By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Crews set off a network of linked explosives Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and with a boom, the steel section crumpled into the water in seconds. The explosives flashed orange and let off plumes of
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an enforcement operation today in Rancho Mirage focused on drivers violating a hands-free cell phone law. “A driver’s focus should be on the road, not their phone,” Deputy Bret Meservey said in a statement. “That text, phone call, email or social media post is not worth the risk
Continue ReadingBy JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal investigators have secured a third guilty plea in connection with an investigation into U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who is accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Irada Akhoundova of Houston pleaded guilty on
Continue ReadingSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI’s latest update to its artificial intelligence model can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect people’s moods. The effect conjures up images of the 2013 Spike Jonze move “Her,” where the (human) main character falls in love with an artificially intelligent operating system, leading
Continue ReadingSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI’s latest update to its artificial intelligence model can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect people’s moods. The effect conjures up images of the 2013 Spike Jonze move “Her,” where the (human) main character falls in love with an artificially intelligent operating system, leading
Continue ReadingBy Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN (CNN) — Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof says he has fled his home country to an undisclosed location in Europe after a court in Iran sentenced him to prison on national security charges. Rasoulof condemned the Iranian government in an Instagram post on Monday, calling it a tyrannical and oppressive regime,
Continue ReadingBy MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — As North Carolina’s public university system considers a vote on changing its diversity policy, the system’s flagship university board voted Monday to cut funding for diversity programs in next year’s budget. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees approved a change that
Continue ReadingBy SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is standing in for California in a new film as Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company and others tell the story of a bus driver and a school teacher who rescued students during the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. The 2018
Continue ReadingBy SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is standing in for California in a new film as Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company and others tell the story of a bus driver and a school teacher who rescued students during the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. The 2018
Continue ReadingFORT NELSON, British Columbia (AP) — An intense wildfire could reach a town in western Canada this week, fire experts and officials warned, based on forecasts of winds that have fueled the out-of-control blaze, which has forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The British Columbia Wildfire Service said the wildfire was burning 2½ kilometers
Continue ReadingBy JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Recreational marijuana could be available for sale in Ohio by mid-June. That’s after new rules creating a dual licensing system that will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to also sell non-medical cannabis cleared a key legislative hurdle Monday. Adult-use sales have been in limbo in the
Continue ReadingBy FATIMA HUSSEIN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base. The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base. It
Continue ReadingBy STEVE KARNOWSKI and TRISHA AHMED Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Impassioned supporters and opponents of a far-reaching Equal Rights Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution flocked to the State Capitol ahead of crucial votes aimed at putting it on the 2026 ballot. However, the state House adjourned without voting on the bill late
Continue ReadingBy GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Rescue teams in South Africa are searching for any survivors still trapped under rubble a week after an apartment building that was under construction collapsed. Their hopes were boosted over the weekend when one of the construction workers was found alive after six days
Continue ReadingBy The Associated Press Roku will carry Major League Baseball games on Sundays beginning this week. Viewers will be able to watch for free and not be required to use a Roku device. Roku secured multi-year rights for MLB Sunday Leadoff games beginning with the Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. The
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A firefighter was assessed for a minor medical complaint after a shed fire in Mecca Monday morning. The fire was reported at around 11:15 AM on the 91100 block of 5th Street. “Our units are on-scene of a fully involved shed to the rear of a structure,” a CAL FIRE spokesperson told News Channel 3.
Continue ReadingBy SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is standing in for California in a new film as Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company and others tell the story of a bus driver and a school teacher who rescued students during the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. The 2018
Continue ReadingBy MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal energy regulators have approved a rule to expand the amount of renewable energy such as wind and solar power that is transmitted to the electric grid. Transmission of clean energy is a key part of President Joe Biden’s goal to eliminate carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050.
Continue ReadingBy JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Advocates for victims of abuse at Missouri boarding schools are urging the state’s attorney general to launch an investigation, work with local prosecutors and take other steps aimed at stemming the tide of abuse. Three Christian boarding schools in southern Missouri have shut down since 2020
Continue ReadingBy Caitlin Stephen Hu, David Culver and Evelio Contreras, CNN Port-au-Prince (CNN) — On the rare days that the hills surrounding Port-au-Prince fall silent, people notice. “If you can’t hear shooting somewhere, the gangs are probably running low on ammunition,” a police source in the Haitian capital told CNN. “But when there’s a lot of shooting,
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