National News - The Morning Sun

In this image taken from video provided by WTVO-TV/WQRF-TV/NewsNation. emergency personnel work at the scene, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Rockford, Ill., where four people were killed and five were wounded in stabbings in northern Illinois. Redd said that a suspect is in police custody and was being questioned. She said police did not know the motive. (WTVO-TV/WQRF-TV/NewsNation via AP)

4 people killed and 7 wounded in stabbings in northern Illinois, with a suspect in custody

Authorities say four people were killed and seven were wounded in stabbings in northern Illinois. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd says Wednesday that a suspect is in police custody and has been … more

3/27/24

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his State of the State address, Jan. 10, 2024, in Charleston, W.Va. Justice on Wednesday, March 27, broke with the GOP-majority Legislature to veto a bill that would have loosened one of the country's strictest school vaccination policies. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

West Virginia Gov. Justice breaks with GOP Legislature to veto bill rolling back school vaccine rule

West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice broke with the GOP-majority Legislature to veto a bill that would have loosened one of the country’s strictest school vaccination policies. West Virginia … more

By LEAH WILLINGHAM | 3/27/24

Retired Houston Police Department officer Gerald Goines leaves the court after the Judge Veronica M. Nelson of 482nd District Court quashed two felony murder indictments against him, Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Judge dismisses murder charges ex-Houston officer had faced over 2019 drug raid

A former Houston police officer facing charges after a 2019 deadly drug raid he led prompted a probe that revealed corruption within the police department’s narcotics unit has won a legal victory. … more

By JUAN A. LOZANO | 3/27/24

First lady Jill Biden arrives for a Women's History Month reception in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Jill Biden wrote children's book about her White House cat, Willow, that will be published in June

Jill Biden has written a children's book about her White House cat, Willow, that will be published in June. The first lady's publisher announced Wednesday that “Willow the White House Cat” tells … more

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE | 3/27/24

FILE - A boy runs past a statue of Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin in Tiraspol, the capital of the Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, in Moldova on Nov. 1, 2021. Since Russia fully invaded Ukraine two years ago, a string of incidents in Transnistria have periodically raised the specter that European Union candidate Moldova could also be in Moscow's crosshairs. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)

How events in Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region raised fears of Russian interference

Since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, fears have risen in neighboring Moldova that it could also be in Moscow’s crosshairs. Like Ukraine, Moldova is a former Soviet republic that has aligned … more

By STEPHEN McGRATH | 3/27/24

FILE - A display panel advertises tickets for a Powerball drawing at a convenience store, Nov. 7, 2022, in Renfrew, Pa. There is an $865 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs Wednesday night, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Feel like a lottery loser? Powerball's $865 million jackpot offers another chance to hit it rich

Didn’t win the giant Mega Millions jackpot? Don’t fret. There is an $865 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs Wednesday night. Like that $1.13 billion Mega Millions prize won Tuesday night, the … more

3/27/24

FILE - Two women hug near a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. When organizers in Tennessee planned the first Linking Arms for Change event in 2023 as a show of support for gun safety, they hoped that enough people would show up to make a 3-mile human chain. On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, the one year anniversary of the Covenant shooting, they are again linking arms for change. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

Activists forming human chain in Nashville on Covenant school shooting anniversary

Tennessee advocates for gun safety are forming a 3-mile human chain in Nashville on the anniversary of last year's deadly Covenant School shooting. Linking Arms for Change is organized Wednesday by … more

By TRAVIS LOLLER and JONATHAN MATTISE | 3/27/24

FILE - A Mega Millions ticket is seen as a person makes a purchase inside a convenience store, Aug. 7, 2023, in Kennesaw, Ga. Someone in New Jersey overcame the odds and won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, breaking a winless streak that dated to last December. The numbers drawn Tuesday night, March 26, 2024, were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the gold Mega Ball 4. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

What are the 10 largest US lottery jackpots ever won?

This week has seen big lottery jackpots in the United States — and one win is for the record books. Someone in New Jersey overcame the odds and won the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot in … more

By The Associated Press | 3/27/24

A gate leading to Bone Water Crossing on the Rio Grande River is seen, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Terrell County, Texas. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Texas’ migrant arrest law is on hold for now under latest court ruling

A federal appeals court has refused to lift an order that blocks Texas from arresting and deporting migrants suspected of illegally crossing the border. Late Tuesday’s ruling is the latest … more

3/27/24

Jessica Humes, Environmental Project Manager for the Imperial Irrigation District, looks over a pond refuge for the desert pupfish, Friday, March 22, 2024, in Imperial, Calif. The Imperial Irrigation District created a plan to scale back draws from the Colorado River in a bid to preserve the waterway following years of drought. But a tiny, tough fish got in the way. The proposal to pay farmers to temporarily stop watering forage crops this summer has environmentalists concerned that irrigation drains could dry up, threatening the fish, she said. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tiny, endangered fish hinders California River water conservation plan

Southern California's Imperial Irrigation District supplies water to farmers who grow most of the nation’s winter vegetables. It created a plan to reduce its draws from the Colorado River to help … more

By AMY TAXIN | 3/27/24

FILE - This combo image shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, March 9, 2024 and President Joe Biden, right, Jan. 27, 2024. Many Americans are unenthusiastic about a November rematch of the 2020 presidential election. But presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump appears to stoke more fear and anger among voters from his opposing party than President Joe Biden does from his. That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo, File)

AP-NORC Poll: Trump evokes more anger and fear from Democrats than Biden does from Republicans

Many Americans are unenthusiastic about a November rematch of the 2020 presidential election. But presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump appears to stoke more fear and anger among Democrats than … more

By BILL BARROW and LINLEY SANDERS | 3/27/24

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis smiles during a meeting of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

South Carolina has $1.8 billion but doesn't know where the money came from or where it should go

South Carolina has collected about $1.8 billion in a bank account over the past decade and accountants are trying to figure out where the cash came from and where it was supposed to go. Republican … more

By JEFFREY COLLINS | 3/26/24

FILE - Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, in June 2021, sits during a hearing on a motion for a retrial, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C. Federal prosecutors said Murdaugh didn't tell the truth about where $6 million he stole went and whether a so far unnamed attorney helped him and want to revoke a plea deal on federal financial crime charges, according to court documents. (Tracy Glantz/The State via AP, Pool, File)

FBI says Alex Murdaugh lied about where money stolen from clients went and who helped him steal

Federal prosecutors say convicted killer Alex Murdaugh didn’t tell the truth when FBI agents repeatedly asked him where more than $6 million he stole ended up. In a court filing Tuesday, … more

By JEFFREY COLLINS | 3/26/24

FILE - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court, Feb. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Days after Bailey blamed a brutal after-school fight on a school district's diversity programming, a lawyer for the majority Black district in suburban St. Louis said that the state's chief attorney is showing “obvious racial bias." (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Missouri attorney general is accused of racial bias for pinning a student fight on diversity program

Days after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey blamed an after-school fight on a school district’s diversity programming, a lawyer for the majority Black district in suburban St. Louis says the … more

By SUMMER BALLENTINE | 3/26/24

FILE - Bennett Walsh, then superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, speaks at an event in West Springfield, Mass., in this Sept. 11, 2019 file photo. Bennett Walsh is expected to receive probation in connection with more than 80 COVID-19 deaths at the facility in 2020. (Don Treeger/The Republican, File)

Cases settled: 2 ex-officials of veterans home where 76 died in the pandemic avoid jail time

Two former officials of a Massachusetts veterans home where at least 76 people died during the COVID-19 pandemic will avoid jail time in the case. Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent of the … more

By MICHAEL CASEY | 3/26/24

FILE - Iowa Republican Attorney General candidate Brenna Bird speaks during a Republican Party of Iowa election night rally, Nov. 8, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa. The Iowa attorney general’s office said it is still working on an audit of its victim services that has held up emergency contraception funding for victims of sexual assault despite having a completed draft in hand. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Iowa attorney general not finished with audit that's holding up contraception money for rape victims

The Iowa attorney general’s office said it is still working on an audit of its victim services that has held up emergency contraception funding for victims of sexual assault despite having a … more

By HANNAH FINGERHUT | 3/26/24

FILE - Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including, from left, Kevin Bourgeois, John Gianoli, Richard Windmann and John Anderson, hold signs during a conference in front of the New Orleans Saints training facility, Jan. 29, 2020, in Metairie, La. Advocates for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse say they will ask Louisiana's Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling that wiped out 2021 legislation giving them a renewed opportunity to file civil damage lawsuits over their molestation. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

Louisiana Legislature opened window for sex abuse survivors to sue, but state's high court shut it

Advocates for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse say they will ask Louisiana’s Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling that wiped out 2021 legislation giving them a renewed opportunity to file … more

By KEVIN McGILL | 3/26/24

This image provided by Murrieta, Calif., Police Dept. shows an altered photo of a suspect used by the The Murrieta Police Department. The Southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the Danish toy company asked the agency on March 19, 2024, to stop editing Lego heads over suspects' photos on social media. (Murrieta Police Dept. via AP)

Lego head mugshots add to California's debate on policing and privacy

A Southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego. The Danish toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in the photos it publishes on … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO | 3/26/24

A police officer stands outside a bar after a shooting early Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Indianapolis. Two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers in full uniform were working in off-duty employment at the bar when there was a disturbance in the parking lot around 1:30 a.m., Chief Christopher Bailey said during a news conference at the scene. (WRTV via AP)

Alcohol permit lifted at Indy bar where shooting killed 1 and wounded 5, including police officer

Indiana officials have revoked the liquor license of an Indianapolis bar where one person was killed and five others, including a police officer, were wounded during a weekend shooting. The Indiana … more

3/26/24

FILE - Fairfax County Public Schools is seen, March 4, 2019, in Merrifield, Va. A 24-year-old woman, identified in court papers only by her initials B.R., told jurors Tuesday, March 26, 2024, that she was repeatedly raped and sexually harassed a decade ago as a seventh grade student in Virginia, and that school officials reacted to her pleas for help with indifference. The case involving B.R. stretches back to allegations she was raped and harassed as a 12-year-old student at Rachel Carson Middle School, a part of the state's largest school system, Fairfax County Public Schools. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat, File)

A woman accuses a schoolmate of raping her at age 12. The school system says she is making it up.

A 24-year-old woman is telling jurors that she was repeatedly raped and sexually harassed a decade ago as a seventh-grade student in Virginia, and that school officials reacted to her pleas for help … more

By MATTHEW BARAKAT | 3/26/24