AP National News

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Biden administration regulation on the nearly impossible-to-trace weapons called ghost guns, clearing the way for continued serial numbers, background checks and age verification requirements to buy them in kits online. Seven justices joined the opinion, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch,

By JOSHUA A. BICKEL Associated Press What goes down your toilet can end up on farm fields across the United States. Biosolids, or sewage sludge, are the solid byproducts of the wastewater treatment process. Rich in nutrients, they can be used as fertilizer on agricultural fields or compost on lawns. But the process for producing

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press It has been nearly two decades since the workplace mockumentary “The Office” first set an episode inside a Chili’s, where Michael Scott handed out Dundie awards to his ever-tolerant employees, including trophies for the whitest sneakers and for stinking up the bathroom. Over nine seasons, “The Office” regularly name-dropped real

By JOSHUA A. BICKEL and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press WELLSTON, Okla. (AP) — When Leslie Stewart moved to her home in a rural expanse of Lincoln County outside of Oklahoma City more than 20 years ago, she thought she’d found a slice of heaven. In a town of fewer than 700 people, her son could

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founders of a company that makes lip products for darker skin tones no longer hope to get their line into Target. A brother and sister who make jigsaw puzzles celebrating Black subjects wonder if they need to offer “neutral” images like landscapes to keep

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — Twice a week, Luisa Arguello and her husband spend from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. praying in the perpetual adoration chapel at St. Benedict Catholic Church, tucked on a quiet palm-fringed residential street in the Miami suburb of Hialeah. “Your body clock gets used to it.

By LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A year after the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland leaders are honoring the six construction workers who were killed when the road they were repairing buckled underneath them. Police were able to stop traffic moments before a cargo ship plowed

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking broad changes to how elections are run in the U.S. is vast in scope and holds the potential to reorder the voting landscape across the country, even as it faces almost certain litigation. He wants to require voters to show proof that they are U.S.

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation. “The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix flirted with its first 100-degree day of the year on Tuesday, though it fell just short of that milestone. The metro area was expected to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) on Tuesday, but the forecasted high temperature was later revised to 98 degrees (36.6 Celsius). Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The Republican National Committee on Tuesday launched a massive effort to probe voter registration lists nationwide amid a broader strategy to seize on voter rolls to question the integrity of elections. RNC sent public records requests asking for documents related to voter roll

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa cannot, for now, continue to enforce part of its book ban law, a federal judge said Tuesday, giving major publishers that sued the state the second temporary reprieve they requested. The new decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher again temporarily blocked the part

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A pilot and his two young daughters survived on the wing of a plane for about 12 hours after it crashed and was partially submerged in an icy Alaska lake, then were rescued after being spotted by a good Samaritan. Terry Godes said he saw a

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart near the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 would avoid the death penalty under a plea offer announced Tuesday, abruptly ending years of efforts by prosecutors to see that he face execution by lethal injection. El

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Angry over the crush of court rulings against the Trump administration, Republicans in Congress are trying to slap back at the federal judiciary with proposals to limit the reach of its rulings, cut funding and even impeach judges, tightening the GOP’s grip on government. House GOP

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer NORWOOD, Mass. (AP) — The chairs where Jinna Han and Spencer Lane used to sit are still there, and covered with gifts: cards and cookies, plants and pictures — anything that might have sparked a connection for their friends and fellow skaters. Photographs, drawings, a South Korean flag, hearts

By MICHAEL PHILLIS, ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency illegally canceled grants worth more than $1.5 billion focused on improving the environment in minority communities hit hard by pollution, Senate Democrats say. Hundreds of grants were awarded by former President Joe Biden’s administration under a 2022

By The Associated Press A federal judge in Texas has set a June trial date for the U.S. government’s years-old conspiracy case against Boeing for misleading regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor did not explain in the scheduling order he issued

By RIO YAMAT and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Police released video footage and 911 emergency calls Tuesday depicting chilling scenes of people running in panic as gunfire crackled in a New Mexico park where three people were killed and 15 others were wounded during an unauthorized car show. One of the video recordings, taken

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer The measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico have surpassed a combined 370 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through

By JOHN O’CONNOR Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Prairie Land Potawatomi Nation has reclaimed land in Illinois that was promised to the tribe’s leader 175 years ago but stolen by the federal government 20 years later. A law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last week transferred Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area, 1,500 acres

By ALAN SUDERMAN AP Business Writer President Donald Trump’s crypto empire is expanding with the recent announcements of a new dollar-backed stablecoin and investment funds for digital assets. The moves are the latest in the norm-defying ways the president has leaned into crypto projects that could significantly boost his personal wealth while in office. World

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press Filling an empty space on the wall of presidential portraits in the Colorado Capitol with a new painting of Donald Trump could take time after one he disliked was removed and put into storage. Legislative leaders from both parties will decide how to replace the painting that Trump derided Sunday

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors in several Republican-led states are pressing the Trump administration to cut strings attached to their federal education money, a goal conservatives have long dreamed of that now appears within reach as President Donald Trump moves to dismantle the Education Department. Iowa put itself forward as

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Turnout during the first week of early voting ahead of Wisconsin’s pivotal state Supreme Court race is far exceeding levels from another high-stakes election just two years ago, the latest sign of the intense interest in a contest that has obliterated spending records and drawn attention

By The Associated Press Dry conditions, wind and trees downed by Hurricane Helene fueled wildfires in North Carolina and South Carolina, where evacuation orders were in effect Tuesday. Many people in the area are still getting over the hurricane that hit in September, according to North Carolina Forest Service spokesperson Bo Dossett. “A lot of

By The Associated Press The Trump administration’s top intelligence officials face Congress for back-to-back hearings this week to testify about the threats facing the United States and what the government is doing to counter them. The briefing will take place at 10 a.m. ET. The hearing comes a day after The Atlantic magazine reported that

By MICHAEL CASEY and RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early January, the transgender organizer figured it would be relatively routine. But more than two months on, Orr is waiting to get a new passport with a name change and a sex designation reflecting

By TAMMY WEBBER and MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press A once-every-four-years report card on the upkeep of America’s infrastructure gave it a “C” grade on Tuesday, up slightly from previous reports, largely due to investments made during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which examined everything from roads

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press Sam Peterson is one of thousands of fired federal workers who was offered his job back under a judge’s order, but he didn’t jump at the chance to go back to his park ranger position at Washington state’s Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. Instead, he quickly turned it down, opting