U.S./World category, Page 823
Vermont city bans use of loud, gas powered leaf blowers
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Burlington is banning the use of loud, gas-powered leaf blowers in the city. The City Council passed a phased-in ban this week, the Burlington Free Press reported. It mandates moving to quieter electric-powered leaf blowers, which will be required for all municipal departments in August. All businesses...
Prince Philip is laid to rest as somber queen sits alone
WINDSOR, England — As military bands played and a procession of royals escorted his coffin to the church, Prince Philip was laid to rest Saturday in a funeral ceremony that honored his lifetime of service to the U.K., the crown and his wife of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth II. The...
The Hartford agrees to pay $650M in Boy Scouts bankruptcy
DOVER, Del. — Insurance company The Hartford has agree to pay $650 million into a proposed trust fund for victims of child sexual abuse as part of the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case. In exchange for the payment, the Boy Scouts and its local councils would release The Hartford...
Raul Castro resigns as Communist chief, ending era in Cuba
HAVANA — Raul Castro said Friday he is resigning as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership that began with his brother Fidel and the country’s 1959 revolution. The 89-year-old Castro made the announcement in a speech at the opening of the eighth congress of the...
2 men killed, officer wounded in San Antonio shootout
SAN ANTONIO — Two men were killed and a woman and a San Antonio police officer were wounded in a shootout Friday following a routine traffic stop. Around 11:30 a.m., an officer stopped a pickup truck containing three occupants for an undetermined reason on a street on the city’s West...
Kansas governor vetoes Republicans’ proposed income tax cuts
TOPEKA, Kan. — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed proposed income tax cuts in Kansas, the third time in two years that she has rejected a Republican plan and accused GOP lawmakers of trying to revive a nationally notorious fiscal experiment. The bill would have saved individuals and businesses...
Portland, Ore., police fatally shoot man at city park
PORTLAND, Ore. — An angry crowd gathered in a park in Portland, Ore., on Friday after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun, the deputy police chief said. Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said at a news conference that a white man...
Retired Ohio sheriff and tiny K-9 partner die the same day
CLEVELAND — The Ohio county sheriff and his tiny police dog were inseparable, their lives unwaveringly intertwined. It thus seems fitting that retired Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland, 67, and his crime-fighting partner Midge, 16, would both die on Wednesday — McClelland, at a hospital after a lengthy battle with...
SpaceX’s next crew arrives in Florida for Earth Day launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s most international crew of astronauts yet arrived at their launch site Friday. By coincidence, their flight to the International Space Station is set for next Thursday — Earth Day. It’s a reminder of NASA’s core mission of studying the home planet, the space agency’s acting...
Biden speeds refugee admissions but doesn’t lift Trump cap
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday signed an emergency determination to speed refugee admissions to the U.S., but kept his predecessor’s historically low cap of 15,000 refugees for this year, triggering an outcry from advocates for refugees and even Biden allies. Many were surprised Biden has not replaced the...
Human composting legislation considered in Delaware
DOVER, Del. — Democratic lawmakers in Delaware have introduced a measure that would allow composting of human bodies as an alternative to burial or cremation. The bill introduced Thursday would permit a practice that is called “natural organic reduction” but also referred to as “human composting.” The process involves putting...
Russia to expel 10 U.S. diplomats in response to Washington
MOSCOW — Russia on Friday responded to a barrage of new U.S. sanctions by saying it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and take other retaliatory moves in a tense showdown with Washington. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will add eight U.S. officials to its sanctions list and move...
Heavy metal guitarist is 1st suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A heavy metal guitarist on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jon Ryan Schaffer, the frontman of the band Iced Earth, has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence,...
Liberty sues Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages
RICHMOND, Va. — Liberty University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages after the two parted ways acrimoniously last year. The complaint, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges Falwell crafted a “well-resourced exit strategy” from his role as president and...
As America embraces voting early, GOP moves to restrict it
Nearly seven of every 10 voters cast their ballots before Election Day in 2020. Republicans are moving to make it harder for that to happen again, potentially affecting the voting preferences of millions of Americans. The GOP’s campaign to place new restrictions on mail-in and early voting in certain states...
Coast Guard: 2 more capsize victims recovered off Louisiana
PORT FOURCHON, La. — Divers searching the site of a capsized lift boat off Louisiana recovered two more unresponsive crewmembers late Friday, the Coast Guard said after another day of frantic waiting by family members worried for the fate of those who went missing earlier this week. Petty Officer Jonathan...
U.S. has been wracked with several mass shootings in 2021
a significant drop in mass shootings in the United States during a pandemic-hit 2020, this year has already seen several deadly cases. Police in Indianapolis say eight people were shot and killed in a shooting late Thursday at a FedEx facility. The shooter also killed himself. It follows a lull...
Daunte Wright family demands more severe charges for Minn. ex-cop
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Daunte Wright’s family joined community leaders in demanding more severe charges against the white former police officer who fatally shot the young Black man in a Minneapolis suburb, where hundreds of protesters again filled the streets in front of the police station. The protesters — shouting...
California woman says she drowned 3 children to protect them
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A woman suspected of killing her three children in the midst of a bitter custody battle said Thursday that she drowned them to keep them away from their father, a California television station reported. In a jailhouse interview, Liliana Carrillo, 30, told KGET-TV that she wanted to...
FBI says it interviewed FedEx mass shooter last year
INDIANAPOLIS — The FBI says that last year it questioned the man who fatally shot eight people at a FedEx plant in Indianapolis. Paul Keenan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, said Friday that agents questioned 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole after his mother called police...
Colorado man to remain jailed after attack on U.S. Capitol
DENVER — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied bail for a Colorado geophysicist accused of dragging a police officer down steps to be beaten by an American flag outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled Wednesday that Jeffrey Sabol, 51, is a flight risk...
House GOP leader: Won’t punish Rep. Matt Gaetz unless charges filedVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Matt Gaetz, under federal investigation for sex trafficking allegations, is “innocent until proven guilty” and Republicans don’t plan to punish him unless charges are filed, the House GOP leader said Thursday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., also told reporters that in a private conversation, the Florida...
New York school principal charged with sexually abusing 9 studentsVideo
HILTON, N.Y. — A Rochester, N.Y.-area elementary school principal was charged with sexually abusing nine students during school in a case that prosecutors say goes back at least four years. Kirk Ashton, the longtime principal of Northwood Elementary School in Hilton, was arraigned Wednesday night on multiple counts of first-degree...
Weather delays divers from searching for Louisiana shipwreck survivorsVideo
PORT FOURCHON, La. — Families anxiously awaited news of the 12 people missing from a capsized oil industry vessel Thursday while stormy weather delayed divers from reaching the ship to search for survivors. Rescuers don’t know whether any of the missing might be caught inside the lift boat that flipped...
Capitol Police watchdog says force needs a ‘culture change’Video
WASHINGTON — The top watchdog for the U.S. Capitol Police told a House committee Thursday that there is a need for a culture change within the force after broad failures in its response to the Jan. 6 insurrection, including missed intelligence predicting a “war” and weapons that were so old...
