AP National News

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor says an autopsy’s finding that the death of a Black teen in custody at a juvenile center was a homicide doesn’t necessarily mean the center’s employees committed any crimes. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett will decide whether to file charges over the

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York police captain Eric Adams will take his oath of office in Times Square in the wee hours of New Year’s Day, becoming the second Black mayor of the nation’s most populous city. The mayor-elect announced Wednesday he’ll hold his swearing-in ceremony shortly

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. government has approved California’s overhaul of the nation’s largest insurance program for low-income and disabled residents. The decision among other things allows Medicaid money to be spent on housing-related services as the most populous state struggles with homelessness and a lack of affordable housing.

By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict announced Wednesday capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. Jurors

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Wall Street ended another wobbly day mostly higher Wednesday, enough for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to notch record highs. The benchmark index edged up 0.1%, the Dow rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%. Retailers and companies reliant on consumer spending were among the better

MILL SHOALS, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a person is in custody in connection with the shooting death of an eastern Illinois deputy and a carjacking in Missouri. Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle said the person was arrested Wednesday afternoon in a home near Carlyle, Illinois, a Clinton County town about 45 miles

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The third-generation editor and publisher of a historic Black newspaper in North Carolina and a driving force behind the pardons of the Wilmington 10 has died. Mary Alice Jervay Thatch was 78. Cousin Paul R. Jervay Jr., said Thatch died Tuesday. Thatch was the daughter of The Wilmington Journal publisher Thomas

By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite charged with recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by the financier Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict is expected to be announced shortly in the New York

GARLAND, Texas (AP) — Dallas-area police have charged a 14-year-old with capital murder in a triple killing at a gas station and are warning that the boy is at large, armed and dangerous. Detectives in Garland are seeking Abel Elias Acosta and said Wednesday that they have evidence showing he was the gunman who left

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas isn’t canceling or scaling back plans for big New Year’s gatherings amid concerns about the rapid spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Regional public safety and elected leaders said Wednesday they expect more than 300,000 visitors in town for events including a New

By KEVIN FREKING, LAURIE KELLMAN and KEN RITTER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents and former colleagues are lauding longtime Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who died Tuesday. They cite a political legacy that included an expansion of health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. The Nevada Democrat also helped secure an economic aid package

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Wall Street ended another wobbly day mostly higher, enough for the S&P 500 to notch another record high. The benchmark index edged up 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%. Retailers and companies reliant on consumer spending were among the better performers coming

NEW YORK (AP) — A surge of coronavirus cases in New York has forced the postponement of another signature event, the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show. The show announced Wednesday it has postponed its 146th annual event to have been contested in late January. The announcement didn’t give a new date for the show

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Biden administration has affirmed a Trump administration interpretation of high-level radioactive waste that is based on the waste’s radioactivity rather than how it was produced. The U.S. Department of Energy announcement last week means some radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production stored for decades in

ENNIS, Mont. (AP) — Firefighters faced cold temperatures that caused their equipment to ice up as they battled a fire in a four-unit apartment building in the southwestern Montana town of Ennis. Madison County officials say the fire was reported at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday by a resident of one of the apartments. The Madisonian newspaper

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say a Los Angeles business manager whose clients had included Nicki Minaj and the Kardashians has been killed, and her boyfriend has been charged with murder and torture. Police say they found 55-year-old Angela Kukawski dead in her car on Dec. 23. Authorities say her 49-year-old boyfriend, Jason Barker, was

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Supporters of Donald Trump are trying to remove some of the guardrails that stopped him from overturning the 2020 presidential election. Trump is targeting closely contested states where key Republicans refused to go along with his plans to declare that he defeated Democrat Joe Biden in the White House race.

CHICAGO (AP) — Two Chicago men have been charged in a shooting at a suburban Chicago shopping mall that wounded four bystanders and sent thousands of last-minute Christmas shoppers running for cover last week. Thirty-two-year-old Tyran Williams and 29-year-old Steve Lane face multiple felonies, including aggravated discharge of a firearm, in the Dec. 23 shootout