National News - The Morning Sun

A real estate sign is posted outside of a recently sold home, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Valrico, Fla. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Average long-term mortgage rate at lowest level in six weeks

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down this week to its lowest level in six weeks, just as the spring buying season gets underway. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the … more

By MATT OTT | 3/30/23

File - A hiring sign is seen in Downers Grove, Ill., Thursday, May 5, 2022. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

More Americans file for jobless claims; layoffs remain low

U.S. applications for jobless benefits rose last week but remain at historically low levels despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and job market in its fight against inflation. … more

By MATT OTT | 3/30/23

FILE - Andy Roddick returns a shot to Italy's Fabio Fognini in the third round of play at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament, Sept. 2, 2012, in New York. The latest in a series of attempts to help pickleball find a footing on television is coming Sunday, April 2, 2023, when Roddick, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang take part in a made-for-TV exhibition in Hollywood, Florida. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

Pickleball Slam: Roddick, Agassi, McEnroe, Chang take swings

The latest in a series of attempts to help pickleball find a footing on television is coming this weekend when Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang take part in a made-for-TV … more

By HOWARD FENDRICH | 3/30/23

FILE - Kimberle Crenshaw speaks during the 'Reconstruction: America After Civil War' panel during the PBS presentation at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour at The Langham Huntington on Feb. 2, 2019, in Pasadena, Calif. Crenshaw, 63, helped develop the academic concept of critical race theory, the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions. The academic framework dates back to the 1970s, but the phrase has taken on new political life in recent years as parents and politicians debate how race and American history should be taught in public schools. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Social issues dominate in Women's Hall of Fame's new class

The National Women’s Hall of Fame has announced a new group of inductees. Among the honorees are social justice pioneers, groundbreaking physicians and women who have championed Jewish feminist … more

3/29/23

FILE - Damaged and missing homes are seen in the wake of Hurricane Ian, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Weather officials announced Wednesday, March 29, 2023, that they are retiring the names Fiona and Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with those names. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Fiona, Ian retired from list of tropical cyclone names

Weather officials say they’re retiring the names Fiona and Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with … more

3/29/23

FILE - Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" and is credited with saving more than 1,000 people by sheltering them at the hotel he managed during the genocide, attends a court hearing in Kigali, Rwanda, Friday Feb. 26, 2021. Rwanda's government has commuted the sentence of Paul Rusesabagina was convicted of terrorism offenses years later in a widely criticized trial. Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told The Associated Press on Friday, March 24, 2023, that the 25-year sentence was commuted by presidential order after a request for clemency. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier, File)

Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina arrives in US

The man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” and was freed by Rwanda last week from a terrorism sentence returned Wednesday to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family. A … more

By JUAN A. LOZANO and ERIC TUCKER | 3/29/23

FILE - In this image taken from a nearly 18-minute video taken by a California Highway Patrol sergeant, Edward Bronstein, 38, is taken into custody by CHP officers on March 31, 2020, following a traffic stop in Los Angeles. Prosecutors on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, charged seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2020 in-custody death of Edward Bronstein, who screamed "I can't breathe" while multiple officers restrained him as they tried to take a blood sample. (California Highway Patrol via AP, File)

7 California officers charged in death of man in custody

Prosecutors have charged seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2020 death of a man who screamed “I can’t breathe” while … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO | 3/29/23

FILE - A Transportation Security Administration officer works at Dallas Love Field Airport on June 24, 2020, in Dallas. U.S. Senate and House members proposed Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to create a new no-fly list for unruly passengers, an idea that was pushed by airline unions but failed to gain traction last year. The legislation would let the Transportation Security Administration ban people convicted or fined for assaulting or interfering with airline crew members. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Congress to consider new no-fly list for unruly passengers

Congress is taking another look at creating a new no-fly list for unruly passengers. It's an idea that was floated last year but never got off the ground. On Wednesday, several members of the U.S. … more

By DAVID KOENIG | 3/29/23

An an entry to Covenant School has become a memorial for shooting victims, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Children lost in shooting were 'feisty,' a 'shining light'

Details from the rich, full lives of the three adults killed Monday at a Nashville elementary school have quickly emerged. But information on the three 9-year-old children who died has been slower to … more

By BEN FINLEY, ADRIAN SAINZ and HOLLY MEYER | 3/29/23

FILE - A group of manatees are pictured in a canal where discharge from a nearby Florida Power & Light plant warms the water in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dec. 28, 2010. The unprecedented effort to feed starving Florida manatees thousands of pounds of lettuce officially ended for the year Wednesday, March 29, 2023, as reported deaths of the marine mammals appeared to be slowing, despite the long-term threat of water pollution that chokes off their main seagrass food source. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Florida sees fewer manatee starvation deaths as feeding ends

The effort to feed thousands of pounds of lettuce to starving manatees in Florida manatees has officially ended for the winter season, as deaths of the marine mammals appear to be slowing despite the … more

By CURT ANDERSON | 3/29/23

FILE - A man, top center, salvages a jacket as he looks over a tornado damaged home, March 26, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Miss. An unusual weather pattern has set in, triggering the devastating tornado that hit Rolling Fork, and meteorologists fear this Friday, March 31, will be one of the worst days, with much more to come. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Watch out: Series of dangerous storms target Midwest, South

Meteorologists are warning of a series of severe storms that could rip across America's Midwest and South over the next couple of weeks, with the first and perhaps most dangerous outbreak forecast to … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 3/29/23

People pray during a community vigil held for the people killed during the Covenant School shooting on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)

Nashville looks to vigil for solace after school shooting

Nashville is awaiting a candlelight vigil to mourn the three children and three adults killed in a shooting at a Christian school. Mayor John Cooper says the vigil Wednesday evening will honor the … more

By TRAVIS LOLLER and KIMBERLEE KRUESI | 3/29/23

FILE - Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's climate change minister, attends a session at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The countries of the United Nations led by the island nation of Vanuatu adopted what they called a historic resolution Wednesday, March 29, 2023, calling for the U.N.'s highest court to strengthen countries' legal obligations to curb warming and protect communities from climate disaster. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

'Urgent action to save the planet' - countries' call at UN

United Nations states, led by the small island of Vanuatu that has already weathered the damaging effects of climate change, have agreed to adopt a historic resolution Wednesday to request an opinion … more

By ISABELLA O'MALLEY | 3/29/23

Alabama police officer killed, another wounded in shooting

Officials in Alabama say a Huntsville police officer has died after being shot and another officer was critically wounded. The two Huntsville officers were shot Tuesday evening at an apartment … more

3/29/23

People console each other at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., which has become a memorial to the victims of Monday's school shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Nashville shooting highlights security at private schools

Around the U.S., private schools generally do not face as many requirements as public schools for developing security plans. They also sometimes lack access to government programs to bolster … more

By HOLLY MEYER and ANNIE MA | 3/29/23

Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, addresses the House Committee on Judiciary about SB270 at the Arkansas State Capitol, in Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Colin Murphey/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)

Arkansas bathroom bill condemned as too extreme is revamped

An Arkansas bathroom bill that had been criticized as the most extreme in the country has been revamped to address concerns it would criminalize transgender people using public restrooms matching … more

By ANDREW DeMILLO | 3/28/23

FILE - Threatening graffiti is seen on the exterior of Wisconsin Family Action offices in Madison, Wis., May 8, 2022. Investigators on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, finally captured the man they believe firebombed the prominent Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group's office last year ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. The U.S. attorney's office in Madison announced that police arrested 29-year-old Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury at Boston's Logan International Airport on Tuesday. (Alex Shur/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Man charged with firebombing Wisconsin anti-abortion office

Federal prosecutors have charged a man with firebombing a prominent Wisconsin anti-abortion lobbying group's office last year. The U.S. attorney's office in Madison announced that 29-year-old … more

By TODD RICHMOND | 3/28/23

Apple rolls out buy now, pay later service, with guardrails

Apple is getting into the buy now, pay later space with a few tweaks to the existing model, including no option to pay with a credit card. The company will roll out the product to some consumers this … more

By CORA LEWIS | 3/28/23

Crystal Kornickey holds up casts of her hands in a studio at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. She is one of 36 people whose hands will be cast in bronze for a memorial to the likely enslaved people discovered in an unmarked burial ground. In recent decades, advances in DNA research have allowed scientists to use ancient remains and peer into the lives of long-dead people. In Charleston, that's meant tracing some of the African roots that were cut off by slavery. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Their stories were lost to slavery. Now DNA is writing them

A project in Charleston, South Carolina, is using DNA to trace the African roots of three dozen people buried in the late 1700s. The remains were uncovered in the coastal city during construction in … more

By MADDIE BURAKOFF | 3/28/23

Curtis McDowell, who lives near Covenant School, walks away after placing flowers outside of the school's entrance in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023. Multiple children and adults were killed during the school shooting. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)

Nashville school shooting victims include pastor's daughter

The six people who were fatally shot at a Christian elementary school in Nashville included the daughter of the pastor whose church runs The Covenant School. She was identified as 9-year-old Hallie … more

By BEN FINLEY and TRAVIS LOLLER | 3/28/23