National News - The Morning Sun

FILE This photo taken from video released by Russian Federal Penitentiary Service via SOTAVISION shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears via a video link from the Arctic penal colony in Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he is serving a 19-year sentence, in Kovrov, Russia, on Feb. 15, 2024. Shortly after Navalny's death was reported on Friday Feb. 16, 2024, the Russian SOTA social media channel shared images of the opposition politician reportedly in court yesterday. In the footage, Navalny is seen standing up and is laughing and joking with the judge via video link. (Russian Federal Penitentiary Service via SOTAVISION via AP, File)

Who are other Russian dissidents besides the late Alexei Navalny?

The sudden death of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable antagonist has left an open wound in Russia’s political opposition. Alexei Navalny was the Kremlin’s best-known critic at … more

By DASHA LITVINOVA | 2/19/24

Workers check the roof of an apartment ahead of forecasted rain in Los Angeles, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California again braces for flooding as another wet winter storm hits the state

The latest in a series of wet winter storms is gaining strength in California. Forecasters warned Monday of possible flooding, hail, strong winds and even brief tornadoes as the system moves south … more

2/19/24

FILE - Students eat breakfast and color in Topaz Stotts' second-grade classroom before school starts at Klatt Elementary School in Anchorage, Aug. 17, 2021. Debate over school funding is dominating the Alaska Legislature as districts face teacher shortages and in some cases multimillion-dollar deficits. Schools have cut programs, increased class sizes or had teachers and administrators take on extra roles. (Emily Mesner/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

A high cost of living and lack of a pension strain teachers in Alaska. Would bonuses help keep them?

Debate over school funding is dominating the Alaska Legislature as districts faces teacher shortages and in some cases multimillion-dollar deficits. Schools have cut programs, increased class sizes … more

By BECKY BOHRER | 2/19/24

Former Pittsburgh Penguins player Jaromir Jagr, at podium to right, is joined by former teammates as he speaks during a ceremony retiring his uniform number before an NHL hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)

Jaromir Jagr's return to Pittsburgh ends with his No. 68 being retired — and catharsis

The Pittsburgh Penguins have retired Jaromir Jagr's iconic No. 68. The NHL's second all-time leading scorer was on hand as his jersey was raised to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena. The 52-year-old … more

By WILL GRAVES | 2/18/24

Sean Ours, center, who lives in Alexandria, VA, and Emily Reid, right who lives in Raleigh, NC, embrace for the first time their biological mother Sara Melgarejo upon their arrival at the airport in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. The siblings' trip was organized by Connecting Roots, an organization that helps reunite with their Chilean biological families children who were taken to be put up for adoption during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Illegally adopted during Chile's dictatorship, they're now reuniting with biological families

Romina Cortés couldn’t pronounce her sister’s last name. She didn’t know what she smells like, what her favorite food is, or what she likes to do in her free time. That’s because Cortés’ … more

By PATRICIA LUNA | 2/18/24

Flood watches issued as another round of wet winter storms hits California

The latest in a series of wet winter storms is blowing ashore in Northern California. Forecasters warned on Sunday of possible flooding, hail, strong winds and even brief tornadoes as the system … more

2/18/24

A police officer stands outside a dorm in the Village at Alpine Valley housing, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, as police investigate a shooting on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

Shooting deaths of 2 people in Colorado college dorm being investigated as homicides, police say

Police say the deaths of two people who were shot in a dorm room at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs will be investigated as homicides. The Colorado Springs Police Department says in a … more

2/17/24

FILE - This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the U.S. Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on Jan. 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. The first funeral service was scheduled Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, for Rivers at a Baptist church in Carrollton, west of Atlanta. (Shawn Sanders and U.S. Army via AP, File)

Army Reserve soldiers, close friends killed in drone attack, mourned at funerals in Georgia

Two Army Reserve soldiers killed in a Middle East drone attack three weeks ago are being remembered at funerals in their home state of Georgia. Sgt. Kennedy Sanders and Sgt. Breonna Moffett were … more

2/17/24

Neighborhood residents watch as first responders arrive at the scene after an explosion at a home, late Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Sterling, Va. (Nicki Jhabvala/The Washington Post via AP)

Leaking underground propane tank found at Virginia home before deadly house explosion

Authorities in Virginia are investigating the cause of a house explosion and fire that killed one firefighter, injured 10 others and leveled a home in a Washington, D.C., suburb. Firefighters were … more

2/17/24

A policeman guards as a young man lay flowers paying the last respect to Alexei Navalny at the monument, a large boulder from the Solovetsky islands, where the first camp of the Gulag political prison system was established, near the historical the Federal Security Service (FSB, Soviet KGB successor) building, in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday morning, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In Russia’s Arctic, Alexei Navalny’s mother searches for her son’s body

For the mother of Alexei Navalny — the Russian opposition leader who died at age 47 in an Arctic penal colony — the journey to recover her son’s body was an odyssey with no clear destination. … more

By KATIE MARIE DAVIES | 2/17/24

What does it mean to claim the US is a Christian nation, and what does the Constitution say?

Many Americans believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation. The idea is energizing some conservative and Republican activists. But the concept means different things to different … more

By PETER SMITH | 2/17/24

FILE- President Joe Biden, with from left, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., pray and listen during the National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. Johnson has spoken in the past of his belief America was founded as a Christian nation. Biden, while citing his own Catholic faith, has spoken of values shared by people of “any other faith, or no faith at all.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Christian-nation idea fuels US conservative causes, but historians say it misreads founders' intent

Large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation. The belief is especially strong among Republicans and their white evangelical base. Historians say such … more

By PETER SMITH | 2/17/24

Police officers detain a man laying flowers to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo)

Tributes to Alexei Navalny, Putin's greatest foe, removed from Russian cities as police look on

Floral tributes to Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe who died Friday in a Russian penal colony, were removed overnight by groups of unknown people while police watched, videos … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 2/17/24

First responders arrive at the scene after an explosion at a house, late Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Sterling, Va. (Nicki Jhabvala/The Washington Post via AP)

Explosion at Virginia home kills 1 firefighter and hospitalizes 9 firefighters and 2 civilians

One firefighter has been killed and nine others injured when an explosion in a Washington, D.C., suburb leveled a home where they were investigating a gas leak. Two civilians were also injured in the … more

2/17/24

A New York judge has ordered Donald Trump and his companies to pay $355 million. The judge found they engaged in a years-long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. (Feb. 16)

A $355 million penalty and business ban: Takeaways from Trump's New York civil fraud verdict

Donald Trump suffered a big blow Friday as a New York judge ordered the former president and his companies to pay $355 million in penalties for what the judge described as a scheme to deceive banks … more

By JENNIFER PELTZ and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | 2/16/24

This image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows dead elkhorn coral on Feb. 9, 2024, at Carysfort Reef, northeast of Key Largo, Fla. Record hot seawater killed more than three-quarters of human-cultivated coral that scientists had placed in the Florida Keys in recent years in an effort to prop up a threatened species that’s highly vulnerable to climate change, researchers discovered. (Ben Edmonds/NOAA via AP)

Hot seawater killed most of cultivated coral in Florida Keys in setback for restoration effort

Researchers are finding that record hot seawater killed more than three-quarters of human-cultivated coral that scientists had placed in the Florida Keys in recent years. It was an effort to prop up … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 2/16/24

Candles and a photo of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has died in a Russian prison, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, are placed at the fence of the meanwhile closed Russian consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

AP PHOTOS: With candles and flowers, thousands pay respects to Russia's Navalny

With portraits, candles and flowers, thousands of people around the world paid their respects Friday to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after Russia’s prison agency announced he had died … more

By The Associated Press | 2/16/24

FILE - An exterior view of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center, home to the Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, Pa., is seen on Nov. 6, 2020. Pennsylvania's high court will consider whether some automatic life sentences for those convicted of murder violate constitutional protections for defendants, the justices said Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Pennsylvania high court takes up challenge to the state's life-without-parole sentences

Pennsylvania’s high court is taking a case to decide whether some automatic life sentences for those convicted of murder violate constitutional protections for defendants. The justices said Friday … more

By MARK SCOLFORO | 2/16/24

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Lake County State's Attorney shows Jason Karels of Round Lake Beach, Ill. Karels who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to drowing his three young children was sentenced Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Lake County State's Attorney via AP)

Man who told estranged wife 'If I can't have them neither can you' gets life for killing their kids

A suburban Chicago man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill for drowning his three young children has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A Lake County judge sentenced … more

2/16/24

This photo provided by NASA on Jan. 22, 2024 shows a view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. NASA reported Thursday, Feb. 15, that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.3 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s about a cupful _ the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon. (Erika Blumenfeld and Joseph Aebersold/NASA via AP)

NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall. And it's double the rubble goal. NASA reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121 grams of … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 2/16/24