Wisconsin primary voters oust more than a half-dozen legislators, setting stage for Dem push in fall (2024)

A lawsuit accuses an Alabama lawyer of groping and sexually assaulting an incarcerated woman. The lawsuit filed Tuesday claims former state senator Doug Ghee tried to coerce the woman into being his “sex slave” and promised to use his friendship with the judge and assistant district attorney on her case to help her get a better deal. The lawsuit also accuses Ghee of forcibly kissing the woman in a room designated for attorneys to meet with clients. The lawsuit says a corrections officer intervened and removed the woman from the room. Ghee served as a state senator between 1990 and 1998 and is now a well-known lawyer in the Anniston area. A representative at Ghee’s law offices declined to comment Wednesday.

Alabama has authorized the execution of a third person by nitrogen gas. The Alabama Supreme Court granted on Wednesday the state attorney general’s request to authorize the execution of Carey Dale Grayson. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will set Grayson’s execution date. It will likely be sometime this fall. Grayson was convicted in the 1994 killing of Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County. In January, Alabama put Kenneth Smith to death in the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution. A second execution using nitrogen gas is set for Sept. 26 forAlan Eugene Miller. Grayson has an ongoing lawsuit seeking to block the state from using the protocol.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign a proclamation designating a national monument in Springfield, Illinois, at the site of a 1908 race riot that later fueled the formation of the NAACP. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her briefing with reporters on Wednesday that the ceremony will be held Friday in the Oval Office and will feature civil rights leaders and community leaders from Springfield, Abraham Lincoln’s hometown. The ceremony comes just 5 1/2 weeks after the shooting death in Springfield of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman. She was shot by a sheriff’s deputy in her home after calling 911 for help.

Google says an Iranian group linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard has tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since May. The new report issued Wednesday affirms and expands on a Microsoft report released last week that revealed the suspected election meddling. Google's threat intelligence arm says the Iranian group is still actively trying to access the emails of people associated with Biden, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate last month when he dropped out. Iran has denied the reports.

Tim Walz has agreed to an Oct. 1 vice presidential debate on CBS against his Republican rival, JD Vance, who has not yet responded to the invitation.

Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia says the father of 17-year-old Spain soccer star Lamine Yamal has been hospitalized after being stabbed near Barcelona. Citing unnamed official sources, the paper said Mounir Nasraoui was stabbed multiple times. La Vanguardia said Nasraoui was in serious but stable condition. Some arrests had been made, according to La Vanguardia, without giving details. Local police did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment. Spain won the European Championship in July with Yamal part of the winning team.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Up until now, Darryl E. Kelson had never donated to or participated in a presidential election campaign. He never saw the need.

A federal prosecutor in Argentina has formally charged former President Alberto Fernández with committing violence against former first lady Fabiola Yáñez. Prosecutor Ramiro González charged Fernández on Wednesday with the crimes of “minor and serious injuries, doubly aggravated” and “coercive threats” against his ex-partner, according to a ruling seen by The Associated Press. González also requested additional evidence by gathering testimonies from former presidential doctor Federico Saavedra and former secretary of the president María Cantero, among others.

A gun registered to infamous former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner was discovered at the Airbnb of two men charged in the robbery of a $1 million watch from Beverly Hills. Federal prosecutors announced the find Tuesday. They say a 21-year-old Columbian man and a 19-year-old Venezuelan man were part of a “crime tourism” group. Dorner is known for going on a nine-day killing rampage targeting law enforcement officials and their family. He died in a dramatic standoff in 2013. A Justice Department spokesperson says authorities are investigating how the killer officer's gun came into the men's possession.

Lawsuits contend that the state, two counties and different schools missed warning signs and failed to protect a 12-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was suffering abuse at her home before she died in May. Malinda Hoagland’s half sisters filed suits in Pennsylvania state court as well as in federal court Wednesday. The suits allege the defendants negligently missed red flags, including that the girlfriend of Malinda’s father who was helping care for the girl had a previous child abuse conviction. Hoagland’s father, Rendell Hoagland, and the woman, Cindy Warren, are facing murder and other charges stemming from the May death of Malinda in Chester County in suburban Philadelphia.

Central Valley Democrats in very close California congressional races won’t be at the party’s national convention next week.

Authorities in Mexico's border state of Sonora have arrested a local police officer in the killing of an American man in July. The Sonora state prosecutors' office identified the victim only by his given names, Kevin Ray. The office says the man had fired a weapon at a relative of the city police officer at a nightclub in the coastal city of Guaymas, killing him. Prosecutors say the American fled the scene and the officer pursued and killed him. The police officer has been arrested and faces homicide charges. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately answer queries about the American's name and hometown.

Police in northern Virginia say they are looking for a homeless man they suspect broke into an office of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it has issued an arrest warrant for 39-year-old on a burglary charge in connection with the break-in. The sheriff’s office says the man was captured on surveillance video Sunday night forcing his way through a back door into the office building in Ashburn. The office is being leased by the Trump campaign and serves as headquarters for the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. The sheriff’s office says it’s unclear whether the suspect took anything.

Zoë Kravitz carries guilt from her “very hurtful” choice she made to move in with dad Lenny Kravitz over Lisa Bonet.

Clooney and Pitt! Together again! In one interview! Taking shots and naming names!

Disney is asking a Florida court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the widow of a New York doctor who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at a restaurant in Disney Springs. The company argues in legal filings that Jeffrey Piccolo agreed to settle any lawsuits against the company out of court when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019. But Piccolo’s lawyer, in a legal response this month, argues it's “absurd” to believe that Disney+ subscribers have waived all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity by signing up for the streaming service.

MIAMI — When the votes are counted after Tuesday’s primary election, Miami-Dade voters will have made an important decision that is likely to affect how one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the nation does business behind closed doors and in the public for years to come.

The State Fair of Texas is an annual celebration of corn dogs, deep-fried delights and a five-story cowboy named Big Tex. But a decision to ban guns after a shooting on the fairgrounds last year has Republicans threatening one of the state’s most beloved institutions. Attorney General Ken Paxton warned Wednesday that he would file a lawsuit if the ban wasn’t rescinded and more than 70 lawmakers signed a letter this week urging the fair to reconsider the ban. But fair officials aren’t backing down. Fair spokeswoman Karissa Condoianis says they “strongly” believe the ban will make the fair safe.

CHICAGO — Riot Fest is moving back to Douglass Park for its annual music festival in September.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power in Puerto Rico as Hurricane Ernesto strengthened after passing north of the American territory on Wednesday morning.

A member of the Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint seeking to remove the Green Party’s presidential candidate from the ballot in Wisconsin. The complaint filed Wednesday argues that the party is ineligible. It’s the latest move by the DNC to block third-party candidates from the ballot. Democrats are also seeking to stop independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in several states. The Green Party’s appearance on the presidential ballot could make a difference in swing state Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 and fewer than 23,000 votes. The complaint asks the Wisconsin Elections Commission to take it up at an Aug. 27 meeting.

Some frozen custard and mini-golf customers in Pennsylvania have made a startling discovery that elevated a humble groundhog to icon status. Some players were maneuvering a mechanical claw to pluck stuffed animals from the glass game case two weeks ago when they realized a real live groundhog was blinking back at them. The animal apparently climbed into the game in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. The critter, dubbed Colonel Custard, has since been set free, but his legend is growing. Staff and owners made T-shirts that read “Respect the Groundhog,” and they're thinking of naming a custard flavor after the intrepid varmint.

PHILADELPHIA — The eastern subspecies of the regal fritillary butterfly, marked by orange forewings and dark hindwings, is found in only one location in North America and is threatened with extinction.

Gov. Tony Evers is urging a federal judge not to make any changes at Wisconsin's youth prison after a counselor was killed during a fight there. Pressure has been mounting to give Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes Schools staff more leeway in punishing incarcerated children since a 16-year-old boy was accused of killing counselor Corey Proulx during a fistfight in June. But a 2018 federal consent decree restricts actions counselors can take against youth incarcerated at the facility. Republican lawmakers have been pressuring Department of Corrections officials to ask a federal judge in Madison to ease the restrictions. Evers sent a letter to the judge Wednesday urging him to reject any GOP requests to revise the decree, saying conditions at the prison have been improving overall.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida House Democrats are making a last-ditch effort to convince the DeSantis administration to sign up for $256 million in summer lunches for poor kids next year before Thursday’s deadline.

BYRON CENTER, Mich. — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance labeled inflation a "disaster" during a campaign stop in Kent County on Wednesday and said he sees Michigan, which has favored Democratic leaders in recent years, as part of the "red wall" that will send former President D…

The first day of U.S.-led peace talks aimed at finding a solution to Sudan’s brutal conflict concluded in Geneva with the country’s military absent and the other warring party’s participation unclear. The talks come as the war-wrecked country faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The country’s military did not send representatives and it did not appear that delegates from the other warring party, the Rapid Support Forces, attended Wednesday’s session. Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, The United Arab Emirates, the Africa Union and the United Nations were at the talks.

PHILADELPHIA — Voter registration among Democrats in Pennsylvania has spiked in the three weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race, according to State Department data.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao agreed to debate Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine in Hampton Roads after declining an earlier opportunity.

Kylian Mbappé has pulled on Real Madrid's famous white jersey for the first time in a competitive match and marked the occasion with the second goal in a 2-0 win over Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup. Mbappé started and played 82 minutes at the National Stadium in Warsaw. He met a pass from Jude Bellingham across the area with a shot into the top corner in the 68th minute. Federico Valverde tapped home a cross from Vinícius Junior in the 59th to set Madrid on its way to a record sixth victory in the Super Cup. It is an annual match between the Champions League winners (Madrid) and the Europa League champions (Atalanta).

A teenager on a field trip to see a Detroit court ended up in jail clothes and handcuffs because a judge said he didn’t like her attitude. Judge Kenneth King even asked other kids in the courtroom whether the 16-year-old girl should be taken to juvenile detention. TV station WXYZ says the incident occurred Tuesday in Detroit's 36th District Court. The judge says the teen's attitude disturbed him after he warned her not to sleep in his courtroom. King says he'll do what's necessary to reach kids. The group that organized the courtroom visit says the girl was “traumatized.”

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — A former employee of the mushroom farm where last year’s mass shooting occurred is facing felony charges after threatening to execute four coworkers and vandalizing their cars, according to case notes from prosecutors.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Zoo hosted a gender reveal for a primate Wednesday morning.

ATLANTA — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both battling to win Georgia, a key state for their path to the presidency.

Biden administration officials have “repeatedly pressed” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to work with them to release Austin Tice, a journalist and former U.S. Marine held in their custody, President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, renewing his call for Tice’s immediate release.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is highlighting women who say their health was harmed because of restrictive abortion bans, hoping to build momentum in Florida where a new poll shows her narrowing the gap with former President Donald Trump.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office staff was in regular communication last year with her husband and other people involved in her campaign for governor. The emails also show that Hall-Long staffers worked during office hours to help facilitate the use of campaign funds and on matters bearing little if any relevance to her role as lieutenant governor. They include renewing her memberships in various women’s groups and making donations to community groups. Under Delaware law, state employees are prohibited from engaging in political activity during work hours. As an elected official, Hall-Long is exempt from that provision, but her office staff is not.

Social media influencers have gotten the royal treatment as President Joe Biden gave a nod to their ability to hold sway with millions of loyal followers. The White House on Wednesday played host to a group of more than 100 influencers, also known as content creators, ranging from chefs and makeup artists to fitness gurus and medical students. They were there to talk about issues including mental health, pay equity and the abuse of artificial intelligence. Biden stopped by to tell the influencers that they are “the future.” He told the creator they're “the new breakthrough in how we communicate.”

A motorcyclist has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of a Georgia state trooper during a vehicle pursuit. News outlets report that a judge ordered 21-year-old Gerson Danilo Ayala-Rodriguez to spend 17 years in prison after his plea on Wednesday. Ayala-Rodriguez was facing a murder charge in the January death of Trooper Jimmy Censecar. Cenescar died after he lost control of his cruiser on Interstate 85 and struck an embankment in the north Atlanta suburb of Suwanee. Authorities say Cenescar was trying to stop Ayala-Rodriguez for a traffic violation before he fled, prompting the trooper to chase his car.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration Wednesday seeking to block a rule that requires nursing homes to have a minimum level of nurse and aide staffing to care for patients.