U.S. News

PHOENIX (AP) — Republicans in swing state Arizona are broadcasting a tough border stance with legislation aimed at punishing migrants who enter the United States illegally. The proponent of one bill has suggested it would lawfully allow property owners to shoot and kill migrants criminally trespassing on their property. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is expected to veto the trespassing bill …

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts panel charged with reviewing judicial appointments voted Wednesday to approve the nomination to the state’s highest court of Gabrielle R. Wolohojian, a former romantic partner of Gov. Maura Healey. The 6-1 vote assures Wolohojian, an Appeals Court associate justice, a seat on the seven-member Supreme Judicial Court. Healey nominated Wolohojian to the post and has …

SEATTLE (AP) — A conservative-backed effort to repeal Washington state’s landmark carbon pricing program and tax on the sale of stocks and bonds is putting the budget into limbo, with billions of dollars at stake in the final days of this year’s Legislative session. Lawmakers are scrambling to finalize a trio of statewide supplemental budgets that feature new investments in …

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The president of Calvin University has resigned after the Christian institution received a report of “unwelcome and inappropriate communication and attention toward a non-student member of the campus community,” the school said Monday. Calvin’s Board of Trustees accepted Wiebe Boer’s resignation, which he offered after admitting to sending communications that were inappropriate and inconsistent with …

ATLANTA (AP) — The leader of the Democrats in Georgia’s state Senate says she won’t run for office again this year. Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain announced her retirement on Tuesday. “I’ve had an extraordinary journey at this Capitol,” Butler, 82, told senators. “I didn’t have a clue that I would stay longer than the designated 10 …

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The family of a Black man fatally shot by a Georgia deputy during an October traffic stop filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking more than $16 million in damages, arguing the deputy used excessive force and the sheriff who employed him ignored the officer’s history of violence. Leonard Cure, 53, was killed just three years after …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge has set a trial date for Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from the 2021 deadly shooting on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” The scheduling order entered Monday calls for jury selection to begin July 9, with the trial starting the following day with opening statements by …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family must remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a judge ruled Monday, reversing an earlier order releasing the man. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II in Los Angeles ordered Alexander Smirnov’s detention days after he was freed by another judge, …

NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — Plunging into a frozen lake and swimming laps may not be everyone’s good time but for winter swimmers who return year after year to a northern Vermont lake near the Canadian border, there’s nothing better. The 10th annual Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival kicked off Friday with the 200-meter (218-yard) freestyle race in a narrow pool cut …

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a New York judge Friday to suspend an $83.3 million defamation verdict against the former president, saying there was a “strong probability” that it would be reduced on appeal, if not eliminated. The lawyers made the request in Manhattan federal court, where a civil jury in late January awarded the sum to …