top-stories

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reward programs, including birthday freebies and discounts, have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy — and customers are taking notice.

HONOLULU (AP) — The town of Hauula packs hundreds of homes into a narrow strip of land sandwiched between verdant, towering cliffs of the Koolau mountain range and the Pacific. But the stunning views obscure an environmental problem beneath the ground.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two suspects are facing federal charges in an armed robbery spree in Ohio that ended with a police shootout that left a third suspect dead and an officer critically wounded.

MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — Six people were killed when a small plane crashed in a field and burst into flames during the second of two landing attempts in fog just before dawn Saturday at a Southern California airport, authorities said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday rolled out a new set of initiatives to reduce health care costs: a crackdown on what he called “junk” insurance plans that play consumers as ‘suckers,’ new guidance to prevent surprise medical bills and an effort to reduce medical debt tied to credit cards.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials on Friday said they will make it easier for scientists to relocate plants and animals outside their historical ranges as a last resort to save species threatened with extinction by climate change.

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — The last of the United States’ declared chemical weapons stockpile was destroyed at a sprawling military installation in eastern Kentucky, the White House announced Friday, a milestone that closes a chapter of warfare dating back to World War I.

WANTAGH, N.Y. (AP) — Off the coast of Long Island, drones sweep over the ocean, patrolling the water for any danger that might lurk below the surface as beachgoers grow more vigilant because of a recent spate of shark encounters.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An ongoing investigation by North Carolina’s Department of Labor found that a large crack in the support column of a towering roller coaster had been visible for at least a week before the amusement park shut it down for repairs.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s governor announced Friday that he won’t ask the state Supreme Court to block parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, paving the way for her release after serving 53 years in prison for two infamous murders.