PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A 92-year-old man who survived Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust was struck and killed by a car while crossing a street near his home in Oregon. Alter Wiener died Tuesday in Hillsboro and was pronounced dead at a hospital, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported . Wiener endured three years in concentration camps and later in life wrote an autobiography titled, "From a Name to a Number: A Holocaust Survivor's Autobiography."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A divided U.S. appeals court Thursday blocked rules by the Trump administration that allowed more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control. The ruling, however, may be short lived because the administration has adopted new rules on contraceptive coverage that are set to take effect next month and will likely prompt renewed legal challenges.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The head of the federal agency controlling the Colorado River said Thursday the U.S. government will impose unprecedented restrictions on water supplies to the seven Southwestern U.S. states that depend on the river unless everyone agrees by Jan. 31 on a plan to deal with an expected shortage in 2020.
SEATTLE (AP) - With scientists warning that the Northwest's beloved killer whales are on the brink of extinction, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced dramatic plans Thursday to help the population recover - including $1.1 billion in spending and a partial whale-watching ban. "We are undertaking a herculean effort to save these iconic creatures," Inslee said in a prepared statement. "It will take action at every level of the environment across our entire state."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Their faces covered in black soot, three adults safely rescued after several days in an inactive West Virginia coal mine were mobbed by loved ones in a teary reunion, then they thanked the crews that got them out. The three walked out of an ambulance at a fire hall in Whitesville to the screams of relatives for a brief reunion Wednesday night before being taken to a hospital.
NEW YORK (AP) - The Boy Scouts of America deflected questions about a report suggesting it is considering seeking bankruptcy protection, though the head of the organization said it is exploring "all options" as it tries to stay afloat while facing sexual abuse lawsuits and dwindling membership.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a law that made changes to one of the country's worst-funded public pension systems, a victory for teachers who closed schools across the state in protest earlier this year. Thousands of teachers filled the state Capitol in the spring, chanting and carrying signs as they sought to pressure lawmakers to reject a proposal that would have cut their benefits.
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man who has been praised for giving up his first-class seat for a mother with an 11-month-old sick baby said he doesn't think it was that big of a deal. Jason Kunselman said he first saw Kelsey Zwick and her daughter Lucy getting ready to board an airplane from Orlando to Philadelphia on Dec. 6. It's common to see ill children at the Orlando airport because of trips granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Mechanicsburg-area man said.
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a test flight of Virgin Atlantic's space tourism rocket ship (all times local): 8 a.m. Virgin Galactic says its tourism spaceship has climbed more than 50 miles high, which the company considers the boundary of space. Virgin Space Ship Unity was released from a carrier aircraft over California's Mojave Desert early Thursday and ignited its rocket engine.
