By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Income, sales, property and gas taxes: Almost every U.S. state cut at least one such broad-based tax as budget surpluses soared over the past three years. Some states made permanent tax reductions. Others passed one-time rebates or temporary suspensions. One way or another, whether
Continue ReadingBy MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Four years after the last census, almost a dozen small communities in the Midwest are going to be counted again in hopes of getting a new grocery store or more state funding to build roads, fire stations and parks. Eleven municipalities in Illinois and Iowa are the only cities in
Continue ReadingBy Steve Almasy and Andi Babineau, CNN (CNN) — The man accused of firing gunshots inside the Colorado Supreme Court building appeared Wednesday in court, where a judge set his bond at $100,000, noting the defendant’s alleged “escalating behavior” during the incident. The shooting happened Tuesday morning after 1 a.m. when a man who fled
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan and Emiko Jozuka, CNN (CNN) — When Japan Airlines flight 516 touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda airport carrying hundreds of people on Tuesday it erupted into a terrifying fireball. The Airbus A350 passenger plane had collided with a coast guard aircraft on the runway – killing five people – and the crew had just
Continue ReadingBy Jessie Yeung, Hanako Montgomery, Junko Ogura and Mayumi Maruyama, CNN Nanao, Japan (CNN) — Minae Akiyama had traveled from southern Japan to Ishikawa prefecture to celebrate New Year’s with her family, when the ground began to shake. “Thinking about it now still makes me tremble. My heart was pounding, my mind went blank, we just scrambled,” she
Continue ReadingBy ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is confident Palestinian militant groups used Gaza’s largest hospital to hold hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7, 2023, attack and to house command infrastructure. That’s according to an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official. The assessment
Continue ReadingBy Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision rejecting his bid to move his Georgia election interference criminal case to federal court. A three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled last month that Meadows could
Continue ReadingBy The Associated Press Asian shares dropped Wednesday after Wall Street started 2024 with a slump, giving back some of its powerful gains from last year. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices were little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1% to 16,618.50, influenced by a 2% drop in technology shares, while the Shanghai
Continue ReadingBy KRUTIKA PATHI and JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The elections in Bangladesh are all about one person: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Analysts predict that since the main opposition party is staying out of Sunday’s vote, the 76-year-old leader is practically guaranteed her fifth term in office. Hasina’s entire political life has
Continue ReadingBy Alison Main, CNN (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Tuesday pushed back on New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s recent suggestion that his campaign has no path forward. “Since Chris started to work for Nikki Haley and become an employee of Nikki Haley, it’s not the same Chris Sununu anymore,” Christie, who has
Continue ReadingBy HIRO KOMAE and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press SUZU, Japan (AP) — A series of powerful earthquakes that hit western Japan left at least 62 people dead as rescue workers fought Wednesday to save those feared trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas two days after
Continue ReadingSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A 10-year-old Northern California boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting to death another child with his father’s gun, authorities said. Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies answered a shooting report at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Foothill Farms, an unincorporated Sacramento suburb. In a parking lot, they found a 10-year-old
Continue ReadingSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A 10-year-old Northern California boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting to death another child with his father’s gun, authorities said. Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies answered a shooting report at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Foothill Farms, an unincorporated Sacramento suburb. In a parking lot, they found a 10-year-old
Continue ReadingCNN By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — Much of Donald Trump’s legal strategy in his federal 2020 election interference case has, so far, centered around trying to delay the start of his March trial until after the November presidential election. But in recent court filings, and according to sources familiar with the Trump team’s approach,
Continue ReadingCNN By Kara Scannell, CNN (CNN) — Federal prosecutors allege Sen. Bob Menendez accepted race car tickets and other gifts from Qatar as part of a yearslong corruption scheme, with the Gulf nation joining Egypt as another foreign country the New Jersey Democrat is accused of helping while in office. Prosecutors allege in the superseding
Continue ReadingBy ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ordered an inquiry into why 20-year-old Cabinet documents relating to Australia joining the United States-led Iraq invasion remain secret, saying Australians have a right to know why their country went to war in 2003. On Monday, the National Archives of Australia
Continue ReadingKUTV By Pete Muntean and Lauren Koenig, CNN (CNN) — Police in Utah are investigating the death of a man who crawled into the engine of a Delta Air Lines jet on the ground at Salt Lake City International Airport late Monday. The airport says the 30-year-old man got onto the secure ramp area of
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — Disgraced Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he stole more than $15 million from his clients. A federal judge filed a notice of the brief order Tuesday under seal. Lawyers for both sides were given five days to identify any information
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — Disgraced Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he stole more than $15 million from his clients. A federal judge filed a notice of the brief order Tuesday under seal. Lawyers for both sides were given five days to identify any information
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Local businesses are looking forward to the start of the 35th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival which starts on January 4. An estimated 135,000 people are expected to attend the festival this year. 70% of the attendees will not be local to the Coachella Valley. In 2023, the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala
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