VIRUS DIARY: The kids, at a distance, caring for `Madad'

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — We call them “Madad,” my siblings and I: So inseparable, not to say indistinct, have my parents become during 66 years of marriage. When they call it's a twofer, dueling voices on separate extensions cheerfully greeting the new arrival on the line.

Santa's little helpers

POLSON — Santa’s elves never worked so hard.

Nothing new about immigrants hating immigrants

We are a nation of immigrants who despise immigrants. Somalis and other immigrants are just the most recent of the indigestible bits in the melting pot that we are so fond of claiming as our great distinction among nations.

Adopt somethin’ spicy

MOSES LAKE — Wasabi is an adorable little gray and white kitten that’s just a bit shy of four months old. She has wide, pleading eyes that are just begging for a saucer of milk and a snuggly human to love on. She’s a domestic shorthair and is already spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped and ready for adoption into a loving home. While she appreciates the love she gets at Grant County Animal Outreach, she wants a permanent home with a person or family that cares for her. Find out more about Wasabi and the other pets at GCAO by visiting grantcountyanimaloutreach.org or by calling 509-762-9616. The shelter is located at 6725 Randolph Road NE, near Moses Lake. If you are unable to adopt, click the donate button at the top of the website to pitch in.

Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.

Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.

Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.

Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.

Food pantry gets support boost to help meet demands

Food pantry gets support boost to help meet demands

Food pantry gets support boost to help meet demands

The West has too many visiting hunters

Hunting may be losing popularity nationally, but in the West the number of hunters is climbing.

ONGOING EVENTS

Jobs will go up in smoke with statewide smoking ban

Anti-smoking activists have launched an initiative campaign to enact a statewide smoking ban in all public places and private businesses with employees. Proponents say a statewide ban would improve health and level the economic playing field for everyone.

New Mexico sees major jump in unemployment claims amid virus

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) — More than 17,000 New Mexico residents have applied for unemployment benefits — more than 19 times the amount filed the previous week — amid the widespread economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus, officials said Thursday.

Sales taxes: Don't tread on me

I’d like to address some unfair sales tax practices.

AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.

New York state may speed up, permanently expand vote-by-mail

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York may permanently expand voting by mail — something it tried on a wide scale for the first time this year — while also trying to reform its molasses-slow and opaque process for counting absentee ballots.

Wisconsin issues recount order in 2 counties as Trump wanted

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Elections Commission issued an order Thursday to recount more than 800,000 ballots cast in two heavily liberal counties at President Donald Trump's request.

The Latest: S.Carolina TV reporter injured at Floyd protest

The Latest on the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck (all times Eastern):