News

By TERRY WALLACE Associated Press The electric utility Griddy Energy has reached a settlement with Texas state officials over crushing electric bills its customers received after the deadly February winter storm and cold wave. The Texas Attorney General’s Office announced the settlement Monday, having sued Griddy after customers received bills totaling many thousands of dollars.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A storied New Orleans jazz site where a young Louis Armstrong once worked toppled when Ida blew through Louisiana as one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. The Karnofsky Tailor Shop where a young Louis Armstrong worked collapsed Sunday during the storm. The National Park Service says

By MARK PRATT Associated Press A civil rights group is calling for reform at a Massachusetts children’s summer camp on the affluent vacation resort of Martha’s Vineyard where a white child placed a strap around the neck of a Black camper. The incident involving 8- and 9-year-old boys occurred late last month at the Chilmark

By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and JEFF AMY Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The levees, floodwalls and floodgates that protect New Orleans held up against Hurricane Ida’s fury, but costly upgrades to the city’s flood protection system couldn’t spare some neighboring communities from the rising water. Ida was the toughest test for New Orleans

By MELINDA DESLATTE and RUSS BYNUM Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana hospitals in Hurricane Ida’s path have been forced to evacuate dozens of patients after the storm tore away parts of their roofs, sent water leaking inside and left facilities relying on generator power. Gov. John Bel Edwards said members of the

By DAVID FISCHER Associated Press MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Officials with a South Florida museum are collecting the photos, notes and other personal items that make up a memorial wall near the site of the deadly building collapse that killed 98 people. A group from HistoryMiami Museum was working Monday near the Champlain Towers

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Disability rights groups and parents of children with disabilities want an immediate halt to a South Carolina law banning school districts from requiring face masks. The groups and parents last week filed for a temporary restraining order blocking the law from being enforced, while their lawsuit challenging the measure proceeds.

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge is considering claims that a new Florida law designed to deter violent public demonstrations is instead unconstitutionally chilling free speech and legitimate rights to protest. Attorneys for several organizations challenging the law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis asked U.S.