Shooting at Australia nightclub leaves at least 1 dead
MELBOURNE, Australia — A drive-by shooting outside a popular Melbourne nightclub in Australia early Sunday left one man dead, another critically wounded and two others injured, police said. Police said shots were fired from a car into a crowd standing outside the two-story Love Machine club, hitting three security guards...
Students at LeBron James’ school doing ‘unbelievable’ job
Students in Akron whose public school system labeled as the city’s worst-performing pupils have turned things around in big way after enrolling in LeBron James’ school. I Promise’s inaugural class of third- and fourth-graders is closing the achievement gap, according to the New York Times. “These kids are doing an...
Bering Sea changes startle scientists, worry residents
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Yupik Eskimo village of Kotlik on Alaska’s northwest coast relies on a cold, hard blanket of sea ice to protect homes from vicious winter Bering Sea storms. Frigid north winds blow down from the Arctic Ocean, freeze saltwater and push sea ice south. The ice normally...
Democrats defend Omar after Trump retweets video against her
WASHINGTON — Top Democrats on Saturday rushed to defend Rep. Ilhan Omar after President Donald Trump retweeted video that was edited to suggest she was being dismissive of the significance of the worst terrorist assault on U.S. soil. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded Trump for using the “painful images of...
Group asks government to probe Nissan automatic emergency braking
DETROIT — A U.S. auto safety group wants the government to investigate automatic emergency braking on some Nissan Rogue SUVs, alleging that the safety feature makes the vehicles brake even when there’s no emergency. The nonprofit Center for Auto Safety filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...
Clothing line’s vulgar name tests high court on trademark rights
A clothing line with a vulgar-sounding name is about to test the U.S. Supreme Court’s commitment to free speech. The justices will hear arguments Monday from a lawyer for Erik Brunetti, who was rejected when he sought federal protection for his “FUCT” trademark. Brunetti is asking the court to strike...
Activists: Cop’s shooting of white woman treated differently
MINNEAPOLIS — When an unarmed white woman who called 911 to report a crime was fatally shot by a black, Somali American police officer in Minneapolis, the racial dynamic seen in many police shooting cases in the U.S. was flipped on its head, and a different narrative emerged. Justine Ruszczyk...
Noor trial: Supervisor testifies about how police identified Damond as shooting victim
MINNEAPOLIS — Amid the chaos and confusion in the aftermath of Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s fatal shooting, a Minneapolis police lieutenant testified Friday that only when he spotted her photo in her home did he realize she was the 911 caller who summoned the officer that killed her. Responding officers from...
Montana pair get life for killing 2 found partly dissolved
MISSOULA, Mont. — A Montana judge sentenced a man and a woman Friday to life in prison after they pleaded guilty to stabbing two people to death, including a teenager, and trying to dissolve their bodies in tubs filled with chemicals. District Judge James Wheelis gave both Augustus Standingrock and...
Child attack suspect had previous Mall of America arrests
MINNEAPOLIS — A 5-year-old boy plummeted three floors Friday after being pushed or thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America, according to witnesses, and a 24-year-old man with a history of causing disturbances at the mall was in custody. Bloomington Police Chief Jeffrey Potts said police don’t think...
Sanders promises to win back Midwest states Trump captured
MADISON, Wis. — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders returned to the friendly terrain of Wisconsin on Friday, promising to build a coalition that will defeat President Donald Trump as he kicked off a swing through pivotal states that are part of the Democratic “blue wall” strategy for 2020. Sanders, speaking to...
Teen accused of killing his mom escapes California jail
LOS ANGELES — Dozens of federal and local law enforcement personnel were searching Friday for a 15-year-old boy who was in the middle of a murder trial in his mother’s stabbing death when he escaped a Southern California jail. Ike Souzer escaped the Orange County Juvenile Hall, somehow got onto...
Nipsey Hussle’s family gathers for private funeral in LA
LOS ANGELES — Nipsey Hussle’s family and friends gathered Friday for a private funeral on a day when the slain rapper was also honored by his hometown of Los Angeles. Hussle was buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in an afternoon service. The sprawling cemetery in northern Los Angeles between Griffith...
Pennsylvania fares better than 42 other states in physician-patient ratio
Pennsylvania might not be in such bad shape after all when it comes to the looming physician shortage. Experts have long predicted the U.S. is on the verge of a physician shortage, predicted to worsen as the baby boom generation ages and the demand for care increases. A recent estimate...
Growing number of states move to shield lottery winners
PHOENIX — A growing number of states are moving to allow the winners of big lottery jackpots to stay anonymous as privacy concerns are increasingly trumping lottery groups’ wishes to publicize winners to boost sales and show that the games are fair. Arizona could be the next state to join...
Girl not amused by ‘SNL’ joke about her disabled pet chicken
UNDERHILL, Vt. — A Vermont girl isn’t happy that her disabled pet chicken was joked about on “Saturday Night Live.” The chicken, named Granite Heart, is learning to walk with a custom wheelchair. On a recent ‘SNL’ episode, the television show’s “Weekend Update” co-host said she should “just eat the...
Pennsylvania National Guard family college benefit touted
Pennsylvania’s Adjutant General on Friday urged state lawmakers to endorse a family education benefit for members of the state’s National Guard touted as the first of its kind n the nation. Gov. Tom Wolf endorsed the concept of the Military Family Education Program or PA GI Bill, which has snared...
DEP to sample 300 public water supplies for man-made contaminants
The state Department of Environmental Protection has announced plans to sample 300 public water sources statewide for contaminants. The program will specifically look for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in areas known to harbor such contaminants, including military bases, fire training sites, landfills and manufacturing facilities, DEP said. Perfluoroalkyl...
Homeless ‘good Samaritan’ gets probation in GoFundMe scam
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. — The homeless veteran who admitted to conspiring with a New Jersey couple in a GoFundMe scam that raised more than $400,000 was sentenced Friday to five years’ probation in a case the prosecutor said preyed on a trusting public. Johnny Bobbitt pleaded guilty last month in...
Man angry about virginity pleads guilty to threatening women
SALT LAKE CITY — A man has pleaded guilty to a felony terroristic threat charge after authorities said he threating to target women in a mass shooting because he couldn’t get a girlfriend. Utah prosecutor Chad Grunander tells the Deseret News that 27-year-old Christopher W. Cleary of Denver was in...
Swallowed toys, coins, batteries spark rise in child ER visits
CHICAGO — The number of young kids who went to U.S. emergency rooms because they swallowed toys, coins, batteries and other objects has nearly doubled, a new study says. In 2015, there were nearly 43,000 such visits among kids under 6, compared with 22,000 in 1995, according to the study...
Finns to vote on how best to save their welfare state
HELSINKI — Finns will be voting Sunday in a parliamentary election shaped by debates on how best to preserve their generous welfare model despite having one of the world’s most rapidly aging populations. And in this Nordic nation, which has one-third of its territory above the Arctic Circle, anxieties over...
German police say gold Porsche is too shiny to drive
BERLIN — German authorities have ordered a blinged-out golden Porsche off the road for being too shiny. Hamburg’s Morgenpost reported Friday the 31-year-old driver was stopped in the northern city last week and told his Porsche Panamera, sporting a reflective gold foil finish, might blind other drivers and was a...
Mysterious bowls of mashed potatoes confuse Mississippians
JACKSON, Miss. — Residents of a neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, are confused by the bowls of mashed potatoes they’re finding on their cars, porches and mailboxes. Resident Jordan Lewis described the Belhaven neighborhood as a quirky one, with residents decorating road signs and putting Christmas trees in potholes. “So we...
Congress scorns Trump plan to cut, weaponize foreign aid
WASHINGTON — Mark Green did his best to put a winning face on a losing proposition. The administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) told Congress about a proposed “increase” in his budget and funding for a program that “will allow us to maintain the highest level ever...
