Month: May 2023

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An adult entertainment industry group filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging a new Utah law that requires porn websites to implement age verification mechanisms to block minors from accessing sexually explicit materials. The law, which took effect Wednesday, made Utah the second state to require

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who is suspected of setting fires to mosques in Minneapolis has been indicted on federal charges of arson and damage to religious property. A grand jury indicted Jackie Rahm Little on Thursday for an April 24 fire at the Masjid Al-Rahma mosque. Authorities

By SUMMER BALLENTINE and JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced Thursday that she will resign amid calls from Republican leaders for her ouster. In a letter to Republican Gov. Mike Parson released by Gardner’s office, she said she will step aside effective June 1. Gardner

HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice says an environmental justice probe found Alabama engaged in a pattern of inaction and neglect regarding the risks of raw sewage for residents in an impoverished county. The departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced the results of the environmental justice probe and a

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum, who came within a whisker of defeating Republican Ron DeSantis in 2018, was acquitted Thursday of lying to the FBI in a corruption case that also involved illegal use of campaign contributions. But the federal jury hung on charges that

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. The revelation of tuition payments made by Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow is the latest example

By PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press AKRON, Ohio (AP) — When Julia and Robert Jones discovered that a judge from the Akron Municipal Court in Ohio would be officiating “Star Wars”-themed weddings on May the Fourth, the couple felt the Force calling them to commit to the ceremony. “There was no other right decision, that was

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Two Baltimore police officers have been indicted in separate cases this week, including one accused of selling marijuana while on duty. The allegations against Cejus Watson, an 11-year department veteran, come as the department seeks to rebuild its reputation after the Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) — Opponents of planned liquid carbon dioxide pipelines in the Midwest won a victory when an Iowa judge ruled that a state law that gives surveyors the right to enter private property is unconstitutional. In his ruling Wednesday, District Judge John Sandy denied a pipeline company’s request for an injunction that would

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Senate has honored the late pop superstar Prince by voting to dedicate to him the highway that runs past his Paisley Park museum and studios. The bill passed the House unanimously last month on the seventh anniversary of Prince’s death and now goes

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tyre Nichols died of blunt force injuries to the head after he was beaten by Memphis police during a January arrest, an autopsy report released Thursday showed. The autopsy said the manner of death was homicide. The report released by the medical examiner in Memphis described

By NOHA ELHENNAWY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Residents say heavy shelling in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum is disrupting efforts to deliver badly needed aid to trapped civilians after yet another fragile and frequently violated truce ran out. Sudan has plunged into chaos since fighting erupted in mid-April between the country’s two top generals.

By CLAIRE RUSH and ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Republican members of the Oregon Senate have extended their boycott into a second day, delaying bills on gun safety, abortion rights and gender-affirming health care. The stayaway prevented a quorum, with Senate President Rob Wagner having to postpone the planned opening of the