U.S. News

Navajo Nation surpasses Cherokee to become largest US tribe

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation has by far the largest land mass of any Native American tribe in the country. Now, it’s boasting the largest enrolled population, too....

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More California counties see COVID-19 case improvements

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Five more California counties will move to less restrictive tiers because of improving COVID-19 conditions and no counties regressed, the state Department of Public Health said Tues...

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Supreme Court to take up major abortion rights challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to a showdown over abortion in a case that could dramatically alter nearly 50 years of rulings on abortion rights....

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EXPLAINER: How Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery will work

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — With the first drawing for Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery system scheduled for May 26, state officials announced a change to the process Monday that will require participants to op...

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Arson arrest made in LA wildfire that forced evacuations

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An arson suspect was arrested in connection with a Los Angeles wildfire that forced evacuations in canyons where thick vegetation hasn’t burned in more than 60 years, authorities sa...

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Prosecutor says trial in Iowa student’s death won’t be easy

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor warned prospective jurors Monday that the trial of a Mexican national charged in the 2018 fatal stabbing of a University of Iowa student will include graphic eviden...

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Second Amendment sanctuaries facing 1st court test in Oregon

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The first court test of whether local governments can ban police from enforcing certain gun laws is playing out in a rural Oregon county, one of a wave of U.S. counties declaring it...

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Virus testing strategies, opinions vary widely in US schools

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Children are having their noses swabbed or saliva sampled at school to test for the coronavirus in cities such as Baltimore, New York and Chicago. In other parts of the U.S., scho...

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Soldiers who perished on secret mission are memorialized

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Nearly 60 years ago, dozens of soldiers assembled for a top secret mission to Vietnam, three years before President Lyndon Johnson officially sent U.S. combat troops to the coun...

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‘There was no going back’: Migrants send kids into US alone

LA JOYA, Texas (AP) — Marely had traveled for 13 days, trekking with her mother from Central America to the busiest corridor for illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings. Then, as the 12-year-old Salvador...

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A university honors its grads 51 years after police shooting

JACKSON, Miss. — Days after National Guard members killed four Kent State University students who were protesting the Vietnam War, white police officers marched onto the campus of a historically Black college in Mississippi’s capital city to violently suppress protests against racism.

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California tree trimmer charged in deadly throat-slashings

OROVILLE, Calif. — A tree trimmer in rural Northern California has been charged in throat-slashing serial killings that left three people dead, prosecutors announced Thursday.

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Schools ditch student mask requirements in growing numbers

As a lengthy, bitter fight over mask requirements for students neared its conclusion, the chairperson of a Florida school board announced that she would agree to lift a mandate that had been in place since September even though she preferred leaving it in place until the end of the academic year...

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Ruling paves way for longer sentence in George Floyd’s death

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge has ruled that there were aggravating factors in the death of George Floyd, paving the way for a longer sentence for

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Number of children traveling alone at border eases in April

SAN DIEGO — The number of unaccompanied children encountered on the U.S. border with Mexico in April eased from an all-time high a month earlier, while more adults were found coming without families, authorities said Tuesday...

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Police: Man killed 6, self after he wasn’t invited to party

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A man who fatally shot six people at a Colorado birthday party before killing himself was upset after not being invited to the weekend gathering thrown by his girlfriend’s family, police said Tuesday, calling the shooting an act of domestic violence...

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Officer who shot Rayshard Brooks seeks bond modification

ATLANTA — After his firing by the Atlanta police department was reversed last week, the officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks is asking a judge to change the conditions of his bond as criminal charges against him remain pending...

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Detroit police chief announces retirement effective June 1

DETROIT — Detroit police Chief James Craig announced Monday that he will retire as head of the city's police force, but he did not immediately reveal his future plans, which could include a run for political office as a Republican...

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Micronesians feel hatred in Hawaii, decry police shooting

HONOLULU — Comments on social media about a 16-year-old boy shot and killed by Honolulu police have been so hateful that a Catholic priest, who hails from the same small Pacific island as the teen’s family, hesitates to repeat them...

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Nebraska death sentences continue despite no execution drugs

OMAHA, Neb. — Three times in the past four years, Nebraska prosecutors have sought death sentences, and each time they have been successful. Within a couple months, two more people convicted of a grisly murder could also be sentenced to death...

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Police: 3 hurt in Florida mall shooting as shoppers scatter

MIAMI — A shooting at an upscale South Florida shopping mall that began as a fight between two groups of people left three persons injured Saturday afternoon and sent mall patrons fleeing, according to police and local reports...

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2 killed, 23 hurt when boat capsizes off San Diego coast

SAN DIEGO — Two people were killed and nearly two dozen others were hospitalized after a wooden boat capsized Sunday during a possible human smuggling operation just off the San Diego coast, authorities said.

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Denying marriage claim, justices OK James Brown’s dying wish

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Godfather of Soul's dying wish to help educate needy children is a big step closer to being fulfilled, now that South Carolina's Supreme Court -- weighing into a...

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US mortgage rates fall; 30-year at all-time low of 3.13%

WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week as the benchmark 30-year home loan reached a new all-time low.

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Lives Lost: For man with Down syndrome, a college dream

NEW YORK — Right up to the end, the status message on Saadya Ehrenpreis’ WhatsApp profile read: “Having the time of my life.”

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Poor People’s Campaign eyes ‘virtual march’ in poverty fight

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Clergy and religious leaders are preparing to hold a virtual march Saturday to highlight the plight of Americans struggling with poverty — people like Madelyn “Maddie”...

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US broadcasting chief fires agency heads in major reshuffle

WASHINGTON — The new chief of U.S.-funded international broadcasting on Wednesday fired the heads of at least two outlets he oversees and replaced their boards with allies, in a move likely...

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The Latest: New Zealand PM assigns military leader to border

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has assigned a top military leader to oversee the nation’s border quarantine measures after what she described as an...

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Church tied to Oregon’s largest coronavirus outbreak

SALEM, Ore. — A church in rural northeastern Oregon is now the epicenter of the state's largest coronavirus outbreak, as 236 people tested positive for the disease, authorities said...

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US Supreme Court halts Texas execution over clergy question

HOUSTON — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a reprieve Tuesday to a Texas inmate scheduled to die for fatally stabbing an 85-year-old woman more than two decades ago, continuing a more than...

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Louisiana widening access to medical marijuana under new law

BATON ROUGE, La. — More Louisiana residents will have access to medical marijuana under a significant expansion of the state's therapeutic cannabis program that was signed into law by Gov....

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VIRUS DIARY: `The meaning of abiding love in all its guises’

CLEVELAND — Loss and its many guises have been constants during the pandemic. Loss of loved ones. Economic loss. Loss of contact with family and friends.

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Powell warns that long downturn would mean severe damage

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that the U.S. economy faces a deep downturn with “significant uncertainty” about the timing and strength of a recovery. He...

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Businesses ask patrons to waive right to sue if they get ill

WASHINGTON — As businesses reopen across the U.S. after coronavirus shutdowns, many are requiring customers and workers to sign forms saying they won’t sue if they catch...

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Travelers accused of breaking quarantine set to leave Hawaii

HONOLULU — Twenty-one travelers arrested on suspicion of violating Hawaii's coronavirus quarantine order have agreed to leave the state because of threats, a member of the group said Monday....

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Atlantic City OKs booze on the Boardwalk to boost crowds

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Many folks could use a drink right about now, and they're now able to do it while strolling the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

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Pop open a bottle, California wine tasting rooms reopening

SAN DIEGO — California wineries started uncorking their bottles and welcoming people back to their tasting rooms Friday as the state's $145 billion tourism industry gears up with hotels,...

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For Ellison, Floyd case brings pressure -- and opportunity

MINNEAPOLIS — Keith Ellison has been a civil rights activist, a defense attorney, a cable-TV favorite, a rabble-rouser in Congress, a party operator and an occasional provocateur on Twitter....

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Judge orders N.C. track with large crowds to stop races

GRAHAM, N.C. — A North Carolina judge on Thursday ordered a small stock-car track to halt racing after state health officials declared large weekend crowds at recent races violated an...

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California Assembly backs repealing affirmative action ban

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A decades-long push to let California's public universities and government agencies consider race when making admissions and hiring decisions passed its first test...

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Amid tears and laughter, visits resume in nursing homes

BOSTON — She wore a mask and sat across the nursing home patio from her elderly mother, but Marcie Abramson's emotions were on full display as the two connected in person for the first time...

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TV pastor Jim Bakker hopes attorney general halts probe

O'FALLON, Mo. — Missouri-based TV pastor Jim Bakker hopes Arkansas' attorney general does not obtain personal information of his congregation members as part of an investigation into his...