top-stories

DETROIT (AP) — Just five years ago, a price-conscious auto shopper in the United States could choose from among a dozen new small cars selling for under $20,000. Now, there’s just one: The Mitsubishi Mirage. And even the Mirage appears headed for the scrap yard.

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio woman convicted of murder in the death of her boyfriend and a friend after authorities said she deliberately slammed her car into a brick wall at 100 mph has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A prosecutor in Ohio wants a judge to dismiss charges, at least for now, against a Black truck driver who was bitten by a police dog while he was surrendering along a highway last month.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When Republican candidates for president gather for their first debate Wednesday in Milwaukee, the spotlight will not only be on them but also on Wisconsin’s role as one of a shrinking handful of genuine battleground states.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A judge has ordered Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million in lost wages and tax damages to a former regional manager who was earlier awarded more than $25 million after alleging she and other white employees were unfairly punished following the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a store in 2018.

BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — Nearly three years after authorities foiled a bizarre plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the last defendants accused of taking part go on trial Monday.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The days of waiting have become harder and harder as the odds grow longer and longer, but Kevin Baclig remains undeterred in his search for his wife and her parents, missing since Aug. 8 when a wildfire engulfed and flattened the Hawaiian town of Lahaina.

NEW YORK (AP) — Outdoor dining was a part of the pandemic that many people actually liked — made possible by streetside dining sheds that popped up around New York City and allowed many restaurants to stay in business when they couldn’t have diners inside.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There are so many dots on the maps they blur into blobs — each one reflecting trillions of public and private dollars flowing in the U.S. this past year to build thousands of roads, bridges and manufacturing projects in communities large and small, in states red and blue.

Joplin officials say they have big plans for $13.8 million of pandemic relief funds the tornado-ravaged southwestern Missouri city received under a two-year-old federal law. Yet the latest federal records show none of the money has been spent — or even budgeted.