National News - The Morning Sun

Visitors walk on a pathway amid fields of blooming flowers at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Monday, April 10, 2023, in Lancaster, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wet winter gives way to colorful 'Superbloom' in US West

The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple and yellow look like paint swatches from space. From the … more

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press | 4/15/23

AP Trending SummaryBrief at 6:32 p.m. EDT

Wet winter gives way to colorful 'Superbloom' in US West The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple, … more

4/15/23

A visitor stands on a field of blooming flowers near the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Monday, April 10, 2023, in Lancaster, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wet winter gives way to colorful 'Superbloom' in US West

The tiny rain-fed wildflowers, no bigger than a few inches, are so vivid and abundant across California this year that their hues of purple, yellow and orange look like paint swatches from space. … more

By JULIE WATSON | 4/14/23

This photo provided by SpaceX shows the company's Starship rocket at the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (SpaceX via AP)

FAA gives OK for SpaceX's Starship test flight from Texas

SpaceX has cleared the final hurdle for launching its new giant Starship from Texas as early as next week on a first test flight. The Federal Aviation Administration issued the license on Friday. … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 4/14/23

Smoke rises from an industrial fire, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 358 NW F Street, in Richmond, Ind. (Zach Piatt/The Palladium-Item via AP)

Indiana plastics fire raises worries about health dangers

Experts say a fire at a plastics business in Indiana raises numerous health concerns. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says asbestos was found in debris from the fire, which was contained … more

By JOHN FLESHER | 4/14/23

FILE - Municipal workers collect dead pelicans on Santa Maria beach in Lima, Peru, Nov. 30, 2022, as thousands of birds died in November along the Pacific of Peru from bird flu, according to The National Forest and Wildlife Service (Serfor). A man in Chile is infected with a bird flu that has concerning mutations, according to a new lab analysis. But U.S. health officials said Friday, April 14, 2023, that the threat to people remains low. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo, File)

Bird flu: Scientists find mutations, say threat is still low

A man in Chile is infected with a bird flu that has concerning mutations, but the threat to people from the virus remains low. That's according to U.S. health officials. It appears the mutations are … more

By MIKE STOBBE | 4/14/23

FILE - This image made from video provided by WCVB-TV, shows Jack Teixeira, in T-shirt and shorts, being taken into custody by armed tactical agents on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Dighton, Mass. Teixeira, who is accused in the leak of highly classified military documents, appeared in court Friday as prosecutors unsealed charges and revealed how billing records and interviews with social media comrades helped pinpoint the suspect. (WCVB-TV via AP, File)

Leak suspect yearned to join military but then regretted it

The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking a highly classified documents that have caused an international uproar had set his sights on joining the military from an early age. But … more

NOMAAN MERCHANT and MICHELLE R. SMITH | 4/14/23

FILE - Clint Eastwood arrives at the AFI Awards on Jan. 3, 2020, in Los Angeles. . (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Clint Eastwood set to direct 'Juror No. 2' for Warner Bros.

Clint Eastwood is getting back in the director’s chair. The “Unforgiven” and “Gran Torino” filmmaker is set to direct the legal drama “Juror No. 2” for Warner Bros., a person close to … more

4/14/23

FILE - Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., speaks before during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing, May 10, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican state lawmakers in Montana are advancing legislation that would alter next year's U.S. Senate primary in an apparent bid to thwart the re-election of Sen. Jon Tester, one of several Democrats on the ballot in GOP-leaning states. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)

Montana GOP seeks to bar 3rd parties from key US Senate race

Libertarians lined up with Democrats on Friday against a proposal that would effectively block third party candidates from next year’s Montana U.S. Senate election. Republicans are trying to … more

By MATTHEW BROWN | 4/14/23

FILE - A red-shouldered hawk fluffs up it's feathers and spreads wings to facilitate drying after a thunderstorm in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 31, 2021. On April 6, 2023, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a violation notice against one of its own sub-divisions accusing it of wrongly clearing 15 acres of a wildlife management area in southwestern New Jersey. The work was designed to create habitat for the American woodcock, but wound up destroying habitat for the barred owl, which is threatened, and the red-shouldered hawk, which is endangered. (Robin Rudd/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)

NJ charges itself with damaging land it was bound to protect

New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection has issued a violation notice against itself for wrongly clearing nearly 15 acres of a wildlife management area. The work in February and March was … more

By WAYNE PARRY | 4/14/23

FILE - Police look on as students return to Richneck Elementary on Jan. 30, 2023, in Newport News, Va. The mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and wounded his teacher at Richneck Elementary had a series of miscarriages and post-partum depression in the year before the shooting, her attorney said Friday, April 14, 2023, after she was arraigned on charges of child neglect and failing to secure the handgun her son used in the shooting. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)

Attorney: Mom of Virginia boy who shot teacher was depressed

An attorney says the mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and wounded his teacher had a series of miscarriages and post-partum depression in the year leading up to the shooting. The mother's … more

By BEN FINLEY and DENISE LAVOIE | 4/14/23

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Thursday, April 13, approved a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a proposal supported by DeSantis as he prepares for an expected presidential run. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)

DeSantis signs 6-week abortion ban in closed-door ceremony

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, giving the Republican a major conservative policy victory as he prepares to launch an expected presidential … more

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE | 4/14/23

Firefighters pour water on an industrial fire in Richmond, Ind., Thursday, April 13, 2023. Multiple fires that began burning Tuesday afternoon were still burning within about 14 acres of various types of plastics stored inside and outside buildings at the former factory site. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Chief: Flames out, but Indiana plastic fire still smoldering

An Indiana fire chief says that firefighters have doused the flames at a major industrial blaze in Indiana fueled by tons of scrap plastics but that crews continue trying to extinguish hot spots. An … more

4/14/23

America's first heroes: Revolutionary War soldiers reburied

Historians and archeologists in South Carolina are preparing to rebury 12 unknown U.S. Revolutionary War soldiers who died in the 1780 battle at Camden. The ceremonies starting April 20 are the … more

By JEFFREY COLLINS | 4/14/23

Migrants are identified by Italian authorities as they disembark from a ship in the Sicilian port of Catania, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Italy's right-wing government has declared a state of emergency to help it cope with a surge in migrants arriving on the country's southern shores. Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Cabinet on Tuesday, decided to impose the emergency status for six months. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa

April 6-13, 2023 From U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland, to French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Netherlands and the effects of the war in both Russia and … more

By The Associated Press | 4/14/23

Missouri man freed from prison after 40 years files lawsuit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder he did not commit alleges in a lawsuit that Kansas City police conducted a reckless investigation … more

4/14/23

Court rejects Oklahoma inmate's claim father killed woman

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Court of Criminals on Thursday rejected a death row inmate's claim that his father was the actual killer of a University of Oklahoma dance student in 1996. The … more

4/14/23

This image made from video provided by WCVB-TV, shows Jack Teixeira, in T-shirt and shorts, being taken into custody by armed tactical agents on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Dighton, Mass. (WCVB-TV via AP)

Guardsman arrested in leak of classified military documents

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member was arrested Thursday in connection with the disclosure of highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other top … more

By ERIC TUCKER, TARA COPP and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press | 4/14/23

FILE - A display Discord stands at the company's booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023. A major leak of classified U.S. documents that’s shaken Washington and exposed new details of its intelligence gathering may have started in a chatroom on the social media platform popular with gamers. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

What is Discord, the chatting app tied to classified leaks?

The chatting app Discord is one of the most popular ways gamers communicate online. Now it finds itself at the center of an investigation into the leak of classified documents about the war in … more

By MATT O'BRIEN and HALELUYA HADERO | 4/13/23

FILE - A Mexican Red Cross ambulance transports two Americans found alive after their abduction in Mexico through Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates in Brownsville, Texas, March 7, 2023. One of two Americans who survived a deadly abduction last month in Mexico says she watched the video of the drug cartel shootout that killed two of her close friends on one of the kidnappers' phones. (Miguel Roberts//The Brownsville Herald via AP, File)

Fatal abduction survivors reveal grisly Mexico captivity

One of the two survivors of a deadly abduction last month in Mexico says she watched the video of the drug cartel shootout that killed two of her close friends from one of her kidnappers’ phones. … more

4/13/23