AP-National

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will raise the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour over the next decade under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday. The new law is the second minimum wage increase Newsom has signed. Last month, he signed a law

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has ruled that county political maps in the home of Juneteenth discriminate against Black and Latino residents. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown on Friday order Galveston County to redraw the maps. The ruling adds to victories voting rights groups have

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lexi Thompson looked to be on the verge of becoming the first woman in 78 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour. Two late bogeys stopped her. She missed a 6-foot birdie chance at the end and the 28-year-old American shot 69 in the Shriners Children’s Open. She wound

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press The New York attorney general’s office says police officers in an upstate town will not face criminal charges in connection with the death of a man who doused himself with hand sanitizer and caught on fire when one of the officers shot a stun gun at him. Jason Jones was

BUENA PARK, Calif. (AP) — An ammonia leak at a Southern California business has sent 11 people to the hospital. The Orange County Fire Authority says the leak was reported shortly before 9:15 a.m. Friday in a commercial building in Buena Park. The building was evacuated and 12 people were decontaminated. Eleven were sent to

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ordered an attempted murder trial for a New Mexico man in the September shooting of a Native American activist. The shooting occurred amid confrontations about aborted plans to reinstall a statue of a Spanish conquistador outside government offices in northern New Mexico.

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge in Montana is continuing to block enforcement of a law that puts restrictions on drag shows and bans drag reading events in public schools and libraries. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris said the law targets free speech and expression and that

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The University of Notre Dame has announced the Rev. John Jenkins will give up the school’s presidency at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year to return to teaching and ministry. Jenkins, the university’s 17th president, has led the school since 2005. He said Friday that serving as Notre Dame’s

By AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press A Montana man who was mauled by a grizzly bear that bit off the front of his lower jaw is ready to return home after five weeks in a Utah hospital, a physician and his family said Friday during a news conference. Rudy Noorlander, who answered most questions at

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — The toll of heat-associated deaths in Arizona’s most populous county has now soared over 360. The deaths are still being tallied after the area’s hottest summer on record. Public health officials are alarmed. They say the final count will surely set a new record. Maricopa County is

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Court records filed Friday indicate Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance, intends to plead guilty in a federal case accusing him of trying to extort money from the missing teen’s mother. A federal judge set an Oct. 18 plea and sentencing hearing for van der

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho law restricting which bathrooms transgender students can use in schools will go into effect while a court challenge plays out. The Idaho Statesman reports Chief U.S. District Judge David Nye on Thursday denied a request to keep the law from being enforced until the lawsuit is resolved. Nye said

By ISABEL DEBRE and FATIMA SHBAIR Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Watching the pulverized alleys of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza empty of people, Naji Jamal was frozen with indecision. Should he heed the Israeli army’s demand that all Palestinians evacuate and make the risky trip to Gaza’s south, where his

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Please disregard US-Asylum-Border, published on November 7, 2023, and datelined in SAN DIEGO. The story was from Oct. 13.

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is stepping back from his pointed criticism of Israel. He said Friday he stands with the nation and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after drawing unusually pointed denouncements from his GOP rivals for lashing out at Netanyahu days after Hamas’ deadly attacks. The

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Environmentalists  are poised to return to court in an ongoing legal battle with the Biden administration over a Nevada lithium mine. Their latest argument accuses federal wildlife officials of dragging their feet on a year-old petition seeking endangered species protection for a tiny snail that lives

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Next week the U.S. military plans to begin draining fuel from World War II-era underground fuel tanks in Hawaii. Work to drain the 104 million gallons remaining in the tanks is scheduled to begin on Monday. The operation comes nearly two years after the facility sickened

MACON, Ga. (AP) — A South Carolina man previously convicted of smuggling protected turtles between the United States and Hong Kong faces new allegations of turtle-related crimes in Georgia. Bibb County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday arrested 43-year-old Steven Verren Baker of Holly Hill, South Carolina, and charged him with 15 counts of aggravated cruelty to

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A ban on electronic skill games in Virgnia went back into effect Friday after the state Supreme Court vacated an injunction that had let thousands of the games remain in gas stations, bars and conveniece stores. The injunction was issued by a lower court in an ongoing lawsuit that argues the