top-stories

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment packed a gymnasium demanding reassurances after toxic chemicals spilled and burned in a huge plume over their homes and businesses.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A Black Hawk helicopter from the Tennessee National Guard crashed Wednesday in Alabama, killing two crew members, the Tennessee National Guard said.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The main freeway in southern Arizona reopened in both directions Wednesday evening and officials said people living southeast of downtown Tucson could return home a day after a deadly crash sent acrid plumes into the desert sky and prompted evacuations.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Fledgling Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens laid out an unflinchingly conservative list of Republican priority bills for the new legislative session on Wednesday, appearing to sideline some bipartisan hopes of Democrats who supported his surprise election after weeks of intraparty pressure.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — When the texts began coming in about a shooter at Michigan State University, training that many students started receiving as schoolchildren automatically kicked in.

FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The sheer size of the vessel and the shoes were what struck Robert Ballard when he descended to the wreckage of the RMS Titanic in 1986, the year after he and his crew from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution helped find the ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic in 1912.

Hyundai and Kia are rolling out software updates to stem a raft of auto thefts related to a TikTok challenge that authorities believe has led to at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after relatives of his victims confronted him with the pain and rage caused by his racist attack.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — One student was a fraternity chapter president. Another was a science student with fond memories of her days as a high-school athlete — and the third was a frequent volunteer who wanted to become a surgeon.

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s consumers rebounded last month from a weak holiday shopping season by boosting their spending at stores and restaurants at the fastest pace in nearly two years, underscoring the economy’s resilience in the face of higher prices and multiple interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.