Month: April 2024

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill that would provide new sentences for about 30 inmates who were given the death penalty despite a jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment. The House Judiciary Committee voted 9-4 against the bill that would give life without parole sentences to

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press BERLIN, Vt. (AP) — Hundreds of Vermont farms are still recovering from July’s catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather as they head into this year’s growing season. Dog River Farm lost nearly all its produce crops in the summer flooding. The owner says they removed truckloads of river silt and

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s decision to order New Jersey Democrats to scrap a ballot design widely viewed as helping candidates with establishment backing. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals considered a slimmed-down appeal brought by the Camden County Democrats after the county clerks — the officials charged

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore prosecutors have announced the arrest of a man in the cold case homicide of an off-duty Washington, D.C., police officer in 2017. Police say Sgt. Tony Anthony Mason Jr., was shot to death while sitting in a parked car with a woman he had been dating. She was also shot but

By MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (AP) — A man was sentenced Wednesday to 47 years to life in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl who went missing from a state park in upstate New York last year. Craig N. Ross Jr. pleaded guilty in February to first-degree

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has gotten plenty of prominent congratulations since winning her third national title earlier this month. Staley may have been most thrilled over the flowers, merchandise and note she got from the “Queen B” herself, Beyonce. Staley gushed in a video posted to social media Wednesday where

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A civilian contractor sent to work as an interrogator at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison resigned within two weeks of his arrival and told his corporate bosses that mistreatment of detainees was likely to continue. Jurors saw the October 2003 email from the interrogator who worked

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky spokeswoman says the school is “distressed to hear disturbing allegations” of sexual assault by former swimming and diving coach Lars Jorgensen outlined in a lawsuit by two former team members and will cooperate fully with law enforcement. A Wednesday release from the school stated that it contacted law enforcement

DETROIT (AP) — A U.S. government investigation into unexpected automatic braking involving nearly 3 million Hondas is a step closer to a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it has upgraded a probe opened in February of 2022 to an engineering analysis. The agency received 1,294 complaints about the problem, mainly from

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Two more black-footed ferrets have been cloned from the genes used for the first clone of an endangered species in the U.S., bringing to three the number of slinky predators genetically identical to one of the last such animals found in the wild, the U.S. Fish

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — The question of holding the Paris Games opening ceremony on the Seine River loomed large as countdown clock to the Olympics passed the 100-day mark. Organizers, French government officials and French athletes have assured visitors and fans that they will be safe in Paris during the

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Air National Guard flew 159 civilian search-and-rescue missions last year in the nation’s largest state, often during vicious storms that prevented air ambulances from taking off. It also patrolled the skies for spy balloons and missiles from China, Russia and North Korea, and supported

By STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Attorney General has declined to file criminal charges against a Los Angeles police officer who fired a rifle at a suspect inside a clothing store in 2021, killing a 14-year-old girl in a dressing room. Attorney General Rob Bonta released a report Wednesday into

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIT MERI, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s Interior Minister says Israeli agents were most likely behind this month’s killing of a U.S-sanctioned Lebanese currency exchanger in a mountain resort overlooking Beirut. The minister said Wednesday that the ongoing investigation points to Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, because of

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A lockdown prompted by a report of a gunshot at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota has lifted. Security officers completed a door-to-door sweep of the base Wednesday afternoon, the base said in a social media post. Earlier that afternoon, base security received the report of a

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Workers who help bring Disneyland’s beloved characters to life have filed a petition to form a labor union. Parade and character performers at Disney’s Southern California theme parks said Wednesday that more than two-thirds of roughly 1,700 eligible workers signed the petition filed with the National

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham is being remembered as a politician who genuinely loved people and encouraged them to get involved in civic affairs. Graham died Tuesday at 87. He was known for his workdays, when he would spend a day in someone

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A law that will enable Britain to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda has suffered a setback after Parliament’s upper chamber pressed its attempt to amend the contentious legislation. The House of Lords on Wednesday inserted amendments into the Safety of Rwanda Bill. That sends it

By JOSH CORNFIELD Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Phish has been performing to thousands of dedicated fans for decades and prides itself on never playing the same show twice. Those fans will get another new experience this week when Phish takes the stage at the $2.3 billion Sphere in Las Vegas this week as

By LINDSEY BAHR and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The Sundance Film Festival may not always call Park City, Utah, home. The Sundance Institute has started to explore the possibility of other U.S. locations to host the independent film festival starting in 2027, the organization said Wednesday. The 2025 and 2026

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Charges have been dismissed against a suspect in the 2016 cold case slaying of a 25-year-old Tulane University graduate who was visiting New Orleans to plan his wedding. The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office said issues arose with a critical witness’s availability, resulting in the charges being dropped against Ernest Weatherspoon.

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and ALI SWENSON Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A humanitarian organization in northeastern Mexico said it did not create flyers urging migrants to vote for President Joe Biden that were filmed at its shelter in a viral video that sparked a firestorm of conservative outrage this week. Accusations that Resource Center

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The family of a Minnesota man who was killed by a state trooper during a traffic stop has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging that the fatal shooting was unjustified and unlawful. The lawsuit names Troopers Ryan Londregan, who shot Ricky Cobb II, and Brett Seide,

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Pennsylvania utility regulators must turn over inspection records to the National Transportation Safety Board as part of the federal investigation into a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory. A federal judge on Tuesday sided with the safety board in its dispute with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The state agency

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Diversity, equity and inclusion staff members’ jobs in North Carolina’s public university system could be at risk. The University of North Carolina Board of Governors committee quickly voted to repeal a DEI policy adopted in 2019. The policy will now be sent to the full board