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WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to revive a $15 billion plan to pare back spending that has languished on Capitol Hill, the White House on Tuesday dropped a proposal to cut $252 million in leftover funding to fight the Ebola virus in Africa. The move came as President Donald Trump took to Twitter to pitch the package of spending cuts, which still faces an uphill struggle in Congress. "The HISTORIC Rescissions Package we've proposed would cut $15,000,000,000 in Wasteful Spending! We are getting our government back on track," Trump tweeted. An Ebola o...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma has high rates of death from heart disease, stroke, cancer and respiratory disease despite a decrease in smoking, according to a new report. Less than 20 percent of Oklahoma adults smoke, down from 25 percent a decade ago, according to the State of the State's Health Report that was released Monday, The Tulsa World reported . The teen smoking rate was 13 percent in 2015, down from about a third of teens smoking in 2005. However, the state still has a high rate of health issues tied with smoking, such as lung c...
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than a year after a developmentally disabled Missouri man's body was found encased in concrete, two people who are accused in a lawsuit of making him fight for their entertainment have been charged in his death, a prosecutor announced Tuesday. Sherry Paulo, 53, and Anthony R. Flores, 58, both of Fulton, were arrested and charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter in 61-year-old Carl DeBrodie's death. They were also charged with client neglect, felony abandonment of a corpse, and two misdemeanors of making a f...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Sage grouse have a vast network of mating grounds in the U.S. West akin to interconnected regional airport hubs that the imperiled species is using to maintain genetic diversity across its entire range, a DNA study has revealed. The 19-page report by the U.S. Forest Service that appeared in a scientific journal in early May involved nearly 6,000 sage grouse samples collected from 2005 to 2015 and maps of some 1,200 mating sites in 10 western states and the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Scientists say identifying m...
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — The white and brownish-black bird in the photo was covered in so many cactus spines, Alyssa Barrett could barely make out its coloring, let alone its species. But something about the crook in its beak made her pulse quicken. The Houston Chronicle reports it looked like the beak of a magnificent frigatebird, primarily found soaring over tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Dare she think it? Frigatebirds, with their 7-to 8-foot wingspan, did not frequent the South Texas area. But in t...
While turtles might seem like the perfect pet — less work than dogs and cats, more interactive than fish — there are a few things to keep in mind before buying one. "They are definitely becoming more popular as pets. Some of them are very beautiful and they can be easily purchased over the internet. But there's no such thing as an easy pet," says Katrina Smith, adoptions coordinator for the Maryland-based Mid-Atlantic Turtle and Tortoise Society. CONSIDER THE SOURCE First, never take a wild turtle as a pet. "Chances are they won't do well in...
BOSTON (AP) — If you've ever watched a YouTube video of a Boston Dynamics robot , you probably remember it. But you may not know what the videos leave out. Millions of people have watched the humanoid Atlas jogging through a field , or the intimidating, 6.5-foot-tall Handle zip back and forth swiftly (and ominously) on wheeled legs. Then there's the dog-like SpotMini dexterously opening a door — a machine so unsettling it inspired a nightmarish episode of the TV show "Black Mirror" last year. All of these robots are real, but the videos can...
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is asking an appeals court to restore his power to block critics on Twitter. Government lawyers representing Trump and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino filed paperwork Monday to appeal a federal judge's ruling last month that said blocking people from the @realDonaldTrump account violates the First Amendment. The paperwork did not list grounds for the appeal. Trump and Scavino's lawyers did not immediately respond to messages. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald made clear in her May 23 ruling that p...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — President Donald Trump's technology adviser says the administration is committed to advancing U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. But Michael Kratsios dodged questions about what Trump himself thinks about AI. Trump's lack of public emphasis on both the economic promise and potential dangers of automation has contrasted with other world leaders who have made a vocal push to get their countries ahead. Kratsios was grilled Tuesday about Trump's commitment to technological research during MIT Technology Review's E...
HONOLULU (AP) — Lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano destroyed hundreds more homes overnight, overtaking two oceanfront communities that were advised to evacuate last week, officials said Tuesday. No injuries were reported as most residents heeded advice to leave. The homes lost are in addition to at least 117 destroyed and reported by county officials since lava began spilling from cracks in the ground that opened up in a mostly rural district of the Big Island last month. "We don't have an estimate yet, but safe to say that hundreds of homes w...
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) What is the place of a profit motive in the production of knowledge at public universities? The Trump administration’s initial budget request presented in 2017 offered one answer to that question. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the budget proposal included a 17 percent reduction in funding for basic research. Proposed cuts to particular agencies and programs within them, s...
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The history of math is murky, predating any written records. When did humans first grasp the basic concept of a number? What about size and magnitude, or form and shape? In my math history courses and my research travels in Guatemala, Egypt and Japan, I’ve been especially interested in the commonality and differences of mathematics from various cultures. Although no one knows math’s exact origins, modern mat...
CHICAGO (AP) — The University of Illinois and Microsoft are launching a new partnership to help students with autism pursue science and technology careers. Microsoft is investing $200,000 in the Accessibility Lighthouse Program, which started Monday. Harold Javid of Microsoft says the partnership will use advances in technology to provide opportunities for students with a range of disabilities. The money will go toward a digitally accessible classroom at the university that will use Microsoft tools, such as one that provides real-time t...
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Scientists and geographers from New Mexico State University are helping to locate and record natural and cultural resources on the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. The university says the work is funded through a five-year grant from the Bureau of Land Management. The information will be used to better manage resources across the monument and to create a database accessible to the public. The geologists on the team are interested in the area's volcanic formations. They say the Potrillo volcanic field w...
WARREN, Ohio (AP) — Police say they've solved a shooting in Ohio that left a man wounded. The oven did it. The Vindicator in Youngstown reports 44-year-old Robin Garlock received wounds to both shoulders while trying to retrieve a handgun he'd hidden inside the broiler unit of his oven. Warren police say Garlock put the gun in the broiler because children were coming over. His girlfriend, unaware of the gun's presence, turned on the oven Sunday to bake. Police say she called out to Garlock when she thought she heard a gunshot fired outside. P...
SIMSBURY, Conn. (AP) — An elementary school student in Connecticut is speaking out about what he says is an unfair restaurant gratuity policy aimed at patrons his age. Central Elementary School student Jacob Howes tells WFSB-TV he was dining with a fellow sixth-grader at Iron Horse Pizzeria and Sports Pub Sunday in Simsbury when they were surprised by a 15 percent gratuity on their bill. He says the waitress then showed them that the menu has in small print gratuity may be added for large parties and "grade school customers." Howes says the p...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Coast Guard rescued a man who was caught in a storm trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat. Fifty-two-year-old Duncan Hutchinson was attempting to row from New York to Scotland on Sunday night when he faced 21 mph (34 kph) winds and 8½-foot (2.6 meters) seas about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Barnegat Light, New Jersey. The man called the Coast Guard. A Coast Guard rescue boat navigated the high seas and reached the man on Monday. Officials say thankfully the man was well prepared and radioed for he...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma has high rates of death from heart disease, stroke, cancer and respiratory disease despite a decrease in smoking, according to a new report. Less than 20 percent of Oklahoma adults smoke, down from 25 percent a decade ago, according to the State of the State's Health Report that was released Monday, The Tulsa World reported . The teen smoking rate was 13 percent in 2015, down from about a third of teens smoking in 2005. However, the state still has a high rate of health issues tied with smoking, such as lung c...
WAGONER, Okla. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy whose body was found on fire in northeastern Oklahoma. District Attorney Jack Thorp says 23-year-old Joshua Herrington pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Monday in the death of Brennon Davis. Davis' bullet-riddled body was found burning on Jan. 11, 2017, near Fort Gibson Lake, 48 miles (77 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa. Authorities used dental records to identify his remains. Thorp says Herrington pleaded g...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's Native American tribes are prepared to offer sports betting at some of the more than 100 casinos across the state, but so far the state's Legislature hasn't reached an agreement on how to do that. Here are some things to know about tribal gaming in Oklahoma: WHAT'S HAPPENED? Bills have been introduced the last two years to pave the way for tribal nations to offer sports betting if there was a favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. But because the high court's May decision hadn't been reached, lawmakers d...
WACO, Texas (AP) — A former University of Oklahoma football player has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in his Texas hometown of Waco. Parrish Cobb was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to robbing a Baylor student at gunpoint in 2017. According to the Waco Tribune-Herald , prosecutors agreed to dismiss two other armed robbery charges against Cobb as part of a plea deal. Cobb's attorney, J.R. Vicha, declined to comment after Monday's hearing. Cobb, who was a defensive back for the S...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Texas woman who faked a pregnancy for several months was found guilty Tuesday of fatally shooting a former co-worker in Kansas and kidnapping the victim's newborn baby with the intention of raising the child as her own. A Sedgwick County jury found Yesenia Sesmas guilty of first-degree premeditated and intentional murder, kidnapping and interference with parental custody. Prosecutors said she shot 27-year-old Laura Abarca on Nov. 17, 2016, at Abarca's Wichita apartment and abducted 6-day-old Sophia Gonzales. The baby w...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Kris Kobach promoted his campaign for Kansas governor during a recent parade by riding for the first time in a jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on back — and quickly drew the kind of the social media criticism that's hovered around him for years. The Kansas City-area suburb that held the parade apologized to crowd members who were upset. But Kobach is not apologizing and said Tuesday he might use the jeep-with-gun even more than he initially intended. His campaign theme song is the late rock 'n' roll ico...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who tried to recruit mother-child sex slaves has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. The Wichita Eagle reports Michael David Mitchell of Eskridge pleaded guilty last week to one count of enticement of a minor. Investigators say he was arrested last June at a Missouri hotel where he went to meet a person he thought was a woman interested in selling her 10-year-old daughter for sex acts. According to the plea agreement, he told authorities he was a sadist who was willing to pay thousands of dollars for a f...
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State University's Hale Library suffered significant damage during a fire, according to school officials. Library dean Lori Goetsch told the Topeka Capital-Journal that the university has contracted with Belfor, an international disaster recovery business, to restore the library following the May 22 blaze. "They have hundreds of individuals onsite helping us with the process of removing ceiling tiles and other debris, dehumidifying the building and recovering collections," she said. "It is estimated that it will t...
