GOP struggles highlight primaries...Nuclear waste packing issues...Missouri appeals execution halt

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Struggles between establishment-backed conservatives and tea party-favored rivals within the Republican party highlight today's primary contests. In perhaps the most closely watched contest of the night, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has beaten his tea party challenger with ease. He'll face Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in November. In Georgia, first-time candidate Michelle Nunn won the Democratic nomination for Senate, while Republicans appear headed for a run-off in July.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environment officials say more than 500 barrels of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory was packed with the kitty litter suspected of causing a chemical reaction and radiation release at the nation's underground nuclear waste dump. The state has given the Department of Energy and the contractor that runs the waste plant until the end of the month to detail plans for permanently sealing the underground rooms where more than 300 barrels of the potentially dangerous containers of waste are stored.

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Attorney General's office is appealing a federal appeals court panel's ruling that's temporarily halted the execution of a condemned killer. The ruling cited concerns about a rare medical condition that could cause Russell Bucklew pain and suffering during lethal injection. Bucklew was scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for a 1996 killing.

OAK CREEK CANYON, Ariz. (AP) — A wind-whipped wildfire near Slide Rock State Park in northern Arizona's Oak Creek Canyon has forced the evacuations of businesses and homes in a two-mile stretch to the north. Forest Service officials estimate the fire at 20 acres, but it appears much bigger with large plumes of smoke visible. Two Hotshot crews, four engines, two helicopters and Sedona firefighters are battling the blaze.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco will temporarily close a popular tourist spot that's known as the "Crookedest Street in The World." The city's Municipal Transportation Agency unanimously voted today to ban vehicles along a stretch of Lombard Street for four consecutive weekends starting in late June. Residents have complained about the tourist traffic.