Griner sends letter to President Biden pleading for his help

By DOUG FEINBERG WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 1, 2022. U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner is set to go on trial in a Moscow-area court Friday. The proceedings that are scheduled to begin Friday come about 4 1/2 months after she was arrested on cannabis possession charges at an airport

Police respond to shooting at July 4 parade in Chicago area

Terrified parade-goers fled Highland Park's Fourth of July parade after shots were fired, leaving behind their belongings as they sought safety, Monday, July 4, 2022, in Highland Park, Ill. (Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Police are responding to a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, authorities said Monday. No casualties have been officially reported, but witnesses described seeing bloodied bodies covered with blankets as hundreds of

Tropical Storm Colin brings rain to Carolinas, weakens

People leave the port by boat to return their communities amid the arrival of Tropical Storm Bonnie in Bluefields, Nicaragua, July 1, 2022. Tropical Storm Bonnie has formed over the Caribbean as it heads for a quick march across Central America and potential development into a hurricane after reemerging in the Pacific. (AP Photo/Inti Ocon) Tropical Storm Colin formed along the South Carolina coast on Saturday morning, bringing rain and

Court kills Flint water charges against ex-governor, others

FILE - This screen shot from video, shows former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, during his Zoom hearing in the 67th District Court in Flint, Mich., on Jan. 18, 2020. A judge had no authority to issue indictments in the Flint water scandal, the Michigan Supreme Court said Tuesday, June 28, 2022 in an extraordinary decision that wipes out charges against former Gov. Snyder, his health director and seven other people

Congress approves free student meal extension through summer

Congress passed a bill Friday that aims to keep up the expanded, pandemic-era distribution of free meals for all students this summer. Final passage of the Keep Kids Fed Act in the U.S. House came less than a week before rule changes for child nutrition programs were set to expire June 30. “Our action today staves off a dangerous hunger cliff: ensuring universal free meals for all children throughout this

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion

By MARK SHERMAN The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the

Title IX Is About Much More Than Sports

By DR. JOY MARTINEZ, Staff Writer On June 23rd we will celebrate 50 years of Title IX. It was enacted into law to prohibit educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial

Dartmouth to eliminate loans for undergraduate students

Dartmouth College is removing all federal and institutional loans from its undergraduate financial aid awards and replacing them with expanded scholarship grants, beginning with the current summer term, the school’s president said. Currently, Dartmouth undergraduates from families with an annual income of $125,000 or less who possess typical assets are offered need-based aid without a required loan component. Dartmouth is now removing the loan requirement for undergraduates from families with

Colombian voters elect country’s first Black vice president

By MANUEL RUEDA and ASTRID SUAREZ Former rebel Gustavo Petro, left, his wife Veronica Alcocer, back center, and his running mate Francia Marquez, celebrate before supporters after winning a runoff presidential election in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) As Colombia’s voters put aside a longtime antipathy to leftists and chose one as their new president, they also carved out another milestone — electing the country’s first

How much for gas? Around the world, pain is felt at the pump

By DANIEL NIEMANN, PAOLA CORONA, JADE LE DELEY and HAU DINH At a gas station near the Cologne, Germany, airport, Bernd Mueller watches the digits quickly climb on the pump: 22 euros ($23), 23 euros, 24 euros. The numbers showing how much gasoline he’s getting rise, too. But much more slowly. Painfully slowly. “I’m getting rid of my car this October, November,” said Mueller, 80. “I’m retired, and then there’s