National News - The Morning Sun

This undated booking photo provided by the Bi-State Detention Center in Texarkana, Texas, shows Taylor Rene Parker. Parker, accused of killing a woman to steal her unborn baby to present as her own, went on trial for capital murder, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (Bi-State Detention Center via AP)

Woman accused of killing woman for unborn baby goes on trial

A Texas woman accused of killing a woman to steal her unborn baby to present as her own went on trial for capital murder. Taylor Rene Parker has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and kidnapping in … more

9/12/22

FILE - Former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin holds a report during a news conference in San Francisco on Feb. 15, 2022. Boudin said the report showed DNA collected by San Francisco police from a woman who was sexually assaulted was used by police detectives to arrest her years later in an unrelated property crime. Attorney Adante Pointer said Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, he has filed a lawsuit against San Francisco on the woman's behalf. (AP Photo/Olga R. Rodriguez, File)

Woman whose rape DNA led to her arrest sues San Francisco

A rape victim whose DNA from her sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime is suing the city. Attorney Adante Pointer says the woman filed the … more

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ | 9/12/22

A Ukrainian soldier passes by a Russian tank damaged in a battle in a just freed territory on the road to Balakleya in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (AP Photo)

Putin's Russia struggles for response to Ukrainian blitz

Ukraine's counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country seemed to catch Russia by surprise in the nearly 7-month-old war. The rapid and reportedly chaotic troop withdrawal in the Kharkiv … more

By The Associated Press | 9/12/22

Members of the ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities hold a protest before a Board of Regents meeting to vote on new requirements that private schools teach English, math science and history to high school students on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, outside the New York State Education Department Building in Albany, N.Y. Leaders of the Hasidic schools say that the new regulations would eliminate their schools where male schools regularly study just the Talmud. Educators say the change will require private schools to provide the basic high school education. (Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP)

New York poised to strengthen oversight of nonpublic schools

New York is poised to strengthen its oversight of private and religious schools. Education officials are taking action following years of complaints that thousands of children are graduating from … more

By CAROLYN THOMPSON | 9/12/22

FILE - Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker addresses reporters on April 7, 2022, in Springfield, Ill. Democrats who run state government celebrated while announcing that tax-rebate checks — totaling more than $1.2 billion — on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, began heading to 6 million taxpayers. With just eight weeks before the election, the timing is perfect for Pritzker, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who shared Monday's spotlight, and virtually every member of the General Assembly. (AP Photo/John O'Connor, File)

Illinois tax rebates are coming -- in time for the election

Democrats who run state government are celebrating because tax rebates totaling more than $1.2 billion are heading to 6 million taxpayers. Rebates on income and property taxes are part of a $1.83 … more

By JOHN O'CONNOR | 9/12/22

Team players stand on the pitch during minutes silence following the death of Queen Elizabeth II prior the Group B Europa Conference League soccer match between West Ham and FCSB Steaua Bucharest at London Stadium in London, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

3 more EPL games postponed ahead of queen's funeral

Three English Premier League games scheduled for this weekend have been called off on safety grounds while authorities make preparations for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Manchester United’s … more

By STEVE DOUGLAS | 9/12/22

FILE - This undated photograph provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Alan Eugene Miller, who was convicted of capital murder in a workplace shooting rampage that killed three men in 1999. Miller, scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Sept. 22, 2022, says the state lost the paperwork he turned in selecting an alternate execution method. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)

State: Alabama nearly ready with untried execution method

Alabama could be ready to use a new, untried execution method to carry out a death sentence later this month. A state attorney told a federal judge Monday it's “very likely” that nitrogen hypoxia … more

By KIM CHANDLER | 9/12/22

Students walk on the campus of Seattle Pacific University in Seattle on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. A group of students, faculty and staff at the Christian university have sued leaders of the board of trustees for refusing to scrap an employment policy barring people in same-sex relationships from full-time jobs at SPU. (AP Photo/Chris Grygiel)

Faculty, students sue Christian school over LGBTQ hiring ban

Divisions over LGBTQ-related policies have flared recently at several religious colleges in the United States. Now there's been a dramatic new turn at one of the most rancorous battlegrounds – … more

By DAVID CRARY | 9/12/22

FILE - Victims of flooding from monsoon rains carry belongings salvaged from their flooded home in the Dadu district of Sindh Province, of Pakistan, Sept. 9, 2022. Ten years ago scientists warned the world about how climate change would amplify extreme weather disasters. There are now deadly floods, oppressive heat waves, killer storms, devastating droughts and what scientists call unprecedented extremes as predicted in 2012. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan, File)

'Clairvoyant' 2012 climate report warned of extreme weather

Ten years ago scientists warned the world about how climate change would amplify extreme weather disasters. What they predicted in 2012 has come true the last few summers. There are deadly floods, … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 9/12/22

Firefighter Trapper Gephart of Alaska's Pioneer Peak Interagency Hotshot crew takes a drink while battling the Mosquito Fire in the Volcanoville community of El Dorado County, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

California weather helps firefighters but unleashes floods

Calmer weather in Northern California helped firefighters battling a wildfire threatening thousands of mountain homes. Meanwhile remnants of last week’s Pacific hurricane continued to produce … more

9/12/22

FILE - Alex Jones talks to media during a midday break in his trial at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, on July 26, 2022. A six-member jury with several alternates in Connecticut will begin hearing evidence, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, on how much Jones should pay the families, since he already has been found liable for damages to them. The trial is expected to last about four weeks. (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)

Trial set to begin for Alex Jones in Sandy Hook hoax case

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is set to go on trial a second time for calling the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax and causing several victims' relatives emotional and psychological … more

By DAVE COLLINS | 9/12/22

Kenan Thompson attends Press Preview Day for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Television Academy in Los Angeles. The awards show honoring excellence in American television programming will be held on Monday at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

'Squid Game,' 'Succession,' 'Ted Lasso' vie for Emmy Awards

Emmy Awards host Kenan Thompson and the ceremony’s producers are promising a feel-good event. That description doesn't apply to several of the top nominated shows. Among the best drama contenders … more

By LYNN ELBER | 9/12/22

FILE - George Wagner IV, center, is escorted out of the courtroom after his arraignment on Nov. 28, 2018, at the Pike County Courthouse, in Waverly, Ohio. Opening statements are expected Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, in the death penalty trial of Wagner, indicted for his role in the death of eight Ohio family members. (Robert McGraw/The Chillicothe Gazette via AP, Pool, File)

Opening arguments set for death penalty case in slaying of 8

Opening statements are expected in the death penalty trial of a man indicted for his role in the death of eight family members. George Wagner IV has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges in … more

9/12/22

This undated file photo provided by Merced Police Department shows suspect Samantha Johnson, of Hayward, Calif. Police have arrested a suspect in the death of an 8-year-old girl whose body was found last March inside a central California home after the child was reported missing, authorities said. After a months-long manhunt, Dhante Jackson, not seen, was taken into custody Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Newark on suspicion of killing Sophia Mason, the California attorney general's office said. (Hayward Police Department via AP, File)

Mother’s boyfriend arrested in killing of California girl, 8

Police have arrested a suspect in the death of an 8-year-old girl whose body was found last March inside a central California home after the child was reported missing. Prosecutors and police say … more

9/11/22

Shaun Nielsen stands for a portrait in Sioux Park in Rapid City, S.D. Nielsen, a middle-school social studies teacher in the Rapid City Area School District, was part of a commission formed to help develop new social studies standards in South Dakota. Nielsen said before the group began its work, he got a thick packet of materials from Hillsdale College, a conservative Michigan school, that ultimately formed what the state's public schools students could be expected to learn about American history and civics. (Matt Gade/Rapid City Journal via AP)

Conservative college's curriculum gets foothold in S. Dakota

A proposal for South Dakota's public school standards for American history was influenced by a conservative private college enjoying outsize influence among top Republicans. Michigan-based Hillsdale … more

By STEPHEN GROVES | 9/11/22

FILE - Pharmacist Simon Gorelikov holds a generic emergency contraceptive at the Health First Pharmacy in Boston on May 2, 2013. Some leaders in states that ban abortions at all points of pregnancy say exceptions for rape or incest victims aren't needed because emergency contraceptives can be used instead. But medical professionals and advocates for rape survivors say that while emergency contraception is a helpful tool, it's not always foolproof, and getting access to these emergency measures in the short timeframe in which they would be effective may not be realistic for someone who has just been assaulted. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

EXPLAINER: 'Morning after pill' not always option after rape

Some leaders in states with strict bans on abortion say exceptions for rape or incest victims aren’t needed because emergency contraceptives can be used instead. But medical professionals and … more

By AMY FORLITI | 9/11/22

FILE - Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Testimony at Cruz's trial shows that chaos reigned in the home he shared with his widowed mother and brother. Cruz pleaded guilty to murdering 17 students and staff members in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The trial resumes Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool, File)

Testimony: School shooter's home ruled by chaos

Testimony at the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz shows that chaos reigned in the home he shared with his widowed mother and brother. Cruz and his brother Zachary fought so often and … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 9/11/22

This undated image released by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish shows a missing tiger in Alburquerque, N.M. The animal is believed to be less than 1 year old and 60 pounds, but tigers can grow to 600 pounds. Officials say the alligator was taken to a wildlife facility after a Aug. 12 search, and a 26-year-old man was arrested. Authorities in New Mexico found an alligator and large quantities of drugs, guns and money at two homes in Albuquerque last month, but on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, they said they are still searching for a young tiger they think is being being illegally kept as a pet. (New Mexico Department of Game and Fish via AP)

Found: Alligator, drugs, guns, money. But where's the tiger?

Authorities in New Mexico found an alligator and large quantities of drugs, guns and money at two homes in Albuquerque last month, but they're still searching for a young tiger they think is being … more

9/10/22

Spectators watch the Accession Council, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch, on the big screen at Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Water, Britain, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Sports in Britain resume, pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

There have been moving and respectful tributes to Queen Elizabeth II as sports resumed in Britain following a nationwide shutdown Friday as a mark of respect for the monarch. The queen died at the … more

By STEVE DOUGLAS | 9/10/22

Runners make their way down Main Street in Tupelo, Miss. as they hold their "Liza's Lights" run early Friday morning, Spet. 9, 2022, in Tupelo Miss., to remember Eliza Fletcher, who was abducted and murdered while she was running in the early morning hours in Memphis, Tenn. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)

Man accused in jogger's death faces charges in earlier case

The man charged with killing a Tennessee teacher is facing new charges. Cleotha Henderson has been indicted in connection with an alleged separate kidnapping from 2021. Henderson was rebooked Friday … more

9/10/22