New deal expands conserved property in Cumberland Plateau

JAMESTOWN, Tenn. (AP) — A nonprofit organization and two Tennessee state agencies have expanded protection of conserved property in the Cumberland Plateau by more than 11,700 acres (4,734 hectares). The Conservation Fund, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division...

Fall fire season starts Friday in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Fall fire season gets underway this week in West Virginia, with limits set on outdoor burning through the end of the year. Starting Friday, burning vegetation and other naturally occurring material is limited to the hours of 5 p.m. to 7 a.m.,...

EXPLAINER: What's behind all the drama in Congress?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The drama and deadlines driving action on Capitol Hill right now can be disorienting. Democrats are trying to pass more than $4 trillion in infrastructure and social programs at the center of President Joe Biden’s agenda — and at the same time avert a government...

Fires threatening California's sequoias continue to grow

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — California firefighters battled fast-growing forest fires threatening giant sequoias and small communities in the Sierra Nevada on Monday and worked to fully surround a suspected arson wildfire that destroyed homes last week. More than 2,000...

Laurene Powell Jobs to invest $3.5B in climate group

Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, will invest $3.5 billion within the next 10 years to address the climate crisis, a spokesperson for Emerson Collective, Jobs’ organization, said on Monday. The money will go into Waverley Street...

China's power cuts may foreshadow shortages of global goods

BEIJING (AP) — Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet official energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark. In the northeastern city of...

Ford to add 10,800 jobs making electric vehicles, batteries

GLENDALE, Ky. (AP) — Ford and a partner company say they plan to build three major electric-vehicle battery factories and an auto assembly plant by 2025 — a dramatic investment in the future of EV technology that will create an estimated 10,800 jobs and shift the automaker's future...

Ford and partner company to build new battery, electric vehicle plants, add 10,800 jobs starting in 2025

California recycling firm to pay $34M in bottle and can scam

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California recycling company will pay $34 million for a long-running fraud scheme in which the firm illegally submitted bogus weight tickets and processed out-of-state bottles and cans to get inflated refunds for used beverage containers, authorities said Monday....

Boy dies from brain-eating amoeba found at Texas splash pad

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A child has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that was found at a Texas splash pad he had visited, and a review discovered lapses in water-quality testing at several parks, officials said Monday. Officials in Arlington,...