Petty LA Officials Close Parking Lot to Punish Disobedient Church

Joshua Paladino
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Petty LA Officials Close Parking Lot to Punish Disobedient Church

Having failed to shut down Pastor John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church through executive orders and lawsuits, Los Angeles County said it will prevent the church from using a parking lot that it has leased for 45 years, according to Liberty Counsel.

The LA County Department of Public Works sent a letter to Grace on Aug. 28. The department said the church must discontinue use of the parking lot by Oct. 1.

“If Grace fails to vacate the premise as required, the District may enter the premises and remove Grace’s personal property in accordance with the Agreement and applicable law, and Grace will be responsible for any resultant expenses incurred by the District,” the public works department threatened.

In response to the letter, MacArthur discussed the purpose of the church and the reason he decided to fight against California Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s unconstitutional, anti-Christian mandates.

“Our church is not an event center,” he said.

“It is a family of lives who love and care for each other in very intensely personal ways,” he continued. “So [it was] essential to personal well-being that people rushed back as soon as they could.”

Newsom, without just authority, declared indoor church services to be illegal, while supporting protests in Los Angeles County that drew more than 100,000 people.

“The utter [sic] unnecessary deprivation of all our people by completely shutting down the mutual love and care that sustains our people in all the exigencies, pressures and challenges of life, was cruel,” MacArthur said.

The Thomas More Society represents Grace in ongoing lawsuits. There will be a court hearing on Sept. 4.

Jenna Ellis, a special counsel at TMS, called the county’s actions “harassment, abusive, and unconscionable,” the Washington Times reported.

“Los Angeles County is retaliating against Grace Community Church for simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to hold church and challenging an unreasonable, unlawful health order,” she said.

Court: Arkansas State Violated Student’s Free Speech; Officials Given Immunity

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Court: Arkansas State Violated Student’s Free Speech; Officials Given Immunity

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision on Monday ruled that administrators at Arkansas State University violated a student’s right to free speech but that qualified immunity prevents them from being held accountable.

The case, Turning Point USA at Arkansas State University v. Rhodes, began in 2017 when two school administrators, Sarah Ponder and Elizabeth Rouse, told student Ashlyn Hoggard that she had to tear down a table promoting Turning Point USA outside the student union, Alliance Defending Freedom reported.

The table displayed slogans such as, “Free Market, Free People,” and “Big Government Sucks.”

Ponder and Rouse told Hoggard and Emily Parry, a non-student representative of Turning Point USA, to move their table to a “Free Expression Area.”

Hoggard sued with the help of conservative organizations.

Judge L. Steven Grasz said the administrators cannot be penalized because they may not have known that their actions were unconstitutional at the time.

The lawsuit did not name Ponder and Rouse in the lawsuit, but instead went after the higher-ups who enacted the policy.

After the lawsuit, the Arkansas legislature passed the FORUM Act, which prevents university speech codes.

The university has since updated its policy.

“We’re pleased that our lawsuit prompted the state to enact good legislation protecting free speech on campus and that the new law forced the university to change its unconstitutional policies, but our client’s First Amendment freedoms had never been vindicated until now,”  ADF Legal Counsel Chris Schandevel said.

Arkansas State University officials also declared victory in the case, since they will not face any material repercussions.

“We are pleased overall with the decision of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. We have no further comment at this time,” Jeff Hankins, a spokesman for the ASU System, said, according to Arkansas Online.

Ore. Sheriffs Refuse to Send Deputies to Portland Per Governor’s Request

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Ore. Sheriffs Refuse to Send Deputies to Portland Per Governor’s Request

(Headline USA) A plan by the governor of Oregon to use sheriff’s deputies from surrounding counties to help patrol Portland following the deadly shooting of a Trump supporter was sharply criticized by law enforcement officials who said it wouldn’t end the “cycle of violence” in the city that’s approaching 100 consecutive nights of Black Lives Matter riots.

Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, announced the plan Sunday to temporarily use deputies from two counties, as well as Oregon State Police troopers, to help Portland police as the left-wing city struggles to regain its footing in the glare of the national spotlight.

But the sheriffs in both those counties said Monday they would not send deputies to Portland.

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said flooding the city with more law enforcement would never work because Portland’s newly elected district attorney has dismissed charges against hundreds of rioters. In addition, Roberts and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett said the liability for their deputies would be too great.

“The same offenders are arrested night after night, only to be released by the court and not charged with a crime by the DA’s Office. The next night they are back at it, endangering the lives of law enforcement and the community all over again,” Roberts said. “The criminal justice system will need do its part and hold offenders accountable.”

Charles Boyle, the governor’s chief-of-staff, said: “It is up to each county to determine the personnel and resources they have available to volunteer for this effort.”

Boyle said the governor appreciated Clackamas County’s willingness to backfill calls normally taken by state police while troopers are in Portland.

The rejection of Brown’s plan leaves state and city police to work the protests in the wake of the fatal shooting of Trump supporter Aaron J. Danielson.

Danielson, 39, of Portland was shot in the chest late Saturday as rioters clashed with peaceful supporters of Trump who drove in a caravan through the city. No one has been arrested in the shooting.

Trump demanded that local and state leaders call in the National Guard after Saturday’s fatal shooting.

Brown has so far declined to send the Guard to Portland but instead announced the planned coalition of law enforcement agencies. In a statement she made without providing evidence, she said Trump-supporting groups like Patriot Prayer had come to Portland “looking for a fight” and she vowed to stop more bloodshed.

Portland police also drew criticism Monday for not doing more to keep the dueling groups apart and for letting the situation get out of control. Police Chief Chuck Lovell defended his officers, saying the clashes between protesters and Trump supporters were spread over many city blocks and the shooting took just seconds.

“While it’s easy to cast blame on paramilitary and alt-right groups on the one side, or anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter groups on the other, the responsibility to safeguard communities rests with government,” said Eric Ward, executive director of the nonprofit Western States Center, which helps marginalized communities organize social justice campaigns around the West.

“In Portland, law enforcement has regularly failed to keep our city’s streets safe,” Ward said.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Trump Defends His Supporters Who Rallied in Portland; Mourns Man Who was Killed

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Trump Defends His Supporters Who Rallied in Portland; Mourns Man Who was Killed

(Headline USA) A supporter of a conservative group who was shot dead on a Portland, Oregon, street was mourned by both friends and President Donald Trump as a victim of liberal violence while an online fundraising effort raised tens of thousands of dollars in his memory.

Just hours before he was shot in the chest Saturday night, 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson and a friend were seen heading downtown to protect a flag-waving caravan of Trump supporters. The pair wore hats with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a group that has clashed with left-wing protesters in Portland for years, and appeared armed with knives and paintball guns to defend parade participants.

“Paint is a defensive mechanism. Paint is not bullets,” Trump said during his White House briefing Monday, adding that someone connected with violent protests “shot a young gentleman and killed him. Not with paint but with a bullet.”

In cellphone video of the shooting, both Danielson and his assailant were seen on a darkened street. At least three shots rang out in a smoky haze, followed by images of Danielson crumpled on the ground as the friend, Chandler Pappas, slaps him in the face and rolls him over, yelling “Jay! Jay!”

“He was a good man and he was just killed senselessly for no reason other than he believed something different than they do,” Pappas told supporters during a rally Sunday. “He was Christian. He was conservative.”

Added Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson on his Facebook page: “We love Jay and he had such a huge heart. God bless him and the life he lived.”

Ex-girlfriend Christine Banks said Monday Danielson didn’t discuss politics much but of the weeks-long protests in Portland: “He didn’t think it was right. … He was there for peace.”

Banks said Danielson was a good person who loved nature and animals.

“If you ask anybody, the one thing they’ll remember him by is his goofy, beautiful smile,” she said. “He cared about what you believed in and not the color of your skin.”

A GoFundMe site late Monday said it had raised $33,000 from more than 900 donors for “legal/lawyer fees, and towards fulfilling all other incurred costs in this time of need.”

Danielson helped run a company in Portland called North West Specialty Moving that focused on transporting heavy items such as marble statues, hot tubs and gun safes. The company’s address, which is the same address listed for Danielson for two parking violations in 2019, is a modest blue bungalow in a residential neighborhood in southwest Portland.

Luke Carrillo, Danielson’s long-time business partner, said they’d been friends for 20 years.

“We have lived and worked together day in and day out,” he told reporters. “We are like brothers, brothers that chose one another.”

Danielson is associated with another company, Oregon Pro Arms LLC, which according to state records is focused primarily on moving gun safes.

Just hours before the shooting on Saturday, Pappas stood in a mall parking lot in suburban Clackamas talking to a reporter from the Portland Tribune.

The man next to him who appeared to be Danielson didn’t say much, except to make a reference to a journalist who had been attacked last year in Portland.

“We’re all about independent journalism,” the man said.

Pappas at one point interjected, referring to the Trump caravan, “I’m here to stop people from assaulting these people.”

Critics have said that instead of keeping the peace, Patriot Prayer has helped incite violence. Last month in nearby Gresham, Pappas showed up to counter a Black Lives Matter event and, according to the Portland Tribune, declared: “I came here ready for war.”

Portland police have yet to make an arrest. On Monday, they asked for witnesses and those who had taken video of the scene to contact them.

A small memorial to Danielson took shape Monday on a sidewalk in front of the parking structure where he collapsed. It included four yellow daisies tied to a tree, a small American flag flapping in the wind, and a sympathy card with a Bible verse and handwritten note.

“Jay went to Jesus, where will you go?”

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

COTTON: Deny Unemployment Benefits to Anarchist Rioters

Joshua Paladino
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COTTON: Deny Unemployment Benefits to Anarchist Rioters

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill on Monday to prevent rioters from benefitting from federal unemployment benefits, which were raised in response to the coronavirus shutdowns, according to a press release.

Cotton’s bill followed the legislation that Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced in the House last Friday, called the “Support Peaceful Protest Act.”

The bill would prevent any person who is convicted of a federal offense related to riots from any benefits that Congress created in response to the virus.

If the bill becomes law, then convicted rioters, looters, and arsonists would not receive the $400 unemployment benefit.

“Currently, thugs and insurrectionists savaging communities around the country are eligible for unemployment benefits, paid for by the very taxpayers whose property they’ve destroyed. The federal government should not be subsidizing looting and arson,” Cotton said.

“Our bill will not only halt unemployment benefits for rioters but also fine them to help cover additional policing cost,” he said.

Banks spoke about the bill on “Fox & Friends” on Sunday.

He said the idea came to him after Black Lives Matter agitators harassed an elderly couple, who he represents, while they were leaving the White House on Thursday after President Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.

“Let me say if this happened in a community in northeast Indiana, that Antifa thug would have been arrested and charged with assault and should be behind bars,” he said. “But they’re not because these big-city mayors are turning a blind eye to this type of violence.”

Banks said the American people may be indirectly contributing to the rioting, since the federal government is giving money to people for not working.

“There are probably a lot of left-wing groups, and George-Soros type groups that are funding it, but if you think about it so are you and I through our tax dollars that go to the enhanced unemployment benefits that these people receive,” he said.

Amazon Becomes Third Company Cleared for Drone Deliveries

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Amazon Becomes Third Company Cleared for Drone Deliveries

(Headline USA) Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones.

Amazon said that the approval is an “important step,” but added that it is still testing and flying the drones. It did not say when it expected drones to make deliveries to shoppers.

The online shopping giant has been working on drone delivery for years, but it has been slowed by regulatory hurdles.

Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in a TV interview that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years.

Last year, Amazon unveiled self-piloting drones that are fully electric, can carry 5 pounds of goods and are designed to deliver items in 30 minutes by dropping them in a backyard.

At the time, an Amazon executive said deliveries to shoppers would be happening “within months,” but more than 14 months have passed since then.

Seattle-based Amazon is the third drone delivery service to win flight approval, the FAA said. Delivery company UPS and a company owned by search giant Google won approval last year.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

St. Louis Police Pay Respects to Slain Officer Amid Near-Record Violence

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St. Louis Police Pay Respects to Slain Officer Amid Near-Record Violence

(Headline USA) A St. Louis police officer killed over the weekend was among eight officers who have been shot during an extraordinarily violent year in the city.

Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon, 29, died Sunday, a day after he was shot in the head. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

“This is a horrific reminder of the dangers our brave men and women willingly face every day to keep us safe,” Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a statement, calling Bohannon’s death “a terrible, senseless tragedy.”

As race riots continue in urban areas throughout the nation, even spreading to smaller, suburban communities like Kenosha, Wisc., tensions are high in the city that was the epicenter of 2014 riots during the Obama administration.

Some of the major figures in the recent headlines over the violence have been from St. Louis. Among them are Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who defended their home in the same private community as Krewson after rioters broke down the gate.

Also from St. Louis was David Dorn, a recently retired police officer who was brutally murdered while guarding a friend’s pawn shop, with his final minutes livestreamed on social media.

Both the McCloskeys and Dorn’s widow, Ann, offered stirring speeches at the Republican National Convention last week.

While St. Louis has for many years ranked among the nation’s most deadly major cities, the rate of killings in 2020 is on a near-record pace, and non-fatal shootings have spiked, too.

The worst of the crime surge has happened since June. Things are so dire that the federal government in early August sent 50 agents to battle crime.

Six other officers have been shot in addition to Bohannon and his colleague, including four struck during a violent June 1 protest in the early days that followed George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Two of those officers were shot in the leg, one in the foot and one in the arm.

An officer was shot by a suspect with a sawed-off shotgun on July 26. Another was shot by a teenager on Aug. 2.

Among those officers, only Bohannon died.

Thirty-three officers have been shot to death in the U.S. so far this year, a 6% decrease from the Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 period last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Another 32 officers died in traffic accidents, up 10% from last year. Twenty-one officers have died this year during other incidents and job-related illnesses, down 40% from last year.

A photo of a note from Bohannon’s family was posted on the department’s Twitter page after the announcement of his death.

“He is a hero to many, but most importantly to his loving wife and three incredible children,” read the note that referred to him as “Bo” and asked for “prayers and support in the days ahead.”

Meanwhile, St. Louis Police Officers Association Business Manager Jeff Roorda said Monday that Bohannon was a “difference-maker” to those who knew him.

“He sought to make a difference for all people in the community he served because they mattered. The unnecessary sacrifice of this dedicated public servant should be mourned by all because his life mattered,” Roorda said in a statement.

The two officers were among several who responded to a call around 6 p.m. Saturday in the South Grand neighborhood near Tower Grove Park.

Homeowners Mimi and Steve Haag had dialed 911 to get help for a man who had been shot when the gunman walked into their home, they told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“I saw then he had a gun,” Steve Haag said. “He was very calm standing there with it in his hand and he just says to Mimi: ‘Ma’am you need to get off the phone.’” The Haags escaped unharmed through the back door.

Police Chief John Hayden said officers were searching for the reported shooting victim when the gunman shot Bohannon and his colleague.

The officers were “trying to do their job, that’s all they’re trying to do and they’re suffering under gunfire,” Hayden said.

The gunman remained barricaded as officers armed with rifles and a SWAT team assembled outside. Police closed surrounding streets and warned residents to stay inside. Police used a bullhorn to order the suspect out and fired tear gas into the house, but fired no gunshots, the department said.

The man was taken into custody around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The other man who was reportedly shot was never found.

The chief said the “surge in violence” has been taxing.

“We’re trying to cope through a very trying summer, and it’s very difficult. It’s very difficult,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

House Dems to Subpoena Postmaster for ANOTHER Mail-Conspiracy Hearing

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House Dems to Subpoena Postmaster for ANOTHER Mail-Conspiracy Hearing

(Headline USA) The House Oversight Committee intends to subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for documents about disruptions in mail delivery operations.

While pushing a mail-in-voting scam claiming that polling places, unlike race riots, are far too dangerous for the common citizen, Democrats are now advancing a conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump is actively attempting to interfere with mail delivery and stealing mailboxes.

After they repeatedly stressed those claims at the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc. called an earlier hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to clarify some of the false claims.

But Democrats in the House are responding by doubling down on the lie, continuing to raise questions over the postal service’s ability to handle an onslaught of mail-in ballots expected for the November election.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the committee chair, sent a memo Monday saying DeJoy blew past last week’s deadline to fully respond to the committee’s request for more information. He has not provided any new materials, she said.

“It is clear that a subpoena has become necessary to further the Committee’s investigation and help inform potential legislative actions,” she said.

DeJoy, who was tapped to lead the agency in June, started quickly initiating changes at a time when the agency was already straining under the COVID-19 crisis. Reports of delays soon piled up.

The committee produced internal postal service data showing widespread summer service disruptions.

DeJoy, who already testified before the House panel earlier this month, reiterated in a letter last Friday that the changes he was initiating are now being suspended “until after the election is concluded.”

The committee is seeking documents about the changes, including the removal of sorting equipment and changes to overtime rules, which could be impeding mail delivery.

The panel also wants information about how DeJoy, who had no previous postal experience, was selected for the job, as well as any previously “undisclosed communication between Mr. DeJoy and the Trump campaign.”

DeJoy in his Friday letter to the panel said the postal leadership team has expanded an Election Mail task force to work with local election officials in support of the November election to ensure ballots are delivered “securely and on time.”

DeJoy also said his staff was working with the committee to provide the materials being requested.

Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the panel’s Government Operations Subcommittee, said, “Mr. DeJoy’s testimony before our committee has left us with more questions than answers.”

Connolly said: “Congress must assert itself. The public demands it. Today’s action is a necessary step in our efforts to hold the Trump administration accountable for its deliberate sabotage of the Postal Service, and to restore confidence in this revered American institution.”

But the top Republican on the Oversight panel, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, called the decision to subpoena DeJoy part of a pattern by Democrats “to promote a baseless conspiracy theory about the Postal Service.”

Comer called the subpoena “overly broad” and said Democrats should work with the Postal Service and Republicans “to address their concerns.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

McCloskeys Make First Court Appearance, Plead Not Guilty

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McCloskeys Make First Court Appearance, Plead Not Guilty

(Headline USA) The attorney for a white St. Louis couple charged for waving guns during a racial injustice protest outside their home said Monday that they’re anxious to prove “with absolute certainty” that they did not commit a crime.

One week after Mark and Patricia McCloskey spoke on video to the Republican National Convention, they were in court briefly Monday morning and did not enter a plea. The judge continued their case until Oct. 6.

The couple emerged from their Renaissance palazzo-style mansion with guns on the night of June 28 after violent protesters broke the lock of their gated community veered onto their private street.

After the rioters knocked down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign, the couple said they felt threatened.

Mark McCloskey, 63, came out with AR-15 rifle, according to court records, which said Patricia McCloskey, 61, displayed a semiautomatic handgun. No shots were fired.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, one of several prosecutors in major US cities to have received major financial backing from billionaire megadonor George Soros, claimed their actions created the risk of bloodshed during what she called an otherwise peaceful protest.

She charged both with felony unlawful use of a weapon and later was discovered to have tampered with evidence after a forensic analysis revealed Patricia McCloskey’s gun was not properly configured to fire.

The state’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, has pledged to pardon the couple, and Sen. Josh Hawley, a former Missouri attorney general, has called for an investigation of Gardner.

The McCloskeys did not speak to reporters after the court hearing. Their attorney, Joel Schwartz, reiterated their claims that no laws were broken.

“We are simply anxious to remove all the noise from this case, move the case forward, and have the facts heard by a jury and let the jury decide whether or not the McCloskeys committed any felony offenses because we are convinced with absolute certainty that there was no felony committed here,” Schwartz said.

Missouri law allows homeowners to use force, even lethal force, to defend their homes.

Last week, the McCloskeys, who are both attorneys, made the case in an opening night speech of the Republican National Convention that they had a “God-given right” to defend themselves and their property.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

McCONNELL: Dem. Opponents ‘Much More Radical … than You Have Ever Seen’

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McCONNELL: Dem. Opponents ‘Much More Radical … than You Have Ever Seen’

(Headline USA) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made an enthusiastic pitch Monday for Republican candidates on the ballot nationally, pointing to the pre-coronavirus economy and the appointment of conservative judges while saying Joe Biden would not be able to resist Democrats’ leftward shift.

Appearing at a forum hosted by Kentucky Farm Bureau, McConnell said he looks out for middle America as the only one of the top four congressional leaders not from California or New York.

The Kentucky Republican, seeking a seventh term in the November election, was able to monopolize the time since his Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, skipped the event.

McGrath campaigned in western Kentucky on Monday to promote her health-care plan. The rivals have yet to have a socially distanced face-off, and their campaigns are at odds over a debate schedule.

During the Farm Bureau forum, McConnell defended the records of President Donald Trump and the GOP-led Senate as Republicans struggle to hold onto the White House and Senate.

“I think we’ve made an important difference for the country,” McConnell said. “In February, we had the best economy in 50 years. Two months later we looked like the Great Depression after the coronavirus. But the things we were doing were working.”

McConnell pointed to Republican successes in cutting regulations and passing a tax overhaul.

The Senate leader also stressed his role in helping reshape much of the federal judiciary. He blocked the Senate from considering President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, clearing the way for Trump to appoint conservative jurist Neil Gorsuch. In June, the Senate confirmed the 200th federal judge named by Trump.

“That’s probably the most lasting impact this administration, coupled with this Senate, has had that will last into the future,” McConnell said.

McConnell said the appointees share a similar characteristic — a belief that “the job of a judge is to actually follow the law and not act like a legislator.”

McConnell tore into his political opponents at the event, saying the Democratic Party has become “much more radical … than you have ever seen.”

As for Biden, McConnell said he likes the Democratic presidential nominee and long-time Senate colleague personally and did some deals with him during the Obama years, including an agreement that kept the country from falling off a fiscal cliff.

But McConnell said the former vice president is “not going to resist the whole thrust of the national Democratic Party.”

McConnell also ripped into McGrath for skipping the Farm Bureau event.

“I think the fact that my opponent is not here indicates the utter contempt the Democrats have for rural America these days,” McConnell said.

Sticking to one of his campaign themes, McConnell said Kentucky benefits from his role in setting the Senate’s agenda. McGrath would be “dead last” in seniority if she joined the Senate, he said.

“If she were to succeed in defeating me, her first vote in the Senate would be to make Chuck Schumer from New York the majority leader of the Senate, therefore transferring the advantage Kentucky currently has to New York,” he said.

McGrath, a retired Marine combat pilot, has raised prolific amounts of campaign cash in her bid to unseat the Kentucky Republican. McConnell referred to himself Monday as a lightning rod for national Democrats, saying: “Every lefty in the country would love to see me lose.”

During policy discussions, McConnell made no mention of retaliatory tariffs imposed by some countries in fights Trump initiated, which have diminished markets for some U.S. exports, including Kentucky bourbon and some farm products.

Instead he touted his support for numerous trade deals during his Senate career and his willingness to do more, saying it would benefit agriculture.

“There are a lot of people in the country who believe that it’s a loser,” he said. “The president has frequently criticized past trade deals as being inadequate. I suppose you could argue about that.

“But generally speaking, a big, powerful country like us can dominate a lot of areas of trade, and no part of our economy has done it better than agriculture,” McConnell added.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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