NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — One hundred years ago, a public high school teacher stood trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching human evolution. His nation is still feeling the reverberations today. The law books record it as State of Tennessee v. John T. Scopes. History remembers it as the “ Monkey Trial.” The case ballooned into […]
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge in New Hampshire will hear arguments Thursday on whether to certify a class-action lawsuit that would include every baby affected by President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents and their infants, is among numerous cases challenging Trump’s […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart will meet Thursday in Malaysia for what could be a testy conversation as tensions between the countries rise over Moscow’s increasing attacks on Ukraine and questions about whether Russia’s leader is serious about a peace deal. Rubio and Foreign Minister […]
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of campers and others in Kerr County, Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. The agencies repeatedly failed to secure roughly […]
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Federal authorities in Idaho say they have ended a search in the Sawtooth National Forest after determining it was all case of mistaken identity. The search began Saturday after the U.S. Marshals Service Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force said a family reported they saw a man who looked like Travis Decker, […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A surprise move by the IRS that would allow pastors to back political candidates from the pulpit without losing their organization’s tax-exempt status is drawing praise from conservatives and even some progressive religious groups but concern from other leaders of faith, along with tax and legal experts. A 1954 provision in the […]
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cleared his desk Wednesday of the deluge of bills passed to him from the North Carolina General Assembly last month, three of which he vetoed. Stein topped off his veto total at 14 for this year’s legislative session. One of the vetoes prolongs the extensive battle between […]
President Donald Trump expressed his disdain for wind power during a meeting with his Cabinet recently, calling it an expensive form of energy that “smart” countries don’t use. His comments on Tuesday contained false and misleading information about the use of wind power in the United States and around the world, and came on the […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new lawsuit seeking to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional district boundary lines was filed on Tuesday, less than two weeks after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of other lawsuits that asked for redistricting before the 2026 election. The latest lawsuit brought by a bipartisan coalition of business leaders […]
ATLANTA (AP) — Every time the door swings open this week at the county courthouse in the tiny south Georgia town of Statenville, six election workers have a moment to hope that someone is coming to vote. “Anybody that comes in pretty much has to walk by our office,” said Renee Church, the elections supervisor […]
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it is issuing sanctions against an independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza. The State Department’s decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to allow Florida to enforce an immigration law making it a crime for people who are living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state. The high court’s action will keep the law on hold while a legal challenge continues. The court did not explain its […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Bryan Bedford to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, putting him in charge of the federal agency at a precarious time for the airline industry after recent accidents, including the January collision near Washington, D.C. that killed 67 people. Bedford was confirmed on a near party-line vote, […]
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ July 3 The Washington Post on One Big Beautiful Bill and a potential debt crisis The odds of a federal debt crisis just got more daunting. On Thursday, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that threatens to leave […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A “confluence of errors” including unlawful actions by the former clerk in Wisconsin’s capital city led to nearly 200 absentee ballots not being counted in the November presidential election, an investigation by the state elections commission released Wednesday concluded. Maribeth Witzel-Behl resigned as Madison city clerk in April amid investigations by […]
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A U.S. envoy said on Wednesday that Syria’s central government and the Kurds remain at odds over plans on merging forces after the latest round of talks. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who is also a special envoy to Syria, told The Associated Press after meetings in Damascus that differences […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are urging seven U.S. universities to cut ties with a Chinese scholarship program that lawmakers call a “nefarious mechanism” to steal technology for the Chinese government. In letters to Dartmouth College, the University of Notre Dame and five other universities, leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sent out tariff letters to six smaller U.S. trading partners on Wednesday with a pledge to announce import taxes on other countries later in the day. None of the countries targeted in the first batch of letters — the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya and Iraq — is a […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a self-styled right-wing propagandist’s conviction for spreading falsehoods on social media in an effort to suppress Democratic turnout in the 2016 presidential election. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ordered a lower court to enter a judgment of acquittal for Douglass […]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Edward DiPrete, who served as the state’s chief executive for six years and was later jailed for corruption, has died. He was 91. Robert Murray, DiPrete’s former chief of staff, co nfirmed that the Republican died Tuesday after celebrating his 91st birthday with family. DiPrete, a Republican, […]
The U.S. Senate’s health committee on Wednesday approved Susan Monarez to be President Donald Trump’s director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, taking her one step closer to confirmation. The committee voted 12-11 for advancing her nomination to the full Senate. The vote went along party lines, with Democrats in opposition. Monarez, […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s former White House physician is refusing answer questions as part of the House Republican investigation into Biden’s health in office. Dr. Kevin O’Connor invoked doctor-client privilege and his rights under the Fifth Amendment during an appearance Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. That’s according to the doctor’s attorneys. Republicans […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A suburban Milwaukee businessman, former Navy SEAL and political newcomer entered Wisconsin’s race for governor Wednesday, likening himself to President Donald Trump and promising a “Wisconsin First” agenda. Bill Berrien, 56, becomes the second Republican to announce for the 2026 contest. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, 73, has not yet said whether […]
After months of promises to overhaul or eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Donald Trump is touting a fast and robust federal response to the devastating Texas floods. One former agency leader says it’s “a defining event that can help them realize that a Federal Emergency Management Agency is essential.” Trump also teased that […]
