National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - A home for sale is seen Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the fourth consecutive month in May as climbing mortgage rates and prices discouraged many would-be buyers. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, June 21, 2022, that existing home sales fell 3.4% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

US home sales fell in June as prices reach new heights

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the fifth consecutive month in June as higher mortgage rates and rising prices kept many home hunters on the sidelines. The National Association of … more

By ALEX VEIGA | 7/20/22

FILE - This Sunday, April 5, 2020, file photo, shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. A U.S. Census Bureau director couldn't be fired without cause and new questions to the census form would have to be vetted by Congress under proposed legislation which attempts to prevent in the future the type of political interference into the nation's head count that took place during the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Secret memo links citizenship question to apportionment

Some Trump administration officials had initial doubts that it was legal to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census but pressed forward and attempted to add it anyways. That's according to an … more

By MIKE SCHNEIDER | 7/20/22

FILE - First lady Jill Biden and Spanish chef Jose Andres of the World Central Kitchen greet volunteers from the World Central Kitchen association during a visit to a reception center for Ukrainian refugees in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Donations from Fidelity Charitable climbed 11% to a record $4.8 billion for the first half of 2022, the nation’s largest grantmaker announced Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Emergency relief organization International Medical Corps saw the number of Fidelity Charitable donors provide them a grant jump more than 1,000% compared to the first half of 2021, while World Central Kitchen grew more than 500%. (Oscar del Pozo/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Fidelity Charitable sets $4.8B record in grants for 6 months

Donations from Fidelity Charitable climbed 11% to a record $4.8 billion for the first half of 2022. The nation’s largest grantmaker says the growth in payouts from its donor-advised funds paints a … more

By GLENN GAMBOA | 7/20/22

FILE - Ivana Trump arrives for the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, Thursday, May 20, 2010. Ivana Trump, who formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s as the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his oldest children, has died in New York City, her family announced Thursday, July 14, 2022. She was 73. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)

Ivana Trump's life to be celebrated at a funeral Mass in NYC

The life of Ivana Trump is being celebrated at a funeral Mass at a Manhattan church following her death last week. Trump’s three children with former President Donald Trump are expected at the … more

7/20/22

Netflix Q2 subscriber loss widens, but not as much as feared

Netflix shed another 970,000 subscribers during the spring amid tougher competition and soaring inflation that’s squeezing household budgets, increasing the urgency behind the video streaming … more

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | 7/19/22

FILE - A kidney dish with syringes containing the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine sits in a refrigerator ready for use at a vaccination center in Prisdorf, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommended the shots and final action will come from the agency's director. (Georg Wendt/dpa via AP, File)

CDC advisers endorse more traditional Novavax COVID shot

Government advisers say U.S. adults who haven’t gotten any COVID-19 shots yet should consider a new option from Novavax. The protein based shot is a more traditional kind of vaccine than the three … more

By LAURAN NEERGAARD | 7/19/22

Marcia Howard, activist and George Floyd Square caretaker, right, takes a moment as she lights candles during a vigil for 20-year old Andrew Tekle Sundberg Thursday, July 14, 2022 outside the apartment building where he was killed by Minneapolis Police in Minneapolis. Minneapolis police officers shot and killed Sundberg early Thursday after an overnight standoff that began after he allegedly fired shots inside an apartment building on the city's south side, according to city and state officials. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP)

Deadly Minneapolis police standoff revives racial concerns

The shooting of a young Black man whose family says he was experiencing a mental health crisis has revived some activists’ mistrust of Minneapolis’ troubled police department and their perception … more

By STEVE KARNOWSKI | 7/19/22

FILE - Caprice Cortez, Faith Goodsell, Autumn Barton and Mykaylla Darrow, all teammates on the Grantsville High School girls soccer team that Alexis Haynie played on, stand together at a candlelight vigil for the Haynie family at City Park in Grantsville, Utah, on Jan. 20, 2020. Colin "CJ" Haynie pleaded guilty Tuesday, July 19, 2022, to killing his mother and three siblings when he was a teenager in 2020. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)

Utah man pleads guilty to killing mother, 3 siblings

A Utah man has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his mother and three siblings in 2020, when he was a teenager. Colin “CJ” Haynie pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of aggravated murder and … more

7/19/22

FILE - Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Twitter Inc.’s lawsuit to force billionaire Musk to make good on his promise to buy the social media giant will be resolved in a small but powerful Delaware court that specializes in high-stakes business disputes. (Patrick Pleul/Pool Photo via AP, File)

EXPLAINER: Twitter, Musk and the Delaware Chancery Court

Twitter Inc.’s lawsuit to force billionaire Elon Musk to make good on his promise to buy the social media giant will be resolved in a small but powerful Delaware court that specializes in … more

By RANDALL CHASE | 7/19/22

Freddy Fernandez sits with his fiancé, Vanessa Cruz, and their 8-month-old daughter, Mariana Fernandez in their home Friday, June 10, 2022, in Carthage, Mo. After contracting COVID-19 in August 2021, Fernandez spent months hooked up to a respirator and an ECMO machine before coming home in February 2022 to begin his long recovery from the disease. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Scars of COVID persist for sickest survivors, their families

While more than 1 million people in the United States died of COVID-19, many more survived ICU stays that have left them with a host of health issues. One survivor is Freddy Fernandez, who was … more

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | 7/19/22

FILE - Angel Cardenas, a freshman at Hiram Johnson High School, wears his mask as he works on a math worksheet, Monday, June 6, 2022, the first day of the return to mandatory masking at all Sacramento City Unified School District sites, in Sacramento, Calif. Despite a year of disruptions, students largely made academic gains this past year that paralleled their growth pre-pandemic and outpaced the previous school year, according to new research released Tuesday, July 19, 2022, from NWEA, a nonprofit research group that administers standardized tests. (Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via AP, File)

Study: Student gains last year narrowed COVID learning gap

New research shows students largely made academic gains this past year that paralleled their growth pre-pandemic and outpaced the previous school year. That's according to a study released Tuesday by … more

By ANNIE MA | 7/19/22

People walk in front of the high surf near Kapahulu Groin (Waikiki Wall) in Waikiki, Hawaii, Sunday, July 17, 2022. (Craig T. Kojima/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)

Hawaii waves crash into homes, weddings during south swell

Towering waves on Hawaii's south shores crashed into homes and businesses, spilled across highways and toppled tables at a wedding reception over the weekend. The National Weather Service says the … more

By CALEB JONES | 7/18/22

FILE - Reggie Daniels pays his respects a memorial at Robb Elementary School on June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to the mass shooting that left 21 people dead at the elementary school but “systemic failures” created a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed, according to a report from investigators released Sunday, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Texas killer earned ominous nickname: 'school shooter'

The gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas left so many hints that he was violent and obsessed with notoriety that former classmates began calling him … more

By BERNARD CONDON | 7/18/22

FILE - Crime scene tape surrounds Robb Elementary School after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, May 25, 2022. The Uvalde school shooter gave so many signals that he was violent and unstable that he was nicknamed “school shooter” by teenagers who knew him, according to a Texas lawmakers’ report released Sunday, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Uvalde report takeaways: Massive response but little action

The Texas House report into the May 24 Robb Elementary School shooting charts a massive but uncoordinated and chaotic response from law enforcement. It also notes a lax approach to campus security … more

By JIM VERTUNO | 7/18/22

FILE - Movie director Roman Polanski talks with reporters outside the courtroom where he was arraigned on March 30, 1977, in Los Angeles, on rape and sex perversion charges. The case involving Polanski, who fled the United States after he forced himself on a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot, has spanned 45 years. On Sunday, July 17, 2022, The Associated Press obtained an unsealed court transcript of the former prosecutor in the case testifying that the judge privately told lawyers he would renege on a promise and imprison the renowned director. (AP Photo/File)

Timeline of Roman Polanski's 45-year-old teen sex abuse case

The release of a transcript of previously sealed testimony in Roman Polanski's long-running sex abuse case in Los Angeles is the latest development in a legal saga that has spanned 45 years. The … more

By The Associated Press | 7/18/22

Traffic is backed up on Interstate 90 after a fatal pileup where at least 20 vehicles crashed near Hardin, Mont., Friday, July 15, 2022. (Amy Lynn Nelson/The Billings Gazette via AP)

Toddler, 2 more kids among 6 killed in Montana highway crash

Officials say that a 3-year-old was among the six people killed in last week's Montana pileup that happened when a dust storm caused blackout conditions on Interstate 90. The Montana Department of … more

By AMY BETH HANSON | 7/18/22

This booking photo released by the Santa Ana Police Department shows suspect Malik Patt, 20, of Los Angeles, on Friday, July 15, 2022. Authorities said Saturday, July 16 that Patt and Jason Payne were arrested Friday in connection with a series of deadly robberies at Southern California 7-Eleven stores. (Santa Ana Police Department via AP)

'Stone-cold serial killer' to be charged in LA-area slayings

Prosecutors plan to charge a Los Angeles man in connection with three murders across Southern California as part of a deadly robbery crime spree last week at a half-dozen 7-Elevens and a doughnut … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO | 7/18/22

This undated photo provided by the Alaska State Troopers shows Mary Dawn Wilson. Authorities are searching for Wilson, after her 2-year-old grandchild was found alone and abandoned for two days on Thursday, July 14, 2022, in a locked car on a rural Alaska road. The search for Wilson, 69, is being concentrated around the community of Healy, Alaska State Troopers said in an online statement. (Alaska State Troopers via AP)

Officials halt search for Alaska grandma after toddler found

Alaska State Troopers have have halted their search for a missing woman whose 2-year-old grandchild was found alone last week in a locked car stuck in mud on a rural road. Authorities believe the … more

7/18/22

This combo of undated images provided by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and Bernalillo County Fire Department, shows, from left, Undersheriff Larry Koren, Lt. Fred Beers, Deputy Michael Levison and county Fire and Rescue Department Specialist Matthew King. The four were killed in a crash of a Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office helicopter that was headed back to Albuquerque after assisting firefighters in another New Mexico city, authorities said Sunday, July 17, 2022. (Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and Bernalillo County Fire Department via AP)

Copter crashes, kills 4 during severe New Mexico fire season

Federal investigators say evidence indicates that a helicopter that crashed in New Mexico after helping fight a wildfire over the weekend descended at a fast rate. Officials with the National … more

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN | 7/18/22

This image released by Universal Pictures shows writer/director Jordan Peele on the set of "Nope." (Glen Wilson/Universal Pictures via AP)

Q&A: Jordan Peele on the dreams and nightmares of 'Nope'

There’s little in contemporary movies quite like the arrival of a new Jordan Peele film. They tend to descend ominously and mysteriously, a little like an unknown object from above that casts an … more

By JAKE COYLE | 7/18/22