WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans have cleared a procedural hurdle to confirm a former coal industry lobbyist as the No. 2 official at the Environmental Protection Agency. If confirmed as deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler would be next in line to lead if embattled administrator Scott Pruitt is forced out or resigns. The Senate voted 53-45 Thursday to limit debate on Wheeler’s…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)NEW YORK (AP) – Mark Zuckerberg has faced two days of grilling before House and Senate committees to address Facebook’s privacy issues and the need for more regulation for the social media site. Yet the hearings in Washington managed to showcase the normally press-shy Zuckerberg’s ability to perform as an able and well-rehearsed, if a bit stiff, CEO…
ANSONIA, Conn. (AP) – Police say a Connecticut man with a crush on singer Taylor Swift robbed a bank and then went to the pop star’s Rhode Island mansion where he threw cash over a fence in an attempt to impress her. Bruce Rowley, of Derby, is charged with robbing an Ansonia bank on April 4. Police say “it seemed…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) – After Russia warned the United States against military strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump says missiles “will be coming.” Trump says on Twitter Wednesday: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” Russian lawmakers have warned that Moscow…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan will not run for re-election, his office announced Wednesday, injecting another layer of uncertainty as Republicans face worries over losing their majority in the fall. Ryan’s plans have been the source of much speculation and will set off a scramble among his lieutenants to take the helm. A self-styled budget guru, Ryan…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his company is “working with” special counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into Russian interference. Earlier this year Mueller charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a plot to interfere in the 2016 presidential election through a social media propaganda effort that included online ad purchases using U.S. aliases and…
Bill Cosby (Reuters) NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby’s lawyer launched a blistering courtroom attack on the comedian’s accuser Tuesday, portraying her as a con artist whose goal was “money, money and lots more money.” Lawyer Tom Mesereau told jurors in his opening statement at the former TV star’s sex-assault trial that Andrea Constand wasn’t attracted to Cosby but was…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser is resigning in the latest White House departure. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Bossert would be leaving his post. She said that Trump was “grateful for Tom’s commitment to the safety and security of our great country.” Bossert was…
SAUK CENTRE, Minn. (AP) – A former Sauk Centre school bus driver has pleaded guilty to driving a bus full of children while he was drunk. Sixty-three-year-old Thomas Richard Bromen pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor count of driving a commercial motor vehicle while intoxicated. Bromen picked up 50 students from school by bus on Feb. 5. According to…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal agents carrying court-authorized search warrants have seized documents from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen. That’s according to a statement from Cohen’s attorney, Stephen Ryan. He says the search warrants were executed by the office of the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York but they are “in part” related…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Chicken salad contaminated with salmonella bacteria made by an Iowa food processing company and distributed by Fareway Stores has sickened 265 people in eight states and caused one death in Iowa. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak which sickened people from early January through mid-March appears to have ended. Food…
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday that 225 members of the state’s National Guard were heading to the U.S.-Mexico border to support President Donald Trump’s call for troops to fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration. More of the state’s Guard members will be deployed on Tuesday, said Ducey, a Republican. The Arizona troops…
(AP)WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has condemned the “heinous” suspected poison gas attack in Syria and said he’ll make a decision on the U.S. response within 24 to 48 hours. Speaking in the White House Cabinet Room Monday, Trump vowed to find out who is responsible for the attack that reportedly killed at least 40 people. Trump said during…
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready to find out if your Facebook data has been swept up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Starting Monday, the 87 million users who might have had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica will get a detailed message on their news feeds. Facebook says most of the affected users (more than…
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Arizona will deploy about 150 members of the state National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border next week. Gov. Doug Ducey announced the troop call-up in a tweet Friday and said he was working closely with the defense and homeland security departments. More details are expected to come from the state Guard. The…
DULUTH, Minn. – Multiple Younkers and Herberger’s stores in Minnesota are set to close according to a letter sent out by Bon Ton Vice President of Human Resources Gail Monreal yesterday. The letter states that one of the store closings will be the Duluth Younkers located at the Miller Hill Mall. Layoffs at the store are expected to start in…
(Photo: Gene J. Puskar / AP, file)NEW YORK (AP) – Target is paying more than $3.7 million to settle a lawsuit that said its hiring process, which automatically rejected people with criminal backgrounds, disproportionately kept blacks and Hispanics from getting entry-level jobs at its stores. As part of the settlement, Target has agreed to hire outside experts to review how…
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) – A Florida mother says a day care center didn’t have her permission to share a video on social media of her 2-year-old’s terrified reaction to an Easter bunny’s visit. Cassandra Bryson tells WESH-TV that she signed a waiver that prohibits officials at the Kissimmee day care from taking photos or video of her child. The viral…
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers added a modest 103,000 jobs in March after several months of bigger gains, though the government’s jobs report suggests the labor market remains healthy. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent, a 17-year low, for the sixth straight month. Average hourly pay ticked up, climbing 2.7 percent compared with a year earlier….
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)WASHINGTON (AP) – China’s government says it will “counterattack with great strength” if President Donald Trump goes ahead with plans to raise U.S. tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese goods. A Commerce Ministry spokesman said Friday that negotiations were impossible after Trump responded to Beijing’s protests about his earlier plan to raise duties on $50…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)PHOENIX (AP) – President Donald Trump has said that he wants to send between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard members to the US-Mexico border. Speaking on Air Force One Thursday, Trump gave his first estimate on guard levels. Asked about the cost, he said the administration was looking at it. Trump says he plans to keep the guard…
(AP) – Delta Air Lines says customers’ payment information may have been breached in a cyberattack last fall. The airline said Wednesday the incident involved (24)7.ai, a chat-services provider used by Delta and other companies. Delta says only “a small subset” of customers were affected, with payment information exposed from Sept. 26 to Oct. 12. It says no other personal…
Surgeon General Jerome Adams (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)ATLANTA (AP) — The nation’s chief doctor wants more Americans to start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and save lives. Speaking at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta on Thursday morning, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams issued his office’s first…
TOLEDO, Oh. – Cleveland-Cliffs is investing $700 million to build one of the world’s most efficient and modern iron making plants. The company is holding a live streaming event at the construction site this morning celebrating the new plant and the 130 news jobs they will be bringing to the Toledo area. The plant is set to produce 1.6 million…
AP Photo/Evan Vucci/newsfileWASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump will be signing a proclamation directing the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to work together with governors to deploy the National Guard to the southwest border. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen made the announcement at the White House on Wednesday. She says he’ll sign the proclamation later in the day. Nielsen…
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)WASHINGTON (AP) – The American Soybean Association, a lobbying group that says it represents 21,000 U.S. soybean producers, says China’s proposed 25-percent tariff on soybeans would be “devastating” to U.S. farmers. China is the largest consumer of U.S. soybeans, buying about one-third of all U.S. soybean production each year, the group says. Association President John Heisdorffer, an Iowa…
SAN BRUNO, Calif.-Police in Northern California say they’re responding to an active shooter at YouTube headquarters. The San Bruno Police Department told people on Facebook to stay away from the area Tuesday. There was no other immediate information. Google, which owns the online video website, posted on Twitter that the company is coordinating with authorities. City Manager Connie Jackson says…
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)(AP) – For the first time, the U.S. government is publicly acknowledging the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages. The eavesdropping devices are known as cellphone-site simulators. Their suspected use by foreign powers has long been…
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A report says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states has surged again – a sign of continued improvement in regional economic conditions. The report released Monday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index hit 62.1 in March, compared with 59.7 in February. The January figure was 57.3. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees…
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Hundreds of teachers have crammed into the Oklahoma Capitol for a second day chanting to press demands for additional funding for the state’s public schools. Schools across the state are closed Tuesday to honor the teacher walkout. Thousands of teachers and supporters surrounded the Capitol on Monday. Teachers in Kentucky also protested Monday over…
SHEPHERD, Mich. (AP) – Prosecutors say no charges will be filed against a county sheriff who accidentally left a loaded service weapon in a Michigan school gym locker room. The Mecosta County prosecutor’s office recently made the determination after being asked to review the case by the Michigan attorney general’s office. Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main apologized after leaving his…
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING (AP) – China has raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. pork, apples and other products in an escalating dispute with Washington over trade and industrial policy. The government of President Xi Jinping said Monday it was responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum. But that is just one facet of…
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A source says one of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man in Baton Rouge has been fired and the other will be suspended. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadn’t been made, said officer Blane Salamoni, who shot Alton Sterling…
(AP) – Walmart may be looking to dive deeper into the rapidly evolving health care market by acquiring the insurer Humana, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper says the retail giant is in early talks with Humana, a major provider of Medicare Advantage coverage for people age 65 and older. Citing anonymous sources, the Journal says the companies…
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Scientists haven’t rendered a verdict on whether coffee is good or bad for you but a California judge has. He says coffee sellers in the state should have to post cancer warnings. The culprit is a chemical produced in the bean roasting process that is a known carcinogen and has been at the heart of an…
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – The widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at a gay Orlando nightclub has been acquitted on charges of lying to the FBI and helping her husband in the 2016 attack. Noor Salman was found not guilty of charges of obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization. Salman was married to Omar Mateen…
(Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP)MENDOCINO, Calif. (AP) – A Washington state couple who lived next door to a family whose SUV plunged off a California cliff say they called authorities because they were concerned that one of the children was going hungry. Bruce and Dana DeKalb said Wednesday that they called child welfare officials Friday after becoming concerned that one…
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Corn has been dethroned as the king of crops as farmers report they intend to plant more soybeans than corn for the first time in 35 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its annual prospective planting report released Thursday that farmers intend to plant 89 million acres in soybeans and…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is firing Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and replacing him with the White House doctor in the wake of a bruising ethics scandal and a mounting rebellion within the VA. Trump tweets that he intends to nominate “highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs.”…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is floating the idea of using the military’s budget to pay for his long-promised border wall with Mexico. Trump raised the idea with House Speaker Paul Ryan at a meeting last week, according to a person familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity. And he’s tweeted that building “a…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration is ending a program that allows citizens of Liberia living in the U.S. to avoid deportation. But it’s allowing a one-year “wind-down” period to ease their return. Liberians have been eligible for Deferred Enforcement Departure since 1999. The program allows them to live and work in the U.S. A memorandum issued by…
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) – Three boys have found a part of a mastodon jawbone while exploring family property in Mississippi. The Vicksburg Post reports that two brothers and a cousin made the discovery on plowed land near Bovina, a small community east of the Mississippi River. The newspaper says the three were on spring break from school when they found…
( AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Scientists now have the dirt on the rubber ducky: Those cute yellow bath-time toys are — as some parents have long suspected — a haven for nasty bugs. Swiss and American researchers counted the microbes swimming inside the toys and say the murky liquid released when ducks were squeezed contained “potentially pathogenic bacteria”…
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana’s attorney general has ruled out criminal charges against two white Baton Rouge police officers in the fatal shooting of a black man whose death fueled widespread protests. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s announcement Tuesday comes nearly 11 months after the Justice Department ruled out federal criminal charges in Alton Sterling’s July 2016…
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) The news that Facebook’s Android app has been collecting call and text histories is yet another black eye for the social media giant. But just why was Facebook able to siphon off records of who its users were contacting — and when — in the first place? The short answer: Because Google let it. The longer…
(Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File) EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A Michigan State University official who oversaw a clinic where former sports doctor Larry Nassar worked is facing criminal charges for allegedly inappropriately touching a student and storing nude photos of female students on his work computer. William Strampel, who was dean of the College of Osteopathic…
According to a new study children with autism spectrum disorder are significantly less likely to be fully vaccinated than children unaffected by autism. The study was published Monday in the journal, Jama Pediatrics. It found that 80 percent of children with autism received all vaccines recommended for kids ages four to six versus 94 percent for children without autism. The…
(CBS News/60 Minutes via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) – Adult film star Stormy Daniels is now suing President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen for defamation. The new allegation is part of a revised complaint filed Monday by Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti. It comes a day after a ratings-grabbing “60 Minutes” interview in which Daniels said she’d had sex with Trump years…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)NEW YORK (AP) – The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 670 points, erasing nearly half the ground it lost last week and marking the biggest gain since August 2015. The broad gains Monday were led by technology stocks and banks, which took some of the biggest losses last week as trade tensions flared between the U.S. and…
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) – Thousands of protesters are gathering in Washington for what organizers hope will be a massive rally in support of stronger gun-control legislation. The demonstrators will assemble Saturday for a several-hour rally near the U.S. Capitol building that they predict will draw a half million people – many of them high school students. In the…
