Year: 2021

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The state of Florida has withheld funding from two school districts over their coronavirus mask mandates, flouting threats from White House officials who warned that such penalties would violate federal law. School officials in Alachua and Broward counties on Wednesday said the state docked school board

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Syria says the Syrian government’s refusal to negotiate on revisions to the country’s constitution is a key reason for the failure of talks last week that have left the road map to peace in the conflict-torn country in question. Geir

REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is largely ending a mandate requiring residents and visitors wear masks indoors. Wednesday’s announcement by Mayor LaToya Cantrell comes as infections of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continue to fall. The mayor says the mandate will be lifted Friday with a few

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge on Wednesday refused to pause a vaccine mandate set to take effect Friday for the city’s municipal workforce, denying a police union’s request for a temporarily restraining order. Judge Lizette Colon ruled that the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Starbucks is raising its U.S. employees’ pay and making other changes to improve working conditions in its stores. The Seattle-based coffee giant says all of its U.S. workers will earn at least $15 __ and up to $23 __ per hour by next summer. Starbucks says the enhanced pay

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Twenty-one Republican state attorneys general have sent a letter to President Joe Biden criticizing his COVID-19 vaccination mandate for federal contractors. The Wednesday letter is signed by attorneys general from Texas, Mississippi, Alaska and other states. They say the mandate “stands on shaky legal ground,”

PONTOON BEACH, Ill. (AP) — A 31-year-old southern Illinois man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a police officer at a gas station. Scott Hyden of Highland was arrested at the gas station following the shooting Tuesday of 36-year-old Pontoon Beach Officer Tyler Timmins. Madison County State’s Attorney

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A jury has been seated in a civil trial to determine whether white nationalists who planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville will be held responsible for the violence that erupted. The process of choosing a jury was completed Wednesday, the third day of jury selection. Opening statements are

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A state ethics panel has recommended a sham candidate for the Florida Legislature convicted of participating in a vote siphoning scheme be fined $20,000 and formally reprimanded. The panel announced Wednesday that Alex Rodríguez had reached a settlement with the commission. Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t immediately say whether he would accept

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A federal jury has determined that The GEO Group must pay minimum wage — rather than $1 a day — to immigration detainees who perform tasks like cooking and cleaning at its for-profit detention center in Washington state. The verdict came Wednesday in U.S. District Court in

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press An early 18th-century painting depicting Yale University’s namesake with an enslaved Black child has been returned to public display at one of the college’s museums. The return this month of the portrait that includes Elihu Yale comes as art experts investigate its origins and campus discussions about the school’s ties

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A young Saudi man was released from prison after spending nearly a decade behind bars. His case had drawn international scrutiny because until recently he’d been facing a possible death sentence for protest-related crimes committed as a minor. His death sentence was commuted in February following a royal decree issued