Month: February 2023

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America RENO, Nev. (AP) — Tesla may receive over $300 million in tax abatements over the next two decades for a massive new expansion of its northern Nevada facility, the product of a 2014 deal for when the company first came to the area on the promise of new

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Police say the crash of a truck into a group of 20 bicyclists on a bridge that killed two and injured nearly all the rest of a Phoenix area cycling group apparently was accidental. The driver has told officers it happened when his steering locked. Goodyear

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 confirm he has schizophrenia, with one expert finding he was “approaching catatonia” before being moved to the state mental hospital for treatment. The defense information, from a court filing earlier this month,

By LAURA UNGAR and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab? Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil (AP) — A delegation from the Brazilian government that includes widows of two slain men who had worked for justice for Indigenous Amazon peoples arrived in the remote region where the two were slain Monday in a symbolic retake of the place, now that a new government has

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wants to reform a landmark state environmental law after it was used to block needed student housing at the University of California, Berkeley. Newsom’s comments over the weekend followed a state appeals court ruling Friday that found the University

CINCINNATI (AP) — The federal government has rested its case in former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s racketeering trial. Over the past five weeks, prosecutors presented jurors with reams of financial documents, emails, texts, wire-tap audio and firsthand accounts of what they allege was a $60 million bribery scheme to pass a $1 billion

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday that it is creating a new task force to crack down on an explosion of the illegal exploitation of migrant children for labor in the U.S. Hundreds of companies that employed nearly 4,000 children last year were found in violation of federal

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A spokesman for Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says the Democrat is “on a path to recovery” after checking himself into a hospital for clinical depression earlier this month, and he is still expected to be away from the Senate for several weeks. “We understand the intense

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox “Media Buzz” anchor Howard Kurtz says he’s been barred by his company from covering Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox. Kurtz says that Fox told him he can’t talk or write about the case — a major story in the media — because he’s part of the

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Federal officials say contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment in Ohio have started moving out. The shipments started Monday and comes after concerns were raised during the weekend about oversight of where the waste was being shipped. The Environmental Protection Agency also announced that two new

PARIS (AP) — World Cup champion Lionel Messi edged Kylian Mbappé again, this time to take FIFA’s best men’s player award on Monday. The best women’s player was Spain’s Alexia Putellas for a second straight year. After steering Argentina to World Cup glory in an epic final against Mbappé’s France last year in Qatar, Messi

By ED WHITE Associated Press A new storm teeming with freezing rain and strong winds is socking Michigan. It’s a fresh challenge for crews that have been trying to restore electricity to thousands of people who have been in the dark since ice snapped lines last week. The state’s largest utilities, Consumers Energy and DTE

By JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lawmakers say Tennessee’s top legal chief has voiced concerns about the legality of the state’s abortion law, adding an extra layer of urgency among some Republicans to insert exemptions into one of the strictest bans in the country. According to House Speaker Cameron

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s GOP supermajority House of Delegates has passed a bill that would create a test for courts to apply when people challenge government regulations they believe interfere with their religious freedom. The bill passed after several Democrats expressed concern that the proposal could be used

By ROB GILLIES ASSOCIATED PRESS TORONTO (AP) — Canada is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says might be a first step to further action. The European Union’s executive branch last week temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure. The EU’s action follows similar

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is making a new push to convince Libya’s rival factions to hold presidential and legislative elections this year. But any optimism was dampened Monday by a lack of details and continued disputes. Abdoulaye Bathily, the top U.N. diplomat for Libya, told the Security

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A company that operates a hydroelectric dam near Mount Rainier National Park and its chief operating officer have each pleaded guilty to a single criminal count in connection with a spill of field turf into the Puyallup River in 2020. The company, Electron Hydro LLC, also will

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canada is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, reflecting widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it might be a first step to further action. TikTok is wildly popular with young people, but its Chinese ownership has

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill moving through West Virginia’s Legislature would give $25,000 in tax credits to former residents who move back to the state to work. The state Senate passed the bill Monday and sent it to the House of Delegates. Those eligible for the tax credit had to live and work in

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed a state decoration on Steven Seagal, the American action-movie actor who also holds Russian citizenship. The awarding of the Order of Friendship was announced Monday on the Russian government’s internet portal. The order recognizes people who Russia considers to have contributed to bettering international relations. Seagal

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick filed a motion Monday to dismiss a case charging him with sexually assaulting a boy decades ago, saying the 92-year-old once-powerful American prelate has dementia and is not competent to stand trial. McCarrick pleaded not guilty in September

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge has upheld his acquittal of a nursing home administrator who had been charged with the overheating deaths of nine patients after 2017’s Hurricane Irma knocked out the facility’s air conditioning. Circuit Judge John J. Murphy III spent Monday morning listening impassively as

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — The U.S. was shut out from the top prizes at an annual international water tasting contest in West Virginia. Entries from Canada took the top two spots for Best Municipal Water on Saturday at the 33rd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting. Clearbrook, British Columbia, a previous six-time champion, took

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Monday demanded lengthy prison terms for the country’s exiled opposition leaders, amid a continued crackdown against dissent in the ex-Soviet republic. The prosecution demanded to sentence Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushka to 19 years in prison. Tsikhanouskaya, Latushka and three other opposition figures