Despite virus surge, Arizona governor won’t require masks
PHOENIX — Coronavirus infections are surging in Arizona. Hospitalizations are increasing and more people are dying since the state relaxed stay-at-home orders last month. But in one of the nation’s COVID-19 hot spots, Gov. Doug Ducey is not requiring residents of the Grand Canyon state to wear masks in public,...
Atlanta police chief resigns after black man killed in struggle
ATLANTA — Atlanta’s police chief resigned Saturday, less than 24 hours after a black man was killed by an Atlanta officer in a struggle following a field sobriety test. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced during a news conference that she had accepted the resignation of police Chief Erika Shields....
More global protests emerge over racism, police actions
Far-right activists scuffled with police and other protesters Saturday in London and Paris as more demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter unfolded across Europe. In the U.S., a police shooting drew people to the scene where a man was killed outside an Atlanta fast-food restaurant. Tensions were high in...
Bill making sale of ‘to-go’ cocktails permanent advanced by Ohio House
A bill passed in the Ohio House on Wednesday would make sales of to-go alcoholic beverages permanently legal in the state. According to Cleveland’s NBC-affiliate WKYC-TV, House Bill 669 was approved by Ohio legislators with by vote of 84-8. The bill now heads to the state Senate for a vote....
Bars reopening in New Orleans. Will tourists come?
NEW ORLEANS — Bar owners in New Orleans prepared for a soft opening, and an uncertain one, as they prepared to let customers in Saturday for the first time in months. Capacity is limited to 25 percent, live music remains prohibited, and nobody knows how many tourists will show on...
Mississippi faces reckoning on Confederate emblem in flag
JACKSON, Miss. — The young activists who launched a protest movement after George Floyd’s death are bringing fresh energy to a long-simmering debate about the Confederate battle emblem that white supremacists embedded within the Mississippi state flag more than 125 years ago. Anti-racism protests have toppled Confederate statues and monuments...
Trump reschedules his Tulsa Juneteenth speech
President Donald Trump pushed back by one day a rally planned in Oklahoma next week so it won’t fall on Juneteenth, the day seen as marking the end of slavery in America. “We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th — a big deal,” Trump...
Police: Man turned away from Texas bar shoots, wounds 8
SAN ANTONIO — A man who was turned away from a bar in San Antonio shot and wounded at least eight people in the parking lot late Friday, police said. Police were searching for the gunman, who fled the scene Friday night, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said at...
William Sessions, FBI head fired by President Clinton, dies
SAN ANTONIO — William S. Sessions, a former federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan to head the FBI and fired years later by President Bill Clinton, died Friday at his San Antonio home. He was 90. Sessions died of natural causes not related to the novel coronavirus, said his...
With the search for 2 kids at an end, an Idaho community mourns
BOISE, Idaho — Within a few hours, a garden of mementos grew outside the rural crime scene. Pinwheels, flowers and stuffed animals dotted a fence near where police found remains believed to belong to two children in a bizarre case that has captured attention around the world. For police, the...
Firefighters grapple with triple-digit heat against wildfire
TUCSON, Ariz. — Hundreds of Arizona residents under an evacuation notice were allowed to return home Friday but were told to remain ready to leave at a moment’s notice as a wildfire burns in a national forest near Tucson. Firefighters are trying to keep the blaze in canyons and ridges...
New York governor signs police accountability legislation
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law on Friday a sweeping package of police accountability measures that received new backing following protests of George Floyd’s killing, including one allowing the release of officers’ long-withheld disciplinary records. The measures were approved this week by the state’s Democratic-led...
Biden’s VP list narrows: Warren, Harris, Susan Rice, others
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention. Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden’s search committee has narrowed the choices to as few as...
Trump administration revokes transgender health protection
Washington — In a move applauded by President Trump’s conservative religious base, his administration Friday finalized a rule that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. The Department of Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections “according to the plain meaning...
Judge: Seattle cops must stop using tear gas, pepper spray, flash bangs on peaceful protesters
SEATTLE — A U.S. judge Friday ordered Seattle police to temporarily halt using tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang devices to break up peaceful protests. The city, long known as liberal with a lengthy history of protests, has been taking hits from all sides including protesters, some city officials, the...
Racist violence in Jacksonville’s past complicates Republican convention
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When Republicans descend on Jacksonville, Fla., to officially renominate President Trump for a second term, it will be a well-choreographed affair awash in red, white and blue and unfold amid the backdrop of a military town, a bastion of conservatism and a must-win battleground state. But the...
‘Soft opening’ for census door knocking to begin next month
ORLANDO, Fla. — Door knocking by census takers at the homes of people who haven’t yet responded to the 2020 census is scheduled to start next month with a “soft launch,” while a previously postponed count of the homeless will take place in September, U.S. Census Bureau officials said Friday....
Minnesota Senate GOP to block most policing overhaul plans
MINNEAPOLIS — Key Republican lawmakers in Minnesota said Friday they’ll block most of the ambitious changes Democrats want to make to policing in the state where George Floyd died and that they plan to approve only a limited set of police accountability measures. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and the...
Book: First lady delayed move to DC to get new prenup
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump delayed her move to Washington after President Trump became president to gain leverage in renegotiating her prenuptial agreement, according to a new book. The White House denounced the book after it became public Friday. Mary Jordan, author of the book “The Art of Her...
Trump may be stuck with GOP platform that attacks his predecessor
President Trump said Friday he wants “a new and updated” Republican Party platform after the Republican National Committee voted this week to carry over the 2016 document. But Trump may be stuck with the old platform, which is peppered with jeremiads about the “current administration” that were originally written about...
Court appears reluctant to order dismissal of Flynn case
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court appears skeptical of arguments it should order the dismissal of the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn despite a Justice Department bid to abandon the prosecution. Two of the three judges on the panel repeatedly signaled during arguments Friday...
Police reform measures to get hearing in Pennsylvania Senate
A bill that called for sweeping reforms in police hiring and training following the 2018 police shooting of 17 year-old Antwon Rose II in East Pittsburgh is among police reform measures that will go before a joint hearing of the state Senate Law and Justice and Judiciary committees Tuesday. Senate...
Police disciplinary records are largely kept secret in U.S.
PHILADELPHIA — Officer Derek Chauvin had more than a dozen misconduct complaints against him before he put his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Daniel Pantaleo, the New York City officer who seized Eric Garner in a deadly chokehold, had eight. Ryan Pownall, a Philadelphia officer facing murder charges in the...
Poll: Americans maintain virus precautions as states reopen
WASHINGTON — Most Americans say they are wearing masks. They are still by and large avoiding restaurants. And the vast majority are still staying at least six feet from others when out and about. Even as states and metropolitan areas throughout the country relax restrictions on social and economic life...
Pennsylvania reports 686 more covid-19 cases, 49 more deaths
Pennsylvania officials on Friday reported 49 more covid-19 deaths and 686 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 77,999, according to health officials. A total of 6,162 people have died from the virus. Approximately 5,931 of the total cases are in health care workers. There are 629...
