National News - The Morning Sun

This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows James Phillip Barnes. The Florida man is set to be executed Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 after dropping all appeals in the 1988 slaying of a woman who was sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a hammer, her body set ablaze in her own bed. James Phillip Barnes is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison in Starke. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)

Florida set to execute inmate James Phillip Barnes in nurse's 1988 hammer killing

A Florida man sentenced to death for the 1988 attack on a woman who was sexually assaulted and killed with a hammer, then set on fire in her own bed, is set for execution Thursday after dropping all … more

By CURT ANDERSON | 8/3/23

FILE - People comfort each other as they sit and mourn at one of seventeen crosses, Feb. 15, 2018, after a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. A reenactment of the 2018 massacre that left 17 dead, 17 wounded and hundreds emotionally traumatized, is scheduled to be conducted Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, as part of lawsuits filed by the victims' families and the injured. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Reenactment of Florida school massacre will bring gunfire back to Parkland campus

Gunfire is about to again erupt at a Parkland, Florida, high school. A reenactment of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead is scheduled for Friday. Ballistics … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 8/3/23

Tulsa man sentenced to 18 years for murder

TULSA, Okla. — A homeless man from Tulsa was sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 1 to 18 years in federal prison for second degree murder in Indian Country, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. U.S. … more

Staff Reports / news@morningsun.net | 8/3/23

Springfield man sentenced for shooting at deputy

SPRNGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield man was sentenced in federal court yesterday for shooting at a Greene County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department deputy when officers arrested him for escaping … more

Staff Reports / news@morningsun.net | 8/3/23

FILE - Memphis police officers work the scene of a shooting at Margolin Hebrew School on Monday, July 31, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. A man suspected of trying to enter the Jewish school with a gun and firing shots outside the building has been charged with multiple crimes, the lead agency looking into the shooting said Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP, File)

Man accused of firing shots outside Jewish school in Tennessee charged with multiple crimes

A man suspected of trying to enter a Jewish school with a gun in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday and firing shots outside the building has been charged with multiple crimes. The Tennessee Bureau of … more

8/2/23

FILE - Aaron Larry Bowman cries during an interview at his attorney's office in Monroe, La., Aug. 5, 2021, as he discusses his injuries resulting from a Louisiana State trooper pummeling him during a traffic stop in 2019. A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of Bowman despite body camera footage that captured the officer pummeling him 18 times with a flashlight. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Federal jury acquits Louisiana trooper caught on camera pummeling Black motorist

A federal jury Wednesday acquitted a white Louisiana trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times … more

By JIM MUSTIAN | 8/2/23

Family members of Ricky Cobb II, a Black man who was shot and killed by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, speak at a news conference outside Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. They joined members of activist groups in demanding that Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz fire the three officers who were involved in stopping Cobb on a Minneapolis freeway on Monday, July 31, which led to Cobb's death. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed)

Family of a Black man killed during a Minnesota traffic stop asks the governor to fire troopers

Racial justice groups and relatives of a Black man shot and killed this week by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper demanded that the governor fire three officers who were involved in stopping the man … more

By TRISHA AHMED | 8/2/23

Kristen Kindl, Living Collections Coordinator at the Desert Botanical Garden, examines a damaged saguaro cactus after multiple arms dropped off the cactus at the Desert Botanical Garden Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The extreme heat in Phoenix is withering some of its famed saguaro cacti, with no end in sight

Phoenix this week climbed back up to dangerously high temperatures. That means trouble not just for people but for some plants, too. After July saw the warmest monthly average temperature on record … more

By TERRY TANG | 8/2/23

This image from video contained in the statement of facts supporting the arrest warrant for Daniel Donnelly Jr., shows Donnelly at an entrance to the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. The face-painting St. Louis Cardinals fan known as "Rally Runner" has been arrested on charges that he joined a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol and used a stolen shield to help other rioters attack police officers. (Justice Department via AP)

St. Louis Cardinals mega-fan charged with joining Capitol riot in red face paint and Trump hat

A St. Louis Cardinals mega-fan known as “Rally Runner” has been arrested on charges that he joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol and used a stolen shield to help other rioters attack … more

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN | 8/2/23

FILE - Alderson Broaddus senior Troy Cantrell, with ball, is watched by Gannon University defenders during a men's basketball game in Erie, Pa., Nov. 29, 2019. The lives of hundreds of students were thrown into disarray after Alderson Broaddus announced Monday, July 31, 2023, that it plans to cease operations. (Greg Wohlford/Erie Times-News via AP, File)

Students' lives thrown into disarray after West Virginia college announces plans to close

The lives of hundreds of students at a small university in West Virginia have been turned upside down after the school announced just before the start of fall classes that it plans to cease … more

By JOHN RABY | 8/2/23

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston discusses a lawsuit that seeks to strike down a Georgia law restricting prosecutors on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 in Decatur, Ga. Boston and three other Georgia district attorneys filed the suit, saying the law unconstitutionally intrudes on their authority to make decisions about who to prosecute. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Georgia prosecutors are suing to strike down a new state law that undermines their authority

Four district attorneys in Georgia are asking a judge to strike down a law creating a commission to discipline and remove prosecutors, arguing it violates the U.S. and Georgia constitutions. The … more

By JEFF AMY | 8/2/23

In this 2023 artist illustration by Alberto Gennari, Perucetus colossus is reconstructed in its coastal habitat, with an estimated body length: ~20 meters. A new species of ancient whale might be the heaviest animal ever found. Researchers describe the new species named Perucetus colossus, or “the colossal whale from Peru," in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (Alberto Gennari/Nature via AP)

The heaviest animal ever may be this ancient whale found in the Peruvian desert

A new species of ancient whale might be the heaviest animal ever found. Scientists reported Wednesday that the creature could challenge the blue whale’s title as the heaviest animal to live on … more

By MADDIE BURAKOFF | 8/2/23

Florida set to execute inmate James Phillip Barnes in nurse's 1988 hammer killing

Florida is preparing to execute a man convicted of strangling his wife and brutally murdering another woman years earlier. The execution of 61-year-old James Phillip Barnes is expected to proceed on … more

By CURT ANDERSON | 8/2/23

FILE - A person walks along a trail as the sun sets, Sunday, July 16, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth, according to a new report issued Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, by Climate Central. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Climate change made July hotter for 4 of 5 humans on Earth, scientists find

A new quick study finds that human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth. And more than 2 billion people felt added warmth from climate change every single day … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 8/2/23

People stroll at embankment of the Moscow River in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, with the "Moscow City" business district in the background. The glittering towers of the Moscow City business district were once symbols of the Russian capital's economic boom in the early 2000s. Now they are a sign of its vulnerability, following a series of drone attacks that rattled some Muscovites shaken and brought the war in Ukraine home to the seat of Russian power. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Drone attacks in Moscow’s glittering business district leave residents on edge

The glittering towers of the Moscow City business district were once symbols of the Russian capital's economic boom in the early 2000s. Now they are a sign of its vulnerability, following a series of … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 8/2/23

The supermoon rises behind a minaret of a mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. The moon appears slightly brighter and bigger than normal because it is closer than usual, just 357,530 kilometers (222,159 miles) away, thus the supermoon label. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

AP PHOTOS: The first supermoon in August rises around the world

The first of two supermoons in August graced the skies on Tuesday. A supermoon is broadly defined as a full moon that is closer to the Earth than normal. That makes it appear slightly brighter … more

By The Associated Press | 8/1/23

CORRECTS SPELLING TO BEIMDIEK NOT BEIMBIEK FILE - Johnny Johnson, left, listens as his attorney Bevy Beimdiek speaks during his sentencing hearing in St. Louis County Court in Clayton, Mo., March 7, 2005. Johnson who abducted and beat to death a 6-year-old girl was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Missouri, as his attorneys pressed claims that he is mentally incompetent. (Gabriel B. Tait/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File)

Missouri man executed for 2002 abduction, killing of 6-year-old girl lured to abandoned factory

A Missouri man who abducted and beat a 6-year-old girl to death at an abandoned factory two decades ago has been executed. Authorities say 45-year-old Johnny Johnson received a lethal injection … more

By DAVID A. LIEB | 8/1/23

Rex A. Heuermann, the architect accused of murdering at least three women near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, appears before Judge Timothy P. Mazzei in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Riverhead, N.Y. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)

Prosecutors in Gilgo Beach killings are giving Rex Heuermann's defense a vast trove of evidence

Weeks after charging Long Island architect Rex Heuermann in a string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders, prosecutors say they’ve begun providing his lawyer with reams of evidence. That … more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK | 8/1/23

Ethan Crumbley listens to testimony from Dr. Colin King during his hearing at Oakland County Circuit Court, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Pontiac, Mich. A Michigan judge is expected to hear the third and final day of testimony Tuesday at a unique sentencing hearing for the Oxford High School shooter. (Clarence Tabb Jr./Detroit News via AP, Pool)

Oxford school shooter was 'feral child' abandoned by parents, defense psychologist says

A psychologist is testifying in a Michigan court where a judge must decide whether the Oxford school shooter gets life in prison. Colin King says Ethan Crumbley was like a “feral child,” raised … more

By ED WHITE | 8/1/23

U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan argues before a federal jury that 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack defendant Robert Bowers should receive the death penalty, Monday July 31, 2023. Bowers, wearing green, was previously found guilty of killing 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. (Dave Klug via AP)

Jury weighs death penalty or life in prison for Pittsburgh synagogue shooter

A jury has ended deliberations for the day without reaching a decision on whether the man who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. … more

8/1/23