National News - The Morning Sun

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers displays a two-year budget authored by the Republicans controlled Legislature that he signed, Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in Madison, Wis. Evers used his partial veto power to remove tax cuts for the state's wealthiest taxpayers and protect 180 diversity, equity and inclusion jobs Republicans wanted to cut at the University of Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Harm Venhuizen)

Wisconsin's Democratic governor scales back Republican tax cut, signs state budget

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed off on a two-year spending plan after dramatically scaling back the size of a Republican income tax cut that would have moved the state closer to a flat rate. The … more

By SCOTT BAUER and HARM VENHUIZEN | 7/5/23

FILE - Gerson Fuentes, right, the man accused of raping and impregnating a 9-year-old Ohio girl, who at 10 had to travel to Indiana for an abortion, enters Franklin County common pleas court in Columbus, Ohio, for his bond hearing, July 28, 2022. On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, Fuentes pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. He was sentenced to life in prison but, as part of his plea deal, will be eligible to seek probation after serving 25 to 30 years. He will also have to register as a sex offender. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)

Ohio man guilty of raping a 9-year-old who traveled for legal abortion gets life sentence

A man accused of raping and impregnating a 9-year-old Ohio girl, who had to travel out of state for an abortion, has pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. Twenty-eight-year-old Gerson Fuentes entered … more

7/5/23

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, center, talks to Treasurer Dereck Davis during a meeting of the Board of Public Works, which approved $2.9 million in compensation, Wednesday, July 5, 2023 in Annapolis, Md., for John Huffington, who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years, including a decade spent on death row, for two murders he did not commit. Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who is a board member with Moore and Davis, is seated right. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

Maryland panel OKs $2.9M compensation for wrongfully convicted man who spent 32 years behind bars

A Maryland board has approved $2.9 million in compensation for a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years for two killings he did not commit. The Maryland Board of Public Works approved the … more

By BRIAN WITTE | 7/5/23

FILE - A cross with the name Kyu Cho, a victim of a mass shooting stands at a makeshift memorial by the mall where several people were recently killed, May 10, 2023, in Allen, Texas. So far this year, the nation has witnessed the highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year. There have been more than 550 mass killing incidents since 2006, according to the database, in which at least 2,900 people have died and at least 2,000 people have been injured. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, file)

A list of mass killings in the United States since January

The latest mass killing in the United States happened Monday night in Philadelphia. A 40-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting four people in the streets and killing one man in a house before … more

By The Associated Press | 7/5/23

Boxes of signatures are delivered to Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office in downtown Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Advocates of enshrining abortion rights in Ohio's constitution delivered nearly double the number of signatures needed to place an amendment on fall statewide ballots. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)

Ohio abortion rights backers submit nearly double needed signatures for fall ballot measure

Groups hoping to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio’s constitution have delivered nearly double the number of signatures needed to place an amendment on the fall statewide ballot. Ohioans United for … more

By JULIE CARR SMYTH | 7/5/23

Meade Street is seen after multiple people were shot in Washington early Wednesday, July 5, 2023. (Luis Urbina/WJLA-TV via AP)

Mass shootings claim lives at gatherings over the July Fourth holiday

Mass shootings broke out at festivals, block parties and other gatherings in a handful of cities this week as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July. Gun violence that flared in Washington, D.C, … more

7/5/23

A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia on Monday night, killing four people and wounding two boys in the latest outbreak of gun violence in the United States, police said. (July 4)

Suspect, 40, arraigned on murder charges in Philadelphia mass shooting that killed 5

A 40-year-old accused of killing a man in a house and then gunning down four others “seemingly at random” on the streets of a southwest Philadelphia neighborhood before surrendering to police … more

7/5/23

A woman uses a sweater to shield from the sun as she walls on a street on a hot day in Beijing, Monday, July 3, 2023. Heavy flooding has displaced thousands of people around China as the capital had a brief respite from sweltering heat. Beijing reported 9.8 straight days when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F), the National Climate Center said Monday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Monday may have set a global record for the hottest day ever. Tuesday broke it

Scientists at the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer project calculate that entire planet sweltered to the unofficial hottest day in human recordkeeping July 3 and then soared past that to an … more

By MELINA WALLING and SETH BORENSTEIN | 7/5/23

FILE - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, right, and Vice President Riek Machar, left, attend a Holy Mass led by Pope Francis at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. In Dec. 2024 the country is due to hold presidential elections, the culmination of a peace agreement signed nearly five years ago, and while large scale clashes have subsided, violence in parts of the country persists, with more people killed last year than the one prior. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

South Sudan president says he will be a candidate in long-delayed elections set for 2024

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan says his country’s long-delayed elections will take place in 2024 and that he will be on the ballot. Kiir, who has led South Sudan since the territory became … more

By DENG MACHOL | 7/5/23

South Carolina woman dies after alligator attack near golf course lagoon

Authorities say a South Carolina woman died Tuesday after she was attacked by an alligator while walking her dog near a golf course. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office says 69-year-old woman, who … more

7/4/23

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Joshua Mogle, right, of Altoona, Iowa, raises the winner's belt after devouring a 9-inch Key lime pie at the World Famous Key Lime Pie Eating Championship Tuesday, July 4, 2023, in Key West, Fla. Mogle, a 38-year-old tire manufacturing manager, consumed the Florida Keys' signature dessert in three minutes and 35 seconds, the fastest time of 25 contestants. The gooey competition whose entrants are forbidden to use their hands, has become a subtropical alternative to New York City's hot dog eating contest. (Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

Iowa man wins Fourth of July Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Florida Keys

New York had its hot dog eating contest to celebrate Independence Day. But the Florida Keys had a sweeter alternative. The Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Key West, where Key lime pie originated, … more

7/4/23

FILE - Bare spots are seen, Nov. 29, 2022, in the snowy parking lot in front of the home where four University of Idaho students were found dead on Nov. 13, in Moscow, Idaho, after vehicles belonging to the victims and others were towed away earlier in the day. Objections have been raised to demolishing the house where four University of Idaho students were killed in 2022, with members of three of the victims' families signaling it should be preserved until after the trial of the man charged in the deaths. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Plan to demolish house where 4 University of Idaho students were slain prompts objections

Objections have been raised to demolishing the house where four University of Idaho students were killed, with a lawyer saying it should be perserved until trial is held for the man charged in the … more

7/4/23

James Tyler, 19, tilts his head back so the popcorn he is eating on the back of a decorated Jeep won't catch on his artificial Uncle Sam mustache after Tuesday's Independence Day parade in Buffalo Gap, Texas Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (Ronald W. Erdrich /The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)

Revelers across the US brave heat and heavy downpours to celebrate Fourth of July

Revelers across the nation braved heat and heavy downpours to take part in Fourth of July activities Tuesday, celebrating the nation’s founding with parades, fireworks and hot dog eating contests … more

By STEVE LeBLANC | 7/4/23

A fireworks explosion in western Michigan killed 1 woman and injured 9 other people

Fireworks explosions in adjacent counties in western Michigan have left at least one woman dead and nine others with injuries from critical to minor. Both explosions happened Monday within about 30 … more

7/4/23

In this image made from video, Georgia’s imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili attends a court hearing from hospital via video link in Tbilisi, Monday, July 3, 2023. Saakashvili appeared severely emaciated on Monday in videolink testimony to a court considering an abuse-of-power case against him. He and his supporters claim he was poisoned in prison and has lost half of his body weight since he was arrested in October 2021. (Pool Photo via AP)

Georgia condemns Ukraine for its protests over health of former president Saakashvili

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry is criticizing Ukraine for urging the Georgian ambassador to return to Tbilisi for consultations over the poor health of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, … more

7/4/23

FILE - Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. A lawyer for embattled Paxton said in a Monday, July 3, 2023, statement that the Republican will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not testify at his impeachment trial, attorney says

A lawyer for embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the Republican will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial. Paxton is temporarily suspended from office pending the outcome of the … more

By PAUL J. WEBER | 7/4/23

Police arrive on the scene of a deadly shooting late Monday, July 3, 2023 in Forth Worth, Texas. Authorities say gunfire erupted following a local festival in the Como neighborhood in the city's southwest. (WFAA via AP)

Shooting after local festival leaves three dead and eight injured in Texas, police say

Authorities in Texas say three people were killed and eight people were injured when gunfire erupted following a local festival. The shooting in Fort Worth happened Monday night in the Como … more

Associated Press | 7/4/23

Army vehicles are seen during an Israeli military raid on the militant stronghold of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Palestinian health officials said at least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids and airstrikes. Army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel launched the operation because some 50 attacks over the past year had emanated from Jenin. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israel presses on with hunt for West Bank militants. The death toll rises to 10 and civilians flee

Hundreds of Israeli troops are pressing ahead with their hunt for Palestinian militants and weapons in a West Bank refugee camp for a second day. Massive military bulldozers have been tearing through … more

By MAJDI MOHAMMED | 7/4/23

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a drone on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)

Russian military says it fended off Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow

The Russian military says it has fended off a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly close one of the city's airports. Ukrainian authorities didn’t claim … more

By The Associated Press | 7/4/23

Nathaniel Sheidley, president and CEO of Revolutionary Spaces, stands outside the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Thursday, June 29, 2023, the site of the tax protests that led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Sheidley said that for the country’s founding generation, patriotism meant the sacrifice of one’s own individual interest in the service of something larger like the country or the common good. The hallmark of patriotism, he said, was caring more about one’s neighbor and fellow community members that one’s self. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)

In a polarized US, how to define a patriot increasingly depends on who's being asked

Millions of Americans will attend parades, fireworks, barbecues and other Independence Day events on Tuesday, celebrating the courage and sacrifices of the nation’s 18th century patriots who fought … more

By GARY FIELDS, MARGERY BECK and REBECCA BOONE | 7/4/23