National News - The Morning Sun

Lopez and Affleck celebrate marriage with friends, family

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck said “I do” again this weekend. But instead of in a late night Las Vegas drive through chapel, this time it was in front of friends and family in Georgia, a person … more

By LINDSEY BAHR | 8/21/22

Western fires outpace California effort to fill inmate crews

California has a first-in-the nation law and a $30 million training program both aimed at trying to help former inmate firefighters turn pro after they are released from prison. But an Associated … more

By DON THOMPSON | 8/21/22

In this July. 27, 2022 photo, retired NYPD detective Louis Scarcella, leaves Kings County Supreme Court, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. In the past nine years, nearly 20 murder and other convictions have been tossed out after defendants accused Scarcella of coercing or inducing false confessions and bogus witness identifications, which he denies. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

After years of scrutiny of NY detective, a case gets retried

Prosecutors in Brooklyn are for the first time retrying a long-ago case they won with the help of a former homicide detective whose work has been questioned. Nearly 20 people have had decades-old … more

By JENNIFER PELTZ | 8/21/22

This combo of images provided by the Kent County, Mich., Jail. shows Barry Croft Jr., left, and Adam Fox. Jury selection started Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, in the second trial of the two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 over their disgust with restrictions early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors are putting Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. on trial again after a jury in April couldn't reach a verdict. Two co-defendants were acquitted and two more pleaded guilty earlier. (Kent County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Marijuana smoking hangs over Whitmer kidnap plot trial

There's no dispute about some of the evidence in the trial of two men accused of wanting to kidnap Michigan’s governor. Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox enjoy getting high. The jury repeatedly has … more

By ED WHITE | 8/21/22

Lindsey West, a fifth-grade teacher at Clara Barton Community School in Minneapolis who identifies as Black and Indigenous, poses at her home in suburban Minneapolis on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. A dispute has arisen over language in the new Minneapolis teachers contract that’s meant to protect teachers of color from layoffs. West said the seniority language is one piece of a bigger mission of improving education. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

Minneapolis teacher contract race language ignites firestorm

When Minneapolis teachers settled a 14-day strike earlier this year, they celebrated a groundbreaking provision in their new contract that was meant to shield teachers of color from traditional … more

By STEVE KARNOWSKI | 8/21/22

Defense in school shooter's trial set to present its case

Attorneys for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are about to present their case for why they believe he should be sentenced to life in prison and not death. Lead public defender Melisa McNeill is … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 8/21/22

This Sept. 2, 2020, photo provided by Francesca Teal shows her wedding ring in Groveland, Mass., that she feared was lost forever when it slipped off her finger at a New Hampshire beach. A stranger who responded to a Facebook post found the ring using a metal detector. (Francesca Teal via AP)

Metal-detecting stranger retrieves woman's ring lost in sea

A Massachusetts woman’s diamond wedding ring is back on her finger after a man with a metal detector responded to her social media plea for help and found it at the bottom of the ocean. Francesca … more

8/20/22

FILE - This Feb. 23, 2016 file photo shows the St. Laurentius Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia. Demolition of a shuttered 19th-century church in Philadelphia has begun following a yearslong battle by some neighbors to save the crumbling structure. Crews last week surrounded the 140-year-old St. Laurentius Church in Fishtown with scaffolding, fencing and barricades. Neighbors gathered Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 to get their final look at the structure. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Demolition of shuttered church begins after long battle

Demolition of a 19th-century church in Philadelphia has begun following a yearslong battle by some neighbors to save the crumbling structure. Crews last week surrounded the 140-year-old St. … more

8/20/22

Workers adjust a big frontpage of a New Yorker issue before Jean-Jacques Sempe's funeral ceremony at the Saint-Germain-des-Pres church in Paris, Friday, Aug.19, 2022. Cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempe, whose simple line drawings captured French life and won international acclaim on the covers of New Yorker magazine, has died on Aug.11, 2022. He was 89. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

France pays homage to beloved New Yorker cartoonist Sempé

Family, friends and fans have paid tribute to French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé, who died last week at age 89. Sempé's work graced more than 100 covers of The New Yorker magazine and granted him … more

By JADE LE DELEY | 8/20/22

In this photo provided by the National Park Service, cars are stuck in mud and debris from flash flooding at The Inn at Death Valley in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. Heavy rainfall triggered flash flooding that closed several roads in Death Valley National Park on Friday near the California-Nevada line. The National Weather Service reported that all park roads had been closed after 1 to 2 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time. (National Park Service via AP)

Flood-damaged Death Valley to reopen popular sites to public

Death Valley National Park’s most popular sites will reopen to the public on Saturday, two weeks after massive flash-flooding. But the National Park Service cautions visitors to expect delays and … more

8/19/22

This image released by Cohen Media Group shows Javier Bardem, center, in "The Good Boss," a film by Fernando León de Aranoa. (Cohen Media Group via AP)

Q&A: Bardem is excited for US arrival of 'The Good Boss'

Javier Bardem is confident that audiences in America will enjoy “The Good Boss” as much as those in Spain when the film arrives in the U.S. later this month. The satire on corporate corruption … more

By SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS | 8/19/22

Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III is photographed at The Associated Press headquarters, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Wainwright's new music takes inspiration from turning 75

Singer Loudon Wainwright III has been writing about aging before he had any real concept of what that meant. Now he's turned 75, and the songwriter's first collection of new compositions in eight … more

By DAVID BAUDER | 8/19/22

In this photo provided by the National Park Service is the Abyss Pool hot spring in the southern part of Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., in June 2015. Park officials say part of a foot, in a shoe, found floating in the hot spring on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, is related to a July 31, 2022 death. No foul play is suspected, but the investigation continues. (Diane Renkin/National Park Service via AP)

Foot found in Yellowstone hot spring linked to July death

Yellowstone National Park officials say part of a foot found in a hot spring this week is believed to be linked to a July 31 death. Park officials do not believe foul play was involved but did not … more

By AMY BETH HANSON and THOMAS PEIPERT | 8/19/22

A dead carcass lays on the soil after wildfires in the El-Kala national park, in the region of El Tarf, near the northern Algerian-Tunisian border, Thursday, Aug.18, 2022. Wildfires raging in the forests of eastern Algeria have killed at least 26 people, according to a "provisional report" by the north African country's interior minister. (AP Photo/Mohamed Ali)

'I lost everything': Algeria reels from deadly wildfires

Algerian firefighters have extinguished all but one of over 50 wildfires that ravaged the country this week. The fires in the North African nation left at least 37 people dead and consumed crops and … more

8/19/22

The Elkhorn River, just west of Omaha, Neb., is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

CDC confirms Nebraska child died of brain-eating amoeba

Federal health officials have confirmed that a Nebraska child died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba. The Douglas County Department of Health in Omaha said Friday that the Centers … more

8/19/22

A child holds a candle during a baptism ceremony inside the chapel of the Kalunga quilombo during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint "Nossa Senhora da Abadia" or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, late Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean

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8/19/22

FILE - In this April 27, 2018, file photo, a person walks by the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. As the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to expand its governance, it announced Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, that it has added two trustees to its board. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Gates Foundation adds Gayle, Dhawan as independent trustees

As the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to expand its governance, it announced Thursday that it has added two trustees to its board. Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College, and Ashish … more

By MARIA DI MENTO and STACY PALMER of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | 8/19/22

This photo provided by Troup County Sheriff's Office police take Jerel Raphael Brown into custody on Aug. 17, 2022 in LaFayette, Ala. Brown, 39, of Montgomery was arrested without incident Wednesday near the courthouse in LaFayette with more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and an alarming number of firearms in his 1996 white Cadillac Fleetwood, police said. (Troup County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Police: Suspect in I-85 shootings had 2,000 rounds of ammo

Police are trying to determine a motive in three seemingly random shootings along an interstate highway in Alabama and Georgia that left a motorist critically wounded. A suspect was arrested without … more

8/19/22

This photo provided by KION-TV shows multiple agencies responding to Watsonville Municipal Airport, northwest of Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, Calif. after 2 planes attempting to land collided on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Two planes collided in Northern California while trying to land at a local airport and at least two of the three occupants were killed. (KION-TV via AP)

Officials: At least 2 die after planes collide in California

Two planes collided in Northern California while trying to land at a local airport and at least two of the three occupants were killed. Officials say multiple fatalities were reported but it was not … more

Associated Press | 8/18/22

This photo provided by the East Pennsboro Township Police Dept. shows Jeremy Lee Pauley. Jeremy Lee Pauley, 40, of Enola, Pennsylvania, is free on $50,000 bond after police say he tried to buy stolen human remains from an Arkansas woman for possible resale on Facebook. A spokeswoman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock confirmed that the remains were to be donated to UAMS's facility. (East Pennsboro Township Police Dept. via AP)

Police: Pennsylvania man tried to buy stolen human remains

A Pennsylvania man has been charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and other charges after police say he allegedly tried to buy stolen human remains from an Arkansas woman for … more

By TERRY WALLACE and CLAUDIA LAUER | 8/18/22