Month: March 2023

By KEVIN MCGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court has blocked President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Republican-controlled Senate is moving to bar citizens of a “foreign adversary” from buying property in the state in an anti-espionage measure that critics fear will chill overseas investments over outsize concerns. The bill in question was approved Thursday by a 31-5 vote.

HONOLULU (AP) — Four Honolulu police officers are pleading not guilty to charges related to their roles in a cover-up of a high-speed chase that resulted in a crash and a traumatic brain injury to the driver of another car. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported the officers entered their pleas in Circuit Court on Thursday. Joshua

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ling Ma’s sharp and surreal “Bliss Montage” and Beverly Gage’s sweeping biography of the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, “G-Man,” are among the winners of the National Book Critics Circle awards. Other works awarded by the NBCC on Thursday night included Isaac Butler’s “The

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Viral 28-day fitness challenges. YouTubers promising “hourglass abs.” Diet videos where slim-stomached influencers peddled calorie-tracking apps. Warford, then a 15-year-old

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state official says the Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope is part of a “new era” of development in the region but isn’t a sure thing. John Crowther, with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, told lawmakers that litigation and costs are among

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Four families have filed a federal lawsuit against Florida health officials. They’re challenging the state’s prohibition against puberty-blocking hormones and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Tallahassee federal court against Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and the state boards of medicine and osteopathic medicine. It claims the

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia police officer has been fired after fatally shooting a shoplifting suspect last month after a foot chase at a busy shopping mall. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced the dismissal Thursday and released body camera footage showing the Feb. 22 shooting of

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Unions for service workers at Walt Disney World reached a tentative deal with the company on Thursday that would raise the starting minimum wage from $15 to $18 an hour by the end of the year in a pact that could set the basement for starting

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Our capacity to care about others may have very, very ancient origins, a new study suggests. It might have been deep-rooted in prehistoric animals that lived millions of years ago, before fish and mammals like us diverged on the tree of life, according to researchers who

By JOHN SEEWER Railroad Norfolk Southern is backing away from its push to reduce its train crews down to one person. The company made the announcement Thursday in a joint statement with the nation’s largest rail union. The two sides say they will instead focus on quality of life issues for employees during their ongoing

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Biden administration and groups representing the forest products industry have reached a deal to promote logging practices intended to protect imperiled species on private lands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to cooperate on projects that could boost struggling populations of pollinating