Month: October 2021

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A final settlement has been reached in a 2017 lawsuit over New Orleans prosecutors’ use of hardball tactics. Those tactics included the issuance of fake subpoenas and the jailing of crime victims who wouldn’t cooperate with investigators. The suit centered on practices of the staff under

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A prominent Guatemalan judge faces the possibility of losing his immunity from legal action in a case that he claims is meant to intimidate independent judges in a country whose judicial system is seen as under attack. Guatemala’s Supreme Court on Wednesday is expected to

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is the last state to submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Education that’s required before more than $2.3 billion in federal aid for Florida schools can be released. The department sent a letter Monday to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran saying the state has missed the deadline to

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit crematorium owner who has already lost his mortuary science and mortuary science establishment licenses has been charged with improper disposal of bodies. Michigan’s Attorney General’s office said Tuesday that O’Neil Swanson was arraigned Monday. A cease and desist order was issued in

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A longtime Alabama sheriff removed from office after being convicted of theft and ethics violations is giving five-star reviews to the jail where he spent more than two weeks in custody. But perhaps he should: He ran it for decades. Ousted Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely addressed the news media on

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — In a story published October 4, 2021, about New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s speech to a group of oil and gas executives, The Associated Press erroneously reported about the governor’s regulation of methane production sites in her state. The regulations cover drilling sites, not mining sites.

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A leading Jewish group in Germany says it’s shocked by a German-Israeli singer’s report of being turned away from a hotel because he was wearing a Star of David pendant. Singer Gil Ofarim, who lives in Germany, shared a video on Instagram Tuesday showing him in front

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Opening statements are underway Tuesday in the corruption trial of a powerful Philadelphia labor leader and a city official he allegedly kept on the union payroll. Federal prosecutors say Johnny “Doc” Dougherty had a “corrupt agreement” that kept City Council member Bobby Henon in a $70,000-a-year, no-work job so he could do

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — U.S. Geological Survey officials have lowered the alert level for a Hawaii volcano. They expect Kilauea volcano’s latest eruption that began last week to remain confined to the summit and not endanger any communities. Officials had raised the volcano’s alert level to “warning” as they assessed

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys are presenting competing narratives in the trial of a California police officer accused of shooting and killing a mentally ill man in a wealthy San Francisco suburb nearly three years ago. A defense attorney on Monday asked a jury to sympathize with the officer’s need to make

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Chanel brought Paris Fashion Week to its final day with a runway show that illustrated how designers and the people they dress want to look to the future with optimism. It is said that fashion is a mirror of our times — and the spring-summer collections

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The share of single people in the U.S. has grown over the past three decades. That’s a concern for some researchers since the unpartnered population earns less, is less likely to be employed and has less education than those who are married or living with a

By BRYAN ANDERSON Associated Press/Report for America RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina appeals court says some supporters of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory’s efforts to contest the 2016 gubernatorial election results can be sued for allegedly defaming voters. The decision announced on Tuesday paves the way for a trial court to hear arguments

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan State University official personally delivered a doctorate degree to a New Jersey man in 2019, decades after he and his wife were sexually harassed by a professor when they were students. Jon Edwards says he stopped pursuing an advanced degree in history to protest the behavior of Harold

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A federal magistrate determined Friday that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff can remain free before his trial on charges that he defrauded a state agency he led by inducing it to pay him nearly $280,000 in mostly severance pay before moving to the governor’s office. The Baltimore Sun

By PIPER HUDSPETH BLACKBURN and ANNIE MA Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Officials at historically Black colleges thought they might finally have a pipeline for long-term funding from the federal government after the Biden administration included at least $45 billion for them in its multitrillion dollar economic package. That enthusiasm was short-lived after a

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is dispatching White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan for talks with a senior Chinese foreign policy adviser. This comes as the two countries find themselves at odds on a variety of issues, including Taiwan and trade. The meeting is set for Wednesday in

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board has narrowly rejected granting clemency for a death row inmate convicted of killing a prison cafeteria worker in 1998. The board’s 3-2 vote Tuesday paves the way for John Marion Grant to be executed on Oct. 28. It would be the

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The government of Poland is working abroad to warn potential migrants that the country’s border with Belarus is sealed and not a passage into the European Union. A deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that Poland’s diplomats in Middle Eastern and African countries are talking to local

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Supporters of Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp are fighting back against Donald Trump and their own party leaders. They are angered by Trump’s Sept. 25 rally in Georgia where the former president again attacked Kemp. Kemp supporters warn that an embrace of Trump, his unproven claims about

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer The Biden administration on Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to stop using the state’s federal pandemic funding on a pair of new education grants that can only be directed to schools without mask mandates. In a letter to Ducey, the Treasury Department said the grant programs are “not

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp on Monday was a headache for many casual users. But the outage was far more serious for many people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to communicate with relatives, friends and neighbors and run their

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Among the candidates running in Iraq’s general elections this week is a leader of one of the most hard-line and powerful militias with close ties to Iran. Hussein Muanis joins a long list of candidates from among Iran-backed Shiite factions vying for parliament seats. But he is

By MARK GILLISPIE Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Attorneys for three retail pharmacy chains say the companies are blameless for the ongoing opioid crisis and did not create a public nuisance in two Ohio counties suing them in federal court. Attorneys for CVS, Walmart and Giant Eagle delivered their opening statements Tuesday in Cleveland. Attorneys

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A report by the United Nations’ weather agency finds much of the world is unprepared for the floods, hurricanes and droughts expected to worsen with climate change. The report says 60% of the countries it surveyed urgently need better warning systems to avert water-related disasters. It says