National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - David Hernandez, a 62-year-old homeless man, crawls into his bed made with cardboard boxes in Los Angeles, late Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. President Joe Biden's Administration announced Monday, Dec. 19 it is ramping up efforts to help house people now sleeping on sidewalks, in tents and cars as a new federal report confirms what's obvious to people in many cities: Homelessness is persisting despite increased local efforts. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

US homeless numbers stay about the same as before pandemic

President Joe Biden's administration is making a new push to reduce homelessness as a federal survey confirms something that's obvious to people in many cities: The problem is not waning. The … more

By JANIE HAR and GEOFF MULVIHILL | 12/19/22

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. Walker, convicted in the killings of eight people from another southern Ohio family, faces the possibility of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Robert McGraw/The Chillicothe Gazette via AP, Pool, File)

Man to be sentenced in murders of 8 from another Ohio family

A man convicted in the killings of eight people from another southern Ohio family faces the possibility of life in prison without parole when he’s sentenced. A judge may hear Monday from relatives … more

12/19/22

FILE - New Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks during her inaugural address, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. The new mayor of Los Angeles, Bass, said Sunday, Dec. 18, her administration will start moving homeless people in tent encampments into hotel and motel rooms through a new program that launches Tuesday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

LA taps hotel rooms as estimated 40,000 people live homeless

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told NBC's “Meet the Press” that her administration will start moving homeless people off streets and into motel rooms through a new program that launches Tuesday. … more

12/18/22

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk between tombstones to attend Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the car crash that killed Biden's first wife Neilia Hunter Biden and 13-month-old daughter Naomi. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Biden marks 50th anniversary of death of wife, daughter

President Joe Biden and his family held a private memorial service Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the car crash that killed his first wife and their baby daughter. Biden, who had just been … more

By COLLEEN LONG | 12/18/22

Lorenz added to list of journalists banned from Twitter

The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz has become the latest journalist to be banned from Twitter. Lorenz says she and another Post technology reporter, Drew Harwell, were researching an article … more

By BRIAN P. D. HANNON | 12/18/22

The head table gets set to open the high level segment at the COP15 biodiversity conference, in Montreal, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Governments move closer to deal at biodiversity conference

There were signs that negotiators were closing in on a deal at a U.N. conference that would protect nature and provide financing to set up protected areas and restore degraded ecosystems. China, … more

By MICHAEL CASEY | 12/18/22

Space crew using robotic arm to inspect damaged capsule

The crew of the International Space Station is inspecting an attached Russian space capsule that may have been damaged by a micrometeorite. Russia’s space corporation says the crew on Sunday is … more

12/18/22

FILE - Migrants wait to get into a U.S. government bus after crossing the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. The mayor of the Texas border city declared a state of emergency Saturday, Dec. 17 over concerns about the community's ability to handle an anticipated influx of migrants across the Southern border. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser issued the state of emergency declaration to allow the city to tap into additional resources that are expected to become necessary after Title 42 expulsions end on Dec. 21. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez, File)

Texas mayor declares state of emergency over migrant swell

The mayor of a Texas border city has declared a state of emergency over concerns about the community’s ability to handle an anticipated influx of migrants across the Southern border. The El Paso … more

12/18/22

Delegates arrive at the convention centre at the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity during a snowfall in Montreal, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. (Paul Chiasson /The Canadian Press via AP)

Biodiversity talks in final days with many issues unresolved

Negotiators at a United Nations conference have yet to resolve how to protect biodiversity and provide funding to poor countries as talks reach their their final stages. Delegates from about 190 … more

By MICHAEL CASEY | 12/17/22

FILE - This Nov. 2014, file photo provided by the U.S. National Park Service shows a mountain lion known as P-22, photographed in the Griffith Park area near downtown Los Angeles. P-22, the celebrated mountain lion that took up residence in the middle of Los Angeles and became a symbol of urban pressures on wildlife, was euthanized after dangerous changes in his behavior led to examinations that revealed poor health and an injury likely caused by a car. (U.S. National Park Service, via AP, File)

Famed LA mountain lion euthanized following health problems

P-22, the celebrated mountain lion that took up residence in the middle of Los Angeles and became a symbol of urban pressures on wildlife, has been euthanized. Fish and wildlife officials said … more

CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 12/17/22

FILE - A resident wounded after a Russian attack lies inside an ambulance to be taken to a hospital in Kherson, southern Ukraine, late Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Behind the Lens: The human toll in Ukraine's Kherson

Associated Press photographers talk about their 2022 assignments, and share some of the stories behind the images. ___ THE PLACE: Kherson, Ukraine THE STORY: Residents face new reality in … more

By The Associated Press | 12/17/22

University of California, workers reach deal to end strike

The University of California has reached an agreement with some 36,000 graduate student teaching assistants and other academic workers for increased pay and benefits that could potentially end a … more

By JULIE WATSON and STEFANIE DAZIO | 12/16/22

Members of the Bay St. Louis, Miss., community stand with candles during a vigil for Bay St. Louis police Sgt. Steven Robin and Officer Branden Estorffe at Tiger Stadium on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. Robin and Estorffe were killed the day before when a woman shot both of them. (Hannah Ruhoff/The Sun Herald via AP)

Mississippi officials: Woman and officer shot each other

Officials now say that a Mississippi police officer shot and killed a woman even as the woman was fatally shooting the officer and his partner in the parking lot of a Gulf Coast motel on Wednesday. … more

12/16/22

FILE - This booking photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows death row inmate Henry Hodges. The Associated Press has filed a motion seeking to protect public access to records detailing the treatment of Hodges, the Tennessee death row inmate who cut off his penis while on suicide watch. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)

Records access sought in case of inmate who severed penis

A Tennessee judge is promising to rule quickly on whether to grant public access to records detailing the treatment of a death row prisoner who cut off his penis while on a suicide watch. In a … more

By TRAVIS LOLLER | 12/16/22

FILE - Robert E. Crimo III's father Robert Crimo Jr., right, and mother Denise Pesina attend to a hearing for their son in Lake County court on Aug. 3, 2022, in Waukegan, Ill. Prosecutors announced Friday, Dec. 16, that Crimo Jr., the father of the Illinois man charged with killing seven people in a mass shooting at a July 4 parade in a Chicago suburb, has been charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool, File)

Father of July 4 shooting suspect charged with 7 felonies

Prosecutors say the father of an Illinois man charged with killing seven people in a mass shooting at a July 4 parade has been charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct. Lake County … more

By KATHLEEN FOODY and MICHAEL TARM | 12/16/22

Aaron Dean listens to testimony during the sentencing phase of his trial at Tarrant County's 396th District Court on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, in Fort Worth, Texas. Dean, a former Fort Worth police officer, was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2019 shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson. (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP, Pool)

Sentencing begins in police killing of Atatiana Jefferson

A psychologist says a former Texas officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home in 2019 was unsuitable for police work. Kyle Clayton evaluated Dean in March 2017 … more

12/16/22

This Nov. 11, 2022 photo taken by an FBI in an affidavit filed to the United State District Court of Minnesota shows River William Smith at a gun club in Prior Lake, Minn. Smith, who authorities say had idolized the man who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and was building an arsenal to use against police, was arrested this week as he allegedly tried to buy grenades from an informant. (FBI via AP)

FBI: Minnesota man was making arsenal, revered mass shooters

Authorities say a Minnesota man who told an FBI informant that he was building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police was arrested this week as he tried to buy grenades. The U.S. … more

By STEPHEN GROVES and AMY FORLITI | 12/16/22

FILE - A Goodwill store sign is shown in Berkeley, Calif., on March 9, 2021. The maverick philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is dedicating an unusually large share of her giving to nonprofits in the South — a region that mega-philanthropy and particularly tech donors have long been criticized for ignoring. Scott lists a $10 million gift to Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee as addressing economic development but also financial inclusion, workforce development, vocational education, and youth development. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

New data: MacKenzie Scott gifts prioritize The South

MacKenzie Scott is dedicating an unusually large share of her giving to nonprofits in the South — a region that megaphilanthropy and particularly tech donors have long been criticized for ignoring. … more

By DREW LINDSAY of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | 12/16/22

FILE - A student rides a bicycle on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, March 5, 2013. Oberlin College has completed paying out a $25 million judgment to an Ohio bakery that won a libel lawsuit against the school after a shoplifting incident involving three Black students. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

Oberlin College finishes paying $25M judgement in libel suit

Oberlin College has finished paying out a $25 million judgment to an Ohio bakery that won a libel lawsuit against the school after a shoplifting incident involving three Black students. The store’s … more

12/16/22

Rain clouds hover over Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Voters in one of Southern California's largest counties have delivered a pointed if largely symbolic message about frustration in the nation's most populous state: Officials will soon begin studying whether to break free from California and form a new state. Voters in one of Southern California's largest counties have delivered a pointed if largely symbolic message about frustration in the nation's most populous state: Officials will soon begin studying whether to break free from California and form a new state. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

So long, California: Major county votes to study secession

One of California’s largest counties will consider whether to secede and establish a new state, a largely symbolic move driven by economic stress and frustration with state government. Voters in … more

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, JAE HONG and AMY TAXIN | 12/16/22