Chase planning rollout of card-free ATMs

NEW YORK (AP) – JPMorgan Chase will install new ATMs later this year that will allow customers to withdraw cash or initiate other transactions using their cellphone. The move will include new cash machines that don’t require a card and upgrades to existing machines that will allow customers to withdraw more money and in different […]

Public prayer reviewed; 1st case since Supreme Court ruling

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A federal appeals court will consider whether county commissioners in North Carolina violated the Constitution by delivering Christian prayers at their meetings and inviting audience members to join. The case marks the first time a federal appeals court has considered how local councils conduct prayers since a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court […]

Police: Homeless woman smashed window to escape cold

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia authorities say a homeless woman threw a piece of concrete through a window at the General Assembly Building in an apparent attempt to get arrested so she could escape the cold. Capitol Police said in a news release Tuesday that 51-year-old Sherri Finley has been charged with felony vandalism and […]

Health care fines press millenials as sign-up deadline nears

WASHINGTON (AP) – Millions of young adults healthy enough to think they don’t need insurance face painful choices this year as the sign-up deadline approaches for President Barack Obama’s health care law. Fines for being uninsured rise sharply in 2016 – averaging nearly $1,000 per household, according to an independent estimate. It’s forcing those in […]

Obama has plan to expand access to retirement accounts

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama will pitch some new proposals to expand access to retirement savings accounts and revisit some old ones when issuing his budget next month. Many Americans are not well prepared for retirement, with nearly one in three yet to retire having any savings or pension available for their later years, […]

61 pythons caught so far in Florida’s ‘Python Challenge’

MIAMI (AP) – Florida wildlife officials say 61 Burmese pythons have been caught so far in a state-sanctioned hunt. Cool temperatures and more training for hunters may be helping. The monthlong “Python Challenge” ends Feb. 14. The last public hunt for pythons on state lands, in 2013, netted 68 of the snakes, the longest measuring […]

Police search California communities where inmates have ties

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – Unlike similar escapes where dangerous inmates fled into rural areas, the three men who broke out of a Southern California lockup escaped into densely populated suburban communities where they have close ties. Hundreds of officers are focusing on neighborhoods where the trio charged with violent crimes could be hiding among […]

Anti-abortion activists accused of using fake licenses

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos about Planned Parenthood are accused of using fake driver’s licenses to infiltrate the group, indictments made public Tuesday show. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt allegedly used California driver’s licenses they knew were false “with the intent to defraud and harm another,” the documents indicate. […]

Ohio water manager denies faking reports on high lead tests

SEBRING, Ohio (AP) – A water treatment plant manager denied allegations made by the state’s environmental agency that he falsified reports about high levels of lead and copper being detected in some homes last summer. The state Environmental Protection Agency said the operator of the small water system near Youngstown failed to notify the public […]

Suspect in Islamic State-inspired plot competent for trial

MIAMI (AP) – A man is competent to stand trial in an alleged plot the FBI says was inspired by the Islamic State terror group to detonate a bomb on a Florida Keys beach. A defense attorney and a federal prosecutor said in a joint court filing late Monday that Harlem Suarez is mentally fit. […]