1 killed when 2 small planes collide on Los Angeles-area runway
COMPTON, Calif. — A small plane ran into another aircraft on a Los Angeles-area runaway in a fiery crash that killed one person and injured another. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says a Cessna with two people aboard landed Wednesday night at Compton/Woodley Airport. A North American T-28 then...
Squirrels are damaging some maple syrup operations
DANVILLE, Vt. — Maple syrup producers are contending with a late start to the season in the Northeast and an abundant squirrel population with the critters chomping on plastic sap tubing and spouts. Damage from wildlife — deer, bear woodpeckers, and squirrels — is not unusual for maple operations, but...
Ohio judge grants transgender teen’s name change
LEBANON, Ohio — An Ohio judge has reversed his earlier denial of a transgender 15-year-old’s legal name change and is allowing that change. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Warren County Probate Judge Joseph Kirby ruled Tuesday that the name change “is in the best interest of the child.” Kirby previously said...
U.K. lawmakers reject having new Brexit referendum
LONDON — Britain’s Parliament has voted against holding a new Brexit referendum, at least for now. Lawmakers defeated by a decisive 334-85 vote a motion that called for another public vote on whether to stay in the European Union or leave. Campaigners for a new referendum are divided over whether...
Nevada grand jury indicts immigrant in 4 fatal shootings
RENO, Nev. — A grand jury has indicted a Salvadoran immigrant who is in the U.S. illegally on murder charges in the killing of an elderly couple and two women in Nevada. A Washoe County grand jury handed up the indictment in Reno late Wednesday. Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 20, is...
$878 million South Carolina lottery winner sharing with charities
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina woman who won $878 million in the biggest jackpot payout to one winner in U.S. history wants to share her windfall with the city and state where her good fortune happened. The winner still wishes to remain anonymous because she wants to “live a...
Powerball jackpot soars to $495 million
The latest Powerball jackpot grew after no one matched all the winning numbers on Wednesday night. The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing climbed to an estimated $495 million – the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball game history, according to the lottery. It ranks as the 14th-largest jackpot in U.S. history. The estimated...
Foreign adoptions to U.S. fall by 14 percent, continuing trend
NEW YORK — The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents plunged nearly 14 percent last year, extending a decline that’s now continued for 14 years, according to State Department figures released Thursday. Sharp drops in adoptions from China and Ethiopia more than offset notable increases from India and...
Grand Canyon National Park’s 1st female leader is resigning
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The first female superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park is resigning after less than three years at the helm of one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Christine Lehnertz is the park’s first openly gay, female superintendent and the second consecutive Grand Canyon chief to leave...
IS militants, families surrender after offensive in Syria
BAGHOUZ, Syria — U.S.-backed Syrian fighters said Thursday a “large number” of Islamic State militants and their families are surrendering a day after intense fighting in the last speck of land the extremists still hold in eastern Syria. At the edge of Baghouz, the village where the militants are still...
Man runs past firefighters to rescue dog from burning homeVideo
A man disregarded the shouts from firefighters and rushed into his burning home to rescue the family dog. Flames were shooting from the Pala, Calif., house as firefighters began spraying water from a safe distance. But resident José Guzman knew his dog was hiding inside and ran past the firefighters....
Court rules gun maker Remington can be sued over Newtown shooting
HARTFORD, Conn. — A divided Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled gun maker Remington can be sued over how it marketed the Bushmaster rifle used to kill 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Justices issued a 4-3 ruling that reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit and...
Deportation looms for convicted ‘Real Housewives’ husband
NEWARK, N.J. — The husband of one of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality TV stars has been released from federal prison and is waiting to see if he’ll be deported back to Italy. An attorney for Joe Giudice says he’s been sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
Teenage climate activist nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Three Norwegian lawmakers have nominated Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, who has become a prominent voice in campaigns against climate change, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Freddy Andre Oevstegaard and two other members of the Socialist Left Party said they believe “the massive movement Greta has set...
‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty
CHICAGO — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has pleaded not guilty to the charges accusing him of lying to police about being attacked in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago. The 36-year-old actor’s lawyer, Tina Glandian, entered the plea Thursday on Smollett’s behalf after Judge Steven Watkins was assigned to oversee...
8 indicted as Pennsylvania drug gang blamed for homicides
READING — Prosecutors have announced the federal indictment of eight alleged members of a violent drug organization blamed for as many as eight homicides in one Pennsylvania community. U.S. Attorney William McSwain says a drug gang called “Trinidad DTG” distributed methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in the Reading area. McSwain...
Pennsylvania drug gang blamed for homicides; 8 indicted
READING — Prosecutors have announced the federal indictment of eight alleged members of a violent drug organization blamed for as many as eight homicides in one Pennsylvania community. U.S. Attorney William McSwain says a drug gang called “Trinidad DTG” distributed methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in the Reading area. McSwain...
Court: Middle finger protected by the constitution
TAYLOR, Mich. — When it comes to the middle finger, police might need a thicker skin. A federal appeals court says a Michigan woman’s constitutional rights were violated when she was handed a speeding ticket after giving the finger to a suburban Detroit officer in 2017. The decision means a...
Robert Morris University to host open house for former Art Institute students
In a single week, students from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, who were locked out of their classrooms when the school abruptly closed, have found themselves being courted by the Community College of Allegheny County and Robert Morris University. A fixture in Pittsburgh higher education since 1921, the Art Institute...
Hate crimes unit investigates Ginsburg poster graffiti
NEW YORK — New York Police Department’s hate crimes unit is investigating after a poster of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was defaced with a swastika and an anti-Semitic insult. WNBC says a straphanger tweeted a photo of the defaced poster on a Brooklyn subway platform to the Metropolitan...
U.S. moves to lift remaining gray wolf protections
BILLINGS, Mont. — Gray wolves in the U.S. would be stripped of federal protection and subjected to hunting and trapping in more states under a proposal released Thursday that declares the predators recovered following a decades-long restoration effort. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to revoke the wolves’ endangered...
Charity used in fraudulent college donations, feds say
The mastermind of a wide-ranging college admissions scandal set up a charity that wove a deep web of deception and fraud to mask bribes and payoffs, funneling millions of dollars through the tax-exempt organization under the nose of U.S. officials, according to prosecutors and tax documents reviewed by The Associated...
GOP senators appear ready to block Trump border declaration
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led Senate is set to deal President Donald Trump a rebuke on his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border, with the only remaining question how many GOP senators will join Democrats in defying him. Republicans are predicting that Thursday’s showdown vote will result in...
Colorado’s ‘bomb cyclone’ storm barrels toward Midwest
LONGMONT, Colo. — National Guard troops were using specialized vehicles with tank-like treads to rescue stranded drivers in Colorado in the wake of a massive late-winter storm that was expected to unleash heavy rain and snow on the Midwest plains on Thursday. Wednesday’s blizzard caused widespread power outages, forced the...
U.S. immigration agents find ways around ‘sanctuary’ policies
PHOENIX — Two years after New Mexico’s largest county barred local law enforcement from cooperating with immigration authorities, its leaders learned that the policy was being subverted from within. Staff members at the Bernalillo County jail in Albuquerque were still granting immigration authorities access to its database and, in some...
