HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court has upheld a landmark climate ruling that said the state was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting oil, gas and coal projects without regard for global warming. The justices, in a 6-1 ruling Wednesday, upheld an August 2023 decision by a state judge. That
Continue ReadingAP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators have backed away from seeking a giant recall of nearly 50 million air bag inflators and will investigate further after the auto industry raised questions about whether all of the inflators are defective. The move Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is vastly
Continue ReadingAssociated Press The Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte is reeling from Cyclone Chido, the most intense storm to hit the French territory in 90 years, according to officials. At least 22 people have been killed since Chido made landfall on Saturday, as high winds swept away entire neighborhoods, damaged major infrastructure and uprooted trees. While
Continue ReadingCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The two teams suing NASCAR over an antitrust complaint were granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday that will allow them to compete as chartered teams in 2025. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth D. Bell said in his ruling, which favors 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that “NASCAR fans (and members of
Continue ReadingChronicle of Philanthropy MacKenzie Scott continues to make medical debt relief a priority in her mysterious giving. This week, Undue Medical Debt, formerly RIP Medical Debt, announced it had received a rare third gift — $50 million — from the billionaire philanthropist, signaling her satisfaction with the group’s efforts to purchase medical debt in bulk
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer A popular social media influencer has issued an apology after a Swedish tabloid published a report saying she created a work environment filled with fear and psychological pressure at her fashion brand. Matilda Djerf said in an Instagram post that she was “genuinely sorry” to anyone she has “hurt or let down”
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed legislation requiring more oversight of youth residential treatment facilities. The vote Wednesday is a feat for hotel heiress Paris Hilton who has spent years lobbying lawmakers to regulate the industry. The bill gained overwhelming bipartisan support in the House after passing the Senate last week. It will now
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s third interest rate cut of the year will likely have consequences for debt, savings, auto loans, mortgages and other forms of borrowing by consumers and businesses. But with inflation pressures still elevated and with concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could fuel inflation, the Fed indicated
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Ivy League has announced its football programs will compete in the FCS playoffs beginning next season. The league said Wednesday the decision to compete in the playoffs followed a year-long process initiated by its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Mason Shipp is a senior football player at Yale who
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown. Instead, he’s telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans to essentially renegotiate — days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. Trump’s sudden decision Wednesday to make new demands sent Congress spiraling as lawmakers
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan resident has pleaded guilty to helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government. Chen Jinping, 60, entered the guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in Brooklyn federal court
Continue ReadingSCOTCHTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Scholars are hailing the discovery of a fossilized mastodon jaw discovered by a man who spotted two giant teeth while gardening at his upstate New York home this year. The mastodon jaw and some other bone fragments were found in late September in a backyard near Scotchtown, a hamlet about 70
Continue ReadingAssociated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says Democrats should think less about partisan politics and more about meeting people’s needs. Beshear touted the strategy for coming back from last month’s election losses in an interview with The Associated Press. Beshear has won three statewide elections in deeply red Kentucky and is
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small has been indicted on a witness tampering charge for allegedly asking his teenage daughter to recant claims she made to law enforcement officials that he abused her. Tuesday’s indictment asserts that Small asked her to do him a favor in September and change
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California who authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Continue ReadingWAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A judge has declined to throw out statements made by a man charged with a mass shooting at a parade in suburban Chicago in 2022. Seven people were killed and more were wounded at the Independence Day event in Highland Park. Attorneys for Robert Crimo III claimed he was denied his
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will consider South Carolina’s move to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, the latest abortion-related case since the justices overturned Roe v. Wade. The court agreed to take up the state’s appeal of a lower-court ruling focused on whether Medicaid patients can sue
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Police in a Salt Lake City suburb say they have no motive yet to explain why a man apparently killed his wife and three children before killing himself. Police said Wednesday the shooting apparently happened last weekend. A relative who hadn’t heard from the family prompted police to find the bodies Tuesday. A
Continue ReadingNEW YORK (AP) — The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for more than $5 million at an auction on Wednesday. Sotheby’s said the 155-pound (52-kilogram) marble slab was acquired by an anonymous buyer who plans to donate it to an Israeli institution. The New York-based auction house said the final
Continue ReadingCHICAGO (AP) — Demolition has begun on a historic downtown building two decades after a stampede at the dance club it housed left 21 dead and nearly five dozen injured. A crew moved in Tuesday after last week’s emergency demolition order by the Chicago Department of Buildings. That followed a Nov. 7 ruling by the
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