Nebraska will continue to split electoral votes in presidential elections

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Following Montana Republicans’ dominance in the fall election, a group of GOP lawmakers kicked off the 2025 Legislature with an unexpected move: ceding power to Democrats. The minority took full advantage, remaking legislative committees and banding with a handful of moderate Republicans to thwart GOP leaders’ efforts to make Montana’s judicial system more partisan. Similar alliances bolstered Medicaid expansion, raised teacher pay and passed a state budget increase that includes investments in affordable housing and health care. The partnership seemed to defy divisions between America’s two major political parties that have played out in Washington, D.C., and in many statehouses. But it may prove fleeting if elections in the Big Sky State continue mirroring national trends that have hardened party lines. Montana’s conservative and moderate Republicans alike express allegiance to President Donald Trump. Lawmakers meet for just a few months every two years inside Montana’s Capitol, perched on a hill overlooking Helena, a city of about 35,000 people founded during an 1864 gold rush. It remains a true citizen legislature, opening the playing field for compromise, said political analyst Jeremy Johnson.

Republican Randy Fine is headed to Washington, D.C., to represent Florida’s 6th Congressional District. The district includes parts of six counties, including St. Johns, Flagler and Putnam.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate is set to be executed on June 25, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Richard Gerald Jordan, 78, who was sentenced to death in 1976 for kidnapping and killing a woman, has filed multiple death sentence appeals, the most recent of which was denied in October. The Mississippi ruling comes on the same day Army Combat veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson was scheduled to be executed in Florida. Before Thursday, 14 people had been executed in the U.S., including three in Florida. The order did not specify the manner in which Jordan will be executed. Mississippi law allows death sentences to be carried out using lethal injection, nitrogen gas, electrocution or firing squad.

DENVER (AP) — A soldier present at an after-hours nightclub where more than 100 immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally were taken into custody appeared in court Thursday to face charges that he distributed cocaine. Staff Sgt. Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, who is assigned to Fort Carson, an Army post near the illegal club in Colorado Springs, was arrested Wednesday evening, the FBI said. He allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration days before the raid and is accused of working with others to distribute the drug since around September, according to his arrest affidavit. Orona-Rodriguez — a member of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division — was dressed in camouflage pants and a khaki T-shirt and held court documents in his handcuffed hands during his brief court hearing. He listened as the magistrate judge explained his rights and agreed to appoint a public defender to represent him.

MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s attorney general asked federal courts Wednesday to let authorities enforce a new state law making it a misdemeanor for people in the U.S. illegally to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials. State Attorney General James Uthmeier also asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami to put on hold her injunction against enforcing the law while the order is appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. “That law does nothing more than exercise Florida’s inherent sovereign authority to protect its citizens by aiding the enforcement of federal immigration law,” Uthmeier said in Wednesday’s court filing. The judge’s order on Tuesday noted that there was a substantial likelihood that the Florida law would be found unconstitutional.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday that federal employees who also are in the military reserve must be paid the equivalent of their civilian salaries when called to active duty during national emergencies. The 5-4 decision could affect hundreds of thousands of people, insuring that they don’t suffer financially when they temporarily leave one form of government service for another. The justices ruled in an appeal filed by an air traffic controller who spent about five years on active duty in the Coast Guard at a pay rate lower than what he earns as a Federal Aviation Administration employee. Congress first adopted a differential pay statute in 2009, but the Justice Department argued that it only applied to people whose service had a strong connection to a national emergency.

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord found guilty of a vicious hate crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in court Friday for sentencing. A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the attack happened....

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — About 2,500 workers at Electric Boat shipyard in Connecticut plan to strike on May 18 if a tentative contract agreement is not reached with the submarine builder, the union president announced during a rally Thursday. About 300 union members cheered the announcement made by Bill Louis, president of the Marine Draftsmen’s Association-United Auto Workers of America, Local 571, The Day of New London newspaper reported. “We’re officially putting the company on notice that if we don’t have an agreement at 11:59 p.m., we strike at midnight May 18,” Louis told the union members, most of whom are essentially responsible for designing the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. A message was left seeking comment with an EB spokesperson in Groton.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge to dismiss the sanctioning body’s counterclaim in court Wednesday. In a 20-page filing in district court in North Carolina, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opposed NASCAR’s motion to amend its original counterclaim. The teams argued that the need to amend the counterclaim further demonstrates the weakness of NASCAR’s arguments, calling them an attempt by NASCAR to distract and shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions. NASCAR’s counterclaim singled out Michael Jordan’s longtime business manager, Curtis Polk. Jordan is co-owner of 23XI Racing. The legal battle began after more than two years of negotiations on new charter agreements — NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise model — and the 30-page filing contends that Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Defense Department said Thursday that it has designated a second stretch on the U.S. border with Mexico as a military zone to enforce immigration laws. The newest area is in Texas and is attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso. Like the first zone established last month in New Mexico, military personnel are authorized to take custody of migrants who illegally cross the border until they are transferred to civilian authorities in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “The establishment of a second National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command. In New Mexico, people who entered the U.S. illegally were charged Monday with breaching a national defense area after the Army assumed oversight of a 170-mile (274-kilometer) strip that is treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

UPDATE: As of April 27, 2025, four of the children previously listed below are no longer listed as missing. Dumorrgon Sullivan, Dorian Locke Vallinmaki, Ari Anderson, Antonia Thompson, and Hannah Geraci have been removed from the below listings.

This story was originally published by InvestigateWest , a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their Watchdog Weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Reach Whitney Bryen at 208-918-2458 or [email protected]. Reach Kaylee Tornay at 503-877-4108 or [email protected].

From 1977 to 1984, ABC-TV aired the sitcom, Three's Company, featuring John Ritter, Suzanne Sommers, and Joyce DeWitt as roommates sharing an apartment in Santa Monica, California. Sadly, both Ritter and Sommers have since passed away. But DeWitt is still with us, and a healthy 76 years old today.

Beloved actor/director Peter Bonerz, now 86, is best known for his role as dentist Dr. Jerry Robinson on TV's classic sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show (CBS, 1972-1979). However, before he found mainstream fame on camera, which eventually was followed by a behind-the-scenes career switch, Bonerz faced early life and career struggles.

SAN MIGUEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 2025-- While America plans to crown the next Idol, a parallel buzz builds in Paso Robles, California: the auction of Villa San-Juliette, the Tuscan-style estate and winery owned by American Idol Producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe. This rare opportunity invites buyers to acquire a celebrity-owned vineyard in California’s Central Coast wine region. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250501463600/en/ ‘American Idol’ producers’ 160-acre California winery -- Villa San-Juliette set to be auctioned by Elite Auctions on Saturday, May 17, 2025 (Photo Credit: Elite Auctions).

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Investigators strongly suspect that a pair of shootings three blocks apart in Minneapolis that left four people dead and two others seriously injured were connected and were gang related, the police chief said Wednesday. The first shooting happened late Tuesday and killed three people. The second, which happened around 1 p.m. Wednesday, killed one person. A bullet fired during that shooting just barely missed two young children in a nearby vehicle, police Chief Brian O’Hara said. The police chief said at a news conference that investigators believe all of the victims were Native Americans and that the shootings had shaken the large Indigenous community in the Phillips neighborhood south of downtown. He told reporters that investigators were still trying to establish a link between the shootings, and he declined to speculate on a motive or give details about any suspected gang connections. He said the investigation was still at its early stages. No arrests have been made.

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department filed lawsuits against four states this week, claiming their climate actions conflict with federal authority and President Donald Trump’senergy dominance agenda. The DOJ on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over their plans for legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change. On Thursday, the DOJ sued New York and Vermont, challenging their climate superfund laws that would force fossil fuel companies to pay into state-based funds based on previous greenhouse gas emissions. “These burdensome and ideologically motivated laws and lawsuits threaten American energy independence and our country’s economic and national security,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement, noting the office hopes to stop “these illegitimate impediments to the production of affordable, reliable energy that Americans deserve.” The DOJ lawsuits, which legal experts called unprecedented, mark the latest of the Trump administration’s attacks on environmental work and raises concern over states’ abilities to retain the power to take climate action without federal opposition.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The driver of a car that barreled through a building used for a popular after-school camp in central Illinois, killing three children and a teenager, was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and may have had a medical emergency, police said Thursday. No decisions have been made on whether to file charges against the 44-year-old driver, Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly said at a news conference. The driver is not in custody, Kelly said. Evidence that she may have had a medical emergency was “not conclusive” and the investigation is ongoing, Kelly said. The car went off the road Monday, crossing a field and smashing into the side of the building in Chatham used by Youth Needing Other Things Outdoors, also known as YNOT. It traveled through the building, striking people before exiting the other side.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana this week, officials called its continued existence a “historical wrong” and suggested that others dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered. The end of the 1966 legal agreement with Plaquemines Parish schools announced Tuesday shows the Trump administration is “getting America refocused on our bright future,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. Inside the Justice Department, officials appointed by President Donald Trump have expressed desire to withdraw from other desegregation orders they see as an unnecessary burden on schools, according to a person familiar with the issue who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Dozens of school districts across the South remain under court-enforced agreements dictating steps to work toward integration, decades after the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in education. Some see the court orders’ endurance as a sign the government never eradicated segregation, while officials in Louisiana and at some schools see the orders as bygone relics that should be wiped away.

PLANALTINA, Brazil (AP) — Order of the Sunrise followers gathered for their annual May 1st ceremony known as the “Day of the Spiritual Indoctrinator,” at their lakeside temple in Planaltina. The Brazilian spiritual community is a blend of influences, including Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Incan, and Afro-Brazilian religions, along with a belief in extraterrestrial life and reincarnation. ____ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The Trump administration told a federal judge Thursday that a Georgetown University scholar’s lawsuit against deportation should be moved from Virginia, where it was filed, to Texas, where he’s jailed over allegations of “spreading Hamas propaganda.” U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles seemed skeptical of the government’s request, which would involve her dismissing the case in Virginia. She raised concerns that a dismissal in her court would void her order in March to keep Badar Khan Suri in the U.S. while his First Amendment case plays out. David Byerley, a Justice Department attorney, told Giles that he would need to talk to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement about the judge’s concern. Byerley said he didn’t see why ICE wouldn’t honor her order against deporting Khan Suri while the case is refiled in a Texas federal court. “OK,” the judge said. “I’m not going to rely on that. But thank you.”

An analysis by the National Alliance to End Homelessness shows that as many as 9 million people could become homeless if the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ends rental assistance.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Italian cardinal at the heart of the Vatican’s “trial of the century” announced Tuesday he was withdrawing from participating in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope for “the good of the church,” ending days of drama that had overshadowed the proceedings. Cardinal Angelo Becciu’ s status has dominated discussions in the days after Pope Francis’ death amid questions about whether he would participate in the conclave to elect Francis’ successor or not. After his 2020 downfall, Becciu had said he would not participate in any future conclave. But in recent days he had asserted he had a right to enter the Sistine Chapel with other cardinals on May 7. On Tuesday, the 76-year-old Italian issued a statement through his lawyers that said: “Having at heart the good of the church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence.”

UNION, NJ - A Union City pharmacy has agreed to pay $995,420 to resolve allegations that it improperly billed federal healthcare programs for medications it never dispensed, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Rodriguez was scratched Thursday from the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, leaving trainer Bob Baffert with one entry in his return to Churchill Downs after serving a three-year suspension. Tom Ryan of Starlight Racing, one of the colt’s multiple owners, said on X: “Out of an abundance of caution, we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse, Rodriguez. He has a small but slightly sensitive foot bruise that will need a few more days.” Ryan said the colt will be pointed toward the Preakness on May 17. The decision leaves Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith without a mount in what would have been his record-extending 29th Derby start.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting. The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’” It’s the latest move by Trump...

Sandy Paws Rescue Inc., a dedicated foster-based dog rescue in Massachusetts, has recently introduced a small young dog named Vago who is searching for his forever family. When Vago was first discovered in August, he was in dire condition. As the rescue explains, he was found "all alone wandering the streets of Mexico, starving, matted and covered in fleas, ticks and infection." Despite these challenges, Vago's resilient spirit has shown through, and today he is described by the rescue as a “completely transformed dog," though still working on reaching his ideal weight. At 3-4 years old and 13.5 pounds, he's proven to be the perfect package of personality and affection.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Canadian company announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary submitted applications to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to mine the seafloor, sparking outrage by bypassing a U.N. agency that regulates deep international waters. The Metals Company said it was seeking two exploration licenses and a commercial recovery permit, marking the first time a company applies to commercially mine the seabed. The filing is expected to spark a complex legal battle since the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority, a U.N. agency that regulates international deep-sea waters, has the power to authorize exploitation permits. “Any commercial exploitation outside of national jurisdiction carried out without the authorization of ISA would constitute a violation of international law,” the authority said in late March after The Metals Company announced its intention to seek permission from the U.S. government to start deep-sea mining in international waters.

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — As a high school hockey player, Adam Drexler wore his Massapequa Chiefs jersey with pride. But as the Chickasaw Nation member grew up and learned about his Indigenous roots, he came to see the school’s mascot — a stereotypical Native American man wearing a headdress — as problematic. Now his Long Island hometown has become the latest flashpoint in the enduring debate over the place of Indigenous imagery in American sports: The Trump administration launched an investigation Friday into whether New York officials are discriminating against Massapequa by threatening to withhold funding. The town has refused to comply with a state mandate to retire Native American sports names and mascots. “There was no tribe east of the Mississippi that ever wore a headdress — ever,” said Drexler, 60, who was adopted and raised by a white Jewish family. “How can you argue for a symbol that has no significance or relevance here, while at the same time claiming you honor and respect the culture and history of the people this town is named after?”

April 25-May 1, 2025 This photo gallery, curated by photo editor Anita Baca, highlights some of the most compelling images worldwide published by The Associated Press in the past week. ____ Follow AP visual journalism: