Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 53
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's lawsuit against Volkswagen may be sent to a California federal court despite efforts to have it tried in the state. Oklahoma's attorney general filed a lawsuit against the German car manufacturer in local district court, saying the company designed "clean diesel" engines with a mechanism to alter their fuel efficiency during emissions testing. As a result, authorities say, vehicles with this engine operated far above their tested emissions levels on normal roadways. Attorney General Scott Pruitt argued that O...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A coalition of groups already trying to block a medical marijuana measure from the Arkansas ballot on Tuesday asked the state's highest court to also disqualify a competing legalization proposal. Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana asked the state Supreme Court to prevent election officials from counting any votes for the proposal to allow patients with some conditions to buy and use marijuana. The proposal is among two medical marijuana proposals on the Nov. 8 ballot. The coalition, which includes the state C...
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management is considering leasing nearly 28,000 acres of land for oil and gas drilling in the Granby area near the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Daily Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2cl6ndM) reports the Grand County land stretches from just west of Granby to beyond Hot Sulphur Springs, primarily to the north of the Colorado River. It's part of a larger proposed lease sale of about 100,000 acres in five northwestern Colorado counties next spring. Commissioners in Grand County, w...
BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Staff members at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation near Burlington have located the source of a minor water leak and are working to repair it. Communications director Jenny Hageman says Wolf Creek personnel identified a cracked weld as the source of the water leak in the reactor cooling system. Staff members are finalizing a repair plan. Officials had said there was no release of radiation. "The plant is designed to contain leakage, and there has been no release from the plant," Hageman said. "The plant r...
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — After competing in pageants for generations in the closet or working behind the scenes, gays and lesbians finally get to see one of their own take one of pageantry's biggest stages. Miss Missouri, Erin O' Flaherty, will compete for the Miss America crown this weekend as the first openly lesbian contestant. "Behind the scenes, we've been well-represented, but I'm the first openly gay title holder, so I'm very excited," she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I knew going in that I had the opportunity to m...
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Phyllis Schlafly, the outspoken conservative activist who helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and founded the Eagle Forum political group, has died. She was 92. Schlafly's family was with her when she died Monday afternoon of cancer at her home in St. Louis, her son John Schlafly said. Funeral arrangements are pending, he said. Schlafly rose to national attention in 1964 with her self-published book, "A Choice Not an Echo," that became a manifesto for the far right. The book, which sold three million c...
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Defense attorneys are questioning the impact of local police using U.S. Secret Service cellphone tracking technology in 2014 to investigate a case. Attorney Diane Dragan argues that some of the charges and all of the evidence stemming from her client's arrest should be tossed out of court because the cellphone tracking performed by the technology is illegal. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2clmb01) reports that lawyers say the legal mechanism police cite to justify the use of the technology is inadequate because f...
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A Texas man is facing a federal charge of using interstate communications to threaten the lives of Las Cruces police officers in New Mexico. Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Sean Stinson of El Paso made his initial court appearance Tuesday. He remains in custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, which haven't been scheduled yet. Stinson was arrested last Friday for making telephone calls to some Las Cruces residents and allegedly threatening Las Cruces police. According to the criminal c...
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Hard times are turning more worrisome for cities and small towns in the heart of New Mexico oil and natural gas territory as state officials contemplate reclaiming dollars pledged to local construction projects to help fill a budget gap. New Mexico is confronting a $458 million budget shortfall this fiscal year because of weak prices in the oil and natural gas sectors and slow growth in other areas of the economy. State finance and legislative officials have begun compiling a list of incomplete public works projects t...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of the largest oil producers in the U.S. is purchasing a privately-held New Mexico company and some of its subsidiaries in a $2.5 billion deal that will expand its footprint in major energy-producing basins in the West. Houston-based EOG Resources, Inc. announced the agreement with Yates Petroleum on Tuesday. Company officials say the transaction will clear the way for the development of premium wells at low costs in the Delaware Basin that spans parts of West Texas and southern New Mexico and the Powder River B...
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas County district attorney resigned her position as the top prosecutor in the nation's ninth most populous county Tuesday just a month after returning to work following her third inpatient treatment for mental illness. Since taking office in January 2015, Susan Hawk's tenure has been marked by long absences as she sought treatment. The Republican recently returned to work after spending nearly two months at an Arizona clinic. "I believe our office is making a difference and I want to continue that good work," Hawk said i...
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police are investigating after decomposed human remains were discovered near railroad tracks by a train conductor performing maintenance. Police say they are awaiting autopsy results on the body found early Sunday morning to determine the cause of death. The identity has not yet been determined. Police say that because of the amount of decomposition, investigators weren't able to determine the race, age or gender of the victim. Police say the train conductor had stopped the train to perform maintenance on the track w...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Is the death penalty in America gradually dying? There have been just two executions since May 1 and the total for 2016 probably will hit a 25-year low. Execution drug shortages, sometimes grotesque errors in death chambers and legal challenges to sentences imposed by judges have contributed to a dramatic decline in the number of states that are carrying out executions. Just three states, Texas, Georgia and Missouri, are using the death penalty with any regularity, though Texas has not executed anyone since April. Four e...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kids may get more of a sting from flu vaccination this fall: Doctors are gearing up to give shots only, because U.S. health officials say the easy-to-use nasal spray version of the vaccine isn't working as well as a jab. Needle-phobic adults still have some less painful options. But FluMist, with its squirt into each nostril, was the only ouch-free alternative for children, and has accounted for about a third of pediatric flu vaccinations in recent years. The problem: Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
NEW YORK (AP) — For a time, it felt like the attack that shattered America had also brought it together. After Sept. 11, signs of newfound unity seemed to well up everywhere, from the homes where American flags appeared virtually overnight to the Capitol steps where lawmakers pushed aside party lines to sing "God Bless America" together. That cohesion feels vanishingly distant as the 15th anniversary of the attacks arrives Sunday. Gallup's 15-year-old poll of Americans' national pride hit its lowest-ever point this year. In a country that n...
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — The distinct, bell-shaped mountain rising above the Sonoran Desert northwest of Tucson holds a special power, say those who've spent time here — a magnetism that draws you in, sets you apart, even if only momentarily, from a difficult world, and perhaps even heals. Named Safford Peak by early settlers, this protrusion of rock, scrub and cactus has beckoned visitors for centuries. For nearly 60 years, some of that land has been maintained as a place to hike the desert landscape, meditate, pray or just take time out from lif...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Progress in reducing the number of people without health insurance in the U.S. appears to be losing momentum this year even as rising premiums and dwindling choice are reviving the political blame game over President Barack Obama's health care law. The future of the Affordable Care Act hinges on the outcome of the presidential election, and it's shaping up as a moment of truth for Republicans. If Donald Trump wins and follows through on repealing "Obamacare," Republicans will be judged on how many people are covered — or los...
Despite widespread attention over diversity in the movie business, a new study finds that little is changing in Hollywood for women, minorities, LGBT people and others who continue to find themselves on the outside of an industry where researchers say inequality is "the norm." A report to be released Wednesday by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism offers a stark portrait of Hollywood's feeble to nonexistent progress in eradicating what...
CHICAGO (AP) — True or false: Electric fans are a cheap and effective way to stay cool during extreme heat waves. A tiny new experiment in older adults suggests the answer may not be as simple as it seems. It's an important issue, particularly for seniors and sick people, whose bodies struggle to adapt to extreme temperatures that are becoming more common as the climate changes. The results of the experiment suggest that fans may be less effective for those 60 and up than in younger people during triple-digit heat because older people don't s...
EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of pelting his former neighbor's Ohio home with eggs more than 100 times over a year has been sentenced to 18 months of probation and fined $1,000. A six-month jail sentence was suspended Tuesday for 31-year-old Jason Kozan. He was sentenced less than a week after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of inducing panic. Vandalism and menacing charges were dropped. Defense attorney Anthony Bondra said Tuesday there's a great deal of evidence that would lead to a reasonable doubt that Kozan participated in e...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is going after an asteroid this week like never before. It's launching a spacecraft to the exotic black rock named Bennu, vacuuming up handfuls of gravel from the surface, and then in a grand finale, delivering the pay dirt all the way back to Earth. The mission will take seven years, from Thursday night's planned liftoff from Cape Canaveral to the return of the asteroid samples in 2023, and cover an incredible 4 billion miles (6 ½ billion kilometers) through space. It promises to be the biggest cosmic bo...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Older drivers may soon be traveling a safer road thanks to smarter cars that can detect oncoming traffic, steer clear of trouble and even hit the brakes when a collision appears imminent. A few of these innovations, such as blind-spot warning systems, are already built in or offered as optional features in some vehicles, primarily in more expensive models. But more revolutionary breakthroughs are expected in the next few years, when measures such as robotic braking systems are supposed to become standard features in all c...
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Whether it's the pleasant greeting when you slide into the driver's seat or a loud, annoying beep that warns you of an imminent crash, there's science behind the noises that your car makes. Nearly all automakers have engineers and others assigned to special groups that make sure musical greeting sounds are pleasant and that warnings like forward collision alert are so annoying they get a driver's attention fast. "It's critical," said Sean DeGennaro, a vehicle harmony engineer at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Michigan. "...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Apple shows off its latest iPhone on Wednesday, it will answer a question it hasn't had to address in years: "What's it putting in the box?" (Besides the iPhone itself, that is.) The iPhone has traditionally shipped with a pair of Apple's iconic earbuds, made famous in early advertising for the iPod music player. But tech analysts and industry bloggers, citing leaks from Apple's Asian suppliers, say it looks like the tech giant has decided to do away with the analog headphone jack in the next iPhone. That means the e...
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Consider Waukegan and Stevenson, two Illinois school districts separated by 20 miles — and an enormous financial gulf. Stevenson, mostly white, is flush with resources. The high school has five different spaces for theater performances, two gyms, an Olympic-size pool and an espresso bar. Meanwhile Waukegan, with its mostly minority student body, is struggling. At one school, the band is forced to practice in a hallway, and as many as 28 students share a single computer. Last year, Stevenson spent close to $18,800 per stu...
