An investigation to determine if backcountry guides were criminally negligent during a California ski trip that ended with eight people killed in an avalanche and another presumed dead has surprised legal experts, who said the probe has scant precedent. Backcountry tour clients typically sign waivers of liability that shield guides and their companies from potential […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Friday that it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command said on social media that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer picked by judges to serve as the top federal prosecutor for a Virginia office that pursued cases against foes of President Donald Trump was swiftly fired Friday by the Justice Department in the latest clash over the appointments of powerful U.S. attorneys. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing […]
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way Tuesday for a Louisiana law requiring poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms to take effect. The full court voted 12-6 to lift a block placed on the law that a lower court first issued in 2024. In the opinion released Friday, the court […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Military jets were launched to intercept five Russian aircraft that were flying in international airspace off Alaska’s western coast, but military officials said Friday the Russian aircraft were not seen as provocative. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s, two Su-35s and one A-50 […]
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $575 million to resolve the federal government’s claims for damages stemming from six wildfires in Oregon and California in 2020 and 2022, federal officials announced Friday, in the utility’s latest multimillion-dollar payout related to the deadly blazes. The settlement resolves the federal government’s claims that PacifiCorp’s […]
GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina house fire that killed the father of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin and injured his mother has been ruled accidental but it’s still unclear what started it. A report released by Gaston County Emergency Management & Fire Services said the Dec. 28 fire at the two-story home originated in […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Friday it backs a 10-year deadline for most cities and towns to replace their harmful lead pipes, giving notice that it will support a tough rule approved under the Biden administration to reduce lead in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency told a federal appeals court in Washington […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly released records show a U.S. citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security. The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly […]
The ability of federal safety regulators to oversee airplane maintenance at United Airlines has been hindered by inadequate staffing, high employee turnover and the improper use of virtual inspections instead of on-site reviews in some cases, according to a government watchdog audit released Friday. The U.S. Transportation Department’s inspector general said the Federal Aviation Administration […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s vision of the Supreme Court, in which his three appointees are personally loyal to him, collided with the court’s view of itself Friday when six justices voted to strike down Trump’s signature economic policy — global tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law. The outcome led Trump to launch […]
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A jury found a former small town South Carolina police officer not guilty of voluntary manslaughter Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed man after a five-minute high speed chase. Cassandra Dollard faced two to 30 years in prison if she had been found guilty of killing Robert Junior Langley […]
PETOSKEY, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge in Michigan suspected of drunken driving uttered a vulgarity at a state trooper and couldn’t explain damage to his car or why his airbags had deployed, according to video of the arrest. U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington was arrested Oct. 3 after a trooper said he had repeatedly […]
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police say they’re investigating a car that rammed into a power substation as a possible “terrorism-related event.” There’s no ongoing threat to the public, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said said in a news conference Friday. The driver of the vehicle was a 23-year-old man from […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — A member of a group known to outsiders as Zizians that is linked to six deaths was bailed out of jail in Maryland on Friday. Police in Maryland connected Jack “Ziz” LaSota, Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank to homicide investigations in California, Pennsylvania and Vermont after a landowner found them living […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The federal government is asking a court to “run roughshod” over the First Amendment after seizing electronic devices from a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home last month, an attorney for the newspaper argued Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter didn’t rule from the bench on the newspaper’s request for an order […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war. A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The natural El Nino cycle, which warps weather worldwide, is both adding to and shaped by a warming world, meteorologists said. A new study calculated that an unusual recent twist in the warming and cooling cycle that includes El Nino and its counterpart La Nina can help explain the scientific mystery of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump said “it’s incredible” to see her white and black-trimmed inaugural ball gown on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. It’s the second inaugural gown she has turned over to the First Ladies Collection at the museum, following the donation of her 2017 gown. On Friday, Melania […]
BOSTON (AP) — It looks like pure play: a harbor seal gleefully chasing a rubber duck. But for Reggae at the New England Aquarium in Boston, the toy is part of a training routine meant to keep him learning. When the 33-year-old Atlantic harbor seal plays fetch with the rubber duck in his habitat built […]
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The former police chief in New Haven, Connecticut, was arrested Friday on larceny charges following allegations he stole $85,000 from two department accounts. Karl Jacobson, who abruptly retired from the department in January, turned himself in on an arrest warrant. He was later released on a court-set bond of $150,000, […]
All truckers and pass drivers will have to take their commercial driver’s license tests in English as the Trump administration expands its aggressive campaign to improve safety in the industry and get unqualified drivers off the road. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the latest effort Friday to ensure that drivers understand English well enough to […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The late Rev. Jesse Jackson will not lie in honor in the United States Capitol Rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office due to past precedent. Johnson’s office said it received a request from the family to have Jackson’s remains lie in honor […]
