Alva Review-Courier -

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Ken Martin remembers a Travel Channel episode about the world's tallest waterslide. The Richmond, Virginia-based amusement-park safety expert said he was horrified that test sandbags flew off the ride and that nylon straps with V...

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The judge in Bill Cosby's retrial rejected demands Thursday from the comedian's defense lawyers to step aside during a hearing in which they made clear they plan to attack his accuser as a greedy liar who falsely accused the c...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's selection of his White House doctor to run the massive Department of Veterans Affairs triggered concern Thursday among lawmakers and veterans groups about whether he has the experience to manage an agency p...

DENVER (AP) — A highly automated, multibillion-dollar plant in Colorado that destroys U.S. chemical weapons is over budget, behind schedule and bedeviled by troubles that could worsen the danger to workers. But when the Army said this month it w...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia announced the expulsion of more than 150 diplomats, including 60 Americans, on Thursday and said it was closing a U.S. consulate in retaliation for the wave of Western expulsions of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-s...

PHOENIX (AP) — An attorney for one of two Arizona woman charged with burglarizing a mosque as they spewed derogatory comments about Muslims said Thursday that his client's case isn't about hate speech but rather about her exercise of free speech r...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Austin's police chief said Thursday that a "domestic terrorist" set off a series of explosions that killed two people and severely wounded four others in Texas' capital, offering a stronger characterization of the suspected b...

WOODLAND, Wash. (AP) — They were known as the Hart Tribe, a free-spirited family of two women and their six adopted children who raised their own food, took spontaneous road trips and traveled to festivals and other events, offering free hugs and p...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A standing-room-only crowd packed into a church Thursday to celebrate the life of a 22-year-old black man who was shot to death by Sacramento police, prompting angry protests and a resolve to force changes in police d...

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Maryland appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling granting a new trial to a man whose conviction in the murder of his high school sweetheart became the subject of the popular podcast "Serial." Adnan Syed was convicted in 2000 o...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Roseanne Barr is reveling in Donald Trump's support for her returning sitcom's impressive debut, which the president says was a cultural and political breakthrough. "It was a thrill to get a congratulatory phone call from The Presi...

CHICAGO (AP) — A woman dubbed a "serial stowaway" for repeatedly trying to sneak onto commercial jets without a ticket has been ruled unfit for trial, a judge ruled Thursday. Cook County Judge Maura Slattery Boyle ordered Marilyn Hartman, 66, to b...

WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of silence, the rhythmic dee-dee-deeps of frogs and toads are returning in parts of Panama. A deadly fungal disease devastated amphibians in Central America more than a decade ago, quieting some mountain streams. But new...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Ryan's future as House speaker has been such a topic of speculation that even the simple question of whether he will seek re-election to his Wisconsin seat remains secret. Officially, Ryan says he's still deciding. But a person...

ISLAMABAD (AP) — As Malala Yousafzai spoke of coming home to Pakistan for the first time since being shot by the Taliban five years ago, the emotions flooded back — and so did the tears. The 20-year-old Nobel laureate returned Thursday for a fou...

MANBIJ, Syria (AP) — A rowdy mob of over two dozen men on motorcycles streamed into the small square in the center of Manbij. They cheered and waved jerseys of their local soccer team, which had just beat the town's top club. The upset victory was s...

QUEBEC CITY (AP) — A Canadian teenager who purchased her first lottery ticket to celebrate her 18th birthday hit the jackpot and will receive $1,000 Canadian a week for the rest of her life. Charlie Lagarde was celebrating with a bottle of c...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is blaming his sudden ouster from the Trump administration on "political forces" that he says are bent on privatizing the agency and putting "companies with profits" over the care o...

PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, in yet another humbling knockdown to the hard-charging conservative leader. Sarkozy has faced multiple corruption i...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Armed security officers are becoming more prevalent at America's schools, according to a federal study released Thursday amid a heated debate over whether teachers and other school officials should carry guns. While student and staf...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and nominated White House doctor Ronny Jackson to replace him following a bruising ethics scandal and a mounting rebellion within the agency. A Navy rear a...

MOSCOW (AP) — The Taliban and Moscow had a good laugh together while discussing Washington's claims that Russia has been arming the extremist movement, Russia's envoy for Afghanistan said Thursday. Envoy Zamir Kabulov said representatives of R...

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — On the night before Easter, a night when Sister Jean could reasonably be contemplating more consequential affairs, she will instead be festooned in her maroon and yellow letter jacket, sitting in her wheelchair on the floor of o...

PAJU, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27, the South announced Thursday, for a rare summit that could prove significant in global efforts to resolve the d...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency lived in a Capitol Hill condominium linked to a prominent Washington lobbyist whose firm represents a roster of fossil fuel companies. ABC News first reported Thursday that EPA Adminis...