Tuscon news

• In California, get a vaccination, ride a roller coaster

  16-06-2021 23:57
  
  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is giving away more goodies and plans to make it easier to show who has been vaccinated against the coronavirus as officials and businesses encourage people to get their shots while the state tries to reopen its economy. A day after giving away $15 million divided among 10 vaccinated winners, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a new incentive. Six Flags locations are giving free tickets to 50,000 Californians age 12 and up who get at least their f
  
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• Southern Baptists vote to probe leaders’ sex abuse response

  16-06-2021 23:49
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting have voted overwhelmingly to create a task force to oversee an independent investigation into the denomination’s handling of sexual abuse. The measure calls for the newly elected SBC president to appoint the task force. It will head up a review of allegations that the denomination’s Executive Committee mishandled abuse cases, intimidated victims and advocates and resisted reforms. It wou
  
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• Florida gov heeds call from Texas, Arizona for border help

  16-06-2021 23:39
  
  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is castigating the Biden administration for creating “a disaster and an emergency” at the nation’s border with Mexico. On Wednesday, the Republican governor said he would send law enforcement to Texas and Arizona, whose Republican governors have appealed to other states for help. DeSantis becomes the first governor to heed the call from Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to send law officers to the border.
  
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• Senators press Interior Secretary Haaland on oil lease pause

  16-06-2021 23:36
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Both Republican and Democratic senators are pressing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for answers after a federal court blocked the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. The ruling by a Louisiana judge Tuesday came after President Joe Biden shut down oil and gas lease sales from the nation’s vast public lands and waters in his first days in office, citing worries about climate change. Haaland said the department
  
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• Girl’s sex-assault lawsuit reinstated by appeals court

  16-06-2021 23:36
  
  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit from a northern Virginia student who said her school failed to take appropriate action after she said she was sexually assaulted on a band trip. The student has since graduated. She says administrators at Oakton High School in Fairfax County treated her with indifference after she said another student touched her without her consent on a school bus during an out-of-state trip in 2017. At a trial in 2019, a jury found t
  
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• State court blocks 2 scheduled executions in South Carolina

  16-06-2021 23:30
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has blocked two executions that had been scheduled this month under the state’s recently revised capital punishment law. The high court issued the order Wednesday to pause execution plans for inmates Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens. Attorneys for the men have said the state hasn’t exhausted all avenues to obtain lethal injection drugs. The new law forces inmates to choose either the electric chair or a firing squad if lethal
  
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• CDC: More than 92,000 drug overdose deaths recorded in 2020, preliminary data shows

  16-06-2021 23:30
  
  WASHINGTON DC (CNN) - Preliminary data from the CDC published Wednesday shows that a record number of people died from drug overdoses last year.According to the agency's estimated provisional numbers -- there were upwards of 92,000 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending November 2020.That's the most since the CDC started tracking those statistics in 1999.In general, overdose deaths have been on the rise in the last two decades -- nearly doubling between 2010 and 2018.Experts say the trend
  
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• Ducey Forbids Colleges from Requiring Students to Take Vaccine, Wear Masks

  16-06-2021 23:28
  
  Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order on Tuesday preventing Arizona’s public universities and community colleges from mandating students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or submit COVID-19 vaccination documents. In addition, higher education students cannot be mandated to be tested for the virus or wear masks in order to participate in learning.“The vaccine works, and we encourage Arizonans to take it.…
  
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• South Carolina Supreme Court blocks 2 executions, citing lack of firing squad option

  16-06-2021 23:24
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Supreme Court blocks 2 executions, citing lack of firing squad option.The post South Carolina Supreme Court blocks 2 executions, citing lack of firing squad option appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• DOJ sues to block AON’s $30B acquisition of Willis Towers

  16-06-2021 23:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has sued to block the merger of two of the world’s largest insurance brokers, asserting the deal could eliminate competition, raise prices and hamper innovation for U.S. businesses, employers and unions that use the companies’ services. The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the antitrust suit filed in federal court in Washington seeking to stop AON’s proposed $30 billion acquisition of rival benefits and risk consultant W
  
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• Special Weather Statement issued June 16 at 3:16PM MDT by NWS Tucson AZ

  16-06-2021 23:16
  
  At 216 PM MST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 27miles east of San Carlos, or 40 miles northwest of Safford, movingsouthwest at 25 mph.
  Wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm.
  This storm will remain over mainly remote areas of northwesternGraham County.The post Special Weather Statement issued June 16 at 3:16PM MDT by NWS Tucson AZ appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• Former US Rep Matt Salmon announces campaign for governor of Arizona

  16-06-2021 23:13
  
  Gage Skidmore
  PHOENIX (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon is running for governor of Arizona, a post he narrowly lost 18 years ago to Democrat Janet Napolitano.
  The Republican served in the Arizona Legislature before winning three terms in Congress in the 1990s.
  He went on to run for governor in 2002, worked as a lobbyist and served two more terms in Congress from 2013 through 2016. Salmon will face state Treasurer Kimberly Yee, developer Karrin Taylor Robson and former Phoenix television
  
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• Observer: Georgia county’s elections messy, not fraudulent

  16-06-2021 23:09
  
  ATLANTA (AP) — An independent monitor who spent months observing election workers in Georgia’s most-populous county says processes were badly managed but he saw no evidence of fraud. Notes written by Carter Jones and obtained by The Associated Press detail problems with ballot transfer and storage, as well as inefficient workflows and systemic poor management. But in an exclusive interview with the AP on Wednesday, Jones noted that in the nearly 300 hours he spent at various location
  
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• Death penalty sought in Texas killing of New Hampshire pair

  16-06-2021 23:01
  
  CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a man charged with capital murder in the killing of a New Hampshire couple whose bodies were found in a shallow grave on a South Texas beach. Adam C. Williams is one of two people accused in the deaths of James and Michelle Butler, whose remains were discovered on Padre Island near Corpus Christi in October 2019. Williams and Amanda Noverr were initially accused of stealing the Butlers’ pickup truck, but a gra
  
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• Aide says former Homeland Security head Tom Ridge had stroke

  16-06-2021 23:00
  
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A longtime aide says former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge suffered a stroke in suburban Washington, D.C. Ridge spokesman Steve Aaron says Ridge was taken by ambulance on Wednesday from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, to a hospital. He says Ridge was conscious upon arrival at the hospital and underwent a procedure that removed a blood clot. He describes Ridge as being in critical but stable condition. The 75-year-old Ridge was Pennsylvania’s Republi
  
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• Stocks down, yields up as Fed discusses dialing back support

  16-06-2021 22:49
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell on Wall Street and bond yields rose Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials signaled they may start easing off the accelerator on their massive support for the economy earlier than previously thought. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% after a highly anticipated set of projections by Fed policymakers showed some see short-term rates rising half a percentage point by late 2023. The Fed’s chair also said the central bank has begun talking about the possibility of p
  
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• Man arrested in Capitol riot asks to travel to car swap meet

  16-06-2021 22:47
  
  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas man arrested for sitting with his feet on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot has asked a federal judge to allow him to travel for a classic-car swap meet. Richard Barnett’s attorney, Joseph McBride of New York City, claims Barnett needs to travel to make a living. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Barnett is currently only allowed to travel up to 50 miles from his residence while he is on ho
  
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• Excessive Heat Warning issued June 16 at 2:47PM MDT until June 19 at 9:00PM MDT by NWS Phoenix AZ

  16-06-2021 22:47
  
  * WHAT…Dangerously hot conditions. Afternoon temperatures 106to 116.
  * WHERE…New River Mesa, Rio Verde/Salt River, Globe/Miami, SanCarlos, Dripping Springs, Superior and Tonto Basin.
  * WHEN…Until 8 PM MST Saturday.
  * IMPACTS…Very High Heat Risk. Increase in heat relatedillnesses, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Heat stroke can lead to death.An Excessive Heat Warning means that a period of very hottemperatures, even by local standards, will occu
  
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• Excessive Heat Warning issued June 16 at 2:47PM MDT until June 18 at 9:00PM MDT by NWS Phoenix AZ

  16-06-2021 22:47
  
  * WHAT…Dangerously hot conditions. Afternoon temperatures 97to 111.
  * WHERE…Southeast Gila County, Mazatzal Mountains andPinal/Superstition Mountains.
  * WHEN…Until 8 PM MST Friday.
  * IMPACTS…Very High Heat Risk. Increase in heat relatedillnesses, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Heat stroke can lead to death.An Excessive Heat Warning means that a period of very hottemperatures, even by local standards, will occur. Actions shouldbe taken to lesse
  
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• Newspaper carrier confronted by sheriff files $5M tort claim

  16-06-2021 22:43
  
  TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Black newspaper carrier who was confronted by Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer has filed a legal claim seeking at least $5 million in damages. The Seattle Times reports attorneys representing Sedrick Altheimer submitted the tort claim against the county on Tuesday, contending Troyer’s actions during the Jan. 27 incident violated Altheimer’s constitutional rights and caused him “severe emotional distress.” Altheimer’s attorneys, Susan Mind
  
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• The Latest: COVID-19 cases rise in Missouri tourist areas

  16-06-2021 22:38
  
  O’FALLON, Mo. — A swath of southern Missouri is seeing a big rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations at just the wrong time — as tourists eager to get out after being cooped up for a year make their way to popular destinations like Branson and Lake of the Ozarks.
  Data from the state health department’s COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday showed 206 people hospitalized with the virus in southwestern Missouri — nearly double the 111 hospitalizations from that regio
  
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• Giuliani gets first shot at excluding materials from raids

  16-06-2021 22:33
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — A former federal judge chosen to oversee a process to prevent prosecutors from seeing privileged materials obtained in raids on Rudolph Giuliani says Giuliani will get to designate items she reviews. Barbara Jones was appointed as an expert reviewer or “special master” in the case. She said in her first report to a federal judge Wednesday that she will not be looking at everything seized in the late-April raids on ex-President Donald Trump’s former persona
  
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• US drops lawsuit over book by ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton; lawyer says grand jury probe also dropped

  16-06-2021 22:23
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — US drops lawsuit over book by ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton; lawyer says grand jury probe also dropped.The post US drops lawsuit over book by ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton; lawyer says grand jury probe also dropped appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• Lawyer: US drops lawsuit, grand jury probe over Bolton book

  16-06-2021 22:23
  
  The Justice Department has abandoned its lawsuit against John Bolton, who was former President Donald Trump’s onetime security adviser, over his book that officials argued disclosed classified information. Word of the new development comes from Bolton’s representatives. And they also say that prosecutors have dropped a grand jury investigation over the book’s publication. Bolton’s team calls it a “complete vindication” for Bolton. The Trump administration sued
  
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• Report: Income losses let Manhattan DA candidate avoid taxes

  16-06-2021 22:20
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — A report from ProPublica says Manhattan district attorney candidate Tali Farhadian Weinstein and her husband paid no federal income taxes in four recent years because they reported negative income driven by investment losses or used deductions to reduce their bill. Farhadian Weinstein is among eight Democrats running to replace Cyrus Vance Jr., who’s retiring at year’s end. The winner will likely inherit his ongoing investigation into former President Donald Tru
  
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• Ohio Senate approves legalized sports betting bill

  16-06-2021 22:12
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Senate has approved legislation legalizing sports betting in the state. The bill would allow betting at casinos, betting shops, sports bars, computers, mobile phones and pro sports stadiums. The legislation approved in a vote Wednesday also allows for electronic bingo at veteran’s and fraternal organizations overseen by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and sports pool betting run by the Ohio Lottery Commission. The Senate was also poised Wednesd
  
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• Chlöe, Shahidi, Cordae part of Disney EP honoring Black life

  16-06-2021 22:12
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Disney is celebrating this year’s Juneteenth with a new EP about the Black experience featuring actor and activist Yara Shahidi, Chlöe Bailey of Chloe x Halle and rapper YBN Cordae, who is donating his proceeds to students attending historically Black colleges and universities. “Music for the Movement Volume III – Liberated,” out on Friday, is the third volume in Disney’s four-part series of EPs honoring Black lives and social justice unde
  
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• Sen. Manchin proposes changes to Democrats’ voting bill

  16-06-2021 22:08
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin is opening the door to supporting a voting rights bill. The West Virginia Democrat is offering up an extensive list of proposed changes to the legislation ahead of a showdown vote in the Senate later this month. The Democrats’ bill would bring about the largest overhaul of U.S. voting in a generation, touching nearly every aspect of the electoral process. They say it’s needed to protect access to the ballot. But Manchin opposes the bill as wri
  
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• Alabama judge censured after cursing, threatening defendant

  16-06-2021 22:08
  
  MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A state ethics panel in Alabama has censured a municipal judge who cursed at and threatened a defendant. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary ruled on Wednesday that Leeds Municipal Judge Clifton Price violated judicial ethics with the 2020 outburst. Price was censured and ordered to apologize. The panel said the outburst occurred after a traffic court defendant asked for a new judge because Price’s adult son was a passenger in a vehicle that hit her car in 2018
  
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• Former corrections officer gets 10 years for raping women

  16-06-2021 22:07
  
  MIAMI (AP) — A former South Florida corrections officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping women under his supervision. Miami-Dade County court records show 36-year-old Yulian Gonzalez pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexual battery as part of a deal with prosecutors. Gonzalez was first arrested and charged in September 2019 after a woman he was supervising on house arrest told police that he had forced her to have sex with him and threatened to send her back to jail. He faced
  
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• Police: 1 killed, 5 wounded in Baltimore shooting

  16-06-2021 22:04
  
  BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s police commissioner says one person has been killed and five others have been wounded in a shooting in that city. Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said that the five wounded in the shooting Wednesday afternoon ranged from serious to critical condition.  He declined to release the identities of those who were shot. He said officers responded to reports of gunshots after 2 p.m. and found two people shot. Those two were transported to hospitals, and
  
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• Trump to visit US-Mexico border later this month

  16-06-2021 22:00
  
  FILE PHOTO: President Donald Trump during his visit at the border area of Otay Mesa in San Diego, Ca., Photo Date: September 18, 2019
  (CNN) - Former President Donald Trump says he will be visiting part of the southern border later this month.
  In a statement released Tuesday, Trump said he was invited by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
  Trump continues to blast the Biden administration's response to the border situation, calling it "an unmitigated disaster zone".The visit is scheduled for June 30.The pos
  
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• Two men convicted of helping create ransomware attacks

  16-06-2021 21:55
  
  Two men from Estonia have been convicted of federal cybercrime charges involving ransomware and other attacks on computer systems around the globe. Oleg Koshkin was convicted Tuesday by a federal jury in Hartford of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse as well as aiding and abetting computer fraud and abuse. His co-defendant, Pavel Tsurkan, pleaded guilty Wednesday to aiding and abetting the unauthorized access to a protected computer. Prosecutors said the men operated an online encrypt
  
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• Prosecutors mull whether to seek execution in girl’s killing

  16-06-2021 21:54
  
  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Prosecutors are expected to decide by next month whether to seek the death penalty against three men charged in the 2019 fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl in North Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said prosecutors will review charges and decide whether to seek the death penalty against 24-year-old Marcus Covington, 24-year-old Marcus Parker and 23-year-old Dasean Williams in the slaying of Amillion Scott. They ar
  
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• North Carolina police officer shoots, kills man after chase

  16-06-2021 21:54
  
  BESSEMER CITY, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in a North Carolina town says a man has died after being shot by a police officer trying to serve a warrant. The Gaston Gazette reports Gaston County Police Chief Joe Ramey said Wednesday that Bessemer City police went to an address to serve warrants on an individual. Ramey says a foot chase began and continued for approximately two blocks to an area near a cemetery. The chief says the man was shot in an area between two homes and was taken to a hospi
  
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• Scottish man who faked death in California jailed for rape

  16-06-2021 21:49
  
  A Scottish man who tried to evade justice by fleeing to the United States has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape and other sexual offenses. Kim Avis faked his death at a treacherous California beach in 2019. But investigators caught up with him in Colorado, and he was extradited to Scotland. Avis was convicted in the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, and sentenced last week. He was awaiting trial in 2019 when he fled to the U.S., where his son reported him missing after a nighttime bea
  
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• Vaccine effort turns into slog as infectious variant spreads

  16-06-2021 21:48
  
  As case numbers decline and states reopen, the potential final stage in the U.S. campaign to vanquish COVID-19 is turning into a slog, with a worrisome variant gaining a bigger foothold and lotteries and other prizes failing to persuade many Americans to get vaccinated. State health officials say the slowdown in vaccinations was not unexpected but still concerning, particularly as the highly transmissible and potentially more severe delta variant of coronavirus spreads through the U.S.The post V
  
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• Excessive Heat Warning issued June 16 at 1:39PM MDT until June 19 at 10:00PM MDT by NWS Tucson AZ

  16-06-2021 21:39
  
  * WHAT…Dangerously hot conditions. Afternoon temperatures from109 to 116.
  * WHERE…Western Pima County, Pinal County, and parts of Grahamand Greenlee Counties.
  * WHEN…Until 9 PM MST Saturday.
  * IMPACTS…Extreme heat and humidity will significantlyincrease the potential for heat related illnesses,particularly for those working or participating in outdooractivities.Keep in mind you may need to adjust your plans based on thelatest health and safety guidelines from CDC and
  
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• Stocks dip, yields rise as Fed hints at dialing back support

  16-06-2021 21:36
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell and bond yields rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials signaled they may start easing off the acclerator on their massive support for markets earlier than previously thought. The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in afternoon trading after a highly anticipated set of projections by Fed policymakers showed some see short-term rates rising half a percentage point by late 2023. The Fed’s chair also said it has begun talking about the possibility of p
  
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• Rome tribunal backs Vatican in case against Italian broker

  16-06-2021 21:34
  
  ROME (AP) — A Rome court has strongly backed Vatican prosecutors in their pursuit of an Italian businessman accused of bilking the Holy See of millions of euros in a London real estate deal. The court says the broker used bad-faith negotiations, last-minute contractual changes and a web of accomplices. The judges made the determination in an interim ruling rejecting motions by lawyers for Gialuigi Torzi, lodged after Rome prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Torzi in April. In the
  
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• Ohio House expels former Republican speaker in historic vote

  16-06-2021 21:34
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House has voted to expel former GOP Speaker Larry Householder following his indictment in an alleged $60 million federal bribery scheme. The bipartisan vote Wednesday was only the second time in state history the Legislature cast ballots to expel a sitting member. Householder and four associates were arrested in July in an investigation connected to legislation containing a ratepayer-funded bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants. Householder has proclaimed
  
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• Ohio House expels former GOP speaker under federal indictment in historic vote; expulsion only 2nd time in state history

  16-06-2021 21:33
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio House expels former GOP speaker under federal indictment in historic vote; expulsion only 2nd time in state history.The post Ohio House expels former GOP speaker under federal indictment in historic vote; expulsion only 2nd time in state history appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• After year of unrest, Portland strives to repair reputation

  16-06-2021 21:33
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Until a year ago, Portland, Oregon, was best known nationally for its ambrosial food scene, craft breweries and “Portlandia” hipsters. Now, monthslong protests following the killing of George Floyd, a surge in deadly gun violence and an increasingly visible homeless population have some questioning whether Oregon’s largest city can recover. City officials insist Portland is resilient as they launch a revitalization plan. It includes citywide cleanups
  
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• Spacesuit problems prevent astronauts from completing job

  16-06-2021 21:32
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spacesuit problems have prevented astronauts from completing the installation of powerful, new solar panels outside the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough encountered a pair of spacesuit issues midway through Wednesday’s seven-hour spacewalk. The interruption put Kimbrough and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet an hour behind. Then they had trouble trying to unfold the solar panel booms. The astronauts are supposed to venture back out
  
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• US ends strict Trump-era asylum rules for violence victims

  16-06-2021 21:19
  
  The U.S. government has put an end to two Trump administration policies that made it harder for Central American migrants fleeing violence to qualify for asylum. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday that immigration judges should no longer follow the rules that made it difficult for immigrants who faced domestic or gang violence to win asylum. He said President Joe Biden ordered his office and the Department of Homeland Security to draft rules addressing complex issues in immigration
  
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• Judge: Ex-Indiana wildlife center proprietor owes PETA $734K

  16-06-2021 21:17
  
  CHARLESTOWN, Ind. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the former proprietor of a southern Indiana wildlife center and his ex-wife to pay People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals more than $700,000 in attorney’s fees stemming from its successful lawsuit alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act. The judge ruled Monday that Timothy Stark and his ex-wife, Melisa Lane, must pay PETA nearly $734,000 to cover attorney fees and expenses. Stark gained attention last year as one of
  
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• Biden admin extends protections to transgender students

  16-06-2021 21:17
  
  WASHINGTON DC (AP) - The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday expanded its interpretation of federal sex protections to include transgender and gay students.
  The move reverses Trump-era policy and stands against proposals in many states to bar transgender girls from school sports.
  In a policy directive, the department said discrimination based on a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity will be treated as a violation of federal sex discrimination law.
  The decision is based on la
  
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• Ukraine police seize cash in raids on major ransomware gang

  16-06-2021 21:14
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — Ukrainian police have carried out nearly two dozen raids targeting alleged associates of a ransomware gang it blamed for a half billion dollars in cyberattacks and extortion that hit the United States and South Korea especially hard. A police statement said raids were conducted on the homes of suspects affiliated with the Clop ransomware gang in Kyiv and elsewhere. It said computer equipment and about $185,000 in cash were seized. The statement said six defendants carried out
  
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• Biden signals equity focus with new AmeriCorps leader choice

  16-06-2021 21:14
  
  President Biden plans to nominate Michael Smith to lead AmeriCorps, sending a strong signal of an intent to focus on racial equity at the organization. Smith currently is executive director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. He also is director of youth opportunity programs at the Obama Foundation. His appointment as CEO of AmeriCorps will require Senate confirmation. Smith will take over AmeriCorps at a time when the agency is on the rise. The stimulus bill enacted in the spring include
  
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• Reward offered after Breonna Taylor mural vandalized

  16-06-2021 21:11
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A mural of Breonna Taylor in her hometown has been vandalized, and a reward is being offered to help find those responsible for the damage. The newly unveiled mural on an outdoor basketball court in Louisville was damaged by two people on a motorbike last week. The bike left long skid marks over the portrait of the Black woman, whose death at the hands of police last year galvanized nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Taylor’s moth
  
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