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…
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,…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The bad news is that no one won Wednesday night’s huge $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot. The good news is that means the prize has grown even larger to $1.5 billion ahead of the next drawing Saturday night. That is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. The numbers drawn Wednesday night were: 2, 11, 22, 35, 60…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve pumped up its benchmark interest rate Wednesday by three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time to fight high inflation but hinted that it could soon reduce the size of its rate hikes. The Fed’s move raised its key short-term rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its highest level in 15…
(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…
(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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate topped 7% for the first time in more than two decades this week, a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes intended to tame inflation not seen in some 40 years. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate jumped to 7.08% from 6.94%…
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…
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 —…
(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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Republicans increasingly confident about victory in this year’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden dismissed the polls in a speech at Democratic Party headquarters Monday, saying there’s still time for “one more shift” that will help his party. “If we get people out to vote, we win,” Biden said to scores of Democratic organizers who cheered and…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis police say three people are dead, including the shooter, after a shooting at a high school Monday morning. Speaking at a news conference, Police Commissioner Michael Sack said the three dead included a woman, a teenage girl and the shooter, described as a man about 20 years old. The shooting just after 9 a.m….
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A teenager pleaded guilty Monday to terrorism and first-degree murder in a Michigan school shooting that killed four students and put an extraordinary focus on the boy’s home life and the alleged role of his parents in the tragedy. Ethan Crumbley, 16, pleaded guilty to all 24 charges, nearly a year after the attack at Oxford High School…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature should mandate that the secretary of state’s office proofread every county’s ballots before they’re mailed out, Republican challenger Kim Crockett said Thursday as she decried ballot printing errors in four counties. Crockett acknowledged that state law does not require the secretary of state’s office to review the ballots of each precinct across…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal, according to a new department policy released Thursday. The military will also increase privacy protections for those seeking care. The order issued by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin outlines the rights and protections service members and…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Individuals will be allowed to make sure that their records with the Social Security Administration align with their gender identity under a plan announced Wednesday. The action, which is part of the agency’s “Equity Action Plan,” follows through on a March announcement to do so by the agency’s acting commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi. Kijakazi said the move is…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates inched up this week ahead of another expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve when it meets early next month. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last week. Last year at this time, the rate was…
WASHINGTON (AP) — COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a report released Wednesday. The report lays out grim trends across the country for expectant mothers and their newborn babies. It finds that…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three families dealing with the heartbreaking losses of loved ones who recently died suddenly in Minnesota and Wisconsin say they have the added burden of dealing with scammers who are trying to solicit donations using fake online accounts. In Wisconsin, the small community of Rice Lake is mourning the deaths of two teenagers who were passengers in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more drawdowns are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican running for governor in Wisconsin suggested Tuesday that he did not support enforcing the swing state’s near-total ban on abortions, saying “I will never arrest a doctor” before his campaign walked back his comment. Michels’ spokesperson Anna Kelly attempted to clarify his comment, saying it was the district attorneys, not the governor, who enforce laws. “He’s…
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. announced in August, will cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower. The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan. 1, when payments on loans are scheduled to restart after a pause…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The father of a 5-year-old girl who died in a car crash involving Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the lawmaker. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Ashland County Circuit Court by Brandon Fink, father of Khaleesi Fink, who died with her mother Alyssa Ortman in July, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday….
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will promise Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that codifies Roe v. Wade — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress for Biden to sign abortion protections into law. That’s a big if. It’s the first time Biden has prioritized abortion legislation in this way…
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden took her husband’s unity agenda to an unlikely venue on Monday, when conservative cable station Newsmax aired an interview with her about cancer research. Curing cancer is a central goal for President Joe Biden, whose eldest son, Beau, died from a brain tumor seven years ago. Last month he urged Americans to embrace a “moonshot” initiative to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Education Department has begun accepting applications for President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation — a plan that makes 43 million Americans eligible for at least some debt forgiveness. Borrowers were notified late Friday that an early, “beta launch” version of a new online form was made available as the department looks to find and fix any glitches….
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Waves of explosives-laden suicide drones struck Ukraine’s capital Monday, setting buildings ablaze and tearing a hole in one of them. People scurried for shelter or tried to shoot down the kamikazes. The concentrated use of the drones was the second barrage in as many weeks — after months where air attacks had become become a rarity in central…
WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has spent months raging against Joe Biden, reshaping down-ballot campaigns…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn,” including toward those fleeing the “brutal” government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the Nov. 8 election nears, Biden has turned to an unlikely source for a…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Republican challenger Tim Michels, locked in a tight race with implications on the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state, were scheduled to meet Friday for their one and only debate. Evers has cast himself as the only block against a Republican-controlled Legislature. Michels, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, calls himself a political outsider…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to highlight his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs on Friday as part of his three-state Western tour this week, as he confronts a sobering inflation report in the waning weeks before midterm elections. Biden will head to a community college in Irvine, California, to meet with older adults and…
NEW YORK (AP) — The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged in September from August as rising prices for rent and food chipped away at money available for other things. Retail sales were flat last month, down from a revised. 0.4% growth in August, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Retail sales fell 0.4% in July. Excluding sales of…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig on Thursday portrayed her GOP challenger as a pawn of Big Oil and Big Pharma who conceals his opposition to abortion rights. Republican congressional candidate Tyler Kistner meanwhile said Craig bears responsibility for inflation and other economic woes because she supports President Joe Biden’s policies. Craig and Kistner met for their only…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get an 8.7% boost in their benefits in 2023, a historic increase but a gain that will be eaten up in part by the rising cost of everyday living. The cost-of living adjustment — the largest in more than 40 years — means the average recipient will receive more than $140 extra a…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee is focused Thursday on “surprising” details including evidence from Donald Trump’s Secret Service about the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in what is likely to be its last public hearing before the November midterm elections. The 10th public session, which convened shortly after 1 p.m., is expected to delve into Trump’s “state of mind” and the…
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed — a decision that left some parents in tears as they exited the courtroom. The jury’s recommendation…
