Author: rpnadmin

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — With screams and giggles, whipping ponytails and white-knuckle grips, Minnesota fairgoers are taking delight in the magic of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride as it turns 100 years old. The iconic ride and its brightly colored cars debuted at the Minnesota State Fair in 1926, and it has been a mainstay at fairs across the country ever since. Riders who stumbled off the ride on Thursday spoke with The Associated Press about the ride, which is a favorite for many. Valerie Nelson, a Minnesota native who returned to her home state to visit the fair, said she first…

Snow tires, mud tires, all-terrain tires — gone? California’s new efficiency standard could wipe out most of the tires on the market by 2033.  [SADLER] What is an inefficient tire? An inefficient tire to me is one that a tire that doesn’t roll.  [MORANO] That’s right. And all tires roll. No, what this is is they’re considering tires that are inefficient, meaning not aerodynamic enough, not fuel-mileage conscious enough. Doesn’t meet their specific requirements for carbon dioxide reduction. Their goal is to remove the equivalent of almost half a million cars off the road, you know, equivalent in CO2 reductions.…

WASHINGTON — A Kentucky woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that she intentionally damaged the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Melissa Farris is scheduled to be arraigned next week on two felony counts. Grand jurors indicted her Thursday on charges of destroying the veterans’ memorial and destroying government property. An attorney for Farris didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Friday. Farris, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is suspected of spray painting the words “Clean hands dirty $” on the monument and filling a fountain with bubbles on Aug.…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville International Airport would be renamed for Dolly Parton under a proposal announced Friday by Tennessee’s governor. Gov. Bill Lee proposed the name change just days after the country music icon died Tuesday of cancer at age 80. It echoes the wishes of more than 150,000 Parton fans who have signed an online petition to rename the airport. “At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness,” Lee…

Federal prosecutors in Oregon charged two men with fraud for posing as a San Francisco 49ers player and his financial adviser to scam women found they met on dating apps. Daejon Love, 35, posed as a 49ers wide receiver, and Taylor Chan, 18, posed as Mr. Love’s financial adviser, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. The two men were arrested Monday in Idaho and appeared in court Thursday on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The prosecutors said that the pair brought in $1.3 million through the scheme with 26…

A Wednesday night dispute between a husband and wife in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania, ended with the woman jailed on assault charges and more than 100 cats pulled from what police called “deplorable” conditions inside the home. According to investigators, officers were called to a Philadelphia Avenue residence late Wednesday after 51-year-old Denise Marie Hewitt allegedly threatened to kill a man in his sleep. Police allege the confrontation escalated when the man fired a .38-caliber handgun into the floor, after which Hewitt allegedly came at him with a knife. The man told police he struck Hewitt several times to stop the…

PHOENIX — On the outskirts of Phoenix, a small town with a huge reliance on the Colorado River has capped growth, revived old wells and struck water deals. But Cave Creek Mayor Robert Morris can’t shake the real possibility that it’s not enough to keep the desert community of about 5,000 people afloat well into the future. And a recent federal plan to address a deepening crisis in the river basin won’t help. Cave Creek gets nearly all of its water from the river, which serves 40 million people across the U.S. West and has been dwindling because of climate…

Justice Clarence Thomas says those who dislike him and the direction he’s led the Supreme Court should blame the snobbish law firms that didn’t offer him a job when he emerged from Yale Law School in the 1970s. A highly educated Black lawyer would seem to be a big get for a law company, but Justice Thomas received just one job offer — and it wasn’t from any of the firms. It was from the Republican attorney general of Missouri — an odd fit for a law school graduate who’d just voted for left-wing George McGovern for president. But that…

A sheriff’s office in the Indianapolis area is asking locals to be on the lookout for a lioness and her cub after a resident reported seeing them on a road. The report came into the Madison County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday. Madison County deputies, working with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana State Police, searched for the lions for four hours using ground units and drones, but didn’t find them. Madison County Sheriff John Beeman told The Indianapolis Star on Friday that the state police found only pigs, adding that “at this point we only have the original…

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, recognized by many as the most prominent figure in the Democrats’ socialist movement, has renewed her Democratic Socialists of America affiliation after it ran out seven years ago. As a first-time congressional candidate, the New Yorker applied for an annual membership to join DSA in 2018, but it expired the next year. “Democratic Socialists of America confirms Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a member in good standing of our organization, having recently rejoined in August 2026,” the organization announced in a statement to DSA members on Tuesday, as reported by City & State. “Previously, the representative joined DSA…