CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) – The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped a nickel per gallon over the past two weeks to $2.94. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that the price at the pump might be near its peak as gasoline supply evens out across the country. The price of…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – A year after COVID-19 upended lives, there are troubling signs that the pandemic stalled efforts to get Americans to stop smoking. There were fewer calls made to quit-smoking hotlines last year. Some people reported smoking more. And there was an unusual bump in cigarette sales. Experts say unemployment, delayed medical care and…… MORE
(AP) — A delay in census data is scrambling plans in some states to redraw districts for the U.S. House and state legislatures. The Census Bureau has said redistricting data that was supposed to be provided to states by the end of March won’t be ready until August or September. That’s after the deadline to…… MORE
BOSTON (AP) – U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah has been named this year’s recipient of the Profile in Courage Award for being the only Republican to vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial. The honor was announced Friday on NBC’s “Today” show. Trump’s first trial in 2020 focused on…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company rigged the 2020 election. Friday’s defamation lawsuit is the first filed against a media outlet by the Denver-based company at the…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group has endorsed a federal price on carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming. The move Thursday comes as the Biden administration has pledged dramatic steps to address climate change. The American Petroleum Institute, whose members include ExxonMobil and Chevron, announced the policy change…… MORE
NEW YORK (AP) – A new report from the Anti-Defamation League says white supremacist propaganda surged across the U.S. in 2020. The anti-hate organization provided the report Wednesday to The Associated Press. It says there were 5,125 cases of racist, anti-Semitic and other hateful messages spread through physical flyers, stickers, banners and posters. The group…… MORE
NEW YORK (AP) – Pregnancy, birth and life with a newborn in the middle of a pandemic has been a lot for new moms to handle over the past year. They’ve battled high anxiety, ever-shifting hospital protocols and intense isolation. Demographers are studying the varied reasons for an anticipated pandemic baby bust. Women who have…… MORE
(AP) — The company that makes the prescription painkiller OxyContin would be transformed into a new entity that would funnel profits into combatting the U.S. opioid crisis under a $10 billion plan submitted to a federal bankruptcy judge late Monday. Members of the Sackler family who own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma would pay more than $4…… MORE
(AP) — Schools had to figure out quickly how to get kids online after the coronavirus pandemic shut them down. They had to work with a patchwork approach born of desperation due to the federal failure to get all Americans connected. They scrounged wireless hot spots, struck deals with cable companies and even created networks…… MORE
