Month: February 2023

By KAREN MATTHEWS NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is ending its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for municipal employees including police officers, firefighters and teachers. Mayor Eric Adams says the vaccine mandate will end Friday. Adams said Monday that with more than 96% of city employees and more than 80% of city residents having received

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Minnesota man has been sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of two co-workers and their unborn child at a North Dakota factory. KVLY-TV reports a judge sentenced Anthony Reese Jr. to life in prison without the possibility of parole

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to five years in prison for setting fires at a Planned Parenthood clinic in southwestern Michigan. Joshua Brereton’s attorney says he was inspired by a church sermon about “making a difference,” but now greatly regrets his actions. The clinic in Kalamazoo was not open at the

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican Kelly Craft is facing turbulence over a recent ad about her bid to become Kentucky’s next governor. The commercial aims to connect with voters by highlighting the state’s struggles with drug addiction. In it, Craft calls the fight against drug abuse personal and says she’s

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britcoin is moving closer to reality. U.K. authorities say British businesses and consumers are likely to need a digital version of the pound. They formally asked for public comment Monday on the idea of introducing a central bank digital currency. Britain is home to the world’s second-biggest

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear that killed a young mother and her baby last month in western Alaska was likely an older animal in poor physical condition, but tests came back negative for pathogens that affect the brain and cause aggressive behavior, officials said Monday. Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen,

By NARDOS HAILE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A night in music brimming with shocking upsets, historic wins, tributes for artists like the late rapper Takeoff and hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the 65th Grammys were back in full swing Sunday. Once again, Beyoncé was in the running for the top honor. Once again, the show

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with attacking police with a machete near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve has been transferred to U.S. custody and made his initial court appearance. Trevor Thomas Bickford, handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, shuffled into a Manhattan federal courtroom Monday for an initial appearance. Charges

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla (AP) — The trial of a Florida nursing home administrator accused of causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after a 2017 hurricane is underway. Prosecutors during Monday’s opening statements accused Jorge Carballo of abandoning his patients, going home after the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills lost

By DENISE LAVOIE and BEN FINLEY Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An attorney for a teacher who was shot and wounded by a 6-year-old Virginia boy says in a legal notice that the first-grader constantly cursed at staff and teachers, chased students around and tried to whip them with his belt and once choked

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — Fire swept through a large commercial warehouse in suburban Chicago, producing a smoke plume that could be seen for miles. The morning fire occurred in Chicago Heights at Morgan Li, a maker of fixtures, furniture and graphics. City spokesman David Ormsby says the fire was finally put out around noon.

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — A rancher who lives near Arizona’s border with Mexico is being held on a charge of first-degree murder in last week’s fatal shooting of a man tentatively identified as a Mexican citizen. His bail was set at $1 million.  The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office in Nogales, Arizona, confirmed Monday that

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama attorney general argued an inmate did not suffer unconstitutionally during an aborted lethal injection last year. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Kenneth Eugene Smith seeking to prevent the state from making a second attempt to put him to death.

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Like thousands of other Austin residents, Darin Murphy began a sixth day Monday with no power in his home, wrapping his head around the city’s latest demoralizing update: Getting the lights fully back on may take another week. “We are planning for

By JOHN COON Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — When the NBA All-Star Game returns to Salt Lake City for the first time in three decades, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith anticipates the event will help build Utah into a destination for other major sporting events. “All the lights will be on us, but

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Monday was supposed to be a day of modest hope in the U.S.-China relationship. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was going to be in Beijing, meeting with President Xi Jinping in a high-stakes bid to ease ever-rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Instead, Blinken

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press A judge has ruled he will allow jurors to hear evidence that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was stealing money from his law firm and clients and committing other financial crimes long before his wife and son were killed in 2021. Prosecutors have said those witnesses to potential financial

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say a plane transporting the body of Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf from the  United Arab Emirates arrived in Karachi amid tight security. Family members were also on board when the plane landed Monday at the airport in the city where he will be buried Tuesday. Musharraf, who died at

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal appeals court has denied South Carolina Republicans’ motion for a stay in the ongoing challenge over the state’s congressional district map. Leading GOP lawmakers will now take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court in attempt to avoid redrawing the map that

By GERALD IMRAY AP Sports Writer Former Chelsea and Newcastle forward Christian Atsu is missing and believed to be trapped under rubble following the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday and left more than 2,500 people dead. The Ghana international plays for Turkish club Hatayspor and a club spokesman says he is thought to

By MEHMET GUZEL and ZEYNEP BILGINSOY Associated Press ADANA, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers called out, “Slowly, slowly,” as they lifted a man inch by inch from between slabs of collapsed concrete Monday in the Turkish province that was the epicenter of a devastating earthquake. His neck in a brace, the barefoot man was carried on

By ZEKE MILLER, LOLITA C. BALDOR and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say efforts ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped identify last week’s spy balloon — and determine that similar flights were conducted at multiple points during the Trump administration. White House national security adviser

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Bourbon tourism reached new heights last year in Kentucky. Attendance at distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail surpassed 2 million in 2022 for the first time. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association made the announcement Monday. It says visitors flocked to large and small distilleries as the attractions

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Officials say a firefighter who was swept into a storm drain while responding to a storm on the Hawaiian island of Maui died over the weekend. According to a Maui County News release, 24-year-old Treʻ Evans-Dumaran died Saturday. He was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Maui Memorial

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Middle seats at many U.S. movie theaters just got more expensive. AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, on Monday unveiled a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much your movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — The English Premier League vs. Manchester City: a legal fixture for the ages. Soccer’s richest and most watched league challenged its defending champion on Monday with more than 100 charges of alleged financial wrongdoing and failures to cooperate with an investigation that took more than four