Before the mayor of San Jose, California, arrives at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new business, his aides ask ChatGPT to help draft some talking points. “Elected officials do a tremendous amount of public speaking,” said Mayor Matt Mahan, whose recent itinerary has taken him from new restaurant and semiconductor startup openings to a festival […]
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — With record temperatures hitting the U.S., pet owners have to protect their four-legged family members from dangers like heat stroke and dehydration. But keeping an animal the size of a small car cool isn’t as easy as bringing it inside to the air conditioning. That’s why Alicia Grace, owner […]
Disneyland is celebrating 70 years of being “The Happiest Place on Earth.” The summerlong festivities in southern California include the opening of “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” a show featuring a lifelike animatronic of the company’s founder that debuts Thursday and also marks Disneyland’s official anniversary. Walt Disney’s vision of creating a getaway for […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Make American Coke Great Again? President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its flagship soft drink in the U.S. at his suggestion — though the company didn’t confirm such a move. Any switch from high-fructose corn syrup in Coke sold in the United States […]
CHICAGO (AP) — Nine puppies from parts of Texas submerged by catastrophic flooding that killed at least 132 people arrived Wednesday at the no-kill shelter PAWS Chicago, joining dozens of puppies that had already arrived. The critters landed by plane at Waukesha Airport in Wisconsin then made a three-hour journey by van to Chicago. This […]
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell says a local Florida sheriff’s office isn’t doing enough to protect his multimillion-dollar beachfront property from trespassers and is asking a judge for an order commanding deputies to do so. The petition filed last month by Littrell’s company in a Florida Panhandle county touches on a […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Nextdoor, the social media site that aims to create connections among neighbors, is trying to shake off an uneven past and a nagging sense it is being underutilized. How? It is turning to professional journalists for help. The company announced a partnership Tuesday with more than 3,500 local news providers who […]
Ice cream makers representing about 90% of the U.S. supply of the frozen treat have pledged to remove artificial dyes from their products in less than three years, federal health officials said Monday. The move is the latest voluntary effort by food manufacturers to heed calls from the Trump administration to remove synthetic dyes over […]
NEW YORK (AP) — At her kitchen stove, fashion designer Caroline Zimbalist looks like an alchemist at work as she stirs a pot full of corn starch and a thickener made from seaweed. The peppermint-scented mixture glitters as she carefully pours it into silicone molds of hearts and leaves. When the material hardens, Zimbalist will […]
PHOENIX (AP) — Most American teenagers say it is important to them to graduate from college, with girls especially describing it as a key step for accomplishing their life goals, according to a new poll. Teenagers also generally are more upbeat than adults on college despite concerns about tuition costs, soaring student loan debt and […]
PRAIRIE ISLAND INDIAN COMMUNITY, Minn. (AP) — Some Native Americans traditionally bestow bald eagle feathers at ceremonies to mark achievements, such as graduations, and as a form of reverence for the bird they hold sacred as a messenger to the Creator. This year, many are doing so with elevated pride and hope. The bald eagle […]
GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. (AP) — Stepping onto an old wooden duck blind in the middle of the York River, Bryan Watts looks down at a circle of sticks and pine cones on the weathered, guano-spattered platform. It’s a failed osprey nest, taken over by diving terns. “The birds never laid here this year,” said Watts, […]
Breakfast cereal could use a lucky charm. U.S. sales of the colorfully packaged morning staple have been in a decades-long decline, a trend back in the spotlight with news that Italian confectioner Ferrero Group plans to purchase the American company that makes Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies and other familiar brands. Except for […]
The Trump administration is suing the state of California to block animal welfare laws that it says unconstitutionally helped send egg prices soaring. But a group that spearheaded the requirements pushed back, blaming bird flu for the hit to consumers’ pocketbooks. The lawsuit, come from cage-free hens. The Trump administration says the law imposes burdensome […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions, has been blocked by a federal appeals court days before it was set to go into effect. But there are ways to end those subscriptions and memberships, even if they take some work. The rule would […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 850,000 of its cars across the U.S. because the low-pressure fuel pump inside the vehicles may fail — and potentially cause an engine stall while driving, increasing crash risks. The recall covers a wide range of Ford and Lincoln-branded vehicles made in recent model years. That […]
Americans overwhelmingly view the cost of child care as a significant issue, and most support initiatives to offer free or low-cost day care and to require employers to provide paid family leave for parents of babies, according to a new poll. But they’re divided over how to solve the problem and what role the government […]
NEW YORK (AP) — The first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event and competing retail sales that kicked off on Tuesday drove solid online spending compared to a year earlier, according to two data sources. Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks visits to e-commerce sites, reported that U.S. consumers spent $7.9 billion at online stores on […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel has introduced its first Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes, as part of wider efforts from the toy maker to increase inclusivity among its dolls. In an announcement Tuesday, Mattel said it had partnered with Breakthrough T1D — a Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization formerly known […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The impact of the massive spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day is expected to filter down to infants and toddlers — a segment of the population that is particularly vulnerable to cuts to the federal social safety net. Many middle-class and wealthy families will see benefits […]
With the Belly Laughs Festival, an ambitious Asian American and Pacific Islander-centered comedy festival, the food is as important as the talent line-up. Every detail is intended to send a message of unabashed cultural pride. “It’s like we grew up kind of shying away and hiding our Asian-ness,” said Viv Wang, a volunteer festival producer […]
Texas’ catastrophic flooding hit faith-based summer camps especially hard, and the heartbreak is sweeping across the country where similar camps mark a rite of passage and a crucial faith experience for millions of children and teens. “Camp is such a unique experience that you just instantly empathize,” said Rachael Botting of the tragedy that struck […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Turns out Donald Trump gauges his esteem for presidential predecessors by how well their portraits fit into his White House redecorating scheme. Or sometimes how well the frames around those portraits do. “I’m a frame person,” Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with his Cabinet. “Sometimes I like frames more than I […]
