CHICAGO (AP) – President Barack Obama has commuted prison sentences of five Illinoisans, including three serving life terms for drug crimes. The Illinois inmates were among 61 drug offenders whose sentences Obama commuted Wednesday. One of the inmates, Jesse Webster of Chicago, is serving a life term for intent to sell cocaine and filing false…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says the reporter who is behind misdemeanor battery charges against his campaign manager “shouldn’t have been grabbing me.” Trump defended campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Fox News Wednesday, a day after Florida police charged him following an incident earlier this month in which Lewandowski pulled the reporter,…
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation he said would legalize discrimination of the LGBT community. The Democratic governor made the announcement Wednesday during a radio appearance on WTOP. The measure would prohibit the state from punishing religious groups that refuse services related to gay marriages. Republican supporters said it would…
NEW YORK (AP) – The NFL has demanded The New York Times retract a front-page story that called the league’s concussion research flawed and likened the NFL’s handling of head trauma to the tobacco industry’s response to the dangers of cigarettes. In a letter from its law firm to the general counsels of the newspaper…
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. says that if North Korea keeps advancing its weapons programs, the U.S. will be compelled to take defensive measures that China will not like. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said North Korea is getting closer to having a nuclear-tipped missile that could threaten the continental U.S. He said while…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump is defending his campaign manager who was charged with misdemeanor battery on Tuesday for an incident with a reporter. Corey Lewandowski turned himself in to police in Jupiter, Florida. Michelle Fields, a former reporter for Breibart, filed charges that Lewandowski pulled her arm when she tried to ask Trump a…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Capitol Police officers say a man was shot by police after drawing a weapon at a U.S. Capitol checkpoint. He was taken to the hospital. A female bystander also sustained minor injuries. Chief of Police Matthew R. Verderosa tells reporters that the suspect was known to police. However, he would not confirm…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it a man-made byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has a 1 in 8 chance of damaging quakes in 2016, surpassing California as the state with the highest probability. In a first-of-its-kind effort,…
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – An ash cloud from an Alaska volcano rose to 37,000 feet and stretched Monday more than 400 miles into interior Alaska. Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, erupted Sunday afternoon. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says activity continued Monday. Pavlof Volcano is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Bernie Sanders has raised more than $4 million since his victories in Saturday’s contests in Washington state, Hawaii and Alaska. Sanders’ campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said Monday that the fundraising shows that the “people backing Bernie are charged up.” It’s one of Sanders’ largest post-election fundraising hauls during his primary fight…