U.S./World category, Page 1125
Weakened Barry rolls into Louisiana, drenches Gulf Coast
NEW ORLEANS — Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast Saturday, flooding highways, forcing people to scramble to rooftops and dumping heavy rain that officials had feared could test the levees and pumps that were bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane,...
As storm moved in, 1 couple moved up their wedding ceremony
NEW ORLEANS — As New Orleans hunkered down ahead of Tropical Storm Barry Friday, news photographers from across the city could be found together in a church, witnessing the wedding of one of their own. Associated Press photographer Gerald Herbert and Lucy Sikes weren’t supposed to get married Friday night....
Apollo 11 at 50: Celebrating first steps on another world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A half-century ago, in the middle of a mean year of war, famine, violence in the streets and the widening of the generation gap, men from planet Earth stepped onto another world for the first time, uniting people around the globe in a way not seen...
Rare sea turtles smash nesting records in Georgia, Carolinas
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Rare sea turtles are smashing nesting records this summer on beaches in the Southeast, with scientists crediting the egg-laying boom to conservation measures that began more than 30 years ago. Giant loggerhead sea turtles weighing up to 300 pounds crawl ashore to dig nests in the sand...
Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch linked to investigation
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — At the center of Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded New Mexico ranch sits a sprawling residence the financier built decades ago — complete with plans for a 4,000-square-foot courtyard, a living room roughly the size of the average American home and a nearby private airplane runway. Known as the...
Earthquakes shake up Yucca Mountain nuke dump talk in Nevada
LAS VEGAS — Recent California earthquakes that rattled Las Vegas have shaken up arguments on both sides of a stalled federal plan to entomb nuclear waste beneath a long-studied site in southern Nevada. Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso said this week his legislation to jump-start the process to open the...
Barry strengthens to hurricane; storm surge feared
NEW ORLEANS — Carrying “off the chart” amounts of moisture, sprawling Barry strengthened into a hurricane Saturday as it crawled slowly toward shore, knocking out power on the Gulf Coast and dumping heavy rains that could last for days in a test of flood-prevention efforts implemented after Hurricane Katrina devastated...
Film airing on PBS recalls city’s dark deportation history
BISBEE, Ariz. — The darkest, most violent chapter in the history of Bisbee was an open secret for decades in the funky old Arizona copper town 7 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. But few residents knew the details of how about 1,200 miners, most of them immigrants, were pulled...
Special counsel Mueller’s testimony delayed until July 24
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony to Congress has been delayed until July 24 under an agreement that gives lawmakers more time to question him. Mueller had been scheduled to testify July 17 about the findings of his Russia investigation. But lawmakers in both parties complained that the short...
Appeals court gives Trump a win in sanctuary city case
SEATTLE — A federal appeals court gave President Trump a rare legal win in his efforts to crack down on “sanctuary cities” Friday, upholding the Justice Department’s decision to give preferential treatment in awarding community policing grants to cities that cooperate with immigration authorities. The 2-1 opinion overturned a nationwide...
Trump says immigration arrests to begin Sunday
WASHINGTON — The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said efforts to deport families with orders to leave the country will continue after an upcoming national sweep that President Trump said would start Sunday. Matthew Albence, the agency’s acting director, said targets were on an “accelerated docket” of immigration court...
Man whose tirade beatdown at bagel shop went viral gives interview
The Long Island man who became an overnight sensation after his rant at a bagel shop in New York was cut short by a beatdown has given his local news station an interview. And it is a doozy. Chris Morgan, who was a customer at Bagel Boss, unknowingly took social...
Tropical Storm Barry starts lashing Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS — Homeowners sandbagged their doors and tourists trying to get out of town jammed the airport Friday as Tropical Storm Barry began rolling in, threatening an epic drenching that could test how well New Orleans has strengthened its flood protections in the 14 years since Hurricane Katrina. With...
Chevron spills 800,000 gallons of oil, water in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California authorities said Friday that crews are beginning to clean up a massive oil spill that dumped nearly 800,000 gallons of oil and water into a Kern County canyon, making it larger — if less devastating — than the state’s last two major oil spills. The seep,...
California governor opposes increase in fracking permits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he wants to move the nation’s most populous state away from hydraulic fracturing, a day after he fired the state’s top oil and gas regulator for issuing twice as many fracking permits this year compared to last. “I don’t think anyone...
EPA restores broad use of pesticide opposed by beekeepers
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers to resume broad use of a pesticide over objections from beekeepers, citing private chemical industry studies that the agency says show the product does only lower-level harm to bees and wildlife. Friday’s EPA announcement — coming after the agriculture industry accused...
Memories of 2016 flood haunt Baton Rouge ahead of Barry
BATON ROUGE, La. — Memories of an epic flood that caused billions of dollars in damage had Louisiana’s capital on edge Friday as Barry gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico more than 150 miles away. Storms that dumped more than 20 inches of rain across southeastern Louisiana three years...
Purl jam: Finland hosts heavy metal knitting championship
JOENSUU, Finland — Armed with needles and a yarn of wool, teams of avid knitters danced Thursday to the deafening sounds of drums beating and guitars slashing at the first-ever Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship in eastern Finland. With stage names such as Woolfumes, Bunny Bandit and 9” Needles, the...
Cannabis found in Vermont Statehouse flower beds
Vermont police say they found dozens of cannabis plants in the flower beds in front of the Statehouse. Police say they found a total of 34 plants this week among the cultivated flowers that line the walkway in front of the building in Montpelier. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei says...
Labor Secretary Acosta resigning amid Epstein deal scrutiny
WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said Friday he is resigning following renewed scrutiny of his handling of a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy financier Jeffrey Esptein , who is accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. President Donald Trump, with Acosta at his side, made the announcement...
As Democrats debate busing, southern schools slowly desegregate
CLEVELAND, Miss. — This small Mississippi Delta town serves as a reminder that fierce debates over the integration of black and white students are not a thing of the past. Two rival high schools in Cleveland, one historically black and the other historically white, had to be merged just two...
Court: ‘Extreme bias’ in sending pregnant woman to prison
DETROIT — A woman who was sentenced to prison because a judge believed she would use drugs while pregnant has been released after the Michigan appeals court accused him of “extreme bias.” Samantha Hughes gave birth to a boy on July 2. The appeals court on Tuesday threw out a...
US growing largest crop of marijuana for research in 5 years
The U.S. government is growing the largest crop of research marijuana in five years, responding to interest in varieties with high levels of THC and CBD. The government is the only source of pot for nearly all research in the U.S., while it still considers it illegal and dangerous. Scientists...
AP Explains: How do immigration authorities make arrests?
After postponing an immigration-enforcement operation late last month, the Trump administration plans to go ahead with the raids as soon as this weekend. The sweep is expected to be similar to others that authorities have done regularly since 2003 and often netted hundreds of arrests. This one is different because...
Newer buildings show little damage after California quakes
LOS ANGELES — The two Southern California desert communities rocked by last week’s powerful earthquakes may have sustained as little damage as they did because they have no tall buildings and many of the homes in one are fairly new and were built to stricter earthquake standards. California’s Seismic Safety...
