Tropical Storm Beta makes landfall on Texas coast

HOUSTON (AP) — Tropical Storm Beta made landfall on the upper Texas coast late Monday night. The storm made landfall about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of Port O'Connor, Texas, with maximum winds of 45 mph (72 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Its winds weakened as it made its way to shore...

Some see irony in COVID's impact on Mayflower commemoration

The year 2020 was supposed to be a big one for Pilgrims. Dozens of events — from art exhibits and festivals to lectures and a maritime regatta featuring the Mayflower II, a full-scale replica refitted over the past three years at a cost of more than $11 million — were planned to mark the 400th...

California wildfire threatening more than 1,000 homes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wildfire scorching its way through brush and timber from the mountains to the desert northeast of Los Angeles threatened more than 1,000 homes on Tuesday as crews across the West battled dozens of other major blazes. The Bobcat Fire was advancing at a mile or two an hour at times and...

Slow moving Tropical Storm Beta makes landfall on Texas coast as total rainfall it could bring remains unclear

Enormous California wildfire threatens desert homes near LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An enormous wildfire that churned through mountains northeast of Los Angeles and into the Mojave Desert was still threatening homes on Monday and was one of more than two dozen major fires burning across California. Five of the largest wildfires in state history are currently burning...

Biggest unknown with Beta is how much rain it will bring

HOUSTON (AP) — As Tropical Storm Beta neared the Texas coast Monday, the biggest unknown was how much rainfall it could produce in areas that have already seen their share of damaging weather during a busy hurricane season. Beta’s winds were weakening as it got closer to making landfall sometime...

Officials ID 4 victims killed in airplane crash in Texas

HILLTOP LAKES, Texas (AP) — Texas officials on Monday released the names of four people from Louisiana who authorities said were killed when their single-engine airplane crashed in a Texas pasture while attempting an emergency landing. The crash happened Sunday morning near the airport in Hilltop Lakes,...

The Latest: Hollywood unions announce pandemic agreement

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s unions have announced that they have reached an agreement on pandemic protocols with major studios that will allow the broad resumption of production of films and television after six months of stagnant sets and widespread unemployment. The Directors Guild of America, the...

2 off-duty EMTs killed in car collision with another driver

SUFFERN, N.Y. (AP) — Two off-duty emergency responders were killed when the car they were in collided with a tractor-trailer on the New York State Thruway early Monday, authorities said. New York State Police said Moshe Herzog, 27, of Spring Valley, New York, was driving southbound on the roadway shortly...

Louisiana lawmakers call another COVID-19 special session

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers announced Monday that they will convene a special session next week to address the near-bankruptcy of the state unemployment trust fund, to work on Hurricane Laura recovery and to try to scale back the governor's emergency powers in the latest battle over Gov....