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In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, many people created lists to try to recover some of what was swept away. A year later, Jersey shore residents are still reflecting on what they lost during the storm — and what they might have gained.

As the cuts made under the sequester continue, scientists worry that U.S. research will fall behind. Budget cuts already are delaying plans for equipment upgrades and preventing new research — and a new generation of researchers — from getting underway.

Twenty years ago, federal agents clashed with David Koresh's Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas. The standoff ended with a raid and fire in which some 80 children, women and men perished. It's remembered as one of the darkest chapters in American law enforcement.

Relatively few people have enrolled in new health insurance plans since the Affordable Care Act exchanges launched this month. But some health care experts say it's early days yet — and that getting the right proportion of healthy, young new enrollees is just as important as how quickly people sign up.

For years, many police departments have dealt with child prostitutes by putting them in juvenile detention centers. But federal agencies say that minors are often sex trafficking victims in need of help — and who can, in turn, help put their pimps in jail.

Amazon has been quietly making inroads into a new approach to retail, partnering with manufacturers to ship products directly from the warehouse to consumers, essentially taking out the middle man. The online retailing giant's move comes as it and its competitors experiment with faster delivery.

A year after the storm, some families in New York City's hardest-hit neighborhoods have managed to rebuild their homes and their lives. Some are waiting to find out more about new building codes and flood insurance rates. And others are ready to sell their flood-damaged properties and move on.

JPMorgan Chase says it will cover Social Security and Welfare payments for its customers if the government goes into default or the shutdown continues. The bank would almost certainly get its money back once Congress comes to an agreement.

Banks use credit scores and similar metrics to assess creditworthiness. A company called Kabbage that lends working capital to small businesses does some of that but also relies on unconventional measures, using real-time data from things like UPS shipments, eBay, Facebook and Twitter.

The question this time is not whether race can be a factor in college admissions, but rather whether state voters can ban affirmative action altogether by referendum. In 2006, Michigan voters did just that with a ballot initiative amending the state's constitution.