May 30, 2021 7:55 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans dug in Saturday for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S., putting the last touches on a sweeping bill that would eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and limit voting on Sundays, when many Black churchgoers head to the polls. The changes would need to be approved before midnight on Sunday, when the GOP-controlled Legislature wraps up a session dominated by Republicans muscling through staunchly conservative measures pertaining to guns, abortion and how race can be taught in public schools. But none have drawn backlash like Senate Bill 7, which Republicans packed with a raft of new voting restrictions that would alter how the country’s biggest red state conducts elections. Democrats have virtually no path to stop it from passing, thereby putting Republicans on the brink of a major victory in their nationwide campaign to impose new voting restrictions. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign the measure, which Democrats have said they would challenge in court.
May 30, 2021 7:53 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin MacLeod, the veteran supporting actor who achieved fame as sardonic TV news writer Murray Slaughter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and stardom playing cheerful Capt. Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90. MacLeod died early Saturday at his home in Palm Desert, California, said Stephanie Steele Zalin, his stepdaughter. She attributed his death to his age, saying he had been well until very recently. Ed Asner, who played opposite MacLeod on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” said on Twitter that “my heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator.” Known to sitcom fans for his bald head and wide smile, MacLeod toiled in near anonymity for more than a decade, appearing on dozens of TV shows and in several movies before landing the part of Murray in 1970.
May 30, 2021 7:51 am
B.J. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died. He was 78. Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, died from complications of the disease Saturday at his home in Arlington, Texas, his publicist Jeremy Westby said in a statement. A Hugo, Oklahoma-native who grew up in Houston, Billy Joe Thomas broke through in 1966 with a gospel-styled cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and went on to sell millions of records and have dozens of hits across genres. He reached No. 1 with pop, adult contemporary and country listeners in 1976 with ″(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” The same year, his “Home Where I Belong” became one of the first gospel albums to be certified platinum for selling more than 1 million copies.
May 30, 2021 7:49 am
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, more U.S. cities and states are shrugging off lingering COVID-19 restrictions as vaccination rates rise and the number of infections falls. Massachusetts lifted a mask requirement Saturday, a day after New Jersey dropped its mandate. In New York City and Chicago, officials reopened public beaches, though winds and cool temperatures kept crowds away. Chicago’s Navy Pier also reopened retail stores and restaurants, carnival rides, and tour boats and cruises after the pandemic forced monthslong closures at the busy tourist destination. It’s one more sign of progress that reflects increasingly positive health data. On Saturday, Illinois’ Department of Public Health reported 802 new confirmed and probable infections, the second-lowest one-day total in the last six months. For businesses nationwide, the improving outlook and long holiday weekend offered a chance to welcome customers back to in-person shopping. Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, opened its doors to customers for the first time in nearly 14 months Friday. Masks are still required. The business had switched to internet orders, sidewalk sales and virtual author events to survive the pandemic.
May 30, 2021 7:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each other, Sean Parnell entered the race for U.S. Senate and Lou Barletta entered the race for governor. Trump had urged both men to run in prior bids for public office. Parnell and Barletta have ties to Trump that go deep. Barletta was co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania and a loyal ally on Capitol Hill when he was in Congress. He was Trump’s endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 and watched the Super Bowl that year with the then-president. He was one of Trump’s hand-picked presidential electors in Pennsylvania last year and has hired veterans of Trump’s campaign to run his own.
May 30, 2021 7:44 am
ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Police from nearly half a dozen different agencies rushed to Ross Park Mall Saturday afternoon after a fight broke out in gunfire, sending shoppers running in all directions. According to Lt. Brian Kohlhepp with Ross Township police, shortly after 4:30 p.m. there was a fight inside the mall that involved as many as six people. Guns were pulled during the fight and officers said witnesses reported hearing one to three gunshots. The fight happened on the second floor of the mall near Guest Services. Officers said two juvenile males were in custody Saturday evening in connection with the shooting. Both teens are 17 years old. They have not yet been charged. Investigators said three guns were recovered from inside the mall There were no injuries in connection with the shooting or the evacuation of the mall. Kohlhepp slammed the mall’s parent company, Simon Properties, saying officers were at a disadvantage because there are no cameras inside common areas. Anchor stores and some interior shops have their own cameras. Officials said they are going to have to rely heavily on social media and cellphone videos for their investigation.
May 29, 2021 10:41 am
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Falsehoods about the election helped bring insurrectionists to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and now some who are facing criminal charges for their actions during the riot hope their gullibility might save them in court or at least produce some sympathy. Lawyers for at least three defendants charged in connection with the violent siege tell The Associated Press that they’ll blame election misinformation and conspiracy theories, including those pushed by then-President Donald Trump, for misleading their clients. The attorneys say those who spread that misinformation bear as much responsibility for the violence as do those who participated in the actual breach of the Capitol.
May 29, 2021 10:34 am
CEDAR HILL, Mo. (AP) – A St. Louis-area man has been shot to death and an officer has been wounded in what authorities said was an hours long standoff between the man and a sheriff’s department tactical team investigating a potential homicide. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said deputies were serving a search warrant Friday evening at a home outside of Cedar Hill, a town of about 1,700 residents 20 miles southwest of St. Louis. He said the man immediately began firing at officers, and they exchanged gunfire for several hours before the suspect was shot by officers. He said the wounded officer was taken to a local hospital for surgery and was expected to survive.
May 29, 2021 4:33 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government has blocked imports of seafood from the fleet of a Chinese company that authorities say forced crew members to work in slave-like conditions. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that it will place an immediate hold on any imports linked to the more than 30 vessels operated by Dalian Ocean Fishing, under a U.S. law that bars goods suspected to have been produced with forced labor. It’s the first time the U.S. has sought to block imports from a company’s entire fishing fleet. And it’s a sign that the CBP’s investigation found evidence of widespread abuse on Dalian vessels around the world. The company had no immediate comment.
May 29, 2021 4:32 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says it believes U.S. government agencies largely fended off the latest cyberespionage onslaught blamed on Russia intelligence operatives, saying the spear-phishing campaign should not further damage relations with Moscow ahead of next month’s planned presidential summit. Officials downplayed the cyber assault as “basic phishing.” Microsoft, which disclosed the effort, said it believed most of the hacking attempts had been blocked by automated systems that marked them as spam. Even so, the revelation of a new spy campaign so close to the planned June 16 summit likely adds to the urgency of White House efforts to confront the Kremlin over aggressive cyber activity that criminal indictments and diplomatic sanctions have done little to deter.
