(Irene Perez/Cubadebate via AP)HAVANA (AP) – President Mario Diaz-Canel has made his first speech as Cuba’s new head of state with a pledge to continue the socialist revolution led by his predecessors Fidel and Raul Castro. Diaz-Canel says in the nationally televised speech before the National Assembly that his first thoughts upon taking office are for the “historic generation” that…
(WYNY-TV/Pool Photo via AP, File) NEW YORK (AP) – A nanny convicted of stabbing two children to death at their New York home while their parents were away cried while being led out of a courtroom. Yoselyn Ortega bludgeoned 6-year-old Lucia Krim and 2-year-old Leo Krim in October 2012 while their mother was taking a sibling to a swimming lesson…
(AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)LOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest manufacturer of bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, announced Wednesday that it will stop taking orders and shut down its website next month. The announcement comes about a month after President Donald Trump said his administration would “ban” bump stocks, which he said “turn…
YoutubeHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The families of two children slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have filed lawsuits against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for claiming the shooting did not happen. The defamation lawsuits were filed in Texas. That’s the home state of Jones’ media company, Infowars. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and…
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota prosecutors are planning an announcement in their two-year investigation into Prince’s death from an accidental fentanyl overdose. Carver County Attorney Mark Metz was scheduled to announce a charging decision at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, including whether anyone would be charged. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at…
DULUTH, Minn. – Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is officially closing its stores across the country. Liquidators took the winning bid at Tuesday night’s auction and a hearing by the Bankrupcty Court to approve the sale is expected today. In a release President and Chief Executive Office, Bill Tracy said, “While we are disappointed by this outcome and tried very hard to…
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Dick’s Sporting Goods is destroying all the guns and accessories that it stopped selling earlier this year after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The retailer said Tuesday that it is in the process of destroying all the firearms it pulled from its shelves, rather than trying to return them to their manufacturers. Dicks made headlines in…
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of “metal fatigue,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Passengers scrambled to save the woman from getting sucked out the window that had…
NEW YORK (AP) – Starbucks plans to close more than 8,000 stores for several hours next month to conduct racial-bias training for nearly 175,000 workers. The announcement Tuesday comes after the arrests sparked protects and calls for a boycott on social media. Philadelphia police released a recording of the call from the Starbucks employee that led to the arrests. In…
(AP Photo/Christine Cotter, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Nostalgia hasn’t translated into dollars in a long-shot effort to crowdfund a future for Toys R Us. Neither did efforts to recruit other toy makers. A campaign led by a billionaire toy executive who pledged $200 million with other investors in hopes of saving part of the bankrupt chain has foundered, with only…
FacebookPHILADELPHIA (AP) -A federal investigator says one person has been killed after a plane with engine failure made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Tuesday that the engine will be shipped for a detailed examination. The Federal Aviation Administration says the flight from New York to Dallas made an emergency landing after the…
(Jack Hanrahan/Erie Times-News via AP)DULUTH, Minn. – On Monday Bon-Ton Stores Inc. only received bids from liquidators during its bankruptcy auction according to Reuters, signaling the possibility of closure for the retail giant. The auction will continue through today with hopes of finding a buyer that can help turn the retail chains around. When the auction is complete the next…
HOUSTON- A family spokesman says former first lady Barbara Bush “has been a rock in the face of her failing health.” Jim McGrath did not elaborate as to the nature of the 92-year-old Bush’s health problems. She is at home in Houston. McGrath says Bush “has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care.”…
COLUMBIA, S.C.-South Carolina’s governor is expressing support for his state prisons chief following riots at a maximum-security prison that killed seven inmates. Gov. Henry McMaster’s spokesman Brian Symmes tells The Associated Press on Monday that the governor has “complete confidence” in director Bryan Stirling’s ability to lead the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Stirling was appointed by then-Gov. Nikki Haley…
DULUTH, Minn. – The 2018 Eighth Congressional District DFL Endorsing Convention will be held on Saturday with registration opening at 9 a.m. The convention is held to offer the Party’s endorsement of certain candidates for U.S. Congress. The convention will take place at the Holiday Inn & Suites in downtown Duluth. The candidates that are running for the CD8 DFL…
(Photo: Oakland County Sheriff’s Office)ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) – A retired, white Detroit firefighter is charged with assault with intent to murder after a shot was fired at a black teen who police say knocked on the door of the man’s suburban Detroit home to ask directions to school. Jeffery Zeigler was arraigned Friday. The 53-year-old was arrested Thursday after…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) NEW YORK (AP) – A federal judge is ordering President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer to appear next week for arguments over the government’s raid on the lawyer’s New York City home and office. At a hearing on Friday, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood told an attorney for Michael Cohen that his client needed to be there…
(Dodge County Sheriff’s Office via AP)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota woman who is wanted in connection with her husband’s death is now a suspect in the killing of a Florida woman, authorities said Friday. Lois Riess of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, has been charged in the shooting death of Pamela Hutchinson of Bradenton, Florida. Authorities aren’t aware of any connection between…
(AP Photo/Ben Margot, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department is increasing fees at the most popular national parks to $35 per vehicle, backing down from an earlier plan that would have forced visitors to pay $70 per vehicle to visit the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and other iconic parks. A change announced Thursday will boost fees at 17 popular parks…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former FBI Director James Comey blasts President Donald Trump as “unethical” and “untethered to truth” in a new book. He calls Trump’s leadership of the country “ego driven and about personal loyalty.” Comey’s comments come in the new book in which he casts Trump as a mafia boss-like figure who sought to blur the line between law…
(AP Photo | Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) – The Kremlin spokesman is warning the U.S. and its allies against any steps that could destabilize the situation in Syria. Asked about possible U.S. strikes on Syria, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that “it’s necessary to avoid any steps that may fuel tensions in Syria.” He added that it…
(AP Photo/Jonathan J. Cooper, File)(AP) – Organizers are encouraging gun rights supporters to bring unloaded rifles to rallies at state capitols across the U.S. this weekend to counter a recent wave of student-led protests against gun violence. A group called the National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans is spreading word of the gatherings on social media. Coalition co-founder David Clayton…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) – Another top National Security Council staffer is leaving the White House as new National Security Adviser John Bolton makes his mark. Deputy national security adviser Ricky Waddell will be exiting the administration, said two administration officials with knowledge of the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly. Waddell’s departure date has not yet…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans have cleared a procedural hurdle to confirm a former coal industry lobbyist as the No. 2 official at the Environmental Protection Agency. If confirmed as deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler would be next in line to lead if embattled administrator Scott Pruitt is forced out or resigns. The Senate voted 53-45 Thursday to limit debate on Wheeler’s…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)NEW YORK (AP) – Mark Zuckerberg has faced two days of grilling before House and Senate committees to address Facebook’s privacy issues and the need for more regulation for the social media site. Yet the hearings in Washington managed to showcase the normally press-shy Zuckerberg’s ability to perform as an able and well-rehearsed, if a bit stiff, CEO…
ANSONIA, Conn. (AP) – Police say a Connecticut man with a crush on singer Taylor Swift robbed a bank and then went to the pop star’s Rhode Island mansion where he threw cash over a fence in an attempt to impress her. Bruce Rowley, of Derby, is charged with robbing an Ansonia bank on April 4. Police say “it seemed…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) – After Russia warned the United States against military strikes in Syria, President Donald Trump says missiles “will be coming.” Trump says on Twitter Wednesday: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” Russian lawmakers have warned that Moscow…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan will not run for re-election, his office announced Wednesday, injecting another layer of uncertainty as Republicans face worries over losing their majority in the fall. Ryan’s plans have been the source of much speculation and will set off a scramble among his lieutenants to take the helm. A self-styled budget guru, Ryan…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his company is “working with” special counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into Russian interference. Earlier this year Mueller charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a plot to interfere in the 2016 presidential election through a social media propaganda effort that included online ad purchases using U.S. aliases and…
Bill Cosby (Reuters) NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby’s lawyer launched a blistering courtroom attack on the comedian’s accuser Tuesday, portraying her as a con artist whose goal was “money, money and lots more money.” Lawyer Tom Mesereau told jurors in his opening statement at the former TV star’s sex-assault trial that Andrea Constand wasn’t attracted to Cosby but was…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser is resigning in the latest White House departure. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Bossert would be leaving his post. She said that Trump was “grateful for Tom’s commitment to the safety and security of our great country.” Bossert was…
SAUK CENTRE, Minn. (AP) – A former Sauk Centre school bus driver has pleaded guilty to driving a bus full of children while he was drunk. Sixty-three-year-old Thomas Richard Bromen pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor count of driving a commercial motor vehicle while intoxicated. Bromen picked up 50 students from school by bus on Feb. 5. According to…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal agents carrying court-authorized search warrants have seized documents from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen. That’s according to a statement from Cohen’s attorney, Stephen Ryan. He says the search warrants were executed by the office of the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York but they are “in part” related…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Chicken salad contaminated with salmonella bacteria made by an Iowa food processing company and distributed by Fareway Stores has sickened 265 people in eight states and caused one death in Iowa. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak which sickened people from early January through mid-March appears to have ended. Food…
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday that 225 members of the state’s National Guard were heading to the U.S.-Mexico border to support President Donald Trump’s call for troops to fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration. More of the state’s Guard members will be deployed on Tuesday, said Ducey, a Republican. The Arizona troops…
(AP)WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has condemned the “heinous” suspected poison gas attack in Syria and said he’ll make a decision on the U.S. response within 24 to 48 hours. Speaking in the White House Cabinet Room Monday, Trump vowed to find out who is responsible for the attack that reportedly killed at least 40 people. Trump said during…
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready to find out if your Facebook data has been swept up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Starting Monday, the 87 million users who might have had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica will get a detailed message on their news feeds. Facebook says most of the affected users (more than…
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Arizona will deploy about 150 members of the state National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border next week. Gov. Doug Ducey announced the troop call-up in a tweet Friday and said he was working closely with the defense and homeland security departments. More details are expected to come from the state Guard. The…
DULUTH, Minn. – Multiple Younkers and Herberger’s stores in Minnesota are set to close according to a letter sent out by Bon Ton Vice President of Human Resources Gail Monreal yesterday. The letter states that one of the store closings will be the Duluth Younkers located at the Miller Hill Mall. Layoffs at the store are expected to start in…
(Photo: Gene J. Puskar / AP, file)NEW YORK (AP) – Target is paying more than $3.7 million to settle a lawsuit that said its hiring process, which automatically rejected people with criminal backgrounds, disproportionately kept blacks and Hispanics from getting entry-level jobs at its stores. As part of the settlement, Target has agreed to hire outside experts to review how…
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) – A Florida mother says a day care center didn’t have her permission to share a video on social media of her 2-year-old’s terrified reaction to an Easter bunny’s visit. Cassandra Bryson tells WESH-TV that she signed a waiver that prohibits officials at the Kissimmee day care from taking photos or video of her child. The viral…
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. employers added a modest 103,000 jobs in March after several months of bigger gains, though the government’s jobs report suggests the labor market remains healthy. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent, a 17-year low, for the sixth straight month. Average hourly pay ticked up, climbing 2.7 percent compared with a year earlier….
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)WASHINGTON (AP) – China’s government says it will “counterattack with great strength” if President Donald Trump goes ahead with plans to raise U.S. tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese goods. A Commerce Ministry spokesman said Friday that negotiations were impossible after Trump responded to Beijing’s protests about his earlier plan to raise duties on $50…
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)PHOENIX (AP) – President Donald Trump has said that he wants to send between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard members to the US-Mexico border. Speaking on Air Force One Thursday, Trump gave his first estimate on guard levels. Asked about the cost, he said the administration was looking at it. Trump says he plans to keep the guard…
(AP) – Delta Air Lines says customers’ payment information may have been breached in a cyberattack last fall. The airline said Wednesday the incident involved (24)7.ai, a chat-services provider used by Delta and other companies. Delta says only “a small subset” of customers were affected, with payment information exposed from Sept. 26 to Oct. 12. It says no other personal…
Surgeon General Jerome Adams (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)ATLANTA (AP) — The nation’s chief doctor wants more Americans to start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and save lives. Speaking at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta on Thursday morning, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams issued his office’s first…
TOLEDO, Oh. – Cleveland-Cliffs is investing $700 million to build one of the world’s most efficient and modern iron making plants. The company is holding a live streaming event at the construction site this morning celebrating the new plant and the 130 news jobs they will be bringing to the Toledo area. The plant is set to produce 1.6 million…
AP Photo/Evan Vucci/newsfileWASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump will be signing a proclamation directing the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to work together with governors to deploy the National Guard to the southwest border. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen made the announcement at the White House on Wednesday. She says he’ll sign the proclamation later in the day. Nielsen…
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)WASHINGTON (AP) – The American Soybean Association, a lobbying group that says it represents 21,000 U.S. soybean producers, says China’s proposed 25-percent tariff on soybeans would be “devastating” to U.S. farmers. China is the largest consumer of U.S. soybeans, buying about one-third of all U.S. soybean production each year, the group says. Association President John Heisdorffer, an Iowa…
SAN BRUNO, Calif.-Police in Northern California say they’re responding to an active shooter at YouTube headquarters. The San Bruno Police Department told people on Facebook to stay away from the area Tuesday. There was no other immediate information. Google, which owns the online video website, posted on Twitter that the company is coordinating with authorities. City Manager Connie Jackson says…
