By Sue Nowicki, The Modesto Bee, Calif. Jul. 27--The fog had burned off, the sand at Pismo Beach was beginning to sizzle and Modesto Realtor Fred Miller finally was hot enough to join his teenage daughters in the surf.

By Tyler Bridges, The Miami Herald Aug. 18--PISCO, Peru -- The coffins arrived faster than the men and a backhoe could dig the graves. By mid-afternoon Friday, 37 of them were awaiting burial at Pisco's cemetery. One coffin held both a 23-year-old pregnant mother and her 10-year-old niece.

By MICHELLE ROBERTS In a largely invisible cost of the war in Iraq, nearly 800 civilians working under contract to the Pentagon have been killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs normally handled by the U.S. military, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press.

In a largely invisible cost of the war in Iraq, nearly 800 civilians working under contract to the Pentagon have been killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs normally handled by the U.S. military, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press.

By Wes Carter All nursing homes are not alike. I certainly thought, as most people do, that homes for the elderly and sick were terribly bad.