U.S. News

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Despite recent fiscal challenges, Gov. Wes Moore’s $63 billion budget plan remains largely intact under legislation approved unanimously Thursday in the Maryland Senate. The measure makes reserves available if needed to cover a miscalculation in Medicaid costs that was discovered after the governor submitted his budget to the General Assembly in January. The legislation now goes …

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school districts could opt to allow volunteer chaplains in schools under a bill the Legislature sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over the objections of opponents who argued that religion should be kept out of schools. Supporters argued the legislation will provide another resource for children and pointed to chaplains who serve in other government …

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A large fire followed by multiple explosions at a building in suburban Detroit killed one person and injured a firefighter. A look at what we know about the site, including investigators’ questions surrounding the vaping supply distributor operating there. WHAT CAUSED THE EXPLOSIONS AND FIRE? AP AUDIO: Gas chemicals investigated as cause of fire and …

DENVER (AP) — After nearly 200 bodies were found stacked and rotting in a Colorado funeral home, lawmakers have proposed bills to overhaul the state’s threadbare funeral home regulations, which failed to prevent a string of gruesome cases — from sold body parts to fake ashes. The cases have shattered hundreds of families. Many learned that their loved ones’ remains …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge in Nashville on Monday dismissed a challenge to a Tennessee law aimed at making sure primary voters are “bona fide” members of the party they are voting for. Former Ambassador to Poland and longtime Tennessee Republican politician Victor Ashe sued state election officials in November, claiming the law is so vague that he …

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A young man accused in last year’s fatal shooting of a teenager who had received his Virginia high school diploma minutes earlier at a public event pleaded guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder and a firearm-related charge and was sentenced to 43 years in prison. Amari Pollard, 20, entered the plea during the fourth day of …

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House passed a bill Friday aimed at curbing unruliness on school buses by requiring student and parental buy-in to transportation policies and setting clear consequences for misbehavior. The measure sailed through the House on a 93-1 vote to advance to the Senate. Supporters said the goal is to offer relief to beleaguered bus drivers …

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah faith leaders who learn about ongoing child abuse from a perpetrator during a religious confession will be able to alert police without fear of legal ramifications under a bill that received final legislative approval Thursday in the state Senate. The measure extends to clergy members the same legal protections that exist for mandatory reporters …

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Police in West Virginia said Wednesday they have opened a criminal investigation into a 911 call that triggered a traffic stop involving the state highways chief. Charleston Police Chief Scott Dempsey said in a statement that information relayed to police that Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston was driving erratically on Feb. 20 “does not appear to be …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Crowds lined up in San Francisco on Wednesday to see — and smell — the blooming of an endangered tropical flower that releases a pungent odor when it opens once every several years. An Amorphophallus titanum, also known as a corpse flower, began blooming Tuesday afternoon at the California Academy of Sciences, a research institution and …