Tuscon news

• Michigan governor links Trump to foiled kidnapping plot

  08-10-2020 23:59
  
  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer linked a plot to kidnap her to President Donald Trump, arguing in a speech hours after arrests were announced that Trump’s words had been a “rallying cry” for extremists. Whitmer, a Democrat, said the Thursday that Republican president has spent the last seven months of the coronavirus pandemic “denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and divis
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Pennsylvania sees most confirmed cases in months

  08-10-2020 23:52
  
  HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania reported its highest number of confirmed coronavirus infections in more than five months on Thursday, with the governor expressing concern but adding the state is in a much better position now to handle the influx than it was at the beginning of the pandemic.The Department of Health said another 1,376 people had tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, the second consecutive day that new infections rose above 1,300. Thursday’s statewide case
  
  Read more

• Trump, Barr at odds over slow pace of Durham investigation

  08-10-2020 23:49
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The relationship between President Donald Trump and top ally Attorney General William Barr is fraying over the lack of splashy indictments so far in the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. People who are familiar with the matter recounted the frictions to The Associated Press. They say Trump and his allies had high hopes for the investigation led by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, betting it would expose what they see as w
  
  Read more

• Trump still contagious? Experts say it’s impossible to know

  08-10-2020 23:46
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump says he doesn’t think he’s contagious anymore, but medical experts say that’s impossible to know a week after his COVID-19 diagnosis. Current testing methods can tell when a person has been infected with coronavirus, when their immune system kicks in, and when the virus is cleared. But there’s no test to tell, definitely, when someone is no longer contagious. Guidelines recommend staying in isolation for at least 10 days after
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Airbnb requires hosts to commit to enhanced cleaning

  08-10-2020 23:39
  
  Airbnb says it will require hosts to comply with enhanced cleaning procedures. It part of a company effort to reassure guests and local officials during the coronavirus pandemic. The home-sharing company said hosts have until Nov. 20 to commit to the cleaning protocols. That includes scrubbing floors and other surfaces with soap and water; washing linens on high heat; disinfecting high-touch items like door knobs; and ventilating rooms. Hosts who don’t comply may be suspended or removed fr
  
  Read more

• Family of woman mistakenly declared dead sues Michigan city

  08-10-2020 23:38
  
  SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — The family of a suburban Detroit woman who was found to be alive after being pronounced dead is suing a suburban Detroit community and four of its first responders for $50 million. A federal lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of 20-year-old Timesha Beauchamp. Beauchamp has cerebral palsy. Her family called 911 on Aug. 23 because of what appeared to be serious breathing problems. A doctor who didn’t attend the scene pronounc
  
  Read more

• Transgender woman beaten, stabbed in Puerto Rico

  08-10-2020 23:36
  
  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A transgender woman in Puerto Rico has been hospitalized after police said she was stabbed and violently beaten in the latest case involving a member of the U.S. territory’s LGBTQ community. Authorities issued a statement saying 33-year-old Nicole López told police that the incident occurred after she got into an argument with several people in her home early Thursday. No further details were provided.López’s friends told WAPA TV that
  
  Read more

• Slain Black man’s family vows legal fight against police

  08-10-2020 23:27
  
  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The family of a Black teen killed by a Wisconsin police officer is vowing to keep fighting after a prosecutor declined to file charges in the case. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm on Wednesday cleared Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah of criminal wrongdoing in Alvin Cole’s death in February. Cole is the third person Mensah has killed since he joined the Wauwatosa department in 2015. Attorney Kimberley Motley represents Cole’s family. S
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Officials: 2 Cuban doctors held hostage in Somalia not freed

  08-10-2020 23:25
  
  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The foreign ministers of Cuba and Somalia say two Cuban doctors held hostage by the al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia have not been freed. Somalia’s foreign minister Ahmed Isse Awad told local media that “they’ve not yet been released but we have higher hope in that.” Cuba’s foreign ministry said “huge efforts” were being made to ensure their release. The Associated Press on Wednesday erroneously reported that the docto
  
  Read more

• California Democrat in Congress tests positive for COVID-19

  08-10-2020 23:23
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rep. Salud Carbajal of California says he tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into passing contact with Utah Sen. Mike Lee. The Santa Barbara Democrat said in a statement that he sought a test after he learned he was exposed to someone who had coronavirus. A spokesman for Carbajal says the congressman interacted with Lee in passing a couple of times last week. Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Lee, says the two men live next door to each other in the same buil
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Hurricane Delta regains Category 3 strength

  08-10-2020 23:22
  
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Delta (all times CDT):4 p.m.
  BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards called on southwest Louisiana residents still reeling from the late August destruction of Hurricane Laura to ready for Hurricane Delta, which has strengthened back into a Category 3 storm and is expected to hit the state Friday.
  “It is very clear that southwest Louisiana’s going to take more of a punch from this than we would like to see for sure,” the go
  
  Read more

• Texas officer charged in Black man’s fatal shooting fired

  08-10-2020 23:18
  
  DALLAS (AP) — A white police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a small East Texas city has been fired. A statement Thursday from the City of Wolfe City said Officer Shaun Lucas, who is 22, was fired for “his egregious violation” of city and police department policy. The city of about 1,500 people is located northeast of Dallas. Jonathan Price, who was 31, was killed over the weekend after Lucas arrived at a convenience store to check out a repo
  
  Read more

• National Hurricane Center: Delta regains major hurricane strength over western Gulf, packing sustained 115-mph winds

  08-10-2020 23:17
  
  MIAMI (AP) — National Hurricane Center: Delta regains major hurricane strength over western Gulf, packing sustained 115-mph winds.The post National Hurricane Center: Delta regains major hurricane strength over western Gulf, packing sustained 115-mph winds appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• A white police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a small Texas city has been fired.

  08-10-2020 23:14
  
  DALLAS (AP) — A white police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a small Texas city has been fired.The post A white police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a small Texas city has been fired. appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Louisiana Gov. extends coronavirus restrictions

  08-10-2020 23:08
  
  BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday he’s keeping Louisiana’s current coronavirus restrictions on businesses and activities in place for another month, even though those rules have provoked the ire of Republican lawmakers who convened a special session hoping to undo many or all of them.
  At a news briefing focused mainly on the impending arrival of Hurricane Delta, the Democratic governor announced he’s renewed the terms of his pandemic emergency order w
  
  Read more

• In 25th Amendment bid, Pelosi mulls Trump’s fitness to serve

  08-10-2020 23:08
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is questioning President Donald Trump’s fitness to serve. And she’s announced legislation that would create a commission to allow Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and to remove the president from executive duties. Pelosi says Trump needs to disclose more about his health after his COVID-19 diagnosis. The president quickly answered back on Twitter, saying that “Crazy Nancy is the one who should
  
  Read more

• Correction: Somalia-Cuban Doctors Freed story

  08-10-2020 23:04
  
  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — In a story October 7, 2020, about Cuban hostages in Somalia, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the hostages had been freed. The AP relied on sources who later said they had been wrong.The post Correction: Somalia-Cuban Doctors Freed story appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• Driverless Car Service Coming to Phoenix

  08-10-2020 23:00
  
  As of Monday, Oct. 8, tech company Waymo is publicly offering a self-driving car service in the Phoenix area. Waymo—formerly the Google self-driving car project—is opening up their fully driverless car service on their app, which allows Waymo One users to take friends and family along on their rides.
  Waymo has already been facilitating driverless rides throughout 2020 to a select group under an NDA, but are now public with their plans to expand.…
  
  Read more

• ‘This is not a bad dream’: New hurricane menaces Louisiana

  08-10-2020 22:59
  
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana residents are confronting the menace of a new hurricane weeks after one battered their communities. They received stark warnings on Thursday to brace for winds that could turn debris into missiles and to use the remaining hours before the storm strikes to take necessary emergency precautions. Forecasts showed Hurricane Delta bearing down on the state carrying winds of up to 105 mph (169 kph) and delivering a storm surge of up to 11 feet (3.4 meters) when it arr
  
  Read more

• COVID-19 relief pushes U.S. budget deficit to a record $3.1T

  08-10-2020 22:27
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — New, eye-popping federal budget figures show an enormous $3.1 trillion deficit in the just-completed fiscal year, a record swelled by coronavirus relief spending that pushed the tally of red ink to three times that of last year. The Congressional Budget Office says the deficit equaled 15% of the U.S. economy, a huge gap that was the largest since the government undertook massive borrowing to finance the final year of World War II. The government borrowed 48 cents of every
  
  Read more

• Correction: Nobel-Chemistry story

  08-10-2020 22:23
  
  STOCKHOLM (AP) — In a story October 7, 2020, about the Nobel Prize in chemistry, The Associated Press erroneously described the aim of clinical trials that are underway with the gene-editing tool CRISPR. The more than 100 trials relate to various kinds of diseases, not just inherited diseases. The AP also misidentified the group for which Luis Echegoyen serves as president. It is the American Chemical Society, not the American Chemistry Society.The post Correction: Nobel-Chemistry story ap
  
  Read more

• Mali: 3 European hostages, 1 Malian politician freed

  08-10-2020 22:18
  
  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The Malian government says a total of four hostages have been freed by al-Qaida-linked militants and are now on a plane flying to the capital of Bamako. Prominent politician Soumaila Cisse and French aid worker Sophie Petronin departed the northern town of Tessalit just before 7 p.m. local, according to Adam Thiam. A government state says they were joined by two Italian nationals Pierluigi Maccalli and Nicola Ciacco. While relatives of the first two said they had been n
  
  Read more

• Malian government statement says 2 Italian hostages held by Islamic extremists also have been freed

  08-10-2020 22:13
  
  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian government statement says 2 Italian hostages held by Islamic extremists also have been freed.The post Malian government statement says 2 Italian hostages held by Islamic extremists also have been freed appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• Jim Dwyer, longtime chronicler of New York City, dies at 63

  08-10-2020 22:06
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — News reporter and columnist Jim Dwyer has died at age 63 after almost four decades of telling New York City’s stories. New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet says Dwyer died Thursday at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan of complications from lung cancer. Dwyer had worked at the Times since 2001. The New York City native also spent time at New York Newsday and the Daily News. He won two Pulitzer Prizes while at Newsday for commentary and spot new
  
  Read more

• Get Your Crescent Ballroom Voter Guide Today!

  08-10-2020 22:00
  
  Although in-person concert venues remain silent during the pandemic, downtown Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom is reverberating with information this election season.…
  
  Read more

• House calls bring Jewish tradition of Sukkot to the isolated

  08-10-2020 21:59
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — In an effort to bring the traditions of Sukkot, the weeklong fall holiday commemorating God’s miraculous protection of the Jewish people in the desert, to the Jewish community of Queens, Rabbi Eli Blokh constructed a mobile sukkah in the back of a bright red truck. He then began making house calls to individuals who are isolated due to the coronavirus. Homebound Holocaust survivor, Leon Sherman, was one of those people. “He was really excited that we came and re
  
  Read more

• For 3rd time, groups seek end to Trump order on House seats

  08-10-2020 21:59
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — For the third time in two months, civil rights groups and state and local governments are asking judges to strike down a directive from President Donald Trump that would exclude people living in the U.S. illegally from being counted when deciding how many congressional seats each state gets. The coalition of groups called Thursday on federal judges in California to rule that Trump’s order was illegal. The grops claim the order discriminates against people based o
  
  Read more

• Mali: 2 hostages freed by extremists on plane to capital

  08-10-2020 21:57
  
  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s presidential spokesman say two hostages freed by al-Qaida-linked militants are now on a plane flying to the capital of Bamako. Prominent politician Soumaila Cisse and French aid worker Sophie Petronin departed the northern town of Tessalit just before 7 p.m. local, according to Adam Thiam. The flight to Bamako is expected to take about 2 1/2 hours. The French Embassy in Bamako’s Twitter account shared the news, adding: “AT LAST!” The hosta
  
  Read more

• Volleyball’s Beard Bros go from beach to ‘Amazing Race’

  08-10-2020 21:46
  
  Riley and Maddison McKibbin traveled around the world three times last year while playing professional volleyball. That didn’t really prepare the brothers from Hermosa Beach, California, for what they faced as contestants on “The Amazing Race.” The siblings known as “The Beard Bros” will appear on the 32nd season of the travel challenge reality show, which premieres Oct. 14. The show was taped in 2018 and was originally scheduled to air in May, but that was delayed
  
  Read more

• Murray, Cardinals look to snap mini-skid against 0-4 Jets

  08-10-2020 21:41
  
  EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals want to feel the way they did a few weeks ago. That was back when they were about to open the season with two straight wins. Coming off consecutive losses, they knew they needed to change their approach this week when they returned to the practice field. The 2-2 Cardinals are heading to MetLife Stadium on Sunday, looking to end a mini-slump. And they’ll be facing the winless and 0-4 New York Jets, who are trying to a
  
  Read more

• USDA head cited for breaking law by backing Trump reelection

  08-10-2020 21:36
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal watchdog agency has concluded that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated federal law in advocating for the reelection of President Donald Trump during an August visit to North Carolina. The Office of Special Counsel called on him to reimburse the government for costs associated with his participation in the event. The Hatch Act prevents federal employees from engaging in political activities while they are on the job. The Trump White House has been dismiss
  
  Read more

• Military blindsided by Trump’s new Afghan troop withdrawal

  08-10-2020 21:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military was blindsided Thursday by President Donald Trump’s new assertion that all U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by the end of the year. U.S. officials say they are not aware of such a plan and have gotten no actual order to accelerate the more gradual pullout they’ve been executing. Trump’s comments, laid out in a confusing progression of comments and a tweet, alarmed Pentagon and State officials who fear that putting a definitive dat
  
  Read more

• Mali presidency: 2 freed hostages on plane to capital

  08-10-2020 21:27
  
  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s presidential spokesman say two hostages freed by al-Qaida-linked militants are now on a plane flying to the capital of Bamako. Prominent politician Soumaila Cisse and French aid worker Sophie Petronin departed the northern town of Tessalit just before 7 p.m. local Thursday, according to Malian presidential spokesman Adam Thiam. Relatives already had been notified of their release but fears were mounting as the hours passed without sight of them. The flight
  
  Read more

• Bill Cosby appeal set for Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania high court

  08-10-2020 21:21
  
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear actor Bill Cosby’s appeal of his felony sex assault conviction on December 1. The 83-year-old Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term at a state prison near Philadelphia. A lower appeals court had upheld his 2018 conviction. But the state’s high court agreed this year to review two key issues in the case. One involves the trial judge’s decision to let prosecutors call five other accusers to testify.
  
  Read more

• Mali presidency: Local politician, French aid worker freed by jihadists now on plane headed to Bamako

  08-10-2020 21:20
  
  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali presidency: Local politician, French aid worker freed by jihadists now on plane headed to Bamako.The post Mali presidency: Local politician, French aid worker freed by jihadists now on plane headed to Bamako appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• Navajo Nation reports 27 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths

  08-10-2020 21:16
  
  WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation health officials report 27 new cases of COVID-19 with two additional deaths. The latest numbers released Wednesday night bring the total number of cases to 10,546 including 18 additional cases that were previously unreported due to delayed reporting or reconciliation.  The death toll now stands at 562 since the pandemic began. Tribal health officials say 110,405 people on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah hav
  
  Read more

• Texas AG taps investigator tied to donor’s defense attorney

  08-10-2020 21:14
  
  DALLAS (AP) — The lawyer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hired to investigate a political donor’s claims of wrongdoing by the FBI has no prosecutorial experience and has ties to the donor’s defense attorney. Paxton’s hiring of an “outside independent prosecutor” to probe developer Nate Paul’s claims led Paxton’s top deputies to accuse him of bribery and abuse of office. Paul gave Paxton’s 2018 campaign $25,000. Paxton hired Brandon Cammack
  
  Read more

• Michigan governor: Men who sought to kidnap her are ‘sick and depraved’

  08-10-2020 21:07
  
  LANSING, Mich (AP) — Michigan governor: Men who sought to kidnap her are ‘sick and depraved.’The post Michigan governor: Men who sought to kidnap her are ‘sick and depraved’ appeared first on KVOA.
  
  Read more

• Some worried Democrats have 2nd thoughts on voting by mail

  08-10-2020 21:03
  
  Some Democrats are flinching at their commitment to voting by mail. That could create more chaos on Election Day because if voters request absentee ballots and try to vote in person, it can take extra time to record and count their vote. Election officials are already bracing for a challenging day because of transitioning to mail voting and having to keep poll workers and voters safe from the coronavirus. The hesitancy frustrates some Democrats who argue that the party’s voters are letting
  
  Read more

• The Latest: DC health dept asks WH attendees to get tested

  08-10-2020 21:01
  
  WASHINGTON — The Washington D.C. Department of Health has released an open letter appealing to all White House staff and those attending a Sept. 26 event in the Rose Garden to seek medical advice and take a coronavirus test.The letter indicates a lack of confidence in the White House medical team’s contact tracing efforts for the virus outbreak that infected President Donald Trump, multiple senior staff members and two U.S. senators, among others.Co-signed by nine other local health
  
  Read more

• Learn Who's Running for Three Empty Seats on the TUSD Board at this Candidate Forum

  08-10-2020 21:00
  
  A local watchdog group that critically monitors the Tucson Unified School District will hold a forum with the seven candidates running for three open seats on the district’s school board at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Oct. 8. …
  
  Read more

• Learn Who's Running for Three Empty Seat on the TUSD Board at this Candidate Forum

  08-10-2020 21:00
  
  A local watchdog group that critically monitors the Tucson Unified School District will hold a forum with the seven candidates running for three open seats on the district’s school board at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Oct. 8. …
  
  Read more

• Mask-free pastor holds service after WH superspreader event

  08-10-2020 20:57
  
  SOUTHLAKE, Texas (AP) — A Texas megachurch pastor who attended a White House function that has since been labeled a superspreader event held a church service on Sunday and took to the stage without a mask. Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris attended the Rose Garden ceremony on Sept. 26 for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. A church spokesperson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Morris took a COVID-19 test that came back negative in the las
  
  Read more

• Voter registration extension in Arizona remains in place

  08-10-2020 20:53
  
  PHOENIX (AP) — The court-ordered extension of Arizona’s voter registration deadline remains in place, at least for now. An appeals court rejected a bid by Republican organizations to put on hold a ruling that pushed back the deadline from Wednesday to Oct. 23 because of the pandemic. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it had doubts about the GOP groups’ ability as private parties to try to get the lower-court ruling put on hold while they appeal it. The court will reconsider
  
  Read more

• US layoffs still high amid skepticism on jobless data

  08-10-2020 20:52
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dipped last week to a still-high 840,000, evidence that layoffs remain elevated seven months into the pandemic recession.
  Yet economists say they are increasingly dubious about the unemployment claims figures, even though there is little doubt that hiring has slowed and employers have continued to lay off workers.
  One reason layoffs remain high is that companies often hold on to workers when a recession begins, if they
  
  Read more

• Yale settles inequity complaint over female doctors’ pay

  08-10-2020 20:47
  
  NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Yale University has agreed to pay $87,500 to four female cardiologists in its medical school after the U.S. Labor Department found they were being paid less than their male counterparts. A Labor Department compliance office says the inequity was discovered during a routine review of the school’s compliance with federal labor laws covering the 2016-17 fiscal year. The department found Yale had violated federal requirements that employers not discriminate based
  
  Read more

• President Trump says he’s ready to do rallies after hailing virus treatment

  08-10-2020 20:46
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s ready to hold campaign rallies and is crediting an experimental antibody drug with helping his recovery from COVID-19.
  But there's no way for the president or his doctors to know whether the drug had any effect.
  During a phone interview Thursday morning on Fox Business, Trump said: “I’m feeling good. Really good. I think perfect." He added: “I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally to
  
  Read more

• Israel extends restrictions on protests amid virus lockdown

  08-10-2020 20:36
  
  JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government has approved the extension of an emergency provision that bars public gatherings, including widespread protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for an additional week. Government ministers approved the measure until Oct. 13 by a telephone vote late Wednesday. Netanyahu has said the restrictions are driven by safety concerns as the country battles a runaway coronavirus pandemic. But critics and protesters accuse him of tightening the lockdo
  
  Read more

• JPMorgan puts $30B toward fixing banking’s ‘systemic racism’

  08-10-2020 20:32
  
  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — JPMorgan Chase says it will extend billions in loans to Black and Latino homebuyers and small business owners in an expanded effort toward fixing what the bank calls “systemic racism” in the country’s economic system. The bank said it is committing $30 billion over the next five years toward programs that include earmarking more money for getting Black and Latino families into homeownership and providing additional financing to build affordable rent
  
  Read more

• Pelosi ‘at the table’ even after Trump scrapped virus talks

  08-10-2020 20:27
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s “at the table” and ready to negotiate a coronavirus aid package even after President Donald Trump halted talks abruptly. Pelosi’s comments come as the election is increasingly focused on Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Pelosi says she told Trump’s chief negotiator she’s willing to consider a measure to prop up the airline industry, but only if that aid comes alongside a broader bill with hea
  
  Read more

Follow @Tucson_News_ on Twitter!