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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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…
(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…
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…
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…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter has announced a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check now given only to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the platform’s verification system just ahead of U.S. midterm elections. In an update to Apple iOS devices available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.,…
FILE – Singer Aaron Carter arrives at a premiere of “Saints & Strangers” at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., Nov. 9, 2015. Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at his home in Southern California. He was 34. (Photo by…
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…
