National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - In this aerial photo, a mass grave is re-filled with dirt after a small ceremony at Oaklawn Cemetery, July 30, 2021, in Tulsa, Okla. The mass grave was discovered while searching for victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre. A forensic anthropologist believes investigators are a step closer to identifying victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre with the discovery of 19 surnames possibly connected to remains excavated from the Tulsa cemetery. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP, File)/Tulsa World via AP)

Scientist: Progress in identifying Tulsa massacre victims

A forensic anthropologist believes investigators are a step closer to identifying victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre with the discovery of 19 surnames possibly connected to remains excavated … more

By KEN MILLER | 4/12/23

FILE - An sign stands near an entrance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, in Bethesda, Md. The management of the medical center has drawn criticism from a prominent archbishop - and some members of Congress - by choosing not to renew a contract for Franciscan priests to provide pastoral care, and by hiring a hiring a secular defense contractor, Mack Global LLC, to oversee provision of those services going forward. Walter Reed said it notified the Franciscans in March 2023 that their contract would not be renewed. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Military hospital chided for shift in Catholic pastoral care

The management of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has drawn criticism from a prominent archbishop -- and some members of Congress. The reason: Its decision not to renew a contract for … more

By DAVID CRARY | 4/12/23

Alexei Moskalyov, right, is escorted from a courtroom in Yefremov, Tula region, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 27, 2023. A court in Russia on Tuesday convicted a single father over social media posts criticizing the war in Ukraine and sentenced him to two years in prison — a case brought to the attention of authorities by his daughter's drawings against the invasion at school, according to the man's lawyer and local activists. The 54-year-old Moskalyov, a single father of a 13-year-old daughter, was accused of repeatedly discrediting the Russian army, a criminal offense in accordance to a law Russian authorities adopted shortly after sending troops into Ukraine. (AP Photo)

Father of girl who drew anti-war art extradited to Russia

A human rights group says the father of a a Russian girl sent to an orphanage after drawing an antiwar sketch at school has been extradited from Belarus back to Russia. He faces two years in prison … more

4/12/23

The likeness of Benjamin Franklin is seen on a U.S. $100 bill, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. In a time of high inflation and high interest rates, refunds for taxpayers are on average 10% smaller this year compared with last year, in part due to expired pandemic relief programs. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Your tax refund could be smaller than last year. Here's why

If you're expecting a tax refund, it could be smaller than last year. And with inflation still high, that money won’t go as far as it did a year ago. The 90 million taxpayers who have filed as of … more

By CORA LEWIS | 4/12/23

In this photo provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, a massive 2,500-acre forest fire burns in Ocean County, N.J., early Wednesday, April 12, 2023, as firefighters battle the blaze. The fire started late Tuesday, April 11, and is burning across some 2,500 acres (about 1,000 hectares). (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

Big flames, raining embers in New Jersey pine barrens fire

A massive 3,800-acre forest fire in Ocean County, New Jersey is about half contained as officials continue to battle flames. Authorities said Wednesday the fire started Tuesday and led to the … more

4/12/23

Smoke rises from an industrial fire, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 358 NW F Street, in Richmond, Ind. (Zach Piatt/The Palladium-Item via AP)

Residents forced from Indiana homes as plastics fire burns

Authorities say an evacuation order is expected to remain in place through Wednesday around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked through the night to … more

4/12/23

This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows John Wayne as Sheriff John T. Chance, left, and Angie Dickinson as Feathers in a scene from "Rio Bravo." Dickinson is helping to kick off this year's TCM Classic Film Festival this week in Hollywood with a screening and a discussion of the 1959 classic. (Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP)

Angie Dickinson is (almost) ready for TCM’s Film Festival

Angie Dickinson has quite a few stories about her star-making role in Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo,” that she is ready to regale audiences with at the TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday in … more

By LINDSEY BAHR | 4/12/23

FILE - Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett smiles during an interview in Omaha, Neb., May 7, 2018. Buffett's company has increased its investments in five major Japanese trading houses to give Berkshire Hathaway control of 7.4% of each of those conglomerates. Buffett disclosed the new investments Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in interviews with Nikkei and CNBC while he is visiting Tokyo this week to meet with executives at the Japanese companies. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Buffett says people shouldn't worry about Berkshire, banks

Billionaire Warren Buffett assured investors Wednesday that Berkshire Hathaway will be fine when he's no longer around to lead the conglomerate because Vice Chairman Greg Abel will do a great job and … more

By JOSH FUNK | 4/12/23

FILE - Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, walks outside of the White House, Nov. 18, 2021, in Washington. The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it is mixed with the opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine and develop an antidote. The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

US names veterinary drug, fentanyl mixture 'emerging threat'

The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy is designating the tranquilizer xylazine when mixed with fentanyl as an emerging threat. The drug was approved for veterinary uses more than 50 years … more

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | 4/12/23

Expelled State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, delivers remarks outside the state Capitol Monday, April 10, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Pearson was expelled the previous week over his role in a gun-control protest on the House floor in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

2nd Black lawmaker could be returned to Tennessee House

Commissioners in Memphis are scheduled to decide whether to return a Black Democrat to the Republican-led Tennessee House. He and a colleague were kicked out of the Legislature last Thursday … more

By ADRIAN SAINZ | 4/12/23

Magnitude 4.0 earthquake recorded in central Oklahoma

CARNEY, Okla. (AP) — A magnitude 4.0 earthquake was among a series of six tremors that struck central Oklahoma on Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No injuries or serious … more

4/12/23

FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., March 16, 2022. An anti-vice law from the 19th century is at the center of a new court ruling that could soon halt access to the leading abortion drug in the U.S. On Friday, April 7, 2023, a Trump-appointed judge in Texas sided with Christian conservatives in ruling that the Comstock, enacted in the 1870s, prohibits sending the long-used drug through the mail. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

Abortion pill rulings in conflict: What happens next?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Texas case that could cut off access to the most commonly used abortion medication has started on a path through the legal system that could quickly lead to the Supreme Court. … more

By JESSICA GRESKO and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press | 4/12/23

FILE - Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters holds his hand over his heart while the national anthem plays during inauguration ceremonies, Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City. Walters is on his way out as Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's secretary of education. On Tuesday, April 11, Stitt announced in a press release that he is appointing Oklahoma State University professor of education Katherine Curry to serve on his cabinet in the role Walters has held since 2020. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Stitt picks professor, not Walters, for education secretary

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is on his way out as Gov. Kevin Stitt's secretary of education. Stitt on Tuesday announced in a press release that … more

4/12/23

FILE - District 12 District Attorney Matt Ballard talks at the Rogers County Courthouse on May 4, 2016, in Claremore, Okla. An Oklahoma man convicted of murder for stabbing another man to death in 2018 could get a new trial after Ballard acknowledged in a court filing on March 17, 2023, that two of his former prosecutors watched jurors deliberate via a video feed into the courtroom. In Oklahoma, it is a felony to listen to or observe jurors deliberate in a case. (Matt Barnard/Tulsa World via AP, File)

Oklahoma man could get new trial amid prosecutor misconduct

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man convicted of murder for stabbing another man to death in 2018 could get a new trial after the district attorney acknowledged two of his former prosecutors … more

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press | 4/12/23

St. Louis suburb settles 'debtors' prison' lawsuit

A Missouri town will pay $3.25 million to settle a so-called debtors' prison lawsuit over allegations that thousands of people were unconstitutionally jailed and forced to pay fines and fees that … more

By JIM SALTER Associated Press | 4/12/23

Industrial fire prompts evacuation order in Indiana city

People have been urged to evacuate if they live near a large industrial fire in Richmond, Indiana, near the Ohio border. The order went out Tuesday after a major fire at a site where plastics are … more

4/11/23

Vanessa Oden, vice principal of elementary at Elite Public Schools in Vallejo, attends a Black in School Coalition rally and march at Capitol Park in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. A group of education advocates held a rally to voice opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed budget, saying it doesn't go far enough to close the academic achievement gap for Black students. (Renée C. Byer/The Sacramento Bee via AP)

California weighs how to improve outcomes for Black students

California lawmakers are considering a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to increase funding for schools with a large share of low-income students. The proposal reworks a bill last year that aimed at … more

By SOPHIE AUSTIN | 4/11/23

FILE - This image from the body camera of Louisiana State Police Trooper Dakota DeMoss shows his colleagues, Kory York, center left, and Chris Hollingsworth, center right, holding up Ronald Greene before paramedics arrived on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP, File)

Officers plead not guilty in Ronald Greene's deadly arrest

Five Louisiana law enforcement officers have pleaded not guilty to state crimes in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene. Tuesday's arraignment came nearly five months after the officers were … more

4/11/23

FILE - Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs one of three bills restricting access to abortion in Montana as sponsor of one of the bills, state Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, watches in Helena, Mont., on April 26, 2021. Planned Parenthood of Montana filed a preemptive lawsuit Monday, April 10, 2023, seeking to stop legislation that would ban the abortion method most commonly used in the second trimester, arguing it's unconstitutional. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

Pending abortion ban can’t be prevented, Montana judge rules

A Montana judge says a bill to restrict abortions in Montana will become law — at least temporarily — if the governor signs it. The judge denied a request by Planned Parenthood of Montana to … more

4/11/23

A memorial for Joshua Barrick is on display, late Monday, April 10, 2023, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Louisville, Ky. A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at the bank Monday morning, killing Barrick and multiple others, including a close friend of Kentucky's governor, while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said. (AP Photo/Claire Galofaro)

Leaning on faith, Louisville mourns victims of mass shooting

Many in Louisville turned to their faith for impromptu church services hours after a gunman killed five of his coworkers at Old National Bank downtown and injured eight others. It was the day after … more

By CLAIRE GALOFARO, BRUCE SCHREINER and BEATRICE DUPUY | 4/11/23