LOS ANGELES (AP) — Extreme heat and wildfire smoke are independently harmful to the human body, but together their impact on cardiovascular and respiratory systems is more dangerous and affects some communities more than others.

A study published Friday in the journal said climate change is increasing the frequency of both hazards, particularly in California. The authors found that the combined harm of extreme heat and inhalation of wildfire smoke increased hospitalizations and disproportionately impacted low-income communities and Latino, Black, Asian and other racially marginalized residents.

The reasons are

VANCOUVER — A coroner’s inquest jury looking into the Winters Hotel fire that killed two people in Vancouver two years ago was stood down Friday to deliberate potential recommendations to avoid similar deaths.

For two weeks, the inquest heard evidence about the fire that killed residents Mary Ann Garlow and Dennis Guay, including testimony that the sprinkler system wasn’t operating because of a smaller fire three days earlier.

Presiding coroner John Knox told jurors they could only make recommendations based on evidence presented at the inquest, and not “blame or

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Waterston, who has played the spiky, no-nonsense district attorney on since the mid-1990s, is stepping down from his legal perch.

The last episode for Waterston’s Jack McCoy will be Feb. 22, NBC said Friday. He has been in more than 400 episodes of the police drama, earning a SAG Award and Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the role.

“The time has come for me to move on and take

HOUSTON (AP) — The work to clean up fire-suppression foam accidentally released in a United Airlines hangar at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston continued Friday, according to a United spokesperson.

“United Airlines Environmental Team has been working round the clock and made significant progress in cleaning up the biodegradable … fire suppression foam that was inadvertently released” Thursday morning, United spokesperson Aubrey Jackson said.

Houston fire officials who helped contain the spread of the foam Thursday said it spread across parking lots and over vehicles and reached heights of

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Adrián Beltré will have a Texas Rangers’ logo on his baseball Hall of Fame plaque and Jim Leyland will not have any team emblem.

The hall made the announcement Friday, 10 days after Beltré was elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Leyland was elected in December by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives and umpires.

“I am grateful for the time I spent with all of my teams during my career,” Beltr

Kansas is poised to expand an income tax credit for goods and services purchased from companies and nonprofits employing disabled workers, a year after a debate over how much the state should buck a national trend against paying those workers below the minimum wage.

approved by the Legislature this week with broad bipartisan support would increase the total tax credits available from $5 million a year to $8 million. It also would create a new, $1 million program for nonprofit groups running vocational programs known as sheltered workshops to help them start paying

ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis acknowledged in on Friday having a “personal relationship” with a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump but argued there are no grounds to dismiss the case or to remove her from the prosecution.

Willis hired in November 2021 to assist her investigation into whether the Republican ex-president and others broke any laws as they tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Since were

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a truck driver were killed Friday after the trooper followed a reckless driver who made an illegal U-turn into the opposite direction of Interstate 95, officials said.

The suspect initially got away and was chased by other troopers and deputies until he crashed into a tree and fled on foot. He was captured about five hours after the initial pursuit, following an extensive manhunt, authorities said.

A St. Lucie County deputy initially tried

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s high court has given Republican Attorney General Dave Yost until Monday to respond to the legal claims of a coalition of civil rights organizations that is challenging his rejection of a package of voter protections they are working to place on November’s ballot.

The Ohio Supreme Court set the deadline Friday.

At issue is that the proposed constitutional amendment’s title — “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights” — was “highly misleading and misrepresentative” of the measure’s contents. He