Author: The Associated Press

US Wholesale Inflation Eases To 8%, 4th Straight Slowdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices at the wholesale level rose 8% in October from a year ago, the fourth straight decline and the latest sign that inflation pressures in the United States are easing from painfully high levels. The annual figure is down from 8.4% in September. On a monthly basis, the government said Tuesday that its producer price index, which measures costs…

Trump Prepares To Launch 3rd Campaign For The White House

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is preparing to launch his third campaign for the White House on Tuesday, looking to move on from disappointing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs that his grip on the Republican Party is waning. Trump had hoped to use the GOP’s expected gains in last week’s elections as a springboard to vault himself to his party’s nomination by locking in…

40 States Settle Google Location-Tracking Charges For $392M

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Search giant Google has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states to resolve an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations, state attorneys general announced Monday. The states’ investigation was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press story, which found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such…

Suspect Caught In Fatal Shooting Of 3 U.Va. Football Players

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Police on Monday captured a University of Virginia student suspected of fatally shooting three members of the school’s football team as they returned to campus from a field trip. The violence that also wounded two students erupted near a parking garage and sent the campus into a lockdown that lasted overnight while police searched for the…

Biden: Still Not Enough Votes To Codify Abortion Rights

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that Democrats still lack the power to codify abortion rights into law despite his party’s stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections. “I don’t think there’s enough votes,” he said at a press conference during the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia. Biden’s blunt comments reflected how Democrats’ euphoria over their strength…

Biden Says Climate Efforts ‘More Urgent Than Ever’ At Summit

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt” (AP) — President Joe Biden, speaking Friday at an annual international summit on climate change, urged world leaders to “double down” on their resolve to fight global warming, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reinforces the need to phase out fossil fuels. “We can no longer plead ignorance to the consequences of our actions, or continue to repeat our…

Pelosi Faces Uncertain Future Weeks After Attack On Husband

WASHINGTON (AP) — The morning after the midterm election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slipped on a sterling silver whistle given to her by her husband, who was attacked last month by an intruder at their San Francisco home. The whistle was similar to those worn by coaches or drill sergeants, and she wore it at her office after a long night of watching…

Biden To Climate Talks, 1st Leg Of Around-The-World Trip

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived Friday in Egypt for a global climate meeting with a giant domestic investment in tow — and he’s likely to face questions about how far the U.S. will go to pull other large greenhouse gas emitters along. His attendance at the U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, in the resort town of Sharm…

New Wisconsin Wolf Plan Eliminates State Population Goal

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials on Thursday released their first new wolf management plan in almost a quarter-century but the document doesn’t establish a new statewide population goal, a number that has become a flashpoint in the fight over hunting quotas. The Department of Natural Resources adopted a wolf management plan in 1999 that calls for capping the…

Alex Jones Ordered To Pay $473M More To Sandy Hook Families

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Infowars host Alex Jones and his company were ordered by a judge Thursday to pay an extra $473 million for promoting false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school massacre, bringing the total judgment against him in a lawsuit filed by the victims’ families to a staggering $1.44 billion. Connecticut Judge Barabara Bellis imposed the punitive…

GOP Nudges Closer To House Win; Senate Could Hinge On Runoff

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans inched closer to a narrow House majority Wednesday, while control of the Senate hinged on a few tight races in a midterm election that defied expectations of sweeping conservative victories driven by frustration over inflation and President Joe Biden’s leadership. Either party could secure a Senate majority with wins in both Nevada and Arizona — where the races…

US Consumer Inflation Eased To 7.7% Over Past 12 Months

WASHINGTON (AP) — Price increases moderated in the United States last month in the latest sign that the inflation pressures that have gripped the nation might be easing as the economy slows and Americans grow more cautious. Consumer inflation reached 7.7% in October from a year earlier and 0.4% from September, the government said Thursday. The year-over-year increase, down from…

MN Attorney General Keith Ellison Wins Re-election

(FOX 9) – Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday morning claimed re-election victory, with results showing a lead of more than 20,000 votes over Republican challenger Jim Schultz. In a statement, Ellison said he’s “grateful” for the win, adding: “But this election was tough. Millions of dollars were spent to sow division, hate, and fear. And we overcame it: we were positive,…

Wisconsin Gov. Evers Defeats Foe He Called Democracy Threat

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers defeated Republican Tim Michels to keep battleground Wisconsin under a Democratic governor heading into the 2024 presidential election, declaring in his victory speech Wednesday that his win showed that voters wanted to protect democracy. Evers had argued that democracy was on the ballot with Michels, who was endorsed by Donald Trump and who cast doubt…

Democrat Kaul Wins 2nd Term As Wisconsin Attorney General

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrat Josh Kaul defeated Republican Eric Toney in Tuesday’s election to win a second term as Wisconsin’s attorney general in a race defined by sharp differences over abortion and attacks over crime and election administration. Before The Associated Press called the race, Kaul declared victory with a lead of just over 1 percentage point, just outside…

Wisconsin’s Johnson Beats Barnes; Key Senate Seat Stays GOP

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson defeated Democrat Mandela Barnes in the midterm elections, keeping a seat in GOP hands while turning back Barnes’ attempt to make history as Wisconsin’s first Black senator. The win for Johnson, one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest backers, came after Trump narrowly lost the state to President Joe Biden two years ago….

Abortion Supporters Win In Conservative, Liberal States

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion rights supporters won in the four states where access was on the ballot Tuesday, as voters enshrined it into the state constitution in battleground Michigan as well as blue California and Vermont and dealt a defeat to an anti-abortion measure in deep-red Kentucky. In all, it was a dramatic illustration of how the U.S. Supreme Court’s…

Dems Beating Back GOP Surge, But Control Of Congress Unclear

WASHINGTON (AP) — Razor-thin margins around the country left control of Congress still undetermined Wednesday, but Democrats showed surprising strength in the midterm election, topping Republicans in a series of competitive races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings would drag his party to key defeats. In the most heartening news for Democrats, John Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate…

Powerball Ticket Sold In California Snags Record $2.04B Win

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot after more than three months without anyone hitting the top prize. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball…

Putin-Linked Businessman Admits To US Election Meddling

(AP) — Kremlin-connected entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted Monday that he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so — confirming for the first time the accusations that he has rejected for years. “Gentlemen, we have interfered, are interfering and will interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do,” Prigozhin boasted…

Wisconsin Candidates Make Final Push Ahead Of Election Day

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes planned to rally Monday with union members as part of a final push to get out Democratic voters, while Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson continued to blanket the state on the last day of campaigning before Election Day. Polls show both races to be about even. Each…

Biden, Trump To Make Final Appeals Ahead Of Crucial Midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — An election year that unfolded against the backdrop of economic turmoil, the elimination of federal abortion rights and broad concerns about the future of democracy is concluding with a final full day of campaigning in which leaders of both parties will issue urgent appeals to their supporters. President Joe Biden is holding a Monday evening rally in Maryland, where Democrats have…

US Employers Are Hiring Briskly Even In Face Of Rate Hikes

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers kept hiring vigorously in October, adding 261,000 positions, a sign that as Election Day nears, the economy remains a picture of solid job growth and painful inflation. Friday’s report from the government showed that hiring was brisk across industries last month, though the overall gain declined from 315,000 in September. The unemployment rate rose from a five-decade…

Wisconsin Governor’s Race Shatters Spending Record

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s hotly contested race for governor is the most expensive in state history. Spending as of last week by Gov. Tony Evers, Republican challenger Tim Michels and special interest groups on both sides neared $115 million, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said Thursday. The group tracks campaign spending. That tops the previous record of $93 million, set in 2018,…

CVS, Walgreens Announce Opioid Settlements Totaling $10B

(AP) — The two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., announced agreements in principle Wednesday to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the toll of opioids, and a lawyer said Walmart, a third pharmacy behemoth, is in discussions for a deal. The prospective settlements are part of a shift in the legal landscape…

Minnesota: What To Expect On Election Night

(AP) — Minnesota was traditionally a blue state but has become more purple over the years. Rural Minnesota has grown more Republican while Minneapolis, St. Paul and their suburbs have become more Democratic, along with certain regional centers including Rochester and Duluth. Joe Biden won Minnesota by just over 7 percentage points in 2020 after Donald Trump came within 1.5…

Families Unleash Grief And Anger On Parkland School Shooter

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Families of the 17 children and staff members Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz murdered cursed him to hell, wished him a painful death and called him a coward Tuesday as they got their one chance to address him directly before he is sentenced to life in prison. For hours, parents, wives, siblings, children and some of the 17 Cruz…

House GOP’s Possible Newcomers Include Outsiders, Extremists

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least three Republicans running for the U.S. House attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and made their way toward the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection to stop Joe Biden’s election. Countless other House Republican candidates are skeptics and deniers of the 2020 election lost by Donald Trump. There are veterans of the Iraq and…

Police: Pelosi Suspect Wanted To Hold House Speaker Hostage

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told police he wanted to hold the speaker hostage and “break her kneecaps,” authorities said Monday. David DePape, 42, confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi in the couple’s San Francisco bedroom early Friday morning, according to a federal affidavit filed in court Monday. Federal…

Suspension Bridge Collapse Kills At Least 133 In India

MORBI, India (AP) — Military teams were searching Monday for people missing after a 143-year-old suspension bridge collapsed into a river Sunday in the western Indian state of Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging into the water and killing at least 133 in one of the country’s worst accidents in years. As families mourned the dead, attention was turning to why the…

States Struggle With Pushback After Wave Of Policing Reforms

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The national reckoning on race and policing that followed the death of George Floyd — with a Minneapolis police officer’s knee on his windpipe — spurred a torrent of state laws aimed at fixing the police. More than two years later, that torrent has slowed. Some of the initial reforms have been tweaked or even rolled…

Officials: 146 dead after Halloween crowd surge in Seoul

Rescue workers and firefighters work on the scene of a crushing accident in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. South Korean officials say dozens of people were in cardiac arrest after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul. (Lee Ji-eun/Yonhap via AP)SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — At…

Wisconsin Appeals Court Won’t Block Ballot Spoiling Ban

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court is refusing to block a lower court’s ruling banning the practice known as ballot spoiling, which allows voters who already submitted an absentee ballot to void it and vote again. The 2nd District Court of Appeals decided Thursday against hearing an appeal of a Waukesha County circuit court judge’s ruling this month in favor of a…

Barack Obama Gets A Midterm Do-Over To Help Boost Democrats

ATLANTA (AP) — Barack Obama is trying to do something he couldn’t during two terms as president: help Democrats succeed in national midterm elections when they already hold the White House. Of course, Obama is more popular than he was back then, and now it’s President Joe Biden, his former vice president, who faces the prospects of a November rebuke. Obama begins a…

AP sources: Pelosi’s Home Targeted In Attack On Husband

WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked and severely beaten by an assailant with a hammer who broke into their San Francisco home early Friday, according to people familiar with the investigation. Pelosi, 82, suffered blunt force injuries to his head and body, according to two people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition…

More Kids To Ride In ‘Clean’ School Buses, Mostly Electric

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 400 school districts spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C., along with several tribes and U.S. territories, are receiving roughly $1 billion in grants to purchase about 2,500 “clean” school buses under a new federal program. The Biden administration is making the grants available as part of a wider effort to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles and…

US Economy Returned To Growth Last Quarter, Expanding 2.6%

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate from July through September, snapping two straight quarters of contraction and overcoming high inflation and interest rates just as voting begins in midterm elections in which the economy’s health has emerged as a paramount issue. Thursday’s better-than-expected estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product —…

3 Men Convicted Of Supporting Plot To Kidnap Gov. Whitmer

(AP) — Three men accused of supporting terrorism in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor were convicted of all charges Wednesday in a trial that focused on paramilitary drills and fierce contempt for government ahead of the 2020 election. Joe Morrison, his father-in-law Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar were found guilty of supplying “material support” for a terrorist act as members…

With Americans Feeling Pinched, Biden Targets ‘Junk Fees’

NEW YORK (AP) — With time running out before the election, President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s push to crack down on so-called junk fees that banks and other companies charge their customers. The announcement comes after months of high inflation has eaten away at Americans’ savings and made the economy the top issue for voters. Biden was joined by…

Man Convicted Of Killing 6 With SUV In Christmas Parade

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man was convicted Wednesday of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade last year, ending a trial in which he defended himself erratically and sometimes confrontationally. It took the jury a little over three hours to find Darrell Brooks guilty of all 76 charges, including six…

Trump Backs Jensen For Minn. Governor; Democrats Pounce

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Scott Jensen for Minnesota’s governor, the second statewide race the former president sought to influence this week as the campaign nears a finish. Trump said in a social media post late Tuesday that Minnesota won’t have “any more fiery takeovers of police precincts” if Jensen is elected, a reference to a Minneapolis police station…

Biden To Get Updated COVID-19 Booster Shot, Promote Vaccine

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden was scheduled to get his updated COVID-19 booster shot on Tuesday and urge the public to get theirs to ensure a healthy holiday season. Biden was to appear at the White House with the doctors who are leading administration efforts against the spread of the coronavirus. They were set to be joined by executives from…

Test Scores Show Historic COVID Setbacks For Kids Across US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis. Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores…