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• OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Junior Seau's apparent suicide stunned an entire city and saddened former teammates who recalled the former NFL star's ferocious tackles and habit of calling everybody around him "Buddy."
• It also left everyone wondering what led to Seau's death Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.
• "I'm sorry to say, Superman is dead," said Shawn Mitchell, a chaplain for the San Diego Chargers. "All of us can appear to be super, but all of us need to reach out and find support when we're hurting."
• Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau's girlfriend reported finding him unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. A gun was found near him, McCoy said. Police said no suicide note was found and they didn't immediately know who the gun was registered to.
• Neither Mitchell nor Seau's ex-wife knew what might have led to the former first-pumping, emotional leader of his hometown San Diego Chargers to kill himself.
• ___

• DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Republican-leaning areas in states vital to President Barack Obama's re-election prospects are drawing top-tier Democratic congressional candidates who, even if they lose, could help turn out the vote and boost Obama's chances of winning a second term.
• The best example of the trend is former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack, challenging GOP Rep. Steve King in Iowa's 4th Congressional District.
• Christie Vilsack, the wife of former two-term governor Tom Vilsack -- now Obama's agriculture secretary -- moved more than 100 miles away from her home to run in a largely rural tract of GOP-heavy northern and western Iowa, where Obama lost in 2008 despite winning the state.
• "That race is a great example of one that will help the president," said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry. "There will be a strong correlation between Obama and Vilsack voters. It's about the composition of the electorate."

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