U.S. News

NEW YORK (AP) — Seated in a courtroom witness box, Don Henley opened a large brown envelope Tuesday and paged through the aging yellow sheets of a legal pad. “Well, it’s got two song titles written on the top,” he explained when asked what it contained. “ ‘After the Thrill is Gone’ and ‘One of These Nights.’” Then came another …

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland voters would decide in a special election whether people who are appointed to vacancies in the state legislature keep their seats in the first two years of a term, under a proposed constitutional amendment approved by the state Senate on Tuesday. The measure, which passed on a 43-2 vote, now goes to the Maryland House. …

A Washington state man accused of helping kill more than 3,000 birds — including eagles on a Montana Indian reservation — then illegally selling their carcasses and feathers intends to plead guilty to illegal wildlife trafficking and other criminal charges, court documents show. Federal prosecutors say Travis John Branson and others killed about 3,600 birds during a yearslong “killing spree” …

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A mower sparked a prairie fire that has burned a huge swath of grassland in central Nebraska roughly the size of the state’s largest city of Omaha, state officials said Tuesday. The fire, first reported Monday morning less than 10 miles (16.1 kilometers) northeast of North Platte, destroyed one home, damaged another and burned down about …

SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — Police in the western Missouri town of Sedalia fatally shot a knife-wielding suspect during an altercation that left two police officers injured, investigators said. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating at the request of Sedalia’s police chief. Officers were called Saturday night to a disturbance and encountered someone armed with a knife, the patrol said. …

BOISE, Idaho. (AP) — An earthquake of 4.9 magnitude struck north of Boise, Idaho, on Monday, reportedly causing no major damage or injuries, authorities said. The quake happened at 10:25 a.m. and was centered about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) north of Smiths Ferry, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Two smaller earthquakes followed in the same vicinity with magnitudes of …

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia would join 45 other states that allow religious exemptions from childhood vaccines required for school attendance under a bill that passed the House of Delegates on Monday. The religious exemption is included in a bill that would let private schools decide whether to implement vaccine mandates. It was added to the bill as an …

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama judge remained hospitalized after he was shot over the weekend, and his son has been taken into custody, authorities said Monday. Montgomery County Judge Johnny Hardwick, the presiding judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit, underwent surgery following Saturday’s shooting. Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham told news outlets the judge was assaulted, shot and seriously …

ALBUQUERQUE, Nuevo México, EE.UU. (AP) — Una empresaria de Nuevo México es acusada de defraudar al gobierno de Estados Unidos y a dos tribus indígenas norteamericanas con impuestos y regalías que se les adeudan por el petróleo y el gas que sus empresas extrajeron en tierras federales y tribales arrendadas. Los fiscales federales anunciaron esta semana que Teresa McCown fue …

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A warm front swept springlike weather across a large swath of the country Sunday in what is usually one of the coldest months of the year, sending people out of their homes to enjoy the rare winter respite but also bringing increased wildfire danger. In Omaha, Nebraska, the temperature Sunday broke 65 degrees (18.3 degrees Celsius) …