National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - This photo provided by North Slope Borough shows an aerial view of a shallow lake where a helicopter crashed on Alaska's North Slope near Utqiagvik, Alaska, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Alaska search and rescue divers recovered the bodies of a helicopter pilot and three state scientists, Sunday, July 23, from the sunken wreckage of their aircraft, which went down several days earlier in a shallow lake on the remote North Slope, authorities said. (North Slope Borough via AP, File)

Bodies of 4 killed in Alaska helicopter crash are recovered from lake

Authorities in Alaska say search and rescue divers have recovered the bodies of a helicopter pilot and three state scientists whose aircraft went down in a shallow lake last week. The three were on … more

7/23/23

FILE - A vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a pop-up cannabis market on May 24, 2019. Minneapolis is backing away from enforcing laws that criminalize psychedelic plants. On Friday, July 21, 2023, Mayor Jacob Frey ordered police to stop using taxpayer dollars to enforce most laws against hallucinogenic plants, which include psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca and mescaline. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Minneapolis backs off arrests for psychedelic plant use

Minneapolis is backing away from enforcing laws that criminalize buying psychedelic plants or using them in private. Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday ordered police to stop using taxpayer dollars to … more

The Associated Press | 7/23/23

This photo provided by the Willacy County Livestock Show and Fair shows a rodeo goat named Willy, who went missing on July 15, 2023, in a rural South Texas county. The search for Willy has residents enthralled as they're using horses, ATVs and even contemplating using a helicopter to locate the missing animal. (Alma Barron/Willacy County Livestock Show and Fair via AP)

Avid search for missing Texas rodeo goat bringing residents of a small rural county together

The search for a rodeo goat that has been missing for more than a week has the residents of a rural South Texas county enthralled as they are using horses, ATVs and even contemplating utilizing a … more

7/23/23

Police tape is wrapped around the scene of a deck collapse at Briarwood Country Club in Billings, Mont., Sunday, July 23, 2023. The deck collapsed, leaving up to 25 people injured on Saturday evening, police and news reports said. (Amy Lynn Nelson/The Billings Gazette via AP)

Deck collapse at Montana country club leaves more than 30 injured as people land atop each other

A deck has collapsed at a Montana country club, leaving more than 30 injured. The second-story patio floor of Billings’ Briarwood Country Club broke Saturday evening, causing head wounds, broken … more

7/23/23

Musk says Twitter to change logo to "X" from the bird. Changes could come as early as Monday.

Elon Musk plans to change the logo of Twitter to an “X” from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last … more

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO | 7/23/23

Sweat covers the face of Juan Carlos Biseno after dancing to music from his headphones as afternoon temperatures reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 Celsius) July 19, 2023, in Calexico, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

AP PHOTOS: People shade, hydrate and stay indoors in scorching heat on U.S.-Mexico border

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) — People withered in blistering heat on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, where temperatures hit a scorching highs this week and many got little relief from the sun. … more

By GREGORY BULL | 7/23/23

'Mama bears' may be the 2024 race's soccer moms. But where the GOP seeks votes, some see extremism

In many election cycles, there’s a snappy shorthand used to describe the type of voters who may help decide the winner. Think soccer moms or security moms. Even NASCAR dads. And now, the “mama … more

By SARA BURNETT | 7/23/23

FILE - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the weekly cabinet meeting, in the Western Wall tunnels in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Netanyahu's office said early Sunday, July 23, that he was undergoing a procedure to receive a pacemaker. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo, Pool, File)

Israel's Netanyahu taken to hospital for heart procedure, placed under sedation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is undergoing a procedure to receive a pacemaker. In a short video statement released at 2 a.m. Sunday, Netanyahu said he had been fitted with a … more

7/22/23

FILE - Yarimar Mercado Martinez, of Puerto Rico, competes during the women's 50-meter Rifle 3 Positions qualification, at the Olympic Shooting Center, during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. 11, 2016. A Connecticut jury found Franklin Robinson guilty on Friday, July 21, 2023, in the death of Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi, the mother of two-time Olympian rifle shooter Yarimar Mercado Martinez. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Man convicted in stray-bullet killing of Puerto Rican Olympian's mom in her Connecticut home

A Connecticut man has been convicted of murder in the stray-bullet killing of the mother of a two-time Olympian rifle shooter from Puerto Rico. A jury found Franklin Robinson guilty on Friday in the … more

7/22/23

FILE - A man pours cold water onto his head to cool off on a sweltering hot day in the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, July 16, 2023. In the past 30 days, nearly 5,000 heat and rainfall records have been broken or tied in the United States and more than 10,000 records set globally, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Since 2000, the U.S. is setting about twice as many heat records as cold. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Sick of hearing about record heat? Scientists say those numbers paint the story of a warming world

If it seems like you keep hearing about new heat records this summer, it’s because you do. Nearly every major climate-tracking organization proclaimed June the hottest June ever. Then July 4 became … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 7/22/23

Janet Nash, of Camano Island, Wash., hugs a Western red cedar tree that could be cut down for a housing project in Seattle, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Nash was stopping by the protest site where activists are opposing the removal of the tree. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)

Seattle climate activists roost in old cedar tree to prevent it from being cut down for new housing

Activists in Seattle climbed up a tree to prevent its removal on a construction site for new homes. The protest of the potential removal of a Western red cedar on a private lot is the latest episode … more

By MANUEL VALDES | 7/21/23

Workers take a break from deploying large buoys to be used as a border barrier along the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. The floating barrier is being deployed in an effort to block migrants from entering Texas from Mexico. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Justice Department tells Texas that floating barrier on Rio Grande raises humanitarian concerns

The Justice Department has told Texas that a floating barrier of wrecking ball-sized buoys the state put on the Rio Grande violates federal law and raises humanitarian concerns for migrants crossing … more

By PAUL J. WEBER | 7/21/23

FILE - Children skate around the Kim Il Sung Square on Sunday, July 21, 2013, downtown Pyongyang, North Korea. With a U.S. soldier crossing the border into North Korea at the border town of Panmunjom on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, and in custody this week, talk turns to the nation itself — a country that is known for its suspicion of outsiders but also rejects frequent descriptions of it as reclusive. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

North Korea is a land of stories that don't often get told. Here are some that did

With a U.S. soldier crossing the border into North Korea at the border town of Panmunjom and in custody this week, talk turns to the nation itself — a country that is known for its suspicion of … more

By The Associated Press | 7/21/23

Lionhead rabbits eat food put out by residents, Thursday, July 20, 2023, in Wilton Manors, Fla. Efforts are underway to rescue the domesticated rabbits that have populated a Florida neighborhood. Rescue groups are using traps, hands and sometimes nets to capture the 60 to 100 lionhead rabbits living in a community near Fort Lauderdale. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Groups working to round up domesticated rabbits that have been running loose in Florida neighborhood

Efforts are underway to rescue the domesticated rabbits that have populated a Florida neighborhood. Rescue groups are using traps, hands and sometimes nets to capture the 60 to 100 lionhead rabbits … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 7/21/23

In this undated photo released by the U.S Department of Justice is a "Help Me!" sign used by a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas. The girl was rescued in Southern California on July 9, 2023, when passersby saw her hold up the sign in a parked car, police said. The rescue occurred in Long Beach when officers responded to a trouble call and found the "visibly emotional and distressed girl," police said in a press release Thursday, July 20. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)

'Help me' sign leads to rescue of kidnapped Texas girl in Southern California

Police say a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas was rescued in Southern California when passersby saw her hold up a “help me” sign in a parked car. The rescue occurred July 9 in Long Beach, … more

7/21/23

The sun rises behind the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque in Shah Alam on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

AP Week in Pictures: Asia

July 14-20, 2023 The 50th anniversary of the death of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong, the "Bonalu” festival, a landslide, flooding and the moon spacecraft in India, the world swimming championships in … more

By The Associated Press | 7/21/23

French electronic music duo The Blaze performs on the Lab stage during the 57th Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF), in Montreux, Switzerland, Friday, July 14, 2023. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)

AP Global Pictures of the Week: July 14-20, 2023

JULY 14 - 20, 2023 From French electronic music duo The Blaze performing onstage during the 57th Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, to Iraqis throwing stones during clashes with security … more

7/20/23

Technicians remove lifting lugs after placing the Space Shuttle Endeavour's Solid Rocket Aft Skirts on top of a seismic isolator pad in the Shuttle Gallery of at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 20, 2023. The 20-story tall display which is currently under construction will stand atop an 1,800-ton concrete slab supported by so-called base isolators to protect Endeavour from earthquakes. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California Science Center starts complex process to display Space Shuttle Endeavour vertically

A highly technical process is underway in Los Angeles to put NASA's retired Space Shuttle Endeavour on display in the vertical launch position complete with external tank and two solid rocket … more

7/20/23

FILE - In this April 9, 2019, photo provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory, barrels of radioactive waste are loaded for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, marking the first transuranic waste loading operations in five years at the Radioactive Assay Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility in Los Alamos, N.M. A report from independent federal investigators Wednesday, July 19, 2023, said the price tag for cleaning up waste at the laboratory is rising and federal officials need to do more to track costs and progress of the $7 billion effort. (Nestor Trujillo/Los Alamos National Laboratory via AP, File)

In a nod to Oppenheimer's legacy, US officials vow to prioritize cleanup at nuclear lab

Independent federal investigators say the price tag for cleaning up waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory is rising and federal officials need to do more to track costs and progress of the $7 … more

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN | 7/20/23

In this photo provided by Brian Williams, a whale approaches his father, Kevin Williams, while he was paddleboarding in Prince William Sound near Whittier, Alaska, on July 13, 2023. Williams survived the close encounter with a humpback whale, not even getting wet during a tense few seconds caught on camera by friends and family as a whale surfaced near him. (Brian Williams

See how an Alaska paddleboarder escaped a close encounter with a humpback whale

An Alaska man on a paddleboard escaped a close encounter with a humpback whale that surfaced right in front of him. Kevin Williams feared he would be knocked off his paddleboard by the whale so … more

By MARK THIESSEN | 7/20/23