MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A judge has granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death. Judge Peter Cahill on Thursday added the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – Emboldened by their majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are making a new push to enact the first major new gun control laws in more than two decades and they’re starting with stricter background checks. T he House is poised to pass two bills on Thursday that would require background checks…… MORE
DALLAS (AP) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says a lawsuit by Twitter won’t deter his office from investigating the content moderation practices of the social media giant and four other major technology companies. Twitter sued the Republican official this week in an effort to halt his probe, which. Twitter says Paxton launched in retaliation…… MORE
UNDATED (AP) – Authorities investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol say two extremist groups that traveled to Washington along with thousands of other Trump supporters weren’t whipped into an impulsive frenzy by President Donald Trump that day. Instead, authorities allege evidence points to the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys laying attack plans…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is expected to announce the U.S. is buying an additional 100 million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The drugmaker is already obligated to supply 100 million doses to the federal government by the end of June. The additional vaccine would be delivered in the following…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate Finance Committee has approved President Joe Biden’s nomination of Janet Yellen to be the nation’s 78th Treasury secretary. Supporters said they hoped to get the full Senate to approve her nomination later today, making her the first woman to hold the job. The Finance Committee approved Yellen’s nomination on a…… MORE
SAN DIEGO (AP) – President Joe Biden has ordered a “pause” on all border wall construction, one of 17 executive orders issued his first day in office. The move leaves billions of dollars in unfinished work under contract after his predecessor, Donald Trump, worked feverishly to successfully to build 450 miles. A Senate aide tells…… MORE
LONACONING, Md. (AP) – A single winning ticket for the $731.1 million Powerball jackpot was sold by a store in Lonaconing, Maryland. The Maryland Lottery says it was sold at Coney Market. The Allegany County store will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. This was the fifth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever. The…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 900,000, still a historically high level that points to ongoing job cuts in a raging pandemic. The Labor Department’s report underscores that President Joe Biden has inherited an economy that faltered this winter as virus cases spiked, cold weather restricted…… MORE
UNDATED (AP) – Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp. says it is using its refrigerator technology to develop special boxes for storing the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, which must be kept at ultracold temperatures. The company says that samples will be ready in March, with a product to follow a month or two later. The box will…… MORE
