National News - The Morning Sun

This undated photograph provided by Diane Williams shows U.S. military veteran Alexander Drueke of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and his mother, Lois "Bunny" Drueke. Alex Drueke traveled to Ukraine to help with the fight against Russian invaders and was later reported missing. (Lois "Bunny" Drueke/Diane Williams via AP)

Russian TV shows videos of 2 US vets captured in Ukraine

Russian state television has shown video of two U.S. military veterans who went missing last week while fighting in Ukraine. The videos confirm that the men were taken captive and raise fears about … more

6/17/22

FILE - A demonstrator places a sign on the anti-scaling fence outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, Thursday, May 5, 2022 in Washington. As the United States Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, Muslim Americans are gearing up for what the landmark reversal could mean for their communities. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Muslims are finding their place in America’s abortion debate

As the United States Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, Muslim Americans are gearing up for what the landmark reversal could mean for their communities. They’re forming … more

By ALEJANDRA MOLINA | 6/17/22

FILE - A house sits in Rock Creek after floodwaters washed away a road and a bridge in Red Lodge, Mont., in Red Lodge, Mont., June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

From dry to deluge, how heavy snow, rain flooded Yellowstone

A culmination of unique events led to the recent extensive flooding in the Yellowstone region. Water quickly rose in an area that was in an extended drought, forcing officials to race to save homes, … more

By MICHAEL PHILLIS, SETH BORENSTEIN and BRITTANY PETERSON | 6/17/22

A sign with encouraging messages hangs at a memorial at Robb Elementary School created to honor the victims killed in the recent school shooting, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. The Texas elementary school where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers has long been a part of the fabric of the small city of Uvalde, a school attended by generations of families, and where the spark came that led to Hispanic parents and students to band together to fight discrimination over a half-century ago. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas committee still trying to question Uvalde police

A Texas House committee investigating the Uvalde elementary school massacre is signaling that local police have still not committed to speaking with it about the shooting that killed 19 children and … more

6/17/22

This image released by the National Symphony Orchestra shows Gary Ginstling, Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Ginstling will replace Deborah Borda as president of the New York Philharmonic when Borda retires at the end of the 2022-23 season. (Tony Hitchcock/National Symphony Orchestra via AP)

Borda to retire as NY Philharmonic head, Ginstling hired

Deborah Borda will retire as president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic at the end of the 2022-23 season. She will be succeeded by Gary Ginstling, head of Washington’s National Symphony … more

By RONALD BLUM | 6/17/22

FILE - In this March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Following a string of union victories at Amazon and Starbucks, a group of prominent progressive grantmakers is seeking to put a total of $20 million into a coalition with organized labor that will steer funds to organizing and advocacy campaigns in the South. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)

Foundations embrace organized labor with $20 million plan

Following a string of union victories at Amazon and Starbucks, a group of prominent progressive grantmakers is seeking to put a total of $20 million into a coalition with organized labor that will … more

By ALEX DANIELS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | 6/17/22

A man in a devil costume crawls on his knees toward a church as he pays a penance as part of celebrations of the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi in La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 16, 2022. Carrying masks of animals and sea monsters, residents of all ages went out to dance in the ritual known as Dancing Devils that symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean

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6/17/22

CORRECTS NAME OF CHURCH Church members console each other after a shooting at the Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Vestavia, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Police: 2 dead, 1 hurt in church shooting; suspect detained

Police say a lone suspect fired on a small group meeting at a church near one of Alabama’s major cities, fatally wounding two people and injuring a third victim. Police say the suspect is in … more

6/16/22

A girl cries during a balloon release vigil, Friday, June 10, 2022, for Alexis Quinn, who was killed in the Philadelphia South Street mass shooting last weekend. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

A list of recent high-profile shootings in the US

The church shooting Thursday in Alabama that killed two people and wounded another is just the latest recent high-profile shooting in May and June. The most prominent were a racist attack that killed … more

By The Associated Press | 6/16/22

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, people visit Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California's Mojave Desert. The California Fish & Game Commission is holding a hearing on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, to consider whether to list the western Joshua Tree as a threatened species. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

California won't immediately list Joshua tree as threatened

California won’t be listing the iconic western Joshua tree as a threatened species for now. The California Fish and Game Commission voted 2-2 Thursday on whether to list the tree under state … more

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE | 6/16/22

FILE - Mia Wright, center right, and is seen after speaking with reporters on June 4, 2020, in Chicago. A Chicago police officer accused of dragging Mia Wright from a car by her hair and kneeling on her back and neck during a period of protests and unrest following George Floyd's killing should be fired, the head of the police department told a civilian oversight board. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford, File)

Chicago's top cop seeks officer's firing over mall arrest

Chicago’s police superintendent is recommending the firing of an officer accused of dragging a Black woman from a car by her hair and kneeling on her back and neck during a period of protests and … more

6/16/22

In this photo released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, an aardvark cub explores her habitat at the San Diego Zoo on June 10, 2022. For the first time in more than 35 years, an aardvark pup has been born at the zoo. The female, which has not yet been named, was born May 10. Zookeepers say she is doing well and that her mother, Zola, is caring and attentive. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

San Diego Zoo welcomes 1st aardvark birth in years

An aardvark cub born at the San Diego Zoo is said to be doing well and developing quickly. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says the female cub was born May 10 and will nurse from mother Zola for … more

6/16/22

FILE - South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after a college basketball game in the final round of the Women's Final Four NCAA tournament against UConn Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina won 64-49 to win the championship. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

PHOTO GALLERY: Celebrating the impact of Title IX

The impact of the 1972 Title IX law barring discrimination in educational programs that receive federal aid is vast, but it has been particularly influential in athletics. Women’s and men’s … more

By The Associated Press | 6/16/22

Attorney General Merrick Garland. visits the Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, the site of a May 14 mass shooting in which 10 Black people were killed. Garland was in Buffalo to announce federal hate crime charges against the 18-year-old shooter, Payton Gendron. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Buffalo supermarket gunman due in court on hate crime counts

The white man who opened fire on Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, killing 10, is due in federal court, a day after authorities announced hate crime charges that could bring the death penalty. … more

By CAROLYN THOMPSON | 6/16/22

A man kisses the cross of Layla Salazar at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School to honor the victims killed in this week's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Saturday, May 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

Uvalde 11-year-old was avid runner, is remembered for energy

Layla Salazar adored Koala bears and loved the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and dancing to TikTok videos. Her family said she wanted her grandparents to pick her up as often as possible from school because … more

6/16/22

Family members of El Monte Police Officer Michael Paredes grieve at a makeshift memorial for him and Officer Joseph Santana at El Monte City Hall and police station on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in El Monte, Calif. The two officers and a suspect were killed in a shootout the day before while investigating a possible stabbing in a suburban Los Angeles motel. (Sarah Reingewirtz/The Orange County Register via AP)

Wife says she tried to warn police before deadly shooting

The wife of a man who killed two police officers in a Los Angeles suburb says she warned them he had a gun. Diana Flores tells KCBS-TV that Justin Flores had attacked her two days ago and she warned … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO and CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 6/16/22

Louise Billiot, a member of the United Houma Nation Indian tribe, talks inside the home of her friend Irene Verdin, which was heavily damaged from Hurricane Ida nine months before, along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien, La., Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In Louisiana, Native Americans struggle to recover from Ida

As another hurricane season gets started, many Native American residents in southeast Louisiana are still struggling to recover from last year's Hurricane Ida. Native Americans have lived in the … more

By REBECCA SANTANA | 6/15/22

This photo provided by the Rincon Valley Fire District shows crews working a wildfire on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Ariz., on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Rain in the forecast later this week could help firefighters battling the blaze. (Rincon Valley Fire District via AP)

Summer rainy season sets up across Four Corners region

As the summer rainy season known simply as the monsoon started Wednesday, concerns grew for neighborhoods below mountains that have burned repeatedly in northern Arizona. The monsoon runs through … more

By FELICIA FONSECA | 6/15/22

The Glacier Valley Elementary School is seen in Juneau, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. A dozen students and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk at the school after containers were apparently mixed up, the superintendent said Wednesday. Several children complained of burning sensations in their mouth and throats, and at least one child was treated at the local hospital after the Tuesday morning mix-up, Superintendent Bridget Weiss said. (Ben Hohenstatt/The Juneau Empire via AP)

Alaska kids served sealant instead of milk at school program

A dozen students and two adults were served floor sealant instead of milk at a day care summer program at an Alaska elementary school. Juneau school officials say several children complained of … more

By MARK THIESSEN | 6/15/22

FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Fauci, who is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots, tested positive for COVID-19, and was experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms, according to a Wednesday, June 15, 2022, press release posted by the NIH. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Fauci tests positive for virus, has mild COVID-19 symptoms

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s pandemic response through two White House administrations, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The 81-year-old Fauci is fully vaccinated and has … more

By CARLA K. JOHNSON | 6/15/22