By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States and under 50 new death sentences were imposed for the fifth straight year, part of a continuing decline in capital punishment that saw only a few states carry out executions, a new report issued Tuesday said.
But even as death row populations were...
JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hailie Deegan, a rising 18-year-old star in motorsports from Temecula, was named a development driver with Ford Performance on Tuesday in a deal that could fast-track her progression into a NASCAR national series.
Deegan spent the last two years as part of Toyota's crowded development field before the switch. The partnership with...
BRADY McCOMBS and DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
KAYSVILLE, Utah (AP) — For decades, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of Boy Scouts of America's greatest allies and the largest sponsor of troops. But on Jan. 1, the Utah-based faith will deliver the latest blow to the struggling organization when it pulls out more than 400,000 young...
DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Two national groups representing freelance writers and photographers on Tuesday filed the second legal challenge to California's broad new labor law that aims to give wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors.
While the public focus has been largely on ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft, the lawsuit brought...
WASHINGTON (AP) — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma shouldn't give its CEO a bonus next year as the company goes through bankruptcy and tries to settle 2,700 lawsuits over the opioid crisis, 11 U.S. senators said in a letter Tuesday.
A bankruptcy judge approved the company's plan to award bonuses to other employees earlier this month, but delayed a decision on...
MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas and Electric has reworked a $13.5 billion settlement with victims of deadly wildfires blamed on the utility to try to prevent it from unraveling after California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected the company's financial rehabilitation plan.
The revision discussed in a bankruptcy court hearing Tuesday removes a provision requiring Newsom to...
KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Interior Department, Idaho and Wyoming are appealing a court ruling that halted a Trump administration plan to ease land-use restrictions in seven Western states that protect struggling sage grouse.
The notices filed Monday say the agency and states will seek a review by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of an...
RACHEL LERMAN
AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A fifth former Google worker has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing the company of improperly firing employees for labor organizing activity.
Kathryn Spiers, a security engineer, said Google fired her after she created a pop-up notification for employees to inform them of their labor rights.
In late November,Google fired four other...
DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday called for more federal money and oversight to shore up the nation's aging dams following an Associated Press investigation that found scores of potentially troubling dams located near homes and communities across the country.
Gillibrand said new legislation in the works should ensure that federal standards are in place to...
MATT O'BRIEN
AP Technology Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Police departments around the U.S. are asking citizens to trust them to use facial recognition software as another handy tool in their crime-fighting toolbox. But some lawmakers — and even some technology giants — are hitting the brakes.
Are fears of an all-seeing, artificially intelligent security apparatus overblown? Not if you look...