ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's House of Delegates has voted to prohibit reading text messages while driving.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell nearly 4 percent Thursday ahead of a potential Food and Drug Administration decision on the company's long-acting version of a diabetes drug.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A state judge will not grant an injunction stopping new changes to Pennsylvania's residential and commercial building codes.

LONDON (AP) -- Album lovers may rejoice a little at last: a British court says Pink Floyd, purveyor of iTunes-unfriendly concept records, cannot be unbundled.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is suing state prison officials and a private company, claiming violence is so rampant at the Idaho Correctional Center that it's known as "gladiator school" among inmates.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Toyota's massive recalls are prompting Congress to reconsider whether the U.S. auto safety agency has lived up to its mission of protecting motorists.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama sought Thursday to put some detail behind his lofty drive to double U.S. exports over the next five years, calling the effort imperative to putting people back to work. But doubts remain about how many net jobs his trade agenda will create -- and how he will get it done.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Defense contractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. said Thursday it has received two contracts for work in Iraq, worth a total of $255.7 million.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- A wholesale food company is launching an expansion project in North Sioux City that officials say will create 10 jobs in the next year and a total of 24 jobs in four years.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- A former state pension investment officer, who is suing several national financial firms over failed New Mexico investments, says the state now has lost $228 million, up from $90 million claimed in the initial filing.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. rose on Thursday after an analyst upgraded the stock, saying the drink maker's business will improve and shareholders will reap profits from payments related to consolidation within the industry.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- The Washington state Senate has approved an updated construction budget, a plan that Democrats say will translate to some 4,800 jobs.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state lawmakers prepared for an inevitable special session, hoping to quickly finish their final budget and tax negotiations with a busy election year looming.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Discount chain Target Corp. said Thursday it named John Stumpf, chairman, president and CEO of banking company Wells Fargo & Co., to its board, effective immediately.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold for the second straight week, a report said Thursday, weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits slipped last week, but remains above the level many economists say would signal new hiring.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The animal rights group PETA is offering to help the cash-strapped city of Colorado Springs by paying to put trash cans back in parks -- on one condition. The cans have to carry an anti-meat slogan and a picture of a woman in a lettuce bikini.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democratic leaders Thursday walked their rank-and-file members through last-minute agreements that could move President Barack Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system a step closer to reality.

BEIJING (AP) -- China's inflation rose in February amid galloping growth and demand for scarce labor, increasing pressure on Beijing to ease off its stimulus while keeping a recovery going in the world's third-largest economy.

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A Dallas area company charges that Kroger Co. is ripping off its technology and methods in the grocery chain's popular gasoline discount rewards program.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks traded in a tight range for a fourth day Thursday after China reported a sharp jump in inflation. Mixed U.S. economic news also held the market back.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The office of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she's meeting in California with Google officials to encourage them to test their new ultrahigh speed fiber network in her state.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Chicago Board Options Exchange filed for an initial public offering of up to $300 million as it converts from a member-owned organization to a publicly traded corporation.

LONDON (AP) -- European and U.S. stock markets fell modestly Thursday amid growing concerns of an overheating Chinese economy and as investors awaited further insight into the state of the U.S. economic recovery.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The foreclosure crisis isn't over, but the pace of growth may finally be slowing down.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in January, reflecting a big drop in imports of oil and foreign cars. American exports also fell, a potential blow to hopes that the economic recovery will be aided this year by U.S. sales abroad.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices hovered around $82 a barrel Thursday in Europe as traders weighed stagnant U.S. crude demand against a gradual global economic recovery.