A push to expand Medicaid has Kansas governor embracing politics and cutting against her brand

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session Monday following five years of failed efforts to provide state health coverage to another 150,000 people.

Kelly faces leaders of GOP supermajorities whose priorities are to cut income taxes and rein in local property taxes, not to expand Medicaid.

But Kelly’s new plan includes hitting expansion-opposing Republicans hard later


Western Japan earthquakes have claimed 100 lives; rain and snow imperil already shaky ground

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — A woman in her 90s was pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan late Saturday, 124 hours , killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.

The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa Prefecture, had survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake that hit the area Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, and the woman was not visible


To plead or not to plead? That is the question for hundreds of Capitol riot defendants

Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters charged with have faced the same choice in the three years since the attack: either admit their guilt and accept the consequences or take their chances on a trial in hopes of securing a rare acquittal.

Those who have who gambled — and lost — on a trial have received significantly longer prison sentences than those who took responsibility for joining the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, an Associated Press review of court records shows.

The AP’s analysis of reinforces a firmly established tenet of


Pedro Pascal, Melanie Lynskey, the Obamas among nominees at creative arts Emmy Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Judith Light from “Poker Face” and Nick Offerman and Storm Reid from “The Last of Us” were winners at Saturday night’s Creative Arts on a night when the theme was first-time Emmys for actors of all ages.

Light, 74, took her first Emmy in a nearly 50-year television career for playing a 1960s radical hiding out in a retirement home on an episode of “ ,” the Peacock comedy-mystery series starring Natasha


On Jan. 6 many Republicans blamed Trump for the Capitol riot. Now they endorse his presidential bid

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller “How Democracies Die,” authors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write about three rules that must follow: accept the results of fair elections, reject the use of violence to gain power and break ties to extremists.

In the aftermath of the , they write, only one U.S. political party “violated all three.”

Saturday marks the third anniversary of the , and , the former president, is far-and-


AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Federal officials order grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners after plane suffers a blowout

Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.

The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement that of the 65 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet,


Carnival begins in New Orleans with Phunny Phorty Phellows, king cakes, Joan of Arc parade

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The countdown to begins Saturday in New Orleans as Carnival season kicks off with dozens of costumed revelers and a brass band set to crowd onto a streetcar for a nighttime ride down historic St. Charles Avenue. Meanwhile, a walking club in the French Quarter will march in its annual procession honoring Joan of Arc.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT

While it’s a secular celebration, Carnival in New Orleans — and — is strongly linked to Christian and Roman Catholic traditions. The season begins on


Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Oregon after window and chunk of fuselage blow out

PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal officials on Saturday ordered the of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.

The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement that of the 65 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet, crews had inspected the paneled-over exits as part of recent maintenance work on


UN agency says it is handling code of conduct violations by staffer for anti-Israel posts internally

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. agency promoting equality for women said Friday that violations of the U.N. Code of Conduct requiring impartiality by a mid-level manager, who reportedly supported pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli posts on social media, are being dealt with internally.

Last month, the Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch, which often criticizes anti-Israel actions at the United Nations, reported that Sarah Douglas, the deputy chief of UN Women’s peace and security office


Agencies release plans for moving hotel-dwelling Maui fire survivors into long-term housing

HONOLULU (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday it plans to move thousands of hotel-dwelling survivors of wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui into long-term housing over the next month.

The agency expects households living under long-term leases directly funded by FEMA to rise to 1,500 over the next month from 100 currently, TJ Dargan, federal coordinating officer for the Maui fires, said at a news conference.

The increase would house a large portion of the 2,