The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has topped 600,000, even as the vaccination drive has slashed daily cases and deaths and allowed the country to emerge from the gloom. That's according to the toll recorded by Johns Hopkins University. The…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Six captains and five companies from Florida and Louisiana can represent others in a lawsuit challenging new federal regulations for nearly 1,300 charter boats across the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District…
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A worker at a fire hydrant plant in Alabama pulled out a gun and began firing early Tuesday, killing two people and wounding two more, police said. The gunfire broke out about 2:30 a.m. at a…
PEARL, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is continuing to assess damage caused by recent flash flooding. Parts of central and northern Mississippi were soaked by heavy rainfall starting last week. The downpour washed out some roads, making…
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The creators of the Jurassic World VelociCoaster roller coaster at Universal Orlando Resort had more to contend with than just encounters with rabid raptors. They faced a global pandemic that shut down the theme park resort…
DENVER (AP) — Colorado has its first litter of gray wolf pups since the 1940s, state wildlife officials said Wednesday. A state biologist and district wildlife manager each spotted the litter of at least three wolf pups over the weekend…
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) — A three-day effort to free a humpback whale from entanglement in fishing gear ended in success this week, marine mammal experts said Thursday. The whale, identified as a mature female named Valley, was first spotted Monday…
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A pet dog who vanished for two days after being ejected from a vehicle during an accident has been found apparently doing the job it was bred to do — herding sheep. Linda Oswald’s family and…
WILLCOX, Ariz. (AP) — A bear in Arizona emerged unscathed from quite the power trip when it became stuck on a utility pole. Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, a utility company based in the southern Arizona city of Willcox, was…
By MELINDA DESLATTE The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Months after most Louisiana voters agreed to legalize sports betting, lawmakers Thursday gave final passage to rules that will allow wagering through sports book sites, mobile apps and kiosk…
By MATTHEW PERRONE WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that U.S. regulators extended the expiration date on millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by six weeks. The company said a Food and Drug Administration review concluded the…
VARDAMAN, Miss. (AP) — A father and son have been arrested in north Mississippi after a 25-year-old man was found dead in a pond after a fight at a graduation party. Heriberto Mata died Sunday in Vardaman, according to the…
PEARL, Miss. (AP) — A judge set bond Thursday for a prison guard who was arrested on charges of bringing contraband items, including methamphetamine, into Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. The Mississippi Department of Corrections said in a news release Thursday…
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A shipyard that’s the largest private employer in Mississippi says it is planning to hire about 3,000 new full-time employees. Ingalls Shipbuilding held a hiring event Wednesday in Pascagoula. Its parent company, Huntington Ingalls Industries, said…
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Heavy rainfall this week has flooded roads and neighborhoods in parts of north Mississippi, and forecasters said Thursday that more rain was expected. The National Weather Service said more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain…
By MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A navigation timing error sent NASA’s little Mars helicopter on a wild, lurching ride, its first major problem since it took to the Martian skies last month. The experimental helicopter, named Ingenuity,…
By MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — General Motors is teaming up with Lockheed Martin to produce the ultimate off-road, self-driving, electric vehicles — for the moon. The project announced Wednesday is still in the early stages and has…
PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) — A young alligator traced to the Louisiana bayous traded the swamp for a sandy Padre Island beach in South Texas. In an unusual spin from “Jaws,” the gator showed up Monday on Malaquite…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Additional cases of two variant strains of COVID-19 have been found in Mississippi, the state Health Department said Thursday. Officials said 10 additional cases of the variant that originated in South Africa have been identified in…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Department of Justice says a federal judge should order Mississippi to expand community-based mental health services. Department attorneys filed documents with an expansion plan as part of the long-running litigation between the federal government and…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jeffrey L. Hewitt, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Mississippi Lottery Corporation, will serve as its next president. Hewitt was one of the first employees brought on to the corporation in June 2019.…
SOUTHWICK, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who accidentally tossed out a $1 million lottery ticket eventually collected her winnings thanks to the kindness and honesty of the owners of the store where she bought it. Lea Rose Fiega bought…
By MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincides with a supermoon this week for quite a cosmic show. This super “blood” moon will be visible Wednesday across the Pacific…
Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the U.S. With global vaccine supplies still tight,…