. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) – The Trump administration has carried out its ninth federal execution of the year in what has been a first series of executions during a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years. Federal prison officials in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Thursday, executed a Texas street-gang member for his role in the 1999 slayings…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a budget early Thursday that will shift about $8 million from the police department toward violence prevention and other programs – but will keep the mayor’s targeted staffing levels for sworn officers intact. Mayor Jacob Frey had threatened to veto the entire budget if the council went ahead with its plan…
FILE (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) President Trump says his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani  has tested positive for coronavirus. The 76-year-old former New York mayor has traveled extensively to battleground states in effort to help Trump subvert his election loss. On numerous occasions he has met with local officials for hours at a time without wearing a mask. Trump wished Giuliani…
With time running out, lawmakers are closing in on a proposed COVID-19 relief bill that would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits but not another round of $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans. That’s an issue that President-elect Joe Biden will have to wrestle over with a new Congress next year. The $908 billion aid…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Losing can have an upside. Just ask Rep. Abby Finkenauer, Sen. Doug Jones, and Rep. Donna Shalala. The list goes on. So does the age-old practice of an incoming president offering losing politicians a place in a new White House. As Biden fills out his administration, his team is looking to recently defeated members of…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell says he’s sticking with his scaled-back COVID-19 relief bill with the goal of passing a significant down payment during the lame-duck session and then revisiting the topic next year. The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after President-elect Joe Biden called upon lawmakers to follow a similar path. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resumed…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden will have an all-female communications team at his White House, led by campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield. Bedingfield will serve as Biden’s White House communications director, and Jen Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokeswoman, will be his press secretary. The choices reflect Biden’s stated desire to build out a diverse…
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Sunday he was “ashamed” for endorsing the Republican governor of Georgia after he lost in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump said on Fox News that Gov. Brian Kemp has “done absolutely nothing” to question the state’s results. Trump has made accusations that illegal votes cost him the election in Georgia and…
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. may see “surge upon a surge” of coronavirus cases after the Thanksgiving holiday. Fauci says it’s not too late for people traveling back home after Thanksgiving to help stop the spread by physical distancing, wearing mask, and avoiding large crowds. On Saturday 138,000 new cases were recorded and…
Source: Tokyo 2020 Olympics TOKYO (AP) – The Tokyo Olympics are getting a kickstart. Local organizers have announced a series of 18 test events set to start in March. The Tokyo Olympics are to open on July 23, 2021, after being postponed eight months ago by the COVID-19 pandemic. At least four of the test events will involve athletes from…
