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Tag: Associated Press

  • Sen. Bob Menendez, his wife will have separate bribery trials, judge rules

    Sen. Bob Menendez, his wife will have separate bribery trials, judge rules

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will be tried separately on allegations that they participated in a bribery scheme, a federal judge ruled Thursday, agreeing to sever and delay Nadine Menedez’s trial after her lawyers argued that she requires treatment for a serious medical condition.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge has ruled that Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will be tried separately on allegations that they participated in a bribery scheme

    • Judge Sidney H. Stein agreed Thursday to sever and delay Nadine Menedez’s trial after her lawyers said she required treatment for a serious medical condition

    • The senator’s trial will remain scheduled for May 6 in Manhattan federal court, while his wife’s was tentatively pushed back to July

    • Nadine Menendez’s lawyers argued for the move in a letter to Stein this week, saying she was recently diagnosed with an unspecified condition that will require surgery in the next four to six weeks

    The New Jersey Democrat’s trial will remain scheduled for May 6 in Manhattan federal court, while Nadine Menedez’s trial was tentatively pushed back to July.

    “This trial is going forward without Mrs. Menendez,” said Judge Sidney H. Stein. “The government is going to have to try this case two times.”

    Nadine Menendez’s lawyers argued for the move in a letter to Stein this week, saying she was recently diagnosed with an unspecified condition that will require surgery in the next four to six weeks. In court on Thursday, they said she needs more time for testing to understand the nature of the condition.

    Prosecutors, meanwhile, contended that the entire trial should just be delayed, arguing that severing Nadine Menendez’s trial from her husband’s would result in “serious inefficiencies and unfairness” that would require dozens of witnesses to be recalled.

    Stein on Thursday also denied motions to dismiss the indictment outright and transfer the case to New Jersey.

    The Menendezes and two businessmen have pleaded not guilty to charges that they participated in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors say cash and gold bars were given to the couple in return for the senator carrying out political favors. Bob Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he stepped down from the role in September because of the allegations.

    A third businessman, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the others at trial. Uribe said he conspired with Nadine Menendez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in return for access to her husband’s power and influence.

    Prosecutors allege that in return for the bribes, Menendez helped one of the businessmen get a lucrative meat-certification deal with Egypt. Menendez helped another associate get a deal with a Qatari investment fund, an indictment alleges.

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    Associated Press

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  • Caitlin Clark bids farewell to Iowa, learns No. 22 jersey will be retired

    Caitlin Clark bids farewell to Iowa, learns No. 22 jersey will be retired

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    IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark got a final chance to say goodbye to Iowa fans on Wednesday, and of course, there was a big crowd waiting.

    Clark, who became major college basketball’s all-time leading scorer this season on the way to being the consensus national player of the year, was honored along with her teammates in a celebration at Iowa’s home arena commemorating the Hawkeyes’ second consecutive national runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament.

    What You Need To Know

    • Iowa to retire Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey

    • The announcement came at a ceremony honoring the team for its second runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament

    • The guard told nearly 8,000 fans, “You allowed me to live out my dream every single day”

    • Clark finished her career with a record 3,951 points and 1,144 assists

    “I would say you’ve all inspired me as much as I inspired you,” Clark said to the approximately 8,000 fans at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “And you allowed me to live out my dream every single day, and for that, I’m very thankful. It’s been very special, and this place will always be home to me.”

    Clark, expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in Monday’s WNBA Draft, finished her career with 3,951 points and 1,144 assists, an All-American in every season in a career that started playing in front of sparse crowds during her freshman year when attendance was limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Clark received a standing ovation when Iowa Athletics Director Beth Goetz announced that Clark’s jersey No. 22 will be retired, the third number to be retired in program history.

    “I think they like you,” Goetz said to Clark after the announcement.

    “It’s super incredible, something I’m very thankful for,” Clark said. “There’s been a lot of good 22s who have come before me and played for this program, whether it was Kathleen Doyle or Sam Logic. That number holds a lot of weight, far beyond me. I’m really grateful, and it will be a special day when it happens.”

    Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called the Hawkeyes’ back-to-back runs to the national championship game “special.”

    “This year’s was also special because nobody thought we could do it,” she said. “Nobody thought we could repeat what we did last year, except these women up here.”

    The attendance for the event wasn’t surprising given the Hawkeyes’ ability to draw big crowds this season.

    The Hawkeyes sold out every home game, drawing 238,620 fans during the regular season, and that total doesn’t include the 55,646 fans who showed up for the “Crossover at Kinnick” outdoor exhibition game in October at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium that set the women’s basketball single-game attendance record.

    Iowa also sold out its two NCAA tournament games at home — the weekend attendance of 28,764 was the most of any first-weekend site in the women’s tournament.

    “Please come back next year,” Bluder said. “Please fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena next year.”

    Fans were lined up outside of the arena more than two hours before the event started, racing to find seats when the doors opened.

    Angie Leyh of Atlantic, Iowa, brought her 10-year-old daughter Lana, who was celebrating her birthday, to the event.

    The Leyhs had been to one game this season, attending Iowa’s NCAA tournament opener against Holy Cross, but when Angie saw this event was going to be held on her daughter’s birthday, they decided to make the three-hour drive to come back one more time.

    “We were going to drop everything to make sure she could be here,” Leyh said as her daughter held up a sign with her birthday wish list, asking for a chance to meet Clark, or at least get an autograph or a photo. “All of this is amazing.”

    Clark circled the arena floor to sign autographs after the event, as she has after games throughout her career. She spoke during the event how she and her two brothers idolized athletes growing up.

    “I wanted to be like them,” she said. “Those were the people who allowed me to dream and be in moments like this.”

    Leyh said she knew what the Hawkeyes’ recent success meant to her daughter, whose sign also said about Clark, “I want to be just like you.”

    “It’s a dream come true, and it’s made her dream bigger,” Leyh said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Impacts of voter fraud case before N.C. Supreme Court

    Impacts of voter fraud case before N.C. Supreme Court

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    RALEIGH, N.C (AP) — North Carolina’s highest court could determine whether election officials retain special legal privileges that allow them to defame individual voters and set a precedent for how voter fraud claims are pursued.

     

    What You Need To Know

    The North Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments related to voter fraud allegations made after the 2016 election

    The Thursday hearing may set the stage for how partisan officials can pursue claims of voter fraud in future state elections

    A lawsuit says former Gov. Pat McCrory’s supporters submitted election protests to local elections boards falsely claiming a group of voters had double voted

    The defendants say they had legal immunity to make those allegations

     

    The North Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday morning for Bouvier v. Porter — a suit that has lingered in state courts over the past seven years. The case centers around four voters from Guilford and Brunswick County who claim they were defamed by supporters of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

    By a margin of 10,277 votes, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper beat McCrory in the 2016 gubernatorial election. Afterward, McCrory supporters filed election protest petitions declaring voting irregularities had occurred, including accusations from Greensboro Republican official William Porter.

    The election protests accused four people of voting twice in Guilford County, according to the plaintiffs’ 2017 lawsuit. Porter’s petition against three Guilford voters was dismissed for “lack of any evidence presented” and one protest in Brunswick County was withdrawn, according to an appeals court opinion.

    The plaintiffs claimed they were defamed by Porter’s petition and sought $25,000 in damages, the complaint says.

    It’s not clear if the case will be decided before the 2024 election, according to one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

    More defendants were named in an amended complaint later that year, including law firm Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky and the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund. Another plaintiff from Brunswick County was also added to the case when one of the original voters voluntarily left the case, according to the amended complaint.

    But the case before the N.C. Supreme Court won’t determine if the allegations defamed the voters. Instead, it focuses on whether the defendants had a form of immunity known as absolute privilege to make those claims.

    Absolute privilege is a legal term used in defamation cases to outline circumstances where someone is shielded from liability for potentially defamatory statements. The privilege is typically granted in judicial and legislative proceedings.

    A North Carolina appeals court gave plaintiffs a partial victory in 2021 by ruling that McCrory’s legal fund and the law firm did not have absolute privilege. They did rule, however, that Porter was granted the privilege because he operated within a “quasi-judicial election protest proceeding.”

    But the defendants are arguing to the state Supreme Court bench that they should all have immunity. By not granting absolute privilege to all those involved, it prevents people concerned about elections from speaking “freely and fearlessly,” the brief read.

    Bob Hunter, an attorney for the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund, declined The Associated Press’ request for comment.

    The defendants didn’t function in a capacity that would grant them absolute privilege, as they “ghostwrote” the petitions for others to sign off on, plaintiff attorney and chief counsel for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice Jeff Loperfido said. If the N.C. Supreme Court sides with the defendants, he said voter fraud allegations may be used to deter voters or sow distrust in state electoral systems.

    “It’s really about the fundamental right to vote and about whether individuals, North Carolina citizens, can be used as political pawns in this way and have their names tarnished without consequences,” said Loperfido, who joined the case in 2018.

    Much has changed since the appeals ruling. One of the plaintiffs, Karen Niehans, died in early 2023, which caused her defamation claim to be dismissed, Loperfido said. The remaining plaintiffs are retirees, he said.

    The N.C. Supreme Court’s makeup has also shifted since the appellate decision to comprise of five Republicans and two Democrats — both of whom had to recuse themselves after previously working as attorneys for the plaintiffs.

    But a panel of all Republican judges doesn’t concern Loperfido because he views the case as nonpartisan.

    “This could have been any losing candidate’s campaign effort to try to create enough smoke to delay certification or try to encourage the state board of election to review these protests in a certain way,” he said.

    Now, both parties will await a decision after oral arguments conclude. Loperfido says that could take about six months, depending on whether the court wants to release an opinion after the 2024 election.

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    Associated Press

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  • EPA imposes first-ever national limit for ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

    EPA imposes first-ever national limit for ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

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    On Wednesday, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new national standard that will limit the levels of toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancers and other diseases in Americans’ drinking water.

    It’s the first time a limit has been imposed on PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which often contaminate the water, soil, food and air near industrial and chemical plants. PFAS chemicals are hazardous because they don’t degrade in the environment, lingering and contributing to health issues such as low birth weight and kidney cancer.

    What You Need To Know

    • On Wednesday, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new national standard that would limit the levels of toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancers and other diseases in Americans’ drinking water

    • It’s the first time a limit has been imposed on PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are often contaminating the water, soil, food and air near industrial and chemical plants

    • The EPA  says it will reduce exposure for 100 million people and prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancer. Utilities groups, however, say the EPA is underestimating the rule’s cost and overestimating its benefits

    • The EPA also announced $1 billion in new funding to help water systems across the country — including private wells — test and treat their water supply

    The new rule, the Biden administration claims, will protect around 100 million people and “prevent thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of serious illnesses” and protect infants and children from harmful impacts on their immune systems and development.

    “For decades, PFAS, or forever chemicals, have been widely used in industry and consumer products,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said on a press call Tuesday. “They can be found in everything from nonstick cookware to cleaning and personal care products. There’s no doubt that these chemicals have been important for certain industries and consumer uses. But there’s also no doubt that many of these chemicals can be harmful to our health and our environment.

    “These forever chemicals can accumulate in the body over time, and long-term exposure to certain types of PFAS have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, liver damage and high cholesterol,” he added.

    Between 6% and 10% of the country’s 66,000 public drinking water systems may be affected by this rule, meaning they will have five years to implement water treatment plans — including the installation of new filtration technologies. EPA officials said they will work closely with local and state-level drinking water agencies to guide them through the testing and, if necessary, treatment processes.

    The new rule is enforceable through the long-standing Safe Drinking Water Act, which empowers the EPA and states to take legal action and fine utilities if they are out of compliance. It’s the first new standard for drinking water contaminants since 1996.

    The EPA also announced $1 billion in new funding, drawn from the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021, to help water systems across the country — including private wells — test and treat their water supply.

    Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory were set to officially announce the new national standard in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the drinking water source for 1 million people has been contaminated with forever chemicals from the local Chemours chemical plant where fluoropolymers are produced. Used in electronics, airplanes, cars and other products, a well-known fluoropolymer is known by the brand name Teflon (which is produced by another company).

    “We asked for this because we know science-based standards for PFAS and other compounds are desperately needed,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday. Before leading the EPA, Regan was North Carolina’s top environmental official.

    Utility groups warn the rules will cost tens of billions of dollars and fall hardest on small communities with fewer resources. Legal challenges are sure to follow.

    The new regulation is “going to throw public confidence in drinking water into chaos,” said Mike McGill, president of WaterPIO, a water industry communications firm.

    The American Water Works Association, an industry group, said it supports the development of PFAS limits in drinking water but argues the EPA’s rule has big problems. The agency underestimated its high cost, which can’t be justified for communities with low levels of PFAS, and it’ll raise customer water bills, the association said. Plus, there aren’t enough experts and workers — and supplies of filtration material are limited.

    But the Biden administration said the new rule is vital to ensuring every American has access to clean drinking water. Officials framed it as part of President Joe Biden’s larger effort to put the country on the road to cutting the cancer death rate in half by 2047. Biden lost his eldest son, Beau Biden, to cancer in 2015. 

    “Studies have shown that over 30 percent of cancers diagnosed today could be prevented through methods like decreasing environmental and toxic exposures to carcinogens,” as well as making lifestyle changes, the president wrote in a proclamation last month. “Beating cancer is personal to my family, as it is to millions of families across America and around the world.

    “Ending cancer is the kind of big and ambitious goal that America has always embraced,” Biden continued. “Let us recommit to this vital work.”

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    Joseph Konig

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  • Peter Higgs, who proposed existence of Higgs boson particle, has died at 94

    Peter Higgs, who proposed existence of Higgs boson particle, has died at 94

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    Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called “god particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the Higgs boson particle, has died at 94
    • Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle — the so-called Higgs boson — in 1964
    • But it would be almost 50 years before the particle’s existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider
    • Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium

    The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday “peacefully at home following a short illness.”

    Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle — the so-called Higgs boson — in 1964. But it would be almost 50 years before the particle’s existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider.

    Higgs’ theory related to how subatomic particles that are the building blocks of matter get their mass. This theoretical understanding is a central part of the so-called Standard Model, which describes the physics of how the world is constructed.

    Edinburgh University said his groundbreaking 1964 paper demonstrated how “elemental particles achieved mass through the existence of a new sub-atomic particle″ which became known as the Higgs boson.

    In 2012, in one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in decades, scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the $10 billion particle collider built in a 17-mile (27-kilometer) tunnel under the Swiss-French border.

    Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium, who independently came up with the same theory.

    Edinburgh University Vice Chancellor Peter Mathieson said Higgs, who was born in the Scottish capital, was “a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.”

    “His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

    Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

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    The parents of a Michigan school shooter were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison Tuesday for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021.

    What You Need To Know

    • The parents of a Michigan school shooter have each been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021

    • Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting

    • They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

    • Prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward Ethan Crumbley’s mental health

    Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the teen’s mental health.

    Ethan Crumbley drew dark images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math assignment, accompanied by despondent phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not demand that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t volunteer it during a brief meeting.

    Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old pulled a handgun from his backpack and began shooting at the school. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Associated Press

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  • Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

    Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

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    The parents of a Michigan school shooter were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison Tuesday for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021.

    What You Need To Know

    • The parents of a Michigan school shooter have each been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021

    • Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting

    • They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

    • Prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward Ethan Crumbley’s mental health

    Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the teen’s mental health.

    Ethan Crumbley drew dark images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math assignment, accompanied by despondent phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not demand that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t volunteer it during a brief meeting.

    Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old pulled a handgun from his backpack and began shooting at the school. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Associated Press

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  • UConn concludes a dominant run to its 2nd straight NCAA title

    UConn concludes a dominant run to its 2nd straight NCAA title

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    GLENDALE, Ariz. — UConn delivered the latest of its suffocating basketball beatdowns Monday night, smothering Purdue for a 75-60 victory to become the first team since 2007 to capture back-to-back national championships.

    What You Need To Know

    • UConn delivered the latest of its suffocating basketball beatdowns, smothering Purdue to become the first team since 2007 to capture back-to-back national championships

    • Tristen Newton scored 20 points for the Huskies, who won their 12th straight March Madness game

    • UConn was efficient on offense but won this with defense

    • Purdue big man Zach Edey scored 37 points on 25 shot attempts

    Tristen Newton scored 20 points for the Huskies, who won their 12th straight March Madness game — not a single one of them decided by fewer than 13 points.

    UConn was efficient on offense but won this with defense. The Huskies (37-3) limited the country’s second-best 3-point shooting team to a mere seven shots behind the arc — Purdue only made one — while happily allowing 7-foot-4 AP Player of the Year Zach Edey to go for 37 points on 25 shot attempts.

    UConn won its sixth overall title and joined the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as just the third team to repeat since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and ’70s.

    Purdue made it this far a year after becoming just the second No. 1 seed in the history of March Madness to fall in the first round. But the Boilermakers (34-5) left the same way they came — still looking for the program’s first NCAA title.

    In what was supposed to be a free-for-all in this new age of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals, UConn has figured out how to dominate.

    The 2024 Huskies are the sixth team to win all six tournament games by double-digit margins. They won those games by a grand total of 140 points, blowing past the previous high of 121 by the 2009 North Carolina team for the highest margin among that exclusive club.

    Cam Spencer, a transfer from Rutgers, Stephon Castle, a blue-chip freshman, and Alex Karaban, a sophomore from last year’s team, spent the night guarding the 3-point line and making life miserable for Purdue’s guards.

    This was only the second time this season Purdue didn’t put up 10 3-point attempts, and how ’bout this final score: Edey 37, the rest of the Boilermakers 23.

    How serious was coach Dan Hurley about defending the perimeter? When Braden Smith wiggled loose for a semi-open look to make Purdue’s first 3 of the game with 2:17 left in the first half, the coach bolted onto the floor and called timeout.

    And that was that from behind the arc.

    Edey battled gamely, finishing with 10 rebounds to record his 30th double-double of the season. But this game proved the number crunchers right. UConn let Edey back in and back down all night on 7-2 Donovan Clingan, giving up difficult 2s in exchange for any 3s.

    Meanwhile, as Edey started wearing down, the Huskies took the ball right at him. Castle finished with 15 points and both Spencer and Clingan had 11, and it barely mattered that UConn made only six 3-pointers, which was right at its season average.

    Hurley joins former Florida coach Billy Donovan in the back-to-back club, and is in company with Bill Self and Rick Pitino as only the third active coach with two championships.

    Nobody will say the UConn coach didn’t work for this one. In the first half, he begged with, swore at generally berated the refs about over-the-backs, elbows and hip checks that weren’t called.

    Once, when that didn’t work after Edey set a hard (and probably legal) pick against Castle, Hurley started in on Edey himself as the center walked toward the Purdue bench for a timeout.

    But the coach’s best work came in whatever hotel room he used to draw up the game plan.

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    Associated Press

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  • Clouds may spoil the view of the total solar eclipse

    Clouds may spoil the view of the total solar eclipse

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    MESQUITE, Texas (AP) — Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the U.S. to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation — a total eclipse of the sun — even as forecasters called for clouds.

    What You Need To Know

    • It promised to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots

    • In Texas, the south-central region was locked in clouds, but it was a little bit better to the northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell

    • Monday’s eclipse begins in the Pacific and makes landfall at Mazatlan, Mexico, before moving into Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other U.S. states in the Midwest, Middle Atlantic and New England, and then Canada

    • Clear skies are only promised in northern New England to Canada. The rest of North America will see a partial eclipse, weather permitting

    The best weather was expected at the tail end of the eclipse in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland in Canada.

    It promised to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots. Almost everyone in North America was guaranteed at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting. The show got underway in the Pacific shortly before noon EDT with totality expected to sweep North America over the next few hours.

    In Texas, the south-central region was locked in clouds, but it was a little bit better to the northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell.

    “Dallas is pretty much a 50-50 shot,” he said.

    The cliff-hanging uncertainty added to the drama. But the overcast skies in Mesquite near Dallas didn’t rattle Erin Froneberger, who was in town for business and brought along her eclipse glasses.

    “We are always just rushing, rushing, rushing,” she said. “But this is an event that we can just take a moment, a few seconds that it’s going to happen and embrace it.”

    Sara Laneau, of Westfield, Vermont, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to bring her 16-year-old niece to nearby Jay Peak ski resort to catch the eclipse after a morning on the slopes.

    “This will be a first from me and an experience of a lifetime,” said Laneau, who was dressed in a purple metallic ski suit with a solar eclipse T-shirt underneath.

    At Niagara Falls State Park, tourists streamed in under cloudy skies with wagons, strollers, coolers and lawn chairs. Park officials expected a large crowd at the popular site overlooking the falls.

    For Monday’s full eclipse, the moon was due to slip right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona visible, would be long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets, stars and maybe even a comet to pop out.

    The out-of-sync darkness lasts up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That’s almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon is closer to Earth. It will be another 21 years before the U.S. sees another total solar eclipse on this scale.

    Extending five hours from the first bite out of the sun to the last, Monday’s eclipse begins in the Pacific and makes landfall at Mazatlan, Mexico, before moving into Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other U.S. states in the Midwest, Middle Atlantic and New England, and then Canada. Last stop: Newfoundland, with the eclipse ending in the North Atlantic.

    It will take just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles across the continent.

    Eye protection is needed with proper eclipse glasses and filters to look at the sun, except when it ducks completely out of sight during an eclipse.

    The path of totality — approximately 115 miles wide — encompasses several major cities this time, including Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal. An estimated 44 million people live within the track, with a couple hundred million more within 200 miles. Add in all the eclipse chasers, amateur astronomers, scientists and just plain curious, and it’s no wonder the hotels and flights are sold out and the roads jammed.

    Experts from NASA and scores of universities are posted along the route, poised to launch research rockets and weather balloons, and conduct experiments. The International Space Station’s seven astronauts also will be on the lookout, 270 miles up.

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    Associated Press

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  • Pursuing Ruth’s home run record 50 years ago, Hank Aaron endured racist threats

    Pursuing Ruth’s home run record 50 years ago, Hank Aaron endured racist threats

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    Hank Aaron refused to be intimidated by racist hate mail or threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record.

    Aaron’s teammates, including Dusty Baker, worried on his behalf even as the future Hall of Famer circled the bases following his record-breaking 715th homer on April 8, 1974. Baker, who was on deck, and Tom House, who caught the homer in the Atlanta bullpen behind the left-field wall, will return Monday for the 50-year anniversary of the homer.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former teammates, Braves executives and family members remember Hank Aaron’s unwavering strength despite receiving racist hate mail and threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record
    • Teammates including Dusty Baker and Tom House will return Monday as the Braves celebrate the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homer
    • Baker was on deck and House caught the record homer in the Braves bullpen before delivering the ball to Aaron at home plate
    • MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of a new Aaron exhibit at the Atlanta History Center

    After sprinting from the bullpen to deliver the ball to Aaron at home plate, House found Aaron’s mother giving the slugger a big hug.

    “You could see both of them with tears in their eyes,” House told The Associated Press. “… It was a mother and son. Obviously, that was cool. It was also mom protecting her boy from at that time everybody thought somebody would actually try to shoot him at home plate.

    “So there were all kind of things. I gave him the ball. I said, ‘Here it is, Hank.’ He said ‘Thanks, kid.’”

    Baker referred to Aaron as a father figure or big brother who looked out for him as he began his playing career with the Braves. Baker and other teammates, including Ralph Garr, tried to look out for Aaron during the home run chase.

    “We always felt the need to protect him, always felt that need,” Baker said last week. “I think we were more afraid for him than he was actually afraid because he never showed any fear of the threats or whatever. It seems like it drove him to a higher concentration level than ever before was possible.”

    Baker retired as Houston’s manager following the 2023 season.

    Bob Hope, then the Braves media relations director, said Aaron would not be deterred by the threats issued late in the 1973 season as he approached Ruth’s record of 714 career homers.

    “One time the FBI wanted to come meet with him on a Sunday and asked him not to play because they felt they had legitimate death threats on him,” Hope said.

    “We went down to the clubhouse and sat down with him and Hank just said: ‘What kind of statement would that be? I am a baseball player. You guys do what you need to do to keep things secure, but I’m playing baseball.’ And I thought that was very reflective of his personality all the way through.”

    Hope said most fan mail Aaron received was positive. “The hate mail was not pleasant, but there wasn’t nearly as much as you’re led to believe,” Hope said. “It was just a very, very small percentage of the fans were causing that problem.”

    Hope and Baker remained close to Aaron after Aaron’s career and until his death in 2021 at 86.

    “One of the honors of your life that you don’t want is when Hank died, at his funeral, Dusty and I were the only two nonfamily pallbearers,” Hope said. “When I realized that at the funeral, it was almost overwhelming.”

    Wonya Lucas, Aaron’s niece and the daughter of Bill Lucas, who with the Braves in 1976 became Major League Baseball’s first African American general manager, said she can remember “Uncle Hank” remaining strong during the chase. She said that stayed constant even when threats led to police cars showing up at Aaron’s home and Aaron’s oldest daughter, Gaile, having to return home from college.

    “I certainly understood the gravity of the situation and how the mood shifted is probably a good way to put it,” Wonya Lucas said Friday. “But I do also remember his quiet strength, and despite all those conditions I described I felt safe in the home because I felt he gave us a sense of comfort.”

    To mark the 50-year anniversary of Aaron’s 715th homer, the Atlanta History Center will open a new exhibit to the public celebrating Aaron on Tuesday that will remain open through the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of the exhibit on Monday.

    Aaron’s bat and the ball he hit for the record homer, normally housed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, will be on display at Truist Park on Monday.

    The Hank Aaron Invitational is designed to encourage high school players from diverse backgrounds to play at higher levels. Alumni of the Hank Aaron Invitational include Cincinnati pitcher Hunter Greene, who participated in 2015, and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II, who played in 2018.

    Major League Baseball also supports other initiatives, including the Andre Dawson Classic, designed to promote diversity in the sport.

    “For me, just having somebody that looked like me that could be that successful and do the things he’s done, the road he paved for players like me, that’s pretty huge,” Harris said Friday.

    Despite those efforts, the number of Black players on major league rosters has declined. A study done by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida revealed African American players represented just 6.2% of players on MLB opening day rosters in 2023, down from 7.2% in 2022. Both figures from the institute’s latest reports were the lowest since the study began in 1991.

    A recent spike in the number of African American first-round draft picks provides hope that MLB’s efforts, including the Hank Aaron Invitational, may make a difference.

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  • Trump is demanding a new judge days before hush-money criminal trial

    Trump is demanding a new judge days before hush-money criminal trial

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    Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal case is set to go to trial, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case
    • Trump’s lawyers urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging a conflict of interest and bias because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant
    • The judge rejected a similar request last August
    • In court papers made public Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it is improper for Merchan “to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering” with Trump’s presidential campaign


    Trump’s lawyers — echoing his recent social media complaints — urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging bias and a conflict of interest because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant. The judge rejected a similar request last August.

    In court papers made public Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it is improper for Merchan “to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering” with Trump’s campaign as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

    The trial is scheduled to begin April 15. It is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases scheduled to go to trial and would be the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.

    Merchan didn’t immediately rule. The decision is entirely up to him. If he were to exit, it would throw the trial schedule into disarray, giving Trump a long-sought postponement while a new judge gets up to speed.

    Messages seeking comment were left for a court spokesperson and for Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it sees no reason for Merchan to step aside.

    The defense’s claims that Loren Merchan is profiting from her father’s decisions require “multiple attenuated factual leaps here that undercut any direct connection” between her firm and this case, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter to the judge.

    “This daisy chain of innuendos is a far cry from evidence” that Judge Merchan has a direct, personal or financial interest in reaching a particular conclusion, Colangelo wrote.

    Loren Merchan is president of Authentic Campaigns, which has collected at least $70 million in payments from Democratic candidates and causes since she helped found the company in 2018, records show.

    The firm’s past clients include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority PAC, a big-spending political committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senate Majority PAC has paid Authentic Campaigns $15.2 million, according to campaign finance disclosures.

    In a separate development Friday, Merchan blocked Trump’s lawyers from forcing NBC to provide them with materials related to its recent documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness. He ruled that the defense’s subpoena was “the very definition of a fishing expedition” and didn’t meet a legal burden for requiring a news organization to provide access to its notes and documents.

    On Wednesday, Merchan rejected the presumptive Republican nominee’s request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. The judge has yet to rule on another defense delay request — this one alleging he won’t get a fair trial because of “prejudicial media coverage.”

    The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. Among other things, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

    Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

    Trump foreshadowed his lawyers’ renewed push to have Merchan exit the case with posts assailing the judge and his daughter last week on his Truth Social platform.

    Trump suggested, without evidence, that Merchan’s rulings — including his decision to impose a gag order on Trump — were swayed by his daughter’s consulting interests. He wrongly claimed that she had posted a social media photo showing him behind bars. Trump’s attacks on Loren Merchan led the judge to expand the gag order to prohibit him from making public statements about his family.

    “The Judge has to recuse himself immediately, and right the wrong committed by not doing so last year,” Trump wrote on March 27. “If the Biased and Conflicted Judge is allowed to stay on this Sham ‘Case,’ it will be another sad example of our Country becoming a Banana Republic, not the America we used to know and love.”

    Trump similarly pressed the judge in his Washington, D.C., election interference case to recuse herself, claiming her past comments about him called into question her ability to be fair. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there was no reason for her to step aside.

    Merchan’s daughter featured prominently in the defense’s calls for his recusal last year. They also seized on several small donations the judge made totaling to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign. They totaled $35, including $15 to Biden.

    Merchan rejected that request, writing last August that a state court ethics panel had found that Loren Merchan’s work had no bearing on his impartiality. The judge said he was certain of his “ability to be fair and impartial” and said Trump’s lawyers had “failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.”

    Trump’s lawyers contend circumstances have now changed, with Trump locked in a rematch against President Joe Biden, and Democrats — including clients of Loren Merchan’s firm — seeking to capitalize on Trump’s legal troubles with fundraising emails framed around developments in the hush-money case.

    “It would be completely unacceptable to most New Yorkers if the judge presiding over these proceedings had an adult child who worked at WinRed or MAGA Inc.,” Blanche and Necheles wrote, referring to a Republican fundraising platform and a pro-Trump fundraising committee.

    In seeking Merchan’s recusal, Trump’s lawyers also took issue with his decision to give an interview to The Associated Press last month, suggesting he may have violated judicial conduct rules, and they questioned his use of a court spokesperson last week to deny Trump’s claims that she had posted the image of Trump in jail.

    In the interview, Merchan told the AP that he and his staff were working diligently to prepare for the historic first trial of a former president, saying: “There’s no agenda here. We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done.”

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  • UConn returns to NCAA title game, beating Alabama 86-72

    UConn returns to NCAA title game, beating Alabama 86-72

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    BY JOHN MARSHALL

    Updated 11:21 PM EDT, April 6, 2024

    GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — UConn kept its bid to repeat as national champion intact by surviving its first true test of the NCAA Tournament, getting 21 points from freshman Stephon Castle while clamping down defensively in the second half of an 86-72 win over Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday night.

    The top-seeded Huskies (36-3) had put on a March Madness show before arriving in the desert, a stretch that included a 30-0 run in a decimation of Illinois in the Elite Eight.

    This was more of a slow burn, with UConn withstanding an early wave of 3-pointers before holding the Crimson Tide (25-12) without a field goal during a five-minute second-half stretch.

    Next up for the Huskies will be what should be a much more physical test against 7-foot-4, 300-pound Zach Edey and Purdue in Monday’s national championship game. UConn has its own accomplished big man in 7-2 Donovan Clingan, who finished with 18 points and four blocked shots.

    “A battle of the giants. I think it’s just great for college basketball. Us and Purdue have clearly been the two best teams in the country the last two years,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “I think it’s just great for college basketball to get the two big dogs playing on Monday.”

    Survive that matchup, and UConn will be the first repeat national champion since Florida in 2006-07.

    “It feels good, but the job’s not done yet,” Clingan said

    The Huskies’ Final Four win certainly wasn’t as easy as the final score indicated.

    Alabama held its own in the program’s first Final Four appearance, going toe to toe with a team that trailed 28 total seconds in its first four NCAA Tournament games.

    Crafty point guard Mark Sears did his best to keep Alabama in it, scoring 24 points. Grant Nelson had another big game in March Madness, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds and one highlight-reel dunk over Clingan.

    Even that wasn’t enough against a UConn team that’s among the most efficient at both ends of the floor.

    The Huskies spent the tournament’s first two weeks terrorizing opponents to the tune of a 27.8-point average margin of victory.

    Alabama stuck a stick in the spokes of the juggernaut by pulling Clingan away from the basket and burying 3-pointers.

    Clingan had two early blocks and looked ready to duplicate his Elite Eight performance, when Illinois went 0 for 19 on shots he contested.

    Once the Crimson Tide started forcing Clingan into high pick-and-rolls, lanes to the basket starting opening up — as did the 3-point line.

    Alabama thrived from 3 all season, taking down Clemson in the Elite Eight by making 16 shots from deep. The Tide kept it rolling against UConn, making 8 of 11 in the first half while Sears repeatedly got to the rim, putting the Huskies seemingly right where they wanted them.

    Nope.

    The Huskies kept their composure amid the Alabama 3-point barrage, calmly ran their offense and led 44-40 at halftime.

    UConn kept rolling in the second half and Nelson kept the Tide within reach. His thunderous dunk over Clingan had Tide coach Nate Oats screaming and squatting like he was doing the Haka.

    Oats’ friend Hurley had the last laugh — or scream.

    Hurley has built UConn in arguably the best two-way team of a generation, and the Huskies showed off both sides in their closing flourish.

    UConn shut down Alabama’s open looks from the 3-point arc and started getting the ball into Clingan, who overpowered the Tide when he got near the rim.

    The Huskies gradually stretched the lead, pushed the Tide back every time they made a run and put themselves in position to make history Monday night.

    ___

    AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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  • Caitlin Clark leads Iowa rally for 71-69 win over UConn in women’s Final Four

    Caitlin Clark leads Iowa rally for 71-69 win over UConn in women’s Final Four

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    CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark led Iowa back to the national championship game, scoring 21 points as the Hawkeyes rallied past Paige Bueckers and UConn 71-69 in the women’s Final Four on Friday night.

    What You Need To Know

    • Next up for the Hawkeyes (34-4) is a rematch with unbeaten South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s national semifinals

    • UConn had a chance to take the lead, but Aaliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul while setting a screen with 4.6 seconds left

    • Now Clark is one win away from bringing her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career

    • Even though she wasn’t scoring, Clark kept the Hawkeyes in the game with six rebounds and four assists as the Hawkeyes trailed 32-26 at the break

    Next up for the Hawkeyes (34-4) is a rematch with unbeaten South Carolina, which lost to Iowa in last year’s national semifinals. The Hawkeyes then fell short of winning the school’s first championship, falling to LSU in the title game. Now Clark is one win away from bringing her home state its first women’s basketball title in the final game of her college career.

    “It’s gonna take one through five. They’re so skilled. They played a great game today,” Clark said of South Carolina. “At this point anybody can take it. You’ve got to go prep, you’ve got one day to take of yourself, so we’ll be ready.”

    After a rough opening 30 minutes because of a swarming UConn defense, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer finally got going in the fourth quarter.

    With the game tied at 51-all, Clark scored seven points in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the period to give Iowa a small cushion. UConn (33-6) got within 60-57 before the Hawkeyes scored six straight to take a 66-57 advantage.

    Iowa led 70-66 before Nika Muhl hit a 3-pointer after a steal with 39.3 seconds left to get the Huskies within one.

    Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke turned it over with 10 seconds left. UConn had a chance to take the lead, but Aaliyah Edwards was called for an offensive foul while setting a screen with 4.6 seconds left.

    Clark made one free throw but missed the second. Teammate Sydney Affolter got the rebound and UConn tied her up, forcing a jump ball. The possession arrow kept the ball with the Hawkeyes, who sealed the win by throwing the ball in the air to run out the final seconds.

    Stuelke scored 23 points to lead Iowa. Clark finished with nine rebounds and seven assists.

    “I thought we started off the fourth quarter really good,” Clark said. “Came up with some big baskets. Hannah came up with some baskets. Kate (Martin) was tremendous. Just resilient.”

    Bueckers and Edwards each scored 17 points for the Huskies, who were back in the Final Four after a one-year hiatus that ended their run of 14 straight seasons in the national semifinals. This might have been the best coaching job by Geno Auriemma. UConn had hopes of winning the 12th title in school history coming into the season, but those were quickly dashed by a series of injuries that sidelined nearly half of its roster.

    But Bueckers, the national player of the year as a freshman in 2021 who returned to that form after missing an entire season and part of another with injuries, carried the Huskies back into title contention.

    UConn got going early behind Bueckers and stellar defense by Nika Muhl and her teammates, who swarmed Clark every time she touched the ball. The Huskies led by 12 points in the second quarter.

    Iowa trailed by six at the half before getting going in the third quarter behind their star. She made her first 3-pointer of the game 2 minutes into the period, and then her four-point play got Iowa within one. The Hawkeyes then took their first lead later in the period right before Martin got hit in the face by Edwards, resulting in a bloody nose. She ran off the court, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

    Martin was back on the Iowa bench before they had finished cleaning the court. She then hit three big baskets down the stretch.

    “Couldn’t be happier with our performance tonight in the second half,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “First half was a little rough for us. We really kept believing.”

    Clark had a tough first half, scoring six points while missing all six of her 3-point attempts. She barely got any open shots and at times looked frustrated. Iowa’s coaches kept shouting words of encouragement to their generational player.

    Even though she wasn’t scoring, Clark kept the Hawkeyes in the game with six rebounds and four assists as the Hawkeyes trailed 32-26 at the break.

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  • U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

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    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates.

    What You Need To Know

    • America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates

    • Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast

    • By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes

    • With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.

    Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and was far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand.

    Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. That rate has now come in below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

    The economy is sure to weigh on Americans’ minds as the November presidential vote nears and they assess President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Many people still feel squeezed by the inflation surge that erupted in the spring of 2021. Eleven rate hikes by the Fed have helped send inflation tumbling from its peak over the past year and a half. But average prices are still about 18% higher than they were in February 2021 — a fact for which Biden might pay a political price.

    The Fed’s policymakers are tracking the state of the economy, the job market and inflation to determine when to begin cutting interest rates from their multi-decade highs — a move eagerly awaited by Wall Street traders, businesses, homebuyers and people in need of cars, household appliances and other major purchases that are typically financed. Rate cuts by the Fed would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates across the economy.

    The central bank’s policymakers started raising rates two years ago to try to tame inflation, which by mid-2022 was running at a four-decade high. Those rate hikes — 11 of them from March 2022 through July 2023 — helped drastically slow inflation. Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, far below a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

    Yet the sharply higher borrowing costs for individuals and companies that resulted from the Fed’s rate hikes were widely expected to trigger a recession, with waves of layoffs and a painful rise in unemployment. Yet to the surprise of just about everyone, the economy has kept growing steadily and employers have kept hiring at a healthy pace. Layoffs remain low.

    Some economists believe that a rise in productivity — the amount of output that workers produce per hour — made it easier for companies to hire, raise pay and post bigger profits without having to raise prices. In addition, an influx of immigrants into the job market is believed to have addressed labor shortages and slowed upward pressure on wage growth. This helped allow inflation to cool even as the economy kept growing.

    In the meantime, the Fed has signaled that it expects to cut rates three times this year. But it is awaiting more inflation data to gain further confidence that annual price increases are heading toward its 2% target. Some economists have begun to question whether the Fed will need to cut rates anytime soon in light of the consistently durable U.S. economy.

    Biden noted in a statement that Friday’s jobs report pushed the number of jobs added during his administration over 15 million, which he called a milestone.

    “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink,” he said. ” … Wages are going up. Inflation has come down significantly. We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families.”

    Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told Spectrum News this month’s jobs report “is a part of a story of President Biden’s leadership and what that has meant for the economy.”

    “Overall, we are pleased with the report,” she said. “But more, it’s a reflection of steady, stable growth that has characterized this economy since the president came into office.”

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  • U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    [ad_1]

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates.

    What You Need To Know

    • America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates

    • Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast

    • By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes

    • With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.

    Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and was far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand.

    Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. That rate has now come in below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

    The economy is sure to weigh on Americans’ minds as the November presidential vote nears and they assess President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Many people still feel squeezed by the inflation surge that erupted in the spring of 2021. Eleven rate hikes by the Fed have helped send inflation tumbling from its peak over the past year and a half. But average prices are still about 18% higher than they were in February 2021 — a fact for which Biden might pay a political price.

    The Fed’s policymakers are tracking the state of the economy, the job market and inflation to determine when to begin cutting interest rates from their multi-decade highs — a move eagerly awaited by Wall Street traders, businesses, homebuyers and people in need of cars, household appliances and other major purchases that are typically financed. Rate cuts by the Fed would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates across the economy.

    The central bank’s policymakers started raising rates two years ago to try to tame inflation, which by mid-2022 was running at a four-decade high. Those rate hikes — 11 of them from March 2022 through July 2023 — helped drastically slow inflation. Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, far below a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

    Yet the sharply higher borrowing costs for individuals and companies that resulted from the Fed’s rate hikes were widely expected to trigger a recession, with waves of layoffs and a painful rise in unemployment. Yet to the surprise of just about everyone, the economy has kept growing steadily and employers have kept hiring at a healthy pace. Layoffs remain low.

    Some economists believe that a rise in productivity — the amount of output that workers produce per hour — made it easier for companies to hire, raise pay and post bigger profits without having to raise prices. In addition, an influx of immigrants into the job market is believed to have addressed labor shortages and slowed upward pressure on wage growth. This helped allow inflation to cool even as the economy kept growing.

    In the meantime, the Fed has signaled that it expects to cut rates three times this year. But it is awaiting more inflation data to gain further confidence that annual price increases are heading toward its 2% target. Some economists have begun to question whether the Fed will need to cut rates anytime soon in light of the consistently durable U.S. economy.

    Biden noted in a statement that Friday’s jobs report pushed the number of jobs added during his administration over 15 million, which he called a milestone.

    “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink,” he said. ” … Wages are going up. Inflation has come down significantly. We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families.”

    Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told Spectrum News this month’s jobs report “is a part of a story of President Biden’s leadership and what that has meant for the economy.”

    “Overall, we are pleased with the report,” she said. “But more, it’s a reflection of steady, stable growth that has characterized this economy since the president came into office.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Man who used megaphone to lead Jan. 6 attack sentenced

    Man who used megaphone to lead Jan. 6 attack sentenced

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    A Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob’s attack on police officers guarding the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to more than seven years in prison.

    What You Need To Know

    • Taylor James Johnatakis, a Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob’s attack on police officers guarding the U.S. Capitol, has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison
    • Johnatakis led other rioters on a charge against a police line, “barked commands” over his megaphone and shouted step-by-step directions for overpowering officers, the judge said
    • Johnatakis, who represented himself with an attorney on standby, has repeatedly expressed rhetoric that appears to be inspired by the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement

    • Justice Department prosecutor Courtney Howard said Johnatakis hasn’t expressed any sincere remorse or accepted responsibility for his crimes on Jan. 6


    U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said videos captured Taylor James Johnatakis playing a leadership role during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Johnatakis led other rioters on a charge against a police line, “barked commands” over his megaphone and shouted step-by-step directions for overpowering officers, the judge said.

    “In any angry mob, there are leaders and there are followers. Mr. Johnatakis was a leader. He knew what he was doing that day,” the judge said before sentencing him to seven years and three months behind bars.

    Johnatakis, who represented himself with an attorney on standby, has repeatedly expressed rhetoric that appears to be inspired by the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement. He asked the judge questions at his sentencing, including, “Does the record reflect that I repent in my sins?”

    Lamberth, who referred to some of Johnatakis’ words as “gobbledygook,” said, “I’m not answering questions here.”

    Prosecutors recommended a nine-year prison sentence for Johnatakis, a self-employed installer of septic systems.

    “Johnatakis was not just any rioter; he led, organized, and encouraged the assault of officers at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

    A jury convicted him of felony charges after a trial last year in Washington, D.C.

    Johnatakis, 40, of Kingston, Washington, had a megaphone strapped to his back when he marched to the Capitol from then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6.

    “It’s over,” he shouted at the crowd of Trump supporters. “Michael Pence has voted against the president. We are down to the nuclear option.”

    Johnatakis was one of the first rioters to chase a group of police officers who were retreating up stairs outside the Capitol. He shouted and gestured for other rioters to “pack it in” and prepare to attack.

    Johnatakis shouted “Go!” before he and other rioters shoved a metal barricade into a line of police officers. He also grabbed an officer’s arm.

    “The crime is complete,” Johnatakis posted on social media several hours after he left the Capitol.

    He was arrested in February 2021. He has been jailed since November 2023, when jurors convicted him of seven counts, including obstruction of the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. The jury also convicted him of assault and civil disorder charges.

    Justice Department prosecutor Courtney Howard said Johnatakis hasn’t expressed any sincere remorse or accepted responsibility for his crimes on Jan. 6.

    “He’s going so far as to portray himself as a persecuted victim,” she said.

    Lamberth said he received over 20 letters from Johnatakis, his relatives and friends. Some of his supporters don’t seem to know the full extent of Johnatakis’ crimes on Jan. 6, the judge added. He said he would order the clerk of court’s office to send all them copies of his prepared remarks during the sentencing hearing.

    “There can be no room in our country for this sort of political violence,” Lamberth said.

    Last April, Lamberth ordered a psychologist to examine Johnatakis and determine if he was mentally competent to stand trial. The judge ultimately ruled that Johnatakis could understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.

    Approximately 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from several days to 22 years.

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  • Powell: Fed still sees rate cuts this year; election won’t affect decision

    Powell: Fed still sees rate cuts this year; election won’t affect decision

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    Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February.

    What You Need To Know

    • Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Chair Jerome Powell said, despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February
    • Powell also sought to dispel any notion that the Fed’s interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year’s presidential election

    • The Fed will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the presidential campaign, in July and September

    • The recent pickup in inflation, though slight, has led some economists to postpone their projections for when the Fed will begin cutting rates


    “The recent data do not … materially change the overall picture,” Powell said in a speech at Stanford University, “which continues to be one of solid growth, a strong but rebalancing labor market, and inflation moving down toward 2 percent on a sometimes bumpy path.”

    Most Fed officials “see it as likely to be appropriate” to start cutting their key rate “at some point this year,” he added.

    In his speech, Powell also sought to dispel any notion that the Fed’s interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year’s presidential election. The Fed will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the presidential campaign, in July and September.

    Though inflation has cooled significantly from its peak, it remains above the Fed’s 2% target. And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.

    The recent pickup in inflation, though slight, has led some economists to postpone their projections for when the Fed will begin cutting rates. Rate cuts would begin to reverse the 11 rate increases the Fed carried out beginning in March 2022, to fight the worst inflation bout in four decades. They would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates for households and businesses.

    Many economists now predict that the central bank’s first rate cut won’t come until July or even later. That expectation has fueled some speculation on Wall Street that the Fed might end up deciding to delay rate cuts until after the presidential election. The Fed’s November meeting will take place Nov. 6-7, immediately after Election Day.

    Former President Donald Trump has called Powell “political” for considering rate cuts that Trump has said could benefit Biden and other Democrats. Powell was first nominated to be Fed chair by Trump, who has said that, if he is elected president, he will replace Powell when the Fed chair’s term ends in 2026.

    In his speech Wednesday, Powell noted that Congress intended the Fed to be fully independent of politics, with officials serving long terms that don’t coincide with elections.

    “This independence,” Powell said, “both enables and requires us to make our monetary policy decisions without consideration of short-term political matters.”

    The Fed chair’s remarks follow several reports showing that the economy remains healthy, largely because of solid consumer spending. Yet that strength could make it harder for the Fed to achieve its goal of slowing inflation to its 2% target. Annual inflation ticked up in February to 2.5%, according to the central bank’s preferred measure, though that was down sharply from its peak of 7.1%.

    When they met two weeks ago, Fed officials forecast that they could cut their benchmark rate three times this year. Still, nearly half the 19 policymakers penciled in just two or fewer rate cuts.

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  • Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach, will take on an advisory role

    Steve Clifford is stepping down as Hornets coach, will take on an advisory role

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Steve Clifford is stepping down as coach of the Charlotte Hornets after the season, the team announced.

    Clifford informed the team of his decision on Wednesday. He plans to remain on in an advisory role.

    Clifford, a former Orlando Magic coach, is 45-112 in his two seasons of his second stint as coach of the Hornets and just 18-57 this season.

    He is 337-457 in parts of 10 seasons as a head coach, most of them in Charlotte. He started as a head coach in Charlotte in 2013, then spent three seasons as coach of Orlando before returning to the Hornets.

    Clifford’s contract was set to expire after the season.

    This is the second major move under new owners Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall after Mitch Kupchak stepped down as general manager midseason and was later replaced by Jeff Peterson.

    “This is the appropriate time for me to step down,” Clifford said in a statement. “I believe this is best for me and the organization. I’m excited about the future of the Hornets – our young core of players, Jeff’s leadership of our basketball operations and Rick and Gabe’s vision for the organization.”

    Clifford will serve as head coach for the team’s seven remaining games. The Hornets host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

    Peterson has known Clifford since their time together with the Brooklyn Nets and said he has tremendous respect for him.

    “I understand his decision to step down,” Peterson said. “His basketball knowledge, teaching ability and work ethic are well-respected throughout the NBA. He has had to endure some very difficult circumstances the past two years, and yet our players have continued to compete, work hard and develop.”

    Peterson said the Hornets will begin a search for a replacement immediately.

    “We will look to hire someone that shares our values and vision in developing our young core and creating a culture and identity based on teamwork, accountability and competitiveness,” Peterson said. “We will conduct a thorough search process to select the best head coach for the Hornets moving forward.”

    Clifford previously served as head coach of the Hornets from 2013-2018, leading the team to two playoff appearances. Clifford’s 241 victories as head coach are the most in Charlotte’s history.

     

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  • Orlando guard Kugel transfers from Florida to Kansas

    Orlando guard Kugel transfers from Florida to Kansas

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    ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida sophomore guard Riley Kugel, who was benched for two games during the Southeastern Conference Tournament, is transferring to Kansas, he announced on social media.


    Kugel, a former standout at Orlando’s Dr. Phillips High School, announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal on social media right after Florida’s 102-100 loss to Colorado in the NCAA Tournament. At the time, he said he had narrowed his options to Arizona, UConn, Houston and Kansas.

    “It’s been fun and I appreciate everyone who has supported me through thick and thin,” Kugel wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I will always be thankful for the bond I have built with my teammates in my freshman and sophomore years.”

    A preseason all-SEC selection, Kugel averaged 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds as a sophomore this season, with a season-high 25 points against Baylor on Nov. 23. The Orlando native averaged 9.9 points as a freshman and entered the season as an All-SEC preseason selection. He made 48 assists and had 63 turnovers this season. He scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and made three steals in the Gators’ 102-100 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

    But he was so solid down the stretch last season — he averaged 17.3 points over Florida’s final 10 games — that he considered turning pro. He ended up returning to Florida with hopes of being the team’s go-to scorer.

    Instead, he often looked lost on the court and disengaged on the bench. TV cameras caught him brushing off teammates and coaches. Coach Todd Golden had him coming off the bench by the end of December and playing fewer and fewer minutes the deeper the Gators got into the season.

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  • Medicaid expansion coverage enrollment in North Carolina now above 400,000

    Medicaid expansion coverage enrollment in North Carolina now above 400,000

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    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Enrollment in North Carolina’s new Medicaid coverage for low-income adults has surpassed 400,000 in the expansion program’s first four months, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Monday.

     

    What You Need To Know

    Enrollment in North Carolina’s new Medicaid coverage for low-income adults has surpassed 400,000 in its first four months

    The expanded program began on Dec. 1 and covers some adults ages 19 to 64 who earn too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid

    State officials project enrollment will reach 600,000 within two years

     

    The full health benefits coverage for some adults ages 19-64 who earn too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid began on Dec. 1, roughly two months after lawmakers completed their last step to implement a deal available through the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act.

    Nearly 273,000 people, most of whom had been receiving Medicaid for family-planning coverage alone, were covered on the first day of enrollment. Since then, North Carolina has enrolled an average of more than 1,000 people a day — a rate that Cooper’s office says outpaces other states that have expanded Medicaid.

    “This milestone and the speed at which we’ve reached it shows just how lifechanging Medicaid expansion is for our state and we will continue to get more eligible North Carolinians enrolled,” Cooper said in a news release.

    Cooper’s Department of Health and Human Services projects that the state’s enrollment under expansion will reach 600,000 within two years. DHHS is working with an array of health organizations and nonprofits to recruit more enrollees.

    Many enrollees are young adults or disproportionately live in rural communities, according to the news release, which added that expansion recipients already have benefited from over 700,000 prescriptions and generated more than $11 million in dental service claims.

    “People aren’t just getting covered, they’re getting care,” DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley said in a video on social media.

    Since becoming governor in 2017, Cooper, a Democrat, lobbied hard for the Republican-controlled General Assembly to accept expansion. The legislature and Cooper enacted an expansion law in March 2023, but a separate state budget law also had to be approved.

    The federal government pays 90% of the cost of expansion, with the remainder paid by an increased assessment on hospitals.

    Enrollment also means North Carolina is poised to receive a $1.8 billion bonus over two years from the federal government. DHHS told lawmakers last month that it had already distributed $198 million of that money to nearly 50 government, health, education or nonprofit initiatives.

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