Month: January 2024

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Montana fire chief who lost a previous job over a coronavirus vaccine mandate has been charged with spraying a chemical irritant on police officers during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Prosecutors say in court documents unsealed Wednesday that Frank Dahlquist sprayed

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit may move forward against a Florida Panhandle school district over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities from library shelves. The Pensacola-base judge ruled Wednesday that the writers’ group PEN America, publisher Penguin Random House, banned authors and parents have standing

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Republican-run Tennessee House has capped how long lawmakers can debate bills and is restricting members from speaking when deemed “out of order.” The new rules passed Wednesday were opposed by many Democrats, including three targeted with expulsion last April for their gun control protest on

By JACK DURA Associated Press A North Dakota Republican lawmaker has been removed from a legislative committee following a traffic stop in December. State Rep. Nico Rios, of Williston, was arrested on a drunken driving charge. Rios blasted police with vulgar, homophobic and anti-migrant language during the traffic stop. Calls have grown for him to

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Republican-dominated Ohio House has voted to override GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors. The legislation also restricts transgender women’s and girls’ participation on sports teams. As of Wednesday, the measure is one step closer to becoming law.

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Pete Carroll is out after 14 seasons as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, responsible for two NFC championships and the only Super Bowl title in franchise history during his long tenure. The 72-year old coach is moving into an advisory role with the

By The Associated Press Canadian ice dancing champion Nikolaj Sorensen, who is under investigation for alleged sexual assault, and his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry have withdrawn from this week’s Canadian figure skating championships in Calgary, Alberta. USA Today reported last week that Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner is investigating Sorensen over an

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Local lawmakers in the nation’s capital are introducing public safety legislation aiming to bring down spiraling violent crimes rates. The measure unveiled Wednesday largely repackages and consolidates previous proposals and temporary anti-crime legislation, including stiffer penalties for a host of gun-related offenses and wider leeway for judges

By JACK DURA Associated Press PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Two of nine tribal nations within South Dakota’s boundaries presented their flags on Wednesday to display in the state Capitol rotunda in Pierre. Gov. Kristi Noem and representatives from the Standing Rock and Rosebud Sioux tribes celebrated the flags as a sign of unity, the result

By the Associated Press German software giant SAP will pay more than $220 million in fines to resolve U.S. bribery allegations involving payments to foreign government officials. The Justice Department said Wednesday that SAP was charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to court documents, SAP and unnamed co-conspirators delivered gifts to

By STEVE PEOPLES and JILL COLVIN Associated Press Republican presidential contender Chris Christie has notified key allies that he plans to make a major announcement at a campaign stop Wednesday evening in New Hampshire. That’s according to a person with direct knowledge of the former New Jersey governor’s plans who spoke to The Associated Press

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal appeals panel says a Missouri lawsuit accusing China of hoarding masks and other protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic can move forward. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals panel, however, otherwise agreed Wednesday with a lower court’s 2022

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Court records show the owner of the Houston Texans is fighting efforts by one of her sons to have her declared incapacitated and have a guardian appointed for her. Robert Cary McNair Jr. filed his application for appointment of a guardian for Janice McNair in probate

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Aaron Rodgers’ Tuesday appearances on “The Pat McAfee Show” are over for the rest of this NFL season, possibly longer. McAfee announced at the beginning of his Wednesday show on ESPN that his fourth season of doing a weekly segment with the New York Jets quarterback had concluded. As

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers are searching for solutions to dwindling water supplies, violent crime, homelessness and lagging performance at public schools at a rapid-fire 30-day legislative session. Legislators and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also are floating ambitious proposals designed to curtail gun violence, expand affordable

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer A barrage of high-profile lawsuits in a New York federal court will test the future of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products that wouldn’t be so eloquent had they not ingested huge troves of copyrighted human works. But are AI chatbots like the widely commercialized products made by OpenAI

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Backers of former President Donald Trump have filed a petition seeking to recall Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos from office. The petition filed Wednesday cites Vos’s opposition to Trump and his not moving forward with impeaching the state’s top elections official. The effort faces a high bar for success but

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s small Citizen’s Movement party has nominated a youthful, little-known congressman to run for president in the June 2 elections _ a campaign that so far has been dominated by two women. The party has announced that its candidate will be Jorge Álvarez Máynez. He will face front-runner Claudia Sheinbaum of

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State environment officials will be offering residents in eastern New Mexico and personnel at Cannon Air Force Base the opportunity to have their blood tested for PFAS chemicals. The compounds also known as “forever chemicals” have been detected at military bases in New Mexico and

NEW YORK (AP) — A subway train derailed Wednesday in Coney Island, causing service delays, but no apparent injuries, officials said. Wheels on an F train bound for Manhattan came off the tracks just north of the West 8th Street station in Brooklyn about 12:20 p.m., said Meghan Keegan, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation

By R.J. RICO Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A racketeering trial in Georgia is again being delayed for the first defendant indicted in protests against the planned police training facility critics call “Cop City.” Opening arguments had been expected to begin in the case against 19-year-old Ayla King of Massachusetts. A jury was seated in

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig and Martin Scorsese have been nominated by the Directors Guild for its top award. The nominations to the 76th DGA Awards, which followed those by the Screen Actors Guild earlier in the day, went as expected. The other two nominees for

By CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press/Report for America WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A judge has postponed the trial of an Illinois man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago in 2022 after his lawyer on Wednesday asked for more time to review evidence. The trial of Robert Crimo III

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The longest currently serving state senator in the U.S. doesn’t plan to run for office again this year in South Carolina. Democratic Rep. Nikki Setzler was elected to the Senate in 1976 and has served ever since. He said in an opinion piece in The State

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities said a man who was being held at the problem-plagued Fulton County Jail in Atlanta has died at a hospital after he was found unresponsive in his cell. The sheriff’s office said in a news release that a jail officer doing a security round found 36-year-old Michael Anthony Holland in his

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Search teams were deployed following an avalanche Wednesday at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe, officials said. The avalanche occurred around 9:30 a.m. at Palisades Tahoe, the resort said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Our Patrol and mountain operations teams are performing a search at this time,”

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says 20 million people have enrolled for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, with still a few days left for signing up. That’s a figure President Joe Biden will likely talk about regularly on the campaign trail as the Republican front-runner,  former

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The SXSW Film & TV Festival will open with premiere of “3 Body Problem,” the anticipated Netflix series from “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and “True Blood” writer Alexander Woo. “3 Body Problem” will kick off the 31st edition of the Austin, Texas, festival on March

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators are soon expected to decide whether to approve the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund, a development that could thrust the once niche and nerdy corner of the internet even further into the financial mainstream. The regulatory greenlight has been anticipated for several months and

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bill banning transgender medical care for minors is heading to the South Carolina House floor. Republicans are moving the ban in the first days of the 2024 legislation session. The proposal bars health professionals from performing gender transition surgery, prescribing puberty-blocking drugs or

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Alaska Airlines is canceling through Saturday all flights on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes like the one that suffered an in-flight blowout of a fuselage panel last week as it waits for new instructions from Boeing and federal officials on how to inspect the fleet. The Seattle-based airline said

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Democratic Florida prosecutor suspended by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis will get another chance to show his political advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and could not be the basis for his removal. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas later this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, clearing the way for what would be the nation’s first execution under a new method the inmate’s lawyers criticize as cruel and experimental. U.S. District

BY ALEXA ST. JOHN The Department of Justice released new details of a settlement with engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. Wednesday that includes a mandatory recall of 600,000 Ram trucks, and that Cummins remedy environmental damage it caused when it illegally installed emissions control software in several thousand vehicles, skirting emissions testing. Cummins is accused of

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California bill that aims to reduce the risk of brain injury by banning tackle football for children under 12 cleared its first hurdle Wednesday after a legislative committee voted for the measure to be considered by the state Assembly. The bill is supported by advocates

LAS VEGAS (AP) — CES 2024 has kicked off in Las Vegas. The multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association will feature the latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more. Burgeoning uses of artificial intelligence almost everywhere you look. The first official day of the show

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is announcing a $291 billion state spending plan with an estimated $37.9 billion deficit. That’s a significantly lower budget hole than the Legislative Analyst’s Office predicted in December. They estimated the state would face a $68 billion deficit. That difference is likely

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has postponed sentencing for six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men. Sentencing had been set to begin on Jan. 16, but a court hearing schedule