National News
Florida: Authorities say 11 now dead from Hurricane Michael
By JAY REEVES and BRENDAN FARRINGTON, Associated Press PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Linda Marquardt rode out Hurricane Michael with her husband at their home in Mexico Beach. When their house filled with surging ocean water, they fled upstairs. Now their home is full of mud and everywhere they look there’s utter devastation in their…
Read MoreSocial Security checks will grow in 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of millions of Social Security recipients and other retirees will get a 2.8 percent boost in benefits next year as inflation edges higher. It’s the biggest increase most retired baby boomers have gotten. Following a stretch of low inflation, the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2019 is the highest in seven…
Read MoreWHAT’S HAPPENING: Rescues, damage in Florida after hurricane
MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s Panhandle is littered with evidence that Hurricane Michael is one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the mainland United States. Roofs and awnings are peeled from buildings, pieces of homes are scattered amid snapped trees and downed power lines, chunks of beaches are washed away. Michael thrashed Georgia as…
Read MoreUS, Russian astronauts safe after emergency landing
By DMITRY LOVETSKY, Associated Press BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A booster rocket failed less than two minutes after launching an American and a Russian toward the International Space Station on Thursday, forcing their emergency — but safe — landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan. It was the latest in a recent series of failures for…
Read MoreSupercharged overnight, Hurricane Michael menaces Florida
By JAY REEVES, Associated Press PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Gaining frightening fury overnight, Hurricane Michael closed in Wednesday on the Florida Panhandle with potentially catastrophic winds of 145 mph, the most powerful storm on record ever to menace the stretch of fishing towns, military bases and spring-break beaches. With more than 375,000 people up…
Read MoreLimo driver’s family believes he was given unsafe vehicle
SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — Relatives of the limousine driver involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York said Tuesday they believe he was unwittingly assigned an unsafe vehicle. The family of Scott Lisinicchia released a statement through a lawyer shortly after another attorney representing the limousine company, Prestige Limousine, said the…
Read MoreUN Ambassador Haley resigning, gives no reason
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is resigning, she and President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, blindsiding many administration officials and stirring speculation in the White House and beyond about the timing and reasons for the latest Trump shake-up just weeks before the November midterm elections. The news was news to many congressional Republicans involved…
Read MoreTrump to allow year-round sales of high-ethanol gasoline
By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is moving to allow year-round sales of gasoline with higher blends of ethanol, a boon for Iowa and other farm states that have pushed for greater sales of the corn-based fuel. President Donald Trump is expected to announce he is lifting a federal ban…
Read MoreSupreme Court moves right, but how far, how fast?
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The moment conservatives have dreamed about for decades has arrived with Brett Kavanaugh joining the Supreme Court. But with it comes the shadow of a bitter confirmation fight that is likely to hang over the court as it takes on divisive issues, especially those dealing with politics…
Read MoreManchin scorched from both sides after Kavanaugh vote
By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Danielle Walker cried on Joe Manchin’s shoulder after she shared her story of sexual assault in the senator’s office. She thought he listened. The 42-year-old Morgantown woman said she was both devastated and furious when Manchin became the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate to support…
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