ST. PAUL, Minn. — Vance Boelter entered not guilty pleas to state charges at a court hearing Wednesday, when a judge also accepted his demand for a speedy trial and postponed a ruling on whether to restrict his access to evidence in light of recent online posts prosecutors say he authored while jailed.

In filings submitted before the hearing,...Read more

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The freelance journalist caught on camera smiling during a tense time in the Lindsay Clancy trial said it was “an honest mistake.”

What she doesn’t want to see lost in the social media fury is her childhood bond with Clancy and how mental health care is lacking in America.

“Lindsay is not a monster,” Brittany ...Read more

With the anniversary of Operation Midway Blitz less than a week away, the militarized tactics of immigration agents that roiled Chicago last fall were once again front-and-center in federal court on Wednesday as a judge weighs the merits of a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration’s policies are unconstitutional.

But U.S. District Judge ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Some congressional Democrats and voting-rights advocates are taking President Donald Trump’s not ruling out a national emergency declaration around November’s midterm elections seriously and literally.

Trump raised eyebrows last month during an interview with conservative commentator Wayne Allyn Root, who had suggested to the...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho has seen an increase in the number of bats that have tested positive for rabies this year, as well as the number of possible contacts between bats and humans or pets, prompting a warning from the Idaho departments of Health and Welfare and Fish and Game.

In a joint news release Wednesday, the departments said 24 bats ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal judge ruled Wednesday there was no evidence of any inappropriate grand jury conduct by prosecutors in the case of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent charged with robbing and sexually assaulting prostitutes in Chicago-area hotel rooms.

Lawyers for Luis Uribe had asked U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso to look at the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In what the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce believes may be a first since Dolly Parton received her star in 1984, the beloved country singer's Hollywood Walk of Fame star was vandalized earlier this week.

The damage came just a week after Parton's death at age 80.

Ana Martinez, a spokesperson for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce...Read more

Pennsylvania officials reported two deaths associated with measles last week, amid a growing outbreak that has already sickened more than 500 people in the state this year.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has clashed over the state’s characterization of the deaths with President Donald Trump’s head of the Department of Health and Human ...Read more

NEW YORK — Friends of new mom Erin Piacenti, who was killed by a mentally ill woman amid a pair of unprovoked stabbings in Times Square, are seeking ways to support the victim’s infant daughter as her family grieves her senseless death.

The slain mom and her husband, Frank Piacenti, had recently returned from a family road trip, according ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Gold-hued $1 coins featuring the face of President Donald Trump are now available for purchase online and at the U.S. Mint gift shop on Independence Mall in Old City.

But it’ll cost you more than a buck.

Neither Philly’s Mint nor the website has single coins for sale, so early buyers can get no fewer than 25 coins in a ...Read more

Years after it started toying with the idea, the Cuban government has finally approved a new legal framework allowing Cubans living outside the island to own private companies in Cuba, according to a decree law published Wednesday that also lifts restrictions on the size of private businesses and allows an individual to have stakes in several ...Read more

President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming Strait of Hormuz after himself, a move he predicted would make the strategic waterway at the heart of his conflict with Iran “hotter than ever before!”

Just a week after Trump moved to rename Lake Ontario amid his trade war with Canada, the president floated an even more audacious ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — A fighter critics say is an open neo-Nazi took part in a kickboxing match at the Kia Center over the weekend, defeating a Jewish opponent before appearing to give a Nazi salute to the crowd. During the match, members of the crowd repeated the salute and held up a red-and-black swastika banner.

Video of the incident has been ...Read more

Convicted killer Vance Boelter pleaded not guilty to several state murder charges and espoused numerous conspiracy theories in Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday, telling the court through his attorney that he was “no assassin.”

“I’m a patriot,” Boelter said. “Always have been, always will be.”

His trial was set for Nov....Read more

MIAMI — Although lower tax bills might be tempting, voters also need to consider the consequences of a sharp cut in revenue for local police departments, ambulance providers, and the bus and parks systems, Miami-Dade’s mayor said Wednesday as she launched a campaign opposing a state referendum to cut property taxes.

“It threatens ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — A week after health secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s visited two Tampa Bay schools, fielding questions about his opinions on vaccines and taking photos flanked with elected officials some Hillsborough County school board members want to introduce a policy to keep politics out of schools.

During the board members’ comments, some...Read more

MIAMI — A voting rights group locked in a legal battle with Florida authorities announced Wednesday that it’s suing in federal court to block parts of a state elections bill mirrored after the federal SAVE Act.

The measure, a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis, adds new citizenship documentation requirements and bans student IDs from being used ...Read more

DETROIT — A new report on Michigan's cyclosporiasis outbreak confirms what was already suspected: that iceberg lettuce and consumption at Taco Bell were correlated with the state's largest-ever outbreak of the parasitic illness.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has reported 14,510 cases of cyclosporiasis, which usually ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said renewed attacks on Iran would likely be short-lived, reiterating his claim that the U.S. controls the crucial Strait of Hormuz after fresh fighting spiked energy prices and rekindled fears of an open-ended war.

Asked on Wednesday how long the bombing campaign could last, Trump told reporters, “I don...Read more