By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday. More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to ...

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A project to build a first-of-a-kind small modular nuclear reactor power plant was terminated Wednesday, another blow to the Biden administration's clean energy agenda following cancellations last week of two major ...

By PAUL J. WEBER and VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The white Honda Civic sped down Highway 57, a rural two-lane corridor that reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, after a Texas sheriff's deputy tried pulling over the car and gave chase when it didn't stop. High-speed ...

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former top prosecutor for the city of Baltimore was convicted on Thursday of charges that she lied about the finances of a side business to improperly access retirement funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the money to buy ...

By ZEKE MILLER, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza, the White House said Thursday, as President Joe Biden pressed Israelis for a multi-day ...

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY, GENE JOHNSON and ED KOMENDA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities were hunting Thursday for whoever sent suspicious letters — including some containing fentanyl — to elections offices in at least five states this week, delaying the counting of ballots ...

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A man who pulled out a pistol and fired it on a New York City subway platform in an apparent attempt to stop someone from stealing a woman's purse was charged Thursday with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing. No one was struck ...

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When it comes to age on the ballot, Texas didn't wait until 2024 to weigh in. Asked to let judges stay on the bench until they're 79 years old — a year younger than President Joe Biden — Texas voters soundly rejected the ...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan and Pennsylvania will emerge from the Tuesday elections with House legislative chambers evenly split between Republicans and Democrats in yet another sign of how narrowly divided the two swing states have become. The change will be at least temporary after House ...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Voters across the U.S. largely rebuked conservative candidates in local school board elections who want to ban books and restrict classroom conversations on race and gender. In recent years, down-ballot elections have become proxy votes for polarizing national issues. ...

ATLANTA (AP) — Giorgos Giakoumakis had a goal and two assists and Atlanta United beat the Columbus Crew 4-2 on Tuesday night to force a deciding game in the best-of-three series. Atlanta (14-9-12) snapped a four-game winless stretch to continue its MLS playoff run at Columbus (16-10-9) on ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio voters approved a measure legalizing recreational marijuana on Tuesday, defying Republican legislative leaders who had failed to pass the proposed law. Passage of Issue 2 makes Ohio the 24th state to allow adult cannabis use for non-medical purposes. "Marijuana is ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters threw their support behind abortion rights in Ohio, Virginia and elsewhere as Democrats look to springboard off those wins by using the issue to drive turnout and shape next year's races for the White House, Congress and other elections. Ohio offered the clearest ...

After Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, advocates on both sides of the issue are looking at how they can get support on 2024 ballots in at least a dozen states. Since the U.S. Supreme Court ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A top jurist and former elections chief in Ohio has sued two state officials over a recently passed law that requires certain judicial candidates to declare their party affiliation on ballots. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner argues in the lawsuit filed ...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by inmates who described conditions at a southern West Virginia jail as inhumane has been settled, a federal judge said Tuesday, a week after a magistrate judge said some records in the suit had been intentionally destroyed. U.S. District Judge Frank ...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Longtime former Philadelphia labor leader John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty is on trial on embezzlement charges, accused of having stolen from the union he led for nearly three decades. Dougherty and others are accused of having embezzled more than $650,000 from Local 98 of the ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several states will participate in Tuesday's off-year general election that will determine the next governor in two states and provide insight into how abortion rights are shaping American politics. Voters in Kentucky will decide whether to give a second term to Gov. Andy ...

BEIJING (AP) — The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to Beijing on Tuesday for a tour that will mark 50 years since its historic performance in China, the latest sign of improving ties between the two countries ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi ...

Voters on both ends of Pennsylvania are deciding Tuesday who will lead the state's most populous counties, in races that could help shape how Democrats talk about crime, progressive policy and abortion in the political arena. The results in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which is home to ...