Author: The Associated Press

Biden Aims To Deliver Reassurance In State Of Union Address

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ready to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation’s condition rather than roll out flashy policy proposals as he delivers his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night, seeking to overcome pessimism in the country and concerns about his own leadership. His speech before a politically divided Congress comes as the nation struggles to make sense…

Powerful Quake Rocks Turkey And Syria, Kills More Than 2,800

ADANA, Turkey (AP) — A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked wide swaths of Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday, killing more than 2,800 people and injuring thousands more as it toppled thousands of buildings and trapped residents under mounds of rubble. Authorities feared the death toll would keep climbing as rescuers searched through tangles of metal and concrete for survivors in a…

New Rules Would Limit Sugar In School Meals For First Time

U.S. agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries. The plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly decrease sodium in the meals served to the nation’s schoolkids by 2029, while making the…

Chinese Balloon Now Over Central US As Blinken Cancels Visit

WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying and sending excited or alarmed Americans outside with binoculars. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U..S.-China tensions. The cancelation came despite China’s claim that the balloon was a weather research “airship” that…

New Rules Would Limit Sugar In School Meals For First Time

(AP) — U.S. agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries. The plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly decrease sodium in the meals served to the nation’s schoolkids by 2029,…

A Surprising Burst Of US Hiring In January: 517,000 Jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly a year, the Federal Reserve has been on a mission to cool down the job market to help curb the nation’s worst inflation bout in four decades. The job market hasn’t been cooperating. Consider what happened in January: The government said Friday that employers added a sizzling 517,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate dipped…

Minnesota Moves Toward 100% Carbon-Free Electricity By 2040

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota utilities would be obligated to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 to step up the fight against climate change under a bill speeding through the Legislature. The bill was slated for a final vote on the Senate floor Thursday night after passing the House 70-60 last week. It’s a top priority for Democrats, who control both chambers, and for…

House GOP Votes To Oust Democrat Omar From Major Committee

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House voted after raucous debate Thursday to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her anti-Israel comments, in a dramatic response after Democrats last session booted far-right GOP lawmakers over incendiary remarks. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was able to solidify Republican support against the Somali-born Muslim woman in the new Congress although some…

‘We Love You, Tyre’: Mourners Gather For Nichols’ Funeral

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tyre Nichols ’ family and friends gathered Wednesday for a funeral intended to celebrate his life three weeks after he died following a brutal beating by Memphis police that has sparked a new round of calls for police reform. As the service began, a group of singers and drummers beating African instruments proceeded to the front of the church where…

Fate Of Last Ex-Cop Charged In Floyd Murder Lies With Judge

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The attorney for a former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders while his colleagues restrained a dying George Floyd said in court filings Tuesday that his client is innocent of criminal wrongdoing and should be acquitted on state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. But prosecutors argued in their filings that Tou Thao “acted…

Tom Brady Retires At 45, Insisting This Time It’s ‘For Good’

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady, who won a record seven Super Bowls for New England and Tampa, has announced his retirement. Brady — the most successful quarterback in NFL history, and one of the greatest athletes in team sports — posted the announcement on social media Wednesday morning, a brief video lasting just under one minute. “Good morning guys….

Biden, McCarthy, Once Breakfast Mates, Wrangle Over US Debt

WASHINGTON (AP) — Not so long ago, Joe Biden and Republican leader Kevin McCarthy used to talk things over at breakfast in Biden’s vice presidential home at the Naval Observatory. Biden was intent in those days on “keeping up relations with the opposition party,” as he writes in his memoir, and the new House majority leader often arrived with fellow GOP lawmakers in tow….

Durenberger, Former US Senator From Minnesota, Dies At 88

(AP) — Former U.S. Senator David Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics and criticized the GOP after his political career, died Tuesday at age 88. Durenberger’s health had declined in recent months, his longtime spokesperson Tom Horner said. Horner told The Associated Press that Durenberger died Tuesday morning of natural causes. He was at his…

Snow Leads To Massive Pileup In Wisconsin, Dozens Injured

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dozens of people were injured in a massive traffic pileup amid snowy conditions in southern Wisconsin on Friday, which blocked Interstate 39/90 for hours, authorities said. Beloit Memorial Hospital said at least 27 people were treated for injuries sustained in the crash, WIFR-TV reported. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear, the station said. State…

Minnesota Senate Debates More Protection For Abortion Rights

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Senate began debate Friday on a bill to write broad protections for abortion rights into state statutes, which would make it difficult for future courts to roll back. Democratic legislative leaders have fast-tracked the bill as one of their top priorities for the 2023 session — in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer to reverse Roe…

Video Shows Struggle For Hammer During Pelosi Attack

(AP) — Video released publicly Friday shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fighting with his assailant for control of a hammer moments before he was struck in the head during a brutal attack in the couple’s San Francisco home last year. The body-camera footage shows suspect David DePape wrest the tool from Paul Pelosi, 82, and…

DA: 5 Memphis Cops ‘All Responsible’ For Tyre Nichols’ Death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the…

Abortion Front And Center In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A liberal judge running in a pivotal race to determine majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court touts her support for abortion rights in the first two television ads of the closely watched race launched Thursday. The winner of the April 4 election will determine whether the court remains under control of conservative justices or flips to a…

Walz Extends Unemployment Pay For Northeast Minnesota Miners

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz signed his second bill of the young 2023 legislative session Wednesday, extending unemployment benefits for six months for more than 400 laid-off workers at Northshore Mining. Northshore Mining shut down May 1, and about 450 workers out of around 580 workers there and at an associated contractor have been laid off. Unemployment…

Faculty Calls On Embattled Minnesota College Head To Resign

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Faculty leaders at a Minnesota college that dismissed an art history instructor who showed depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a course have overwhelmingly called for the university president to resign. Faculty leaders at Hamline University said 71 of 92 members who attended a meeting Tuesday voted to call on President Fayneese Miller to resign immediately. They…

Classified Documents At Pence’s Home, Too, His Lawyer Says

NEW YORK (AP) — Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, his lawyer told the National Archives in a letter — the latest in a string of discoveries of confidential information in private residences. The records “appear to be a small number of documents bearing classified markings that were inadvertently boxed…

Police: 2 Students Dead, Teacher Hurt In Des Moines Shooting

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two students were killed Monday and a teacher was injured in what police said was a targeted shooting at a Des Moines school that is dedicated to helping at-risk youth, and three suspects were arrested afterward. The shooting was at an educational program called Starts Right Here that is affiliated with the Des Moines school…

Four Oath Keepers Convicted Of Jan. 6 Seditious Conspiracy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four members of the Oath Keepers were convicted Monday of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack in the second major trial of far-right extremists accused of plotting to forcibly keep President Donald Trump in power. The verdict against Joseph Hackett of Sarasota, Florida; Roberto Minuta of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel of Punta Gorda, Florida; and Edward…

US Proposes Once-A-Year COVID Shots For Most Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus. This means Americans would no longer have to keep track of how…

FBI Searched Biden Home, Found Items Marked Classified

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI searched President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday and located additional documents with classified markings and also took possession of some of his handwritten notes, the president’s lawyer said Saturday. The president voluntarily allowed the FBI into his home, but the lack of a search warrant did not dim the extraordinary nature of…

Schools Face Pressure To Take Harder Line On Discipline

As kids’ behavior reaches crisis points after the stress and isolation of pandemic shutdowns, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink their approaches to discipline — including policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Approaches such as “restorative justice” were adopted widely in recent decades as educators updated exclusionary policies that cut off students’ access to learning and…

March For Life Eyes Congress For Post-Roe Abortion Limits

WASHINGTON (AP) — A half century after Roe v. Wade, March for Life supporters on Friday celebrated the Supreme Court’s dismantling of that constitutional right to abortion and heralded the political struggle set loose by the court’s decision. President Joe Biden pledged to do all in his limited power to restore core abortion rights. The first March for Life since…

Supreme Court Says It Hasn’t Found Abortion Opinion Leaker

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Thursday it has not determined who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights, but that the investigation continues. Eight months after Politico published its explosive leak detailing the draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, the court said its investigative team “has to date been unable to identify a person responsible…

Alec Baldwin To Be Charged With Manslaughter In Set Shooting

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed on a New Mexico movie set, prosecutors announced Thursday. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who supervised weapons on the…

Art Professor Sues After Firing Over Prophet Muhammad Images

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Attorneys for an adjunct art professor said Tuesday she is suing the Minnesota university that dismissed her after a Muslim student objected to depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course, while the university admitted to a “misstep” and plans to hold public conversations about academic freedom. In her lawsuit, Erika López Prater alleges that…

Court To Hear Appeal Of Ex-Officer In Murder Of George Floyd

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An attorney for Derek Chauvin is planning to ask an appeals court Wednesday to throw out the former Minneapolis police officer’s convictions in the murder of George Floyd, arguing that numerous legal and procedural errors deprived him of a fair trial. Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pinned the Black man to the ground…

White House Defends Its Delayed, Limited Document Disclosure

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House brushed aside criticism Tuesday of its fragmented disclosures about the discovery of classified documents and official records at President Joe Biden’s home and former office, saying it may withhold information to protect the Justice Department’s investigation. Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, told reporters that the White House was releasing information as…

Evers: Legislature Should Seek Vote On Abortion, Not Welfare

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic lawmakers called on Republicans Tuesday to ask voters whether the state should ban abortions rather than seek their views on welfare eligibility. The move came hours before the Republican-controlled state Senate on Tuesday was scheduled to vote on an advisory referendum on welfare eligibility. The referendum would be nonbinding,…

US, Ukraine Top Military Chiefs Meet In Person For 1st Time

A MILITARY BASE IN SOUTHEASTERN POLAND (AP) — The top U.S. military officer, Army Gen. Mark Milley, traveled to a site near the Ukraine-Poland border on Tuesday and talked with his Ukrainian counterpart face to face for the first time — a meeting underscoring the growing ties between the two militaries and coming at a critical time as Russia’s war with…

Biden To Host Netherlands PM For Talks On Tech, Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to host Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for talks as the U.S. administration looks to persuade the Netherlands to further limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors with export restrictions. Tuesday’s wide-ranging talks are also expected to cover the countries’ efforts to thwart Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and an upcoming democracy summit, according to the White…

On King’s Holiday, Daughter Calls For Bold Action Over Words

ATLANTA (AP) — America has honored Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday for nearly four decades yet still hasn’t fully embraced and acted on the lessons from the slain civil rights leader, his youngest daughter said Monday. The Rev. Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her…

Yellen Tells Congress US Expected To Hit Debt Limit Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress on Friday that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on Thursday and will then resort to “extraordinary measures” to avoid default. In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Yellen said her actions will buy time until Congress can pass legislation that will either raise the nation’s $31.4 trillion borrowing…

Tax Relief Bill Gets Minnesota Governor’s 1st Signature

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz signed his first bill of the 2023 session Thursday, legislation to simplify tax filing and save money for hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents and businesses, including people with student loans and companies that received pandemic aid. The bill brings Minnesota’s tax code into conformity with federal tax rules. It’s one of several…