Texas AG Ken Paxton was in Utah after historic freeze back home
AUSTIN, Texas — As Texas was reeling from last week’s historic freeze, the state’s attorney general was in Utah for previously scheduled meetings, a spokesman said Monday. Republican Ken Paxton’s trip was not previously known publicly, and he made no mention of being out of state while lashing out at...
Colorado city probe faults overall police treatment of Elijah McClain
DENVER — The results of an investigation into the fatal arrest of Elijah McClain in suburban Denver released Monday criticizes how police handled the entire incident, faulting officers for their quick, aggressive treatment of the 23-year-old Black man and the department for having a weak accountability system that failed to...
Wife of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ arrested on U.S. drug charges
WASHINGTON — The wife of Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested on Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and...
In Rush Limbaugh’s home state, a flap over lowering flagsVideo
TALLAHASSEE — In life, the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh was a divisive figure, who proudly waved the flag of conservatism and wallowed in the controversies he helped ignite. In death, those controversies follow him as partisans in his home state of Florida debate over whether to lower flags in...
Ohio governor: Up to 30% of fans for spring pro teams
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s major league sports teams beginning their seasons this spring could be allowed up to 30% of fan capacity under approved pandemic plans, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. Permitting 30% of fans into stadiums would be contingent on social distancing and continued mask wearing, the governor...
U.S. tops 500,000 coronavirus deaths, matching the toll of 3 warsVideo
The covid-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, a staggering number that all but matches the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Mo., and...
U.N. experts: Erik Prince, UAE firms violated Libya sanctions
UNITED NATIONS — American security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, violated the U.N. arms embargo against Libya along with three United Arab Emirates-based companies and their top managers during an operation to help a rebel military commander take the capital Tripoli, U.N. experts...
After long wait, New Jersey moves ahead on recreational potVideo
TRENTON, N.J. — A recreational marijuana marketplace, cannabis decriminalization and looser penalties for underage possession of the drug and alcohol became law Monday in New Jersey, more than three months after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to legalize adult use of the drug. Acknowledging that the legislation took much...
Big factor in covid votes: Would Democrats sink first Biden goal?
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders have a potent dynamic on their side as Congress preps for its first votes on the party’s $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill: Would any Democrat dare cast the vote that scuttles new President Joe Biden’s leadoff initiative? Democrats’ wafer-thin 10-vote House majority leaves little room for...
Dominion Voting Systems sues ‘MyPillow Guy’ for $1.3 billionVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit Monday against the founder and CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow, saying that Mike Lindell falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia alleges that Lindell ignored repeated...
Police say N.Y. man killed by exploding gender reveal device
LIBERTY, N.Y. — An expectant father was killed when a device he was building for a gender reveal party exploded, police in New York said Monday. Christopher Pekny, 28, was assembling a device for his child’s gender reveal party in the Catskills town of Liberty when it exploded just before...
We might need to keep wearing masks into 2022 to defeat covidVideo
Despite a sharp decline in coronavirus cases and continued success with covid-19 vaccines, it’s looking likely we will still be wearing masks for some time to come. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s coronavirus czar, said it’s possible masks could be needed until 2022. “I want it to keep going down...
2 giraffes in Kenya park electrocuted by power linesVideo
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s wildlife agency says two giraffes were electrocuted Sunday when they walked into low-lying electric power transmission lines that pass through the Soysambu Conservancy in western Kenya. Trizer Mwakinya, head of communications at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said Monday that workers from the Kenya Power and Lighting...
People who wear glasses less likely to catch covid, new study suggests
People who wear glasses could be up to three times less likely to get coronavirus, according to a new study conducted in India. The preliminary study suggests that glass-wearers may have the extra protection because they tend to touch their eyes less frequently than most people. “Touching and rubbing of...
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls pro-LGBTQ Equality Act an ‘attack’ on God, people of faith
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is declaring war on the Equality Act, calling the effort to defend LGBTQ rights an attack on people of faith. The Georgia Republican says the act will force Christians to approve abortions and would treat transgender people the same as those born as a boy or...
Repeal of Virginia’s death penalty headed to governor’s desk
RICHMOND, Va. — State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to a bill that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its history than any other. The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who...
Penn State student reports sexual assault in East Halls, the 7th there since August
Another Penn State student has reported a sexual assault in East Halls, where mostly freshmen reside, making it the seventh such incident there since August. Overall, it is the 11th forcible sex offense reported on campus since August. It is the second this spring, since students started returning to campus...
U.K. data: Covid-19 vaccines sharply cut hospitalizations
LONDON — Two U.K. studies released Monday showed that covid-19 vaccination programs are contributing to a sharp drop in hospitalizations, boosting hopes that the shots will work as well in the real world as they have in carefully controlled studies. Preliminary results from a study in Scotland found that the...
Court to take up Trump immigration, abortion referral rules
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. The justices agreed to hear appeals over the Trump policy that keeps taxpayer-funded clinics from referring women...
Pennsylvania’s new covid cases drop to lowest levels in 4 months
The number of new coronavirus cases reported Monday in Pennsylvania by the state’s Department of Health has not been so low since late October. Health officials added 3,427 new cases of covid-19, with 2,583 confirmed through PCR tests and 844 listed as probable. The two-day report brings the number of...
Customs inspectors find cocaine-coated corn flakes in Ohio
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Customs authorities in Ohio say they intercepted a shipment of cereal earlier this month with a special frosting — cocaine. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Cincinnati reported finding 44 pounds of cocaine-coated cornflakes that had been shipped from South America to a Hong Kong home....
Bone cancer survivor to join billionaire on SpaceX flight
After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux figures rocketing into orbit on SpaceX’s first private flight should be a piece of cosmic cake. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced Monday that the 29-year-old physician assistant — a former patient hired last spring — will launch later this year alongside a billionaire...
139-year-old house rolls to new San Francisco address
After 139 years at 807 Franklin St. in San Francisco, a two-story Victorian house has a new address. The green home with large windows and a brown front door was loaded onto giant dollies and moved Sunday to a location six blocks away. Onlookers lined the sidewalks to snap photos...
Alaska woman using outhouse attacked by bear, from below
An Alaska woman had the scare of a lifetime when using an outhouse in the backcountry and she was attacked by a bear, from below. “I got out there and sat down on the toilet and immediately something bit my butt right as I sat down,” Shannon Stevens told The...
Supreme Court rejects Trump’s last bid to shield his finances from New York prosecutorsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for New York prosecutors to obtain eight years of financial records from the accountants and bankers of former President Donald Trump as part of a criminal fraud and tax investigation involving him and the Trump Organization. Trump faces possible criminal...
