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Blizzard had a ‘Goldilocks’ situation to roll up monster snow totals

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nor’easter smacking much of the Northeast with nearly 3 feet of snow in places is as classic and powerful a blizzard as you can get, the strongest in a decade and up there with the most intense in history, meteorologists said. The nor’easter quickly intensified to easily qualify as a “ bomb cyclone “ and featured thundersnow and lightning, two things rarely seen in snowstorms. And while it was paralyzing and potentially dangerous for millions along the Eastern Seaboard, meteorologists found themselves rhapsodizing over its combination of power and ...

Dems call for government to refund billions in tariff money

WASHINGTON (AP) — A trio of Senate Democrats is calling for the government to start refunding roughly $175 billion in tariff revenues that the Supreme Court ruled were collected because of an illegal set of orders by President Donald Trump. Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are unveiling a bill on Monday that would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to issue refunds over the course of 180 days and pay interest on the refunded amount. The measure would prioritize refunds to small businesses and encourages importers, ...

Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says

CAMERON, N.C. (AP) — The 21-year-old North Carolina man who entered a gate at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with a shotgun before he was shot and killed worked as a golf course groundskeeper and liked to sketch. Austin Tucker Martin rarely, if ever, talked about politics, seemed afraid of guns, and came from a family of Trump supporters, according to Braeden Fields, a cousin who said the two grew up together. “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said. “He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to ...

FDA proposes new system for approving customized drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Monday laid out a proposal to spur development of customized treatments for patients with hard-to-treat diseases, including for rare genetic conditions that the pharmaceutical industry has long considered unprofitable. The preliminary Food and Drug Administration guidelines, if implemented, would create a new pathway for bespoke therapies that have only been tested in a handful of patients due to the challenges of conducting larger studies. The FDA announcement specifically mentions gene editing, although agency officials said the new ...

ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned Monday that the agency’s training program for new recruits is “deficient, defective and broken.” Ryan Schwank’s comments during a forum held by congressional Democrats come at a time of intense scrutiny of the officers tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Critics, including rights groups and Democratic politicians, have accused deportation officers of using excessive force when arresting immigrants, ...

Supreme Court agrees to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change. The conservative-majority court agreed to take up a case from Boulder, Colorado, one of multiple lawsuits alleging the companies deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Governments around the country have sought damages totaling billions of dollars, arguing it’s necessary to help pay for rebuilding after wildfires, rising sea levels and ...