3M agrees to pay $6 billion to settle earplug lawsuits from U.S. service members
NEW YORK — Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle numerous lawsuits from U.S. service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company. The settlement, consisting of $5 billion in cash and...
The math problem: Kids are still behind. How can schools catch them up?
On a breezy July morning in South Seattle, a dozen elementary-aged students ran math relays behind an elementary school. One by one, they raced to a table, where they scribbled answers to multiplication questions before sprinting back to high-five their teammate. These students are part of a summer program run...
Massive wildfire in northeastern Greece persists for 11th day despite European firefighting efforts
ATHENS, Greece — A massive wildfire was burning unabated in northeastern Greece for the 11th day Tuesday despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of water-dropping aircraft from Greece and several of its European Union partners. After burning across vast tracts of land, the blaze in the...
See which drugs President Biden is targeting for Medicare price-lowering talks
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is targeting the blood thinner Eliquis, diabetes treatment Jardiance and eight other medications for Medicare’s first-ever drug price negotiations as it seeks to lower medical costs for Americans. The administration on Tuesday released a list of the 10 drugs for which prices will be negotiated...
Another alligator on the loose — this time in New Jersey
Less than a month after an alligator was pulled out of the Kiski River, authorities in New Jersey are searching waterways there after confirmed reports of an alligator of their own. Police in Middlesex, about 40 miles southwest of New York City, reported Monday that an officer shot at the...
Conservative groups draw up plan to dismantle U.S. government and replace it with Trump’s vision
WASHINGTON — With more than a year to go before the 2024 election, a constellation of conservative organizations is preparing for a possible second White House term for Donald Trump, recruiting thousands of Americans to come to Washington on a mission to dismantle the federal government and replace it with...
UNC Chapel Hill shooting suspect’s motive in the killing of a faculty member is unclear, police say
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Police were searching for both the weapon and the motive in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that left one faculty member dead and prompted an hourslong lockdown amid a search for the suspect. The assailant in Monday afternoon’s shooting at...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faces Black leaders’ anger after racist killings in Jacksonville
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring warning Black people to use “extreme care” if traveling to Florida. The leading civil rights group argued that the state’s loose gun laws and the Republican governor’s “anti-woke” campaign to deny the existence of systemic...
HBCU president lauds students, officer for stopping Jacksonville killer before racist store attack
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A campus security officer tipped off by observant students likely stopped the killer who fatally shot three people at a nearby Dollar General Store from carrying out his racist attack at Edward Waters University, the president of the historically Black institution said Monday. Students reported seeing a...
Category 4 Hurricane Idalia projected to hit Florida with ‘catastrophic’ storm surgeVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Hurricane Idalia strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 storm Wednesday morning as it steamed toward Florida’s Big Bend region and threatened to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall. Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas were ordered to pack up and leave as Hurricane Idalia gained strength...
WVU President E. Gordon Gee defends cuts, despite growing dissent and potential no-confidence vote
E. Gordon Gee says he’s not afraid to walk the campus of West Virginia University these days, unpopular president or not. “I am not someone who has fear,” he said. ”What I do fear is whether or not I’m doing the right thing, especially in the golden years of my...
Trump chief of staff Meadows denies 2 allegations in Georgia indictment as he takes witness stand
ATLANTA — Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows took the witness stand at a hearing Monday to deny two of the allegations made against him in a Georgia indictment accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Meadows, who was charged this month...
Joe the Plumber, who questioned Obama’s tax proposals during the 2008 campaign, dies at 49
TOLEDO, Ohio — Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, who was thrust into the political spotlight as “Joe the Plumber” after questioning Barack Obama about his economic proposals during the 2008 presidential campaign, and who later forayed into politics himself, has died, his son said Monday. He was 49. His oldest son, Joey...
State troopers no longer need college credits, Gov. Shapiro administration announces
The Pennsylvania State Police has removed college credit requirements for cadets, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday, with the hope of opening up state police careers to a wider pool of candidates and alleviating the slowdown in applicants the agency is seeing. Shapiro, along with State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris...
Trump gets March 4 trial date in federal case over efforts to overturn 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump will face trial on March 4, 2024, for four felony charges related to his alleged efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election. That means jury selection would begin a day before Super Tuesday on March 5, when California, Texas and...
Florida governor declares widespread state of emergency ahead of Idalia’s expected landfallVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges. As the state prepared, Idalia thrashed Cuba...
Faculty member shot and killed in a campus building, says University of North Carolina officialVideo
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A University of North Carolina faculty member was shot and killed in a campus building, officials said Monday. A suspect was arrested about an hour and a half after shots were reported, UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a news conference. Students and faculty at...
American Airlines fined $4.1 million for dozens of long tarmac delays that trapped passengers
DALLAS — The federal government is fining American Airlines $4.1 million for dozens of instances in which passengers were kept on board planes without a chance to exit during long ground delays. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday it is the largest such fine against an airline since rules...
Police in Ohio fatally shot a pregnant shoplifting suspect
BLENDON, Ohio — Police in a Columbus suburb fatally shot a pregnant woman in an Ohio supermarket parking lot after she accelerated her car toward an officer, police officials said. Ta’Kiya Young, 21, of Columbus, died Thursday evening in Blendon. A supermarket employee told officers who were at the store...
Trump and 18 others charged in Georgia election case scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 6
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. All 19 defendants, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani...
Union leaders defend historic and controversial Pa. state employee contracts
The labor contracts recently ratified by two of Pennsylvania’s largest state government employee unions have been described as historic for the size of wage increases they grant over four years. Leaders of both unions see the 22.1 % pay increases when compounded over the life of the contracts — the...
Poll: Biden widely seen as too old for office, but Trump has other problems
WASHINGTON — Americans actually agree on something in this time of raw discord: Joe Biden is too old to be an effective president in a second term. Only a few years his junior, Donald Trump raises strikingly less concern about his age. But they have plenty of other problems with...
Jacksonville killings refocus attention on city’s racist past and the struggle to move on
By some measures, the city was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people Saturday by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism continue to fester in Jacksonville, Florida. What happened in Jacksonville, said longtime...
Pope says ‘backward’ U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
ROME — Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time. Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which...
Evacuation order finds few followers in northeastern Ukraine despite Russia’s push in region
KUPIANSK, Ukraine — The thunder of mortar fire echoes in the distance as 5-year old David approaches his mother with an innocent request: Can he play with the baseball bat a relative gave him as a gift? Valeria Pototska rolls her eyes and tells her son no for the umpteenth...
