Author: Associated Press

Police: Teen kills 2 in neighborhood, 3 along walking trail

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Police say a 15-year-old boy fatally shot two people in the streets of a neighborhood in North Carolina’s capital city, then fled toward a walking trail, where he killed three more people and wounded two others. Raleigh police Chief Estella Patterson on Friday said the suspect is hospitalized in critical condition following the shootings late Thursday…

Social Security benefits to jump by 8.7% next year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get an 8.7% boost in their benefits in 2023. That’s a historic increase and welcome news for American retirees and others — but it’s tempered by the fact that it’s fueled by record high inflation that’s raised the cost of everyday living. That means the average recipient will receive more than…

Parkland school shooter to get life sentence for killing 17

Source: LOCAL POOL via CNN NewsourceFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That sentence comes after the jury announced Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed. The decision ends a three-month…

Distiller boosts investment in western Kentucky operations

File PhotoFRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Startup Kentucky bourbon producer Jackson Purchase Distillery is boosting its investment. Gov. Andy Beshear says the company will increase its distilling operation investment in Fulton County in western Kentucky to nearly $26 million and create 54 full-time jobs. Jackson Purchase’s project has grown from an initially planned investment of $8.76 million and 30 jobs. Last…

ACT test scores drop to lowest in 30 years in pandemic slide

PHOENIX (AP) — ACT test scores made public in a report Wednesday reveal a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework. Overall, the average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of 36. This year was the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20, and it was the lowest average in more than 30 years. The report also…

Social Security payments set for big increase. What to know.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tens of millions of older Americans are about to get what may be the biggest raise of their lifetimes. On Thursday, the U.S. government is set to announce what’s virtually certain to be the largest increase in Social Security benefits in 40 years. The boost is meant to allow beneficiaries to keep up with inflation, and…

Angela Lansbury, ‘Murder She Wrote’ star, dies at 96

Source: CNN via CNN NewsourceNEW YORK (AP) — Angela Lansbury, the scene-stealing British actor who kicked up her heels in the Broadway musicals “Mame” and “Gypsy” and solved endless murders as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series “Murder, She Wrote,” has died. She was 96. Lansbury died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, according to a…

6 tips you can use to help improve your credit score

NEW YORK (AP) — Credit scores are complicated, so the process of improving them can look different for everyone. Experts have some tips for how you can get started if you need to improve your credit score. The first step is knowing what your score is and what’s showing in your credit report. If you have credit cards, you should…

3 being inducted into Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Three Kentucky teachers will be inducted into the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame this fall. The inductees are Katy Cecil, Addie Henry and the late Wilma Pace. Cecil is an English and public speaking teacher at LaRue County High School and has taught in LaRue County for more than 20 years….

Uvalde schools suspend entire police force after outrage

(Source: CNN via CNN Newsource)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Uvalde school leaders have pulled its embattled campus police force off the job four months after the Robb Elementary School shooting. The deision Friday follows a wave of new outrage over the hiring of a former Texas state trooper who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response during the May attack…