ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Hundreds gathered outside Minnesota’s Capitol for a candlelight vigil honoring former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot at their home. Governor Tim Walz, visibly moved, comforted mourners as the couple’s son, Colin, placed a photo of his parents at a growing memorial filled with […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to tap Chad Meredith, a former state solicitor general in Kentucky, for a federal judgeship in the state — a move that could face objections from Sen. Rand Paul, who opposed the nomination three years ago. Meredith was the starring player in a bit of […]
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer’s home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O’Keefe with […]
MIAMI (AP) — A drug informant who helped the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration build some of its biggest cases has been arrested and charged with scheming to extort major cocaine traffickers facing extradition from Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Jorge Hernández, 57, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday with one count of conspiring […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Hundreds of people, some clutching candles or carrying flowers to lay in front of a memorial, gathered outside Minnesota’s Capitol on Wednesday evening for a vigil to remember a prominent state lawmaker and her husband who were gunned down at their home. As a brass quintet from the Minnesota Orchestra […]
BOSTON (AP) — Attorneys argued over whether a Harvard researcher accused of smuggling frog embryos brought “biological materials” into the U.S. in a court hearing Wednesday. Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist conducting cancer research for Harvard Medical School, appeared in Massachusetts federal court Wednesday for a probable cause hearing, where government and defense attorneys argued […]
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is accused of driving a pickup truck 101 mph (163 kilometers per hour) on a suburban Cleveland interstate earlier this week. The Strongsville Police Department stopped Sanders at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in a 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) zone on Interstate 71 near the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Humans are on track to release so much greenhouse gas in less than three years that a key threshold for limiting global warming will be nearly unavoidable, according to a study to be released Thursday. The report predicts that society will have emitted enough carbon dioxide by early 2028 that crossing an […]
ATLANTA (AP) — A former Fulton County jail guard has been indicted on federal civil rights charges after prosecutors said she used her Taser abusively against three inmates and then lied to cover it up. Khadijah Solomon, a 47-year-old Fairburn resident, pleaded not guilty to the six-count indictment in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday […]
DETROIT (AP) — Environmental groups and Michigan’s attorney general filed separate challenges Wednesday against a federal order that is keeping a coal-fired power plant open this summer. The environmental coalition said there’s no energy emergency that would justify keeping Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell plant alive in Ottawa County, near Lake Michigan. The U.S. Energy Department […]
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran carried out executions at “an alarming rate” last year with at least 975 people killed, the United Nations chief said in a report that also cited other human rights abuses, from barriers to freedom of expression to the use of torture and arbitrary detention. U.N. deputy human rights commissioner Nada […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes under an emergency rule approved by a state board Wednesday ahead of a landmark legal settlement allowing schools to pay their players through licensing deals. The sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, going into effect July 1, allows schools […]
The Buss family has agreed to sell the controlling stake of the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global CEO Mark Walter, doing so with a franchise valuation of $10 billion — the most ever for a professional sports franchise, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday. As part of the deal, Jeanie Buss […]
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Karen Read was found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. The jury convicted her of a lesser charge of drunken driving, however. Supporters erupted in cheers outside the courthouse as the verdict was read. Read, leaving with her […]
The U.S. government plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year, announcing its intent Wednesday to breed millions of the insects in Texas near the border with Mexico as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said sterile […]
GLASTONBURY, Conn. (AP) — Mary Notarangelo lived a reclusive life in her later years, according to the few people who had contact with her. The retired police detective tended to her many birds at her Connecticut home and posted videos of them on social media, including one accompanying her on a trip to a local […]
The 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will stop providing tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17, according to a statement on a federal agency’s website. The decision preempts the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal to cut funding for 988’s LGBTQ+ youth and young adult services, and is raising alarm […]
U.S. immigration authorities said Wednesday they have detained a Spanish-language journalist, who will face deportation proceedings following his arrest on charges of obstructing police and unlawful assembly while covering a weekend protest outside Atlanta. Mario Guevara was turned over by police to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody three days after he was jailed in […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The state board that oversees Florida’s public universities has confirmed three more allies of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to become university presidents. It’s a move supporters say will grant the schools the political capital to secure critical state funding and navigate a rapidly shifting legal landscape, and one that critics see […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is leaving transgender children and their parents uncertain and anxious about the future. The court handed President Donald Trump’s administration and Republican-led states a significant victory by effectively protecting them from at least some of the legal […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and there is the possibility that the United States could become directly involved in the conflict. Two U.S. officials said a government plane evacuated a number of diplomats […]
Safety experts recommended Wednesday that the engines on Boeing’s troubled 737 Max airplanes and some Airbus models be modified quickly to prevent smoke from filling the cockpit or cabin after a safety feature is activated following a bird strike. The problem detailed by the National Transportation Safety Board emerged after two bird strikes involving Southwest […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile […]
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Under the hot South Carolina summer sun, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster held a ceremonial bill signing for a law he and other supporters said will make sure the rapidly growing state has the energy to run air conditioners and anything else well into the future. McMaster signed the bill into law […]