National News - The Morning Sun

Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky speaks during an event, Feb. 22, 2018, in San Francisco. Chesky has donated $100 million to the Obama Foundation to fund scholarships for students pursuing careers in public service that also include multiple stipends for travel. Former President Barack Obama announced the new program called the Voyager Scholarship, with Chesky on Monday, May 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Obama, Airbnb's Brian Chesky launch $100M in scholarships

The co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, has donated $100 million to the Obama Foundation to fund scholarships for students pursuing careers in public service and includes multiple stipends … more

Associated Press | 5/16/22

FILE - This May 13, 2020 photo made with a fisheye lens shows a list of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Salt Lake County early in the coronavirus pandemic at the Salt Lake County Health Department, in Salt Lake City. Health officials later moved to tracking the cases in an online database, but the white board remains in the office as a reminder of how quickly the coronavirus spread. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Death certificates reveal that US hit grim COVID milestone

When the U.S. hit 1 million COVID-19 deaths, the news was driven by a government tally derived from death certificates. But that’s not the only tally. And you may be wondering, where do these … more

By MIKE STOBBE | 5/16/22

A lunar eclipse is seen behind a cyclist during the first blood moon of the year, in Irwindale, Calif., Sunday, May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

AP PHOTOS: Lunar eclipse thrills stargazers in the Americas

A total lunar eclipse provided a spectacular celestial show as it unfolded Sunday night into early Monday in the Americas. The eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America … more

By The Associated press | 5/16/22

This undated photo provided by CVS in May 2022 shows Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. The new chief health equity officer at CVS Health hopes she will have more influence in fixing care disparities before they land patients in the hospital. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun sees those disparities play out routinely as an emergency physician. She says she is focused on giving everyone a fair chance to be as healthy as possible. (Tracy Grosshans/CVS via AP)

CVS exec: People deserve fair shot at being healthy

The new chief health equity officer at CVS Health hopes she will have more influence in fixing care disparities before they land patients in the hospital. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun sees those disparities … more

By TOM MURPHY | 5/16/22

This combination of photos shows poster art for upcoming films, top row from left, "Benediction," "Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers," "Doctor Strange in the Multitude of Madness," "Downton Abbey: A New Era," "Elvis," "Fire Island," "Firestarter," "Happening," "Jurassic World Dominion," "Lightyear," bottom row from left, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," "Minions: The Rise of Gru," "Nope," "Paws of Fury," "Senior Year," "DC League of Super Pets," "Thor: Love and Thunder," "Top Gun Maverick," "Watcher," and Where the Crawdads Sing." (Roadside Attractions, top row from left, Disney+, Marvel Studios, Focus Features, Warner Bros., Hulu/Searchlight Pictures, Universal, IFC Films, Universal, Disney, top row from left, A24 Films, Universal, Universal, Paramount, Netflix, Warner Bros., Marvel Studios, Paramount, IFC Films and Sony Pictures via AP)

Summer Movie Calendar: From 'Top Gun 2' to 'Thor 4' and more

Hollywood's summer movie season kicks off Friday with the release of Disney and Marvel's “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Other big May releases include “Downton Abbey: A New Era," … more

By The Associated Press | 5/16/22

Crime scene tape is stretched across an area at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, Calif., Sunday, May 15, 2022, after a fatal shooting. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Parishioners subdue gunman in fatal California church attack

A man opened fire in a Southern California church, killing one person and wounding five others before worshippers detained him by hog-tying his legs with an electrical cord until authorities arrived. … more

By DAMIAN DOVARGANES CHRISTOPHER WEBER and DEEPA BHARATH | 5/16/22

Authorities: 1 killed, 5 hurt in California church shooting

Authorities say one person has been killed and four others have been critically wounded in a shooting at a Southern California church. The Orange County Sheriff's Department says a suspect has been … more

5/16/22

A person pays his respects outside the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Hyde, Bills commit to helping victims of Buffalo shooting

Micah Hyde considered canceling his charity softball game after hearing about the shooting Saturday at a Buffalo supermarket. The Bills safety knew he and his teammates could help the families of the … more

5/15/22

First responders move a shooting victim to an ambulance on Adams Street near State Street in downtown Chicago on Saturday, May 14, 2022. The downtown area saw gun violence and disturbances after a teenage boy was shot and fatally wounded near “The Bean” sculpture in downtown Chicago's Millennium Park (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Teen gunned down near Chicago's 'Bean' tourist attraction

A curfew banning unaccompanied minors has been implemented to combat violence after a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot near “The Bean” sculpture in downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park, which is … more

5/15/22

'Hero' guard, church deacon among Buffalo shooting victims

The victims of Saturday's grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York, include retired police officer Aaron Salter. He worked security for Tops Friendly Market. Officials credit him with saving … more

By CAROLYN THOMPSON | 5/15/22

A haze of wildfire smoke hangs over the Upper Rio Grande valley and the mesa-top city of Los Alamos, N.M., on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Public schools and many businesses were closed as a wildfire crept closer to the city and companion national security laboratory. Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using supercomputers and ingenuity to improve wildfire forecasting and forest management amid drought and climate change in the American West. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

New Mexico governor seeks more US aid for wildfire response

New Mexico’s governor is asking for additional federal assistance to respond to wildfires burning across the state’s north, including one that is the second-largest in the state’s history and … more

5/14/22

Atlanta will bid for 2024 Democratic nominating convention

Atlanta is submitting a formal bid to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Mayor Andre Dickens made the announcement Friday to Democrats holding their annual state party dinner in the city. … more

By JEFF AMY | 5/14/22

FILE - In this July 8, 2021, photo, adjunct history professor and research associate Larry Larrichio holds a copy of a late 19th century photograph of pupils at an Indigenous boarding school in Santa Fe during an interview in Albuquerque, N.M. A new federal report on the legacy of boarding schools for Native Americans underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches to Christianize the Indigenous population as part of a project to sever them from their culture, their identities and ultimately their land. The Department of the Interior report, released Wednesday, May 11, 2022, says the federal government provided funding and other support to religious boarding schools for Native children in the 19th and early 20th centuries to an extent that normally would have been prohibited by bans on the use of federal funds for religious schools. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)

US report details church-state collusion on Native schools

A new Interior Department report underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches in operating boarding schools for Indigenous children. The federal government saw churches as … more

By PETER SMITH | 5/14/22

FILE - This Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, photo shows radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at Capitol Hill in Washington. The Sandy Hook families' lawsuits against Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Jones for calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting in Connecticut a hoax appear poised to resume soon. That is based on agreements revealed Friday, May 13, 2022, in a Texas bankruptcy court. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Sandy Hook lawsuits against Alex Jones on track to resume

The Sandy Hook families’ lawsuits against Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting in Connecticut a hoax appear poised to resume soon. That is … more

5/13/22

FILE - Light shines from a total lunar eclipse over Santa Monica Beach in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, May 26, 2021. A total lunar eclipse will grace the night skies this weekend, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America. The celestial action unfolds Sunday night, May 15, 2022 into early Monday morning, with the moon bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 1 1/2 hours, the longest totality of the decade. It will be the first so-called blood moon in a year.(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Moon goes blood red this weekend: 'Eclipse for the Americas'

A total lunar eclipse will grace the night skies this weekend, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America. The celestial action unfolds Sunday night into early … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 5/13/22

Judge Elizabeth Scherer is shown during jury pre-selection in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, May 2, 2022. The judge presiding over Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz's death penalty trial was assigned the case despite never having overseen a major trial. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Florida judge was assigned to school shooter case at random

The judge presiding over Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz's death penalty trial was assigned the case despite never having overseen a major trial. Judge Elizabeth Scherer was assigned randomly by … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 5/13/22

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018 file photo, Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen, the nurse of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, leaves the national court in Madrid, Spain. The Venezuelan woman who rose from being the late President Hugo Chávez's nurse to the nation's treasurer has been extradited from Spain to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges. Federal prosecutors in South Florida are accusing Claudia Díaz, 48, of taking bribes from a billionaire media mogul to greenlight lucrative currency transactions when she served as Venezuela's treasurer a decade ago. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)

Hugo Chavez's ex-nurse-turned treasurer extradited to US

A Venezuelan woman who was the late President Hugo Chávez’s nurse and later the nation’s treasurer has been extradited from Spain to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges. Federal … more

By CODY JACKSON and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON | 5/13/22

Live power lines and electricity poles fall into the street on Augustana University's campus on Thursday, May 12, 2022, in Sioux Falls, S.D. Strong winds and possible tornadoes caused widespread damage in parts of the Midwest. (Erin Woodiel /The Argus Leader via AP)

Severe storms blamed for 2 deaths in South Dakota, Minnesota

Strong winds and possible tornadoes caused widespread damage in parts of the Midwest, where officials said another round of severe weather during a stormy week left two more people dead. Authorities … more

5/13/22

Amir Locke cousin pleads guilty in killing that led to raid

A teenage cousin of Amir Locke has pleaded guilty to a murder that prompted police to conduct the no-knock warrant that led to Locke's killing in February. Mekhi Camden Speed, who is now 18, pleaded … more

By AMY FORLITI | 5/13/22

A territorial defence man poses for a photo next to cars destroyed during the Russian occupation in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa

May 6-May 12, 2022 From the third month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and efforts to evacuate civilians, to the state opening of the British Parliament and the royal garden party in London, … more

5/13/22