Hawaii officials identify the last of the 100 known victims of the wildfire that destroyed Lahaina

HONOLULU (AP) — The last of the 100 known victims of the in August was identified Friday as a 70-year-old woman whose husband, sister and several other relatives also died in the fire.

Maui police said they identified the victim as Lydia Coloma based on the context of where the remains were found, rather than through DNA other positive identification methods.

Her husband, along with a sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew, also died in the fire, said her


A private prison health care company accused of substandard care is awarded new contract in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois has awarded a more than $4 billion prison medical care contract to the same company it’s used for three decades, despite multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the firm and statewide complaints alleging substandard care.

Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources was one of two companies responding to a request for proposals from the Illinois Department of Corrections, but it was not the low bidder. Wexford’s offer came in $673 million higher than one from VitalCore Health Strategies of Topeka


Jackie Robinson statue was stolen from a Kansas park

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A prized statue of was stolen from a public park in Kansas, spurring a police search Friday and outrage across the city of Wichita.

The statue honors the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Surveillance video was released of two people hauling the sculpture away in the dark. Wichita police said in a Facebook post that it went missing Thursday morning.

The statue was cut at the ankles to be removed. All that remained of the


Russian man who flew on Los Angeles flight without passport or ticket found guilty of being stowaway

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket is guilty of being a stowaway on an aircraft, a federal jury found Friday.

Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava on Nov. 4 via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer could not find Ochigava on the flight’s manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to a complaint filed Nov. 6 in Los Angeles federal court.


Canada suspends cash for UN agency serving Palestinians, amid probe into Hamas attack

Canada is joining the United States in suspending funding for a UN agency that supports Palestinians, in response to allegations agency staff played a role in the Hamas attack on Israel last October.

Ottawa has ordered a temporary pause on “any additional funding” for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The director for the agency known as UNWRA says it has terminated staff suspected of involvement in the Hamas attack, without sharing what role they may have played.

The U.S. State Department


No diploma? No problem! Navy again lowers requirements as it struggles to meet recruitment goals

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy is starting to enlist individuals who didn’t graduate from high school or get a GED, marking the second time in about a year that the service has opened the door to lower-performing recruits as it struggles to meet enlistment goals.

The decision follows a move in December 2022 to bring in a larger number of recruits who score very low on the Armed Services Qualification Test. Both are fairly rare steps that the other military services largely avoid or


Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif.; Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

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CBS’ “Face


Inmate overpowers deputy at hospital, flees to nearby home before fatally shooting himself

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An inmate being treated at a hospital in Ohio overpowered a sheriff’s deputy who was guarding him Friday and took his gun before fleeing to a nearby home where he was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

The inmate, whose name was not released, attacked the Montgomery County deputy shortly after 1 p.m. at Kettering Health Dayton, the Dayton Police Department said in a news release. Police said one shot was fired in the hospital,


New Mexico lawmakers don’t get a salary. Some say it’s time for a paycheck

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Members of New Mexico’s Legislature are the only state lawmakers in the country who aren’t paid a salary for their service, but voters might change that as a referendum on giving legislators a steady paycheck gains traction.

A Democratic-sponsored initiative to provide New Mexico legislators with regular salaries earned its first committee endorsement Friday, over the objections of Republicans in the legislative minority.

The proposed constitutional amendment would scrap a ban on legislative salaries and create an independent commission


Former Los Angeles council member sentenced to 13 years in prison for pay-to-play corruption scandal

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles City Council member was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for a pay-to-play involving real estate development projects.

José Huizar, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $443,905 in restitution to the city and $38,792 to the IRS.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Huizar chose “to place his