Month: February 2023

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate has voted to allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns. Sen. Max Wise says his bill would protect free-speech rights in classrooms. But the bill was denounced by a lawmaker whose transgender son died recently. The measure

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela have met on their border to sign an agreement designed to improve trade between both countries and lift import duties on dozens of manufactured goods. The deal signed Thursday comes as relations between the two countries improve following the election

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers have proposed a bill to study whether a type of charcoal could be used to plug deserted oil and gas wells. The substance is called biochar, and it’s made from burning organic matter such as plants at high heat and little-to-no oxygen. The

BALTIMORE (AP) — Professional boxer Gervonta Davis pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a November 2020 hit-and-run that left four people injured in Baltimore, officials said. His case was scheduled for trial, but Davis entered a guilty plea instead. His sentencing is scheduled for May 5. Davis had just left a downtown Baltimore nightclub

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A farmworker charged with killing seven people last month in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms has pleaded not guilty. Chunli Zhao is charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The Mercury News reports Zhao appeared Thursday behind a glass partition in the

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Officials say a shooting at a Texas mall that killed one person and wounded three others began as a confrontation between two groups. Interim El Paso police Chief Peter Pacillas said Thursday that the people in the two groups involved in the fight Wednesday in the food court of the

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Banning TikTok from government devices enjoys bipartsan support across the U.S. But a few Democratic legislators in Kansas object to expanding a ban imposed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly because they don’t want a state law to target a company by name. The Republican-controlled Kansas

By KIM CHANDLER, LOLITA C. BALDOR and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two Tennessee National Guard pilots killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway were both experienced aviators with more than a dozen years of military service apiece, military officials said Thursday. The National Guard identified the pilots

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press A North Carolina man who stormed the U.S. Capitol while free on bail for an attempted murder case has pleaded guilty to attacking police officers with a pole attached to an American flag during the mob’s riot. Federal prosecutors say 22-year-old Matthew Jason Beddingfield appeared to flash a Nazi salute

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University says it plans to use a $110 million donation from IT innovator and executive Ratmir Timashev’s family foundation to establish a software innovation center with the goal of becoming a hub for new ideas, entrepreneurship and product development. The gift announced at

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new board majority picked by President Joe Biden for the nation’s largest public utility has announced a new study of clean energy adoption opportunities throughout the region’s economy. The Tennessee Valley Authority touted plans for the study with the University of Tennessee’s Baker Center for

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting a screening Thursday of the movie “Till,” about the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi. Till’s death helped galvanize the civil rights movement. Biden and his wife, Jill, were hosting actors, makers of the film and relatives of Till for

By JAKE BLEIBERG and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Justice Department officials in Washington have taken over the corruption investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, removing the case from the hands of the federal prosecutors in Texas who’d long been leading the probe. That’s according to a statement by state prosecutors handling

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer Microsoft’s newly revamped Bing search engine can write recipes and songs and quickly explain just about anything it can find on the internet. But if you cross its artificially intelligent chatbot, it might also insult your looks, threaten your reputation or compare you to Adolf Hitler. The tech company

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and MARC LEVY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, still recovering from a stroke, has checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to seek treatment for clinical depression, his office said Thursday. Fetterman, who has struggled with the aftereffects of a stroke he suffered last

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — An admitted hit man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbing two Connecticut banks in 2014. Bomani Africa appeared before a federal judge in New Haven on Thursday. He also is set to be sentenced next week in a stunning New Jersey

The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a year after Bruce Willis’ family announced that he would step away from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, his family says his “condition has progressed.” In a statement posted Thursday, the 67-year-old actor’s family said Willis has a more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia. “While this

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Maurice Benard, who has played Sonny on ABC’s soap opera “General Hospital” for more than 30 years, has made destigmatizing mental health a passion project. Benard hosts a weekly YouTube talk show called “State of Mind with Maurice Benard” where he interviews fellow actors, doctors and

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The NHL Players’ Association has hired U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh as its executive director. The union said its executive board with representatives from all 32 clubs unanimously approved Walsh’s appointment. Walsh will begin his new role in mid-March. The NHLPA had been searching for

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The family of a Black man who died after police officers in North Carolina repeatedly used stun guns on him is calling for officials to fire and charge the officers involved. Darryl Williams died Jan. 17 after the confrontation and can be heard on video telling police he had heart problems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked artists and filmmakers to unequivocally declare their support for his country during a live video address at the opening of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. Referring to the Berlin Wall which divided the city from 1961 to 1989, Zelenskyy on Thursday said that now Russia, which attacked Ukraine