and few details were volunteered. Army Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, said the two recently

DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler abruptly agreed to recall 2.7 million older model Jeeps Tuesday, reversing a defiant posture and avoiding a possible public relations nightmare over fuel tanks that can catch fire in a rear-end collision. In deciding on the recall, Chrysler avoided a showdown with government safety regulators that could have led to public hearings with witnesses giving details of deadly crashes involving the Jeeps. The dispute ultimately could have landed in court and hurt both Chrysler's image and its finances. Earlier this month, the company refused the government's request to recall Jeep Grand Cherokees from model years 1993 through 2004 and Jeep Libertys from 2002 through 2007.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House on Tuesday sought to shore up their support from conservatives with a vote on one of the most far-reaching anti-abortion bills in years. The measure to restrict abortions to the first 20 weeks after conception will be ignored by the Democratic-controlled Senate but not necessarily by voters in next year's GOP primaries. Supporters see it as an opportunity to make inroads against legalized abortion while Democratic opponents portrayed it as yet another instance of what they call the GOP's war on women. The legislation, heading for near-certain passage in the House, contravenes the 1973 Roe v.

DETROIT (AP) — Jury fails to reach verdict in trial of Detroit cop who killed girl in raid, mistrial declared.

BOSTON (AP) — A former cohort of James "Whitey" Bulger who admitted killing 20 people is insisting he's not a hit man or a serial killer. John Martorano says he is a "nice guy" who was only trying to help his family and friends when he pumped bullets into victims while working with Bulger and his gang. Martorano made the statements Tuesday while being cross-examined by one of Bulger's lawyers at his racketeering trial in Boston. It was the second day on the witness stand for Martorano. He is the one of three former associates who have struck cooperation agreements with prosecutors and agreed to testify against Bulger. The 83-year-old Bulger is charged in a racketeering indictment with participating in 19 killing

DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler decides to go along with government request to recall 2.7 million older model Jeeps. .

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Tuesday inched toward their goal of finding a pool of 40 potential jurors who will go through a second round of questioning about issues related to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. At the start of the seventh day of jury selection, attorneys had asked 32 potential jurors to return for further questioning. They eventually must narrow the pool to six jurors and four alternates. The four prospective jurors questioned Tuesday morning expressed no strong opinions about the case. They included a mixed-race man in his 50s, a mixed-race woman in her 20s, a white woman in her 20s and a black man in his 5

Move will create 20 jobs, and company expects to expand in Grove in the future.

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is moving higher in midday trading after the government reported gains in home construction and low inflation. Investors are also sending stocks up because they expect the Federal Reserve will keep in place programs meant to prop up the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 110 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,292 at noon Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,649. All 10 industry groups rose, led by telecommunications. The Nasdaq was up 25 points, or 0.7 percent, at 3,477. The pace of home construction rose in May and builders applied for permits to build single-family homes at the fastest pace in five ye

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has given the clearest signal yet that Chairman Ben Bernanke will likely leave the Federal Reserve when his term ends in January. During an interview with PBS' Charlie Rose that aired Monday, Obama said Bernanke has "already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to." Obama also said Bernanke has done "an outstanding job." Obama's comments came in response to a question that touched on whether he would reappoint Bernanke to a third four-year term. Bernanke is widely expected to make this his last term. The speculation intensified when Bernanke said through a spokesman in April that he would skip the Fed's annual August conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

East Central University's undergraduate elementary education program and Northeastern State University's undergraduate special education program were flagged with consumer alerts on the National Council on Teacher Quality's Teacher Prep Review.

DENVER (AP) — Survivors of a woman killed during the production of a reality TV show pilot have filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Discovery Communications Inc. and Anthropic Productions Corp. Terry Flanell's husband and daughter filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Denver. It says the companies were producing a pilot focusing on the family's Colorado Springs business, Dragon Arms Inc. The suit says the opening sequence was to have employees walk through a cloud of smoke, but pyrotechnic devices that were used to create the smoke malfunctioned, and one struck Flanell. The lawsuit alleges no licensed pyrotechnics operator was on scene last year for filming of the "Brothers In Arms" pilot.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Video shows Justin Bieber running into a photographer with his white Ferrari in Hollywood, but police say there was no crime and the injuries aren't life-threatening. Lt. Craig Valenzuela says Bieber's car collided with the person at 11:45 p.m. Monday on Sunset Boulevard. Valenzuela says nobody was cited or arrested and officers determined no crime was committed. He says investigators are trying to determine whether the pedestrian was in the roadway. A video posted by TMZ.com shows Bieber getting into a Ferrari. He's surrounded by paparazzi and as the car drives off, one falls to the ground and grips his knee. A request for comment from Bieber's publicist, Melissa Victor, was not immediately r

This week started off with a bang Monday when Edward Snowden, the man behind the leak of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, hosted a live Q&A on The Guardian’s website. Reporter Glenn Greenwald helped oversee the live chat, allowing readers to ask Snowden questions about his personal life and the leak.

Tulsa County prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for a Tulsan who is accused of raping and murdering an elderly woman. At an arraignment Monday, Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said the District Attorney's Office decided not to pursue a death sentence for Tyrone Dale David Woodfork. A major factor in that decision was Woodfork's mental limitations, Kunzweiler indicated. Click here to read the complete article at tulsaworld.

Investigators say a train engineer couldn't read key signals before an Oklahoma wreck that killed three.

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Boeing Co. won major orders from five customers for a stretched-out version of its popular 787 Dreamliner jet at the Paris Air Show Tuesday, further evidence of a strengthening market for more expensive long-haul jets. Boeing announced the formal launch of its 787-10 program at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday and says it already has commitments for 102 jets from five customers: Air Lease Corp., Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, International Airlines Group and GE Capital Aviation Services. The new 787-10 lists at $290 million, making the deal worth nearly $30 billion at full price, although customers often negotiate deep discounts. United remains the only U.S.