Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Summer heat scorched Texas and the Southwest on Wednesday, pushing Phoenix to nearly 90 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and putting millions of people under excessive heat warnings. Meanwhile, energy demand in Texas hit an unofficial all-time high Tuesday, according to data from the state’s grid operator. A major
Continue ReadingSHREWSBURY, Vt. (AP) — A Canada lynx has been confirmed in Vermont for the first time since 2018. A Shrewsbury man says he was driving home Saturday evening when he saw the large cat walking alongside a rural road. He went home to get his cell phone, returned and recorded video of the animal, which
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A gold rush is here. The precious metal hit an all time high this week. The spot price for gold closed Tuesday above $2,514, according to data from FactSet. That’s the highest closing price recorded for the commodity to date. Here’s what you need to know. What is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MIAMI (AP) — It was a rare diplomatic gamble when the three leaders of Latin America’s largest democracies inserted themselves into the high-stakes standoff between Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and his opponents over who won the country’s presidential election. The presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico broke from decades of hands-off diplomacy toward Venezuela
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TORONTO (AP) — Both of Canada’s major freight railroads have come to a full stop because of a contract dispute with their workers, an impasse that could bring significant economic harm to businesses and consumers in Canada and the U.S. if the trains don’t resume running soon. Canadian National and CPKC railroads both
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a 14-term incumbent and a fixture in his hometown of Paterson for more than four decades, has died. News of his death on Wednesday was announced on his social media account and confirmed by his longtime chief of staff. Pascrell, who was
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — New York City authorities are investigating after human bones were discovered near a waterfront carousel twice this week. Police say a city parks department officer found a skull and other bones on the shoreline in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Monday motninh. A femur was found in the same spot early Wednesday.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press CHICAGO (AP) — More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched Wednesday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier and toward the arena hosting the third night of the Democratic National Convention. The demonstration, which stayed largely peaceful, came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at
Continue ReadingSTATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have indicted 23 people, most of them current and former inmates, in what authorities said Wednesday were schemes to smuggle drugs and cellphones into Georgia state prisons using drones. Indictments in two similar cases were unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court after being handed down by a grand jury
Continue ReadingAssociated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s secretary of state says independent presidential candidate Cornel West can appear on the ballot in Maine. The decision came Tuesday, about a week after the withdrawal of a challenge to another long-shot candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The presence of multiple third-party candidates on the Maine ballot is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — At his first outdoor rally since last month’s attempted assassination, Donald Trump spoke from behind bulletproof glass Wednesday in North Carolina at an event focused on national security. On politics, he called his predecessor Barack Obama “nasty” for his comments the night before at the Democratic National Convention. Trump
Continue ReadingJUNO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A rehabilitated sea turtle was released back into the Atlantic Ocean from a Florida beach Wednesday morning. Willow, a subadult loggerhead, was set free in the area behind the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, officials said. “The best part of my job is to actually come down here on
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Al Attles, a Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 NBA champion Warriors and spent more than six decades with the organization as a player, general manager and most recently team ambassador, has died. He was 87. The Warriors announced that Attles had died in his East Bay
Continue ReadingAssociated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A former babysitter pleaded guilty to manslaughter Wednesday for the 2019 death of a man she was accused of disabling as an infant 40 years ago and was sentenced to three years in prison, finally admitting that she hit him numerous times. Terry McKirchy, 62, accepted a plea
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected Republican legislators’ calls to give counselors at Wisconsin’s youth prison more leeway in controlling inmates after a counselor was killed in a fight at the facility this summer. Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes Schools has operated under a federal consent decree since 2018 that prohibits punitive
Continue ReadingSTERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — Seven anti-abortion activists have been convicted of crimes related to blocking a health clinic in suburban Detroit in 2020. The government says the seven sat or stood in front of the entrance to a clinic in Sterling Heights so that patients and employees could not enter. The seven were found
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Poland for top-level security and trade talks before heading to neighboring Ukraine, which is at war with India’s strategic partner, Russia. Modi will meet Poland’s prime minister and president for talks Thursday in Warsaw which are expected to focus on security, especially
Continue ReadingTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas mother whose 2-year-old son fatally shot his 4-year-old sister has been sentenced to life in prison. Twenty-four-year-old Mariann Belair won’t be eligible for parole until she’s served 25 years under the sentence imposed Tuesday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that jurors found her guilty in May of first-degree murder in
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported, the government said Wednesday. The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates soon. The Labor Department
Continue ReadingAssociated Press CAIRO (AP) — Key mediator Egypt expressed skepticism Wednesday about the proposal meant to bridge gaps in cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas as more details emerged a day before negotiations were expected to resume in Cairo. The challenges around the so-called bridging proposal appeared to undermine the optimism for an imminent agreement
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