(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)WASHINGTON (AP) – A former utility executive from Vermont has become the first transgender candidate to win a major political party’s nomination for governor. Christine Hallquist defeated three other Democrats en route to victory in Tuesday’s primary. The former CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative says she’s running because she feels she has the best plan to help…
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury’s $289 million award to a former school groundskeeper who said Monsanto’s Roundup left him dying of cancer will bolster thousands of pending cases and open the door for countless people who blame their suffering on the weed killer, the man’s lawyers said. “I’m glad to be here to be able…
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)LONGBOAT KEY, Fla. (AP) — Tons of dead fish. A smell so awful you gag with one inhale. Empty beaches, empty roads, empty restaurants. A toxic algae bloom has overrun Florida’s southern Gulf Coast this summer, devastating sea life and driving people from the water. “I’ve never seen it this bad,” said 31-year-old Heather Lamb of Venice. She’s…
(Vigili Del Fuoco via AP)MILAN (AP) — A bridge on a main highway linking Italy with France collapsed Tuesday in the Italian port city of Genoa during a sudden, violent storm, sending vehicles plunging nearly 150 feet into a heap of rubble below. A transport official said at least 22 people were killed and eight injured in the tragedy. A…
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An Associated Press investigation shows that using Google services on Android devices and iPhones allows the company to record your whereabouts as you go about your day, even if you’ve used privacy settings that are supposed to prevent it from doing so….
(Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Florida prosecutors have charged a white man in the death of an unarmed black man whose videotaped shooting in a store parking lot has revived debate over Florida’s “stand your ground” law. The Pinellas County State Attorney Bernie McCabe said Monday that 47-year-old Michael Drejka has been charged…
NEW YORK (AP) – President Donald Trump is backing calls for a Harley-Davidson boycott amid an ongoing steel tariff dispute. Harley-Davidson drew Trump’s wrath in June after the manufacturer announced it is moving production of motorcycles sold in Europe to facilities outside the U.S. The company blames the decision on tariffs imposed by the European Union to retaliate for tariffs…
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) NIWOT, Colo. (AP) — Colorado-based footwear company Crocs Inc. is closing company-owned manufacturing plants in Italy and Mexico by year’s end and replacing its chief financial officer. The company announced the outsourcing of additional manufacturing and the closure of a distribution facility in Mexico Tuesday while reporting a second-quarter profit of $30.4 million, or 35 cents…
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)(AP) – NFL players demonstrated during the national anthem at several preseason games Thursday night, protests that again drew a rebuke from President Donald Trump. Writing on Twitter from his New Jersey golf resort, Trump said Friday players “make a fortune doing what they love,” and those who refuse to stand “proudly” for the anthem should be suspended…
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with imposing 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports. Customs officials will begin collecting the border tax Aug. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The list is heavy on industrial products such as steam turbines…
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) – General Electric says it’s laying off 200 hourly workers at its upstate New York plant that produces steam turbines for the company’s power unit. Boston-based GE announced Tuesday that the layoffs include unionized manufacturing and assembly employees at its facilities in Schenectady, where Thomas Edison co-founded the company in 1892. Another 25 unfilled…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday by the state of California and advocacy groups who contend the Trump administration overreached by waiving environmental reviews to speed construction of the president’s prized border wall with Mexico. California is appealing a decision by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of San Diego, who sided with…
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is worth $1,001,679,220,000. The maker of the iPhone and other gadgets became the world’s first publicly traded company with a market value of $1 trillion on Thursday. The company reached the milestone a couple of hours into the trading session when its shares reached $207.04. They closed with a gain of 2.9 percent to…
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Federal authorities say they’re responding to reports of an active shooter at an Air Force base in Ohio, and the base is on lockdown. Security forces and other emergency responders are outside the hospital at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said via Twitter it’s among several agencies…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The TSA is considering ending screening of passengers at smaller airports across the country to focus security efforts at the largest airports. It is unclear how advanced the proposal is and whether it will ever be adopted. Still, aviation-security experts reacted with alarm, saying it could make flights at smaller airports inviting targets for terrorists. CNN reported…
NEW YORK (AP) — Wells Fargo is agreeing to pay a $2.1 billion fine to settle allegations it misrepresented the types of mortgages it sold to investors during the housing bubble and subsequent financial crisis. The amount is smaller than fines paid by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and other big banks in the years following the financial…
NEW YORK (AP) – The NBA and WNBA will now share official data with MGM Resorts, a major win for the leagues as they prepare for the anticipated growth of sports betting across the country. MGM will pay the NBA for that data to use in determining outcomes of various bets. The NBA’s stance has been that getting accurate stats…
(Mercy For Animals via AP)DENVER (AP) — Recently released undercover video showing pigs being kicked, hit and punched at a Kentucky supplier for the world’s largest meat producer drew prompt condemnation from animal rights groups and the agricultural industry alike. However, the images sandwiched in between — adult pigs in cages barely bigger than their bodies and a piglet squealing…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook says it has uncovered “sophisticated” efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to influence U.S. politics on its platforms. The company says it removed 32 accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in “coordinated” behavior and appeared to be fake. The company says it doesn’t know who is behind the efforts, but…
(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File) (AP) – Eight states are filing suit against the Trump administration over its decision to allow a Texas company to publish downloadable blueprints for a 3D-printed gun, contending the hard-to-trace plastic weapons are a boon to terrorists and criminals and threaten public safety. The suit, filed Monday in Seattle, asks a judge to block…
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-The owners and operators of a tourist boat that sank this month in Missouri, killing 17 people, put profits over people’s safety when they decided to put the Ride the Ducks boat on a lake despite design problems and warnings of severe weather, a lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit filed Sunday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City seeks…
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Curiosity and awe have greeted a complete lunar eclipse, the longest one of this century and visible in much of the world. The so-called “blood moon,” when it turns a deep red, was visible at different times in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America when the sun, Earth and moon lined up perfectly, casting Earth’s shadow…
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling about 550,000 cars and SUVs in North America to fix a gearshift problem that could cause the vehicles to roll away unexpectedly. The recall covers certain 2013 through 2016 Fusion sedans and some 2013 and 2014 Escape small SUVs. Ford says a bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission…
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy surged in the April-June quarter to an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent. That’s the fastest pace since 2014, driven by consumers who began spending their tax cuts and exporters who rushed to get their products delivered ahead of retaliatory tariffs. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump denied Friday that he knew in advance about a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 between a Russian lawyer, his eldest son and other campaign aides that had been convened to hear dirt on his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump tweeted, “NO,” he “did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.”…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Rep. Tim Walz says he’d push to raise the state’s gasoline tax if elected governor to pay for infrastructure improvements. The Democratic congressman included that measure as part of a broader policy package he released with mayors and leaders from across Minnesota on Thursday. Walz called Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton’s failed push for a hike…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)NEW YORK (AP) — The 19 percent loss in Facebook’s stock chopped $119 billion off its market value. It was the company’s worst trading day since going public in 2012, and among the biggest one-day losses of market value in U.S. stock market history. The loss came a day after Facebook revealed that its user base and revenue…
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Mattel, hurt by the closing of Toys R Us stores, said Wednesday that it will cut more than 2,200 jobs as the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars seeks to save money. Like other toy companies, Mattel has lost sales as Toys R Us faltered. The toy retailer filed for bankruptcy…
(Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group via AP, File) SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A lawyer for former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner argued Tuesday that his client’s attempted rape conviction should be overturned. Turner never intended to rape an unconscious woman, he said. Eric Malthaup told a California appeals court in San Jose that Turner had his clothes on when…
PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE) – As a precaution, approximately 7,000 cases of Taco Bell Salsa Con Queso Mild Cheese Dip are being voluntarily recalled because the affected product is showing signs of product separation which can lead to a potential health hazard. This could create conditions that could allow for the growth of Clostridiumbotulinum ( C. botulinum ), a bacterium…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Many farmers remain critical of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the damage done to commodity prices and markets but were appreciative Tuesday that he offered to provide some cash to help offset their losses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $12 billion three-part plan that would borrow money from the U.S. Treasury to pay…
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is firing back at his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen after the release of a recording Cohen secretly made of a conversation between the two men. “What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!” the president says Wednesday on Twitter. The tape, made two months before the 2016 presidential election, captures…
(AP Photo) CHICAGO (AP) — McDonald’s is stopping the sale of salads at 3,000 restaurants after people became sick from a parasite causing intestinal illness. The Chicago-based fast-food chain said Friday it’s acting “out of an abundance of caution” until switching to another supplier. Health officials in Illinois and Iowa say they’ve identified roughly 100 combined cases of cyclosporiasis apparently…
Photo: Business WireNORWALK, Conn. (AP) – Pepperidge Farm is voluntarily recalling four varieties of Goldfish Crackers because of fears they could potentially have salmonella. The company on Monday took the action after one of its ingredient suppliers notified it that whey powder used in a seasoning may be contaminated. The products were distributed in the United States and no illnesses…
(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) TORONTO (AP) — A man walked along a Toronto street firing a handgun into restaurants and cafes, shooting 14 people and killing two before dying after an exchange of gunfire with police. Police Chief Mark Saunders did not rule out terrorism as a motive, though officials did not immediately identify the attacker, other than…
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Divers searched a Missouri lake Friday for four people still missing after a duck boat packed with tourists capsized and sank in high winds, killing at least 13 people in the tourist town of Branson. Authorities blamed stormy weather for the accident Thursday evening on Table Rock Lake. Winds at the time were blowing as hard…
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)NEW YORK (AP) — In a battle among media giants for control of Twenty-First Century Fox’s entertainment business, Comcast has blinked. The cable and media company said Thursday that it is dropping its bid, instead focusing on its pursuit of the European pay-TV operator Sky. Fox owns 39 percent of Sky and has also been trying to…
CHIANG RAI, Thailand (AP) — Trapped in the recesses of a flooded cave in northern Thailand, the 12 boys and their soccer coach were trying to dig their way out when they heard voices in the darkness. Their coach quickly told everyone to be quiet. “We weren’t sure if it was for real,” said 14-year-old Adul Samon. “So we stopped…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. Back at the White House on Tuesday, the president told reporters that he said he meant he doesn’t see why Russia “wouldn’t” be responsible. He also said he accepts the…
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)HONOLULU (AP) — An explosion sent lava crashing through the roof of a tour boat off Hawaii’s Big Island, injuring 23 people Monday, officials said. A woman in her 20s was in serious condition with a broken thigh bone, the Hawaii County Fire Department said. Three others were in stable condition at a hospital with unspecified…
(Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)HELSINKI (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin opened their long-awaited summit Monday with a wink and slouch, respectively, then talked one on one behind closed doors for two-plus hours before the American leader declared their meeting was off to a “very, very good start for everybody.” Neither leader revealed what was discussed. But in…
WASHINGTON-The Justice Department has announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 presidential election. The indictments were announced Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. The Russians are accused of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic…
ELLESBOROUGH, England-President Donald Trump is unabashedly repeating his criticism of European immigration policies, saying migrants are “changing the culture.” During a press conference with British Prime Minster Theresa May on Friday, Trump backtracks on his criticism of his counterpart in an explosive interview released as he began his visit to the country. but he reiterates his belief that Europe’s decision…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh, a solidly conservative, politically connected judge, for the Supreme Court, setting up a ferocious confirmation battle with Democrats as he seeks to shift the nation’s highest court ever further to the right. A favorite of the Republican legal establishment in Washington, Kavanaugh, 53, is a former law clerk…
MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — All 12 boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand, the Thai navy SEALs said Tuesday, ending an 18-day ordeal that riveted people around the world. The SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, said on their Facebook page that the remaining four boys and their 25-year-old…
DALLAS (AP) – Authorities in North Texas say an argument over fireworks lead to the fatal shooting of an 80-year-old man over the weekend. Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin tells The Dallas Morning News Edward Cordero was shot Saturday evening in Lake Bridgeport after complaining to his neighbors about the fireworks they were setting off. The sheriff alleges Cordero retrieved…
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years, citing the environmental threat to oceans. The company becomes the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder . Plastic straws have become a flashpoint. A week after its hometown banned…
(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — Four more of the youth soccer players trapped for over two weeks in a flooded cave in northern Thailand were brought out on Monday, an official said, bringing to eight the number extracted in the ongoing high-stakes rescue operation. “The eighth person is out and the operation is done for today,” Sitthichai…
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers kept up a brisk hiring pace in June by adding 213,000 jobs in a sign of confidence despite the start of a potentially punishing trade war with China. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 4 percent from 3.8 percent, the government said Friday, as more people began looking for…
HOUSTON, Mo. (AP) – A suspect in the death of a Minnesota girl who was living in Missouri has been released from prison but will remain on a tracking monitor. The Springfield News-Leader reports special prosecutor Steven Kretzer said Thursday 31-year-old Robert Peat Jr. will be released while the state investigates new developments in the 2017 death of 16-year-old Savannah…
