Month: April 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor has ordered the state’s transit agency to drop efforts to impose a $750,000 fee on the New York City Marathon for using the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday also encouraged the New York Road Runners, organizers of the venerable race, to find other ways to

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A California-based vendor of election services is charging several Texas counties tens of thousands of dollars in additional fees. The requests from VOTEC have led the counties to discuss their options with the Texas Secretary of State’s office. The surcharges are for the data management system that various Texas counties use

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign has terminated a contract with a vendor it blamed for sending a fundraising email that referred to people facing charges for the Jan. 6 insurrection as “activists” who were “stripped of their constitutional liberties.” The campaign announced it on Thursday. The language in

HOUSTON (AP) — Federal officials are issuing a preliminary report about a United Airlines jet that slid off a taxiway at a Houston airport last month. According to Thursday’s report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the United captain said the brakes seemed less effective than normal. He says the plane and brake pedals shook

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s cannabis industry was briefly upended Thursday by a court ruling that appeared to strike down all the regulations governing recreational marijuana in the state. The ruling was amended within a day to reflect a much narrower decision, but not before cannabis growers, sellers and

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has declared Mexico’s ambassador to Quito persona non grata over recent statements made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and says she will be leaving the country “shortly.” The comments by López Obrador were about the 2023 presidential elections in the Andean country and the killing of Ecuador’s former presidential

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A U.S. House race in California appears headed for an improbable finish – a tie for second place. If the numbers hold in the 16th District south of San Francisco, that means the state’s “top two” election system would have to make room

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Students in Alaska’s capital walked out of school and marched through the halls of the statehouse to protest Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s latest education veto and the Legislature’s failure to override it. Walkouts of 40 minutes were planned at schools across Alaska, with 40 representing the

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Officials say one person was killed and two others were hospitalized when a section of crane fell from a building in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue says crews were in the process of “stepping the crane” Thursday during the construction of a high-rise building when a section being

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — The Tennessee and Colorado legislatures have passed bills that would have vastly different impacts on LGBTQ+ foster children. The Republican supermajority in Tennessee passed a measure that would allow children to be placed with families that hold anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. Colorado’s Democratic majority

BOSTON (AP) — A former Weymouth, Massachusetts. police officer has been charged after he allegedly assaulted a man in his custody nearly two years ago by punching him about a dozen times without justification. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that 43-year-old Justin Chappell was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.

By WILL GRAVES AP National Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Two of college basketball’s biggest stars will face off when Iowa and Caitlin Clark meet UConn and Paige Bueckers in the Final Four. Clark is a two-time National Player of the Year trying to guide the Hawkeyes to their first NCAA championship. Bueckers has returned to

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin association representing attorneys has agreed to change the definition of “diversity” to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a conservative law firm. The lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in December argued the internship program unconstitutionally discriminates based on race.

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. officials say that Myanmar’s escalating conflict and worst violence since the military takeover in 2021 are having a devastating impact on human rights, fundamental freedoms and basic needs of millions of people. It’s also having “alarming spillover effects” in neighboring countries. Assistant Secretary-General for

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press Federal authorities say an increasingly deadly year for the endangered North Atlantic right whale got worse this week when another member of the species was killed in a collision with a ship. The population of giant right whales has fallen to fewer than 360. Vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs’ player Rashee Rice was the driver of one of two speeding sports cars who left after causing a chain-reaction crash on a Dallas highway over the weekend, the wide receiver’s attorney said Thursday. Why Rice left the crash Saturday was “a good question that’s

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and GHAITH AL-SAYED Associated Press IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A war monitor says a suicide bomber killed the co-founder of Syria’s main al-Qaida-linked group that controls much of the country’s northwest. However, some activists disputed the source of the explosion, saying instead that a remotely detonated bomb killed Abu Maria al-Qahtani, whose

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A beloved giraffe at a zoo in South Dakota has died. On Thursday, the Great Plains Zoo and Butterfly House & Aquarium in Sioux Falls announced the death of Chioke. He was an 18-year-old reticulated giraffe. He was born in Florida in 2006, and he came to the zoo in

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — New data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives shows that 68,000 illegally trafficked firearms in the U.S. came through unlicensed dealers who aren’t required to perform background checks over a five year report. The report released Thursday was the first

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed legislation promoting nuclear energy in coal-producing Kentucky. Beshear said Thursday his objections are with an advisory board and not with the use of nuclear power. Beshear says he supports an “all-of-the-above” energy policy that includes nuclear energy. His criticism focused on

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani will be allowed to remain in his Florida condo for now. A New York bankruptcy judge on Thursday declined to rule on a motion filed by his creditors that would’ve forced him to sell the Palm Beach estate. Giuliani declared bankruptcy in December after

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Attorneys defending Tennessee’s sweeping abortion ban have alleged that doctors challenging the law do not want any oversight when deciding to terminate a pregnancy and instead are improperly withholding care to women facing serious medical emergencies. The Tennessee Attorney General’s office laid out its arguments Thursday

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — State officials are being allowed to continue legal action against a county outside New York City that has banned transgender players from women’s and girls teams. U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury on Thursday denied Nassau County’s request for a temporary restraining order against state Attorney General Letitia James. Choudhury

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers are demanding more information on the bona fides of the $175 million bond that former President Donald Trump posted to block the imminent collection of a huge civil fraud judgment. State Attorney General Letitia James’ office filed papers giving Trump’s lawyers or

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Court of Appeals says the state’s near total ban on abortion may infringe on the religious freedom of some residents. The ruling released Thursday is tied to a lawsuit challenging the ban and filed by four residents and the group Hoosier Jews for Choice. The three-judge

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Three migrants died in a highway accident in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, authorities say. At least two of the dead — a man and a woman — are from the African nation of Cameroon, and the identity of the third is being checked. Five more migrants were injured and

Associated Press Kiss agreed to sell their catalog, brand name and IP to Swedish company Pophouse in a deal estimated to be over $300 million. They’re the latest to participate in an ongoing trend of blockbuster acts and their rights holders inking deals to sell their back-catalogs, often for impressive sums. It’s big business, especially

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation heading to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. The GOP-dominated Senate approved the legislation Thursday. The

MANITOWOC, Wis. (AP) — A man who was caring for a 3-year-old Wisconsin boy when he vanished in late February has been ordered to stand trial on a child neglect charge in the child’s disappearance. A Manitowoc County judge ruled Thursday there was enough evidence to move the case forward against 39-year-old Jesse Vang. The

By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump left the White House facing a cash crunch that threatened his business empire. But soon a new source stepped forward to provide a financial lifeline. Records show Axos Bank, as well as its largest individual shareholder, have extended more than $500 million in financing that

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press Does time — and a new host — heal all wounds? Fourteen years after Conan O’Brien was messily ousted from NBC’s “The Tonight Show” to make way for the return of Jay Leno — the comedian is finally back. O’Brien will appear on the April 9 show to promote his

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — LeBron James figures there’s at least one obvious explanation for the surging popularity of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament — recognizable stars. After his Los Angeles Lakers beat Washington on Wednesday night, James talked a bit about the women’s game. He listed Angel Reese, JuJu Watkins,

In a story published March 13, 2024, about wood pellet supplier Enviva filing for bankruptcy, The Associated Press erroneously reported the company’s annual production. It is 5 million metric tons, not 5 metric tons.

PHOENIX (AP) — A newly released report says a hot air balloon pilot had an elevated level of an anesthetic in his system at the time of a January crash that killed four people in Arizona. Authorities say toxicology tests show 37-year-old Cornelius Van Der Walt had a high amount of ketamine content in his

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to throw out the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a defense argument that the case should be tossed because he was entitled as a former president to retain the records after he left office. Lawyers

ATLANTA (AP) — PrizePicks says it will expand its operations in Atlanta by hiring an additional 1,000 employees over seven years. The fantasy sports company announced Thursday that it will lease an office building northwest of downtown for its new headquarters. The company is hiring software engineers, analysts, marketers and other positions. PrizePicks was founded

DERRY, N.H. (AP) — Authorities say a house explosion in New Hampshire has left one person dead and a second person injured. Derry Fire Chief Shawn Haggart says his department received reports of an explosion Thursday morning. Firefighters who responded found a house fully engulfed in flames. One person in the house was killed. Another

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The No Labels group says it won’t field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization were unable to attract a candidate willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities in New York City say they have disrupted an online fraud operation that stole millions of dollars by duping victims into making phony cryptocurrency investments. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Thursday that his office seized 21 web domains being used by scammers in so-called

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press Prosecutors and defense lawyers are exploring the possibility of a plea deal for the last of three men charged in the 2002 killing of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, both sides said Thursday, less than six weeks after two co-defendants were convicted. The talks just began, and it’s unclear what

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves got away with $30 million in cash from a money storage facility in Los Angeles by breaking into the building on Easter Sunday and cracking the safe. Now detectives are seeking to unravel the brazen cash heist, reportedly one of the largest on record in Los Angeles. Police Cmdr. Elaine

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge has ruled that the federal trial of four former police officers charged with civil rights violations in the beating death of Tyre Nichols will be held in Memphis. U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris denied motions filed by defense attorneys for the former Memphis