AP National News

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Being a political boss in New Jersey ain’t what it used to be. Monday’s indictment on racketeering charges of Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III by state Attorney General Matt Platkin caps a series of blows to influential figures in the state’s dominant political party.

BABB, Mont. (AP) — Montana state officials are working to stop flooding caused by the breakage of a century-old pipe used to deliver drinking water to 14,000 residents and carry irrigation water to farmers. No injuries or deaths have been reported since the pipe broke open Monday. But the failure has caused flooding in the

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press The Colorado Supreme Court is considering whether a Christian baker can refuse to make a cake to celebrate a gender transition. The justices heard about a variety of hypothetical cake-design scenarios on Tuesday in the case of a transgender woman who asked for a pink-and-blue cake to celebrate her gender

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged toward more records as Nvidia surpassed Microsoft to become the most valuable U.S. company. The gains followed the latest signal that the economy’s growth may be slowing without cratering, as hoped. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% a day after setting an all-time high

BOSTON (AP) — The 911 system across Massachusetts has gone down, making it impossible for anyone to reach emergency services through the call number. The state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security says it is unclear how many communities have been affected. Authorities have advised people to either pull a fire box or call

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida public school employee who faces firing because she allowed her transgender daughter to play girls high school volleyball is assailing those who outed her child. Jessica Norton said Tuesday that her daughter was thriving at Monarch High School before an anonymous tipster notified

By JOHN SEEWER and PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Extreme heat alerts are in effect for tens of millions of people in the United States as cities including Chicago break heat records. Warnings stretched from Iowa to Ohio and even into the upper reaches of Michigan on Tuesday. The dangerous heat wave

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer U.S. lawmakers pressed Boeing’s chief executive Tuesday about the company’s plans to fix its manufacturing problems and its willingness to heed whistleblowers’ warnings, while relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners were in the room to remind him of what was at stake.

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Big new wildfires challenged California firefighters Tuesday even as they increased containment of earlier blazes that erupted as dry north winds arrived over the weekend. Evacuations were ordered after the Aero Fire erupted Monday and spread over more than 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) near

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government has long had sole authority over immigration policy in the United States, but several Republican-led states have continued to push for a role in enforcing regulations out of frustration with current policy and as a way to criticize Democratic U.S. President Joe

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer U.S. lawmakers prepared to press Boeing’s chief executive Tuesday about the company’s latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners were in the room to remind him of what was at stake. CEO David Calhoun appeared

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that it projects a federal budget deficit increase of $400 billion or 27% this year, from its last budget outlook released in February. The major drivers of the change are higher costs from the supplemental spending package signed

By JONEL ALECCIA AP Health Writer Dollar Tree failed to effectively recall lead-tainted applesauce pouches linked to reports of illness in more than 500 children, leaving the products on some stores shelves for two months, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. The FDA sent a warning letter to Dollar Tree this month and placed

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have cleared the way for a debate on trying to lure the Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri. They did that Tuesday by approving tax cuts worth $1.23 billion over three years that many lawmakers said they needed to see before considering a plan to

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Vladimir Putin is in North Korea for a summit with its leader, Kim Jong Un, as the two nations deepen their cooperation. The visit comes amid growing concerns about an arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine in

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two employees of the U.S. Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, prompting the U.S. government to suspend inspections of avocado and mango shipments. U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement Tuesday that the assault occurred while they were inspecting avocados in