I-376 Parkway West lane restrictions will occur in Collier and Robinson Townships, weather permitting

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Robinson Township, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that beginning tonight and going through Monday, July 28th, weather permitting, lane restrictions on I-376 Parkway West in Collier and Robinson Townships will occur. From 9 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m. on Monday, traffic will go down to one lane on I-376 Parkway West in each direction between the Ridge Road (Exit 61) and I-79 interchanges. Latex overlay operations will be conducted by crews on the I-376 bridge over Boyce Road.

Drilling will occur on Route 168 in Beaver County weather permitting

(File Photo of Road Construction Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that starting on Friday, July 25th, weather permitting, drilling operations on Route 168 on Salem Church Road, Elmwood Boulevard and Centennial Avenue will occur. On weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through late August, single-lane alternating traffic will be on Route 168 between Lawrence County and Route 51 in South Beaver Township. Drilling operations will be conducted by crews from ECS Mid Atlantic, LLC.

Slide remediation work will occur on Big Sewickley Creek Road in Economy Borough starting on July 29th, 2025, weather permitting

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: PennDOT, PSP, PTC, Construction Industry Highlight National Work Zone Awareness Week)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Economoy Borough, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that beginning on Tuesday, July 29th, weather permitting, slide remediation work will occur on Route 4036 on Big Sewickley Creek Road in Economy Borough. Big Sewickley Creek Road will close to traffic between Maude Davis Lane and Zassick Drive continuously through late August starting at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29th. There will be detours for traffic, and the detour route can be found below:

East of the Closure

  • From Big Sewickley Creek Road, turn onto Conway Wallrose Road
  • Turn left onto southbound Route 989
  • Turn right onto Hemmerle Road
  • Hemmerle Road becomes Legionville Road
  • Turn left onto Duss Avenue
  • Turn right onto 8th Street
  • Turn left onto Route 65
  • Turn left onto Cross Street
  • Cross Street becomes Main Street
  • Bear right onto Ambridge Avenue
  • Ambridge Avenue becomes Big Sewickley Creek Road
  • End detour

West of the Closure

  • Same detour in the opposite direction

Drainage improvements, shoulder reconstruction and slide repair will be conducted by PennDOT crews.

Hulk Hogan, icon in professional wrestling, dies at age 71

(AP Photo)

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Hulk Hogan, the mustachioed, headscarf-wearing icon in the world of professional wrestling, has died at the age of 71, Florida police and WWE said Thursday.

In Clearwater, Florida, authorities responded to a call Thursday morning about a cardiac arrest. Hogan was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said in a statement on Facebook.

Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even company chairman Vince McMahon.

He won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Hogan was also a celebrity outside the wrestling world, appearing in numerous movies and television shows, including a reality show about his life on VH1, “Hogan Knows Best.”

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media. Hogan sued after Gawker in 2012 posted a video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. Hogan contended the post violated his privacy.

WWE posted a note on X saying it was saddened to learn the WWE Hall of Famer had passed away.

“One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s. WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans,” it said.

Second worker at Allie Alligator Learning Center, LLC in Cranberry Township got charged for abusing children there

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) A second worker at Allie Alligator Learning Center, LLC in Cranberry Township got charged for abusing children there. Thirty-eight-year-old Richa Gupte got charges filed against her for allegedly breaking the elbow of a two-year-old child in June of 2025. According to a police report, the child was reaching for a toy when Gupte forcefully pulled on the child’s arm. Gupte will join twenty-six-year-old worker Joshua Aaron Branstetter with charges of abuse of children at Allie Alligator Learning Center, LLC. Branstetter was arrested in June of 2025. According to police, Branstetter allegedly pushed the face a three-year-old child into a bedframe at the Cranberry Township daycare center during the nap time of the child. Gupte will have her preliminary hearing on August 29th, 2025. The hearing for Branstetter is scheduled for August 15th, 2025.

Operation Ellwood City has military members until August 1st, 2025 except for July 27th giving specific services free of charge to community members at Lincoln High School

(File Photo of the United States flag)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ellwood City, PA) Lincoln High School in Ellwood City had an event called Operation Healthy Ellwood on Wednesday. Military members from the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy gave community members specific services free of charge. Community members will receive services for behavioral health, dental, medical, vision and veterinary purposes services at a first-come first serve basis. This will occur each day at Lincoln High School until August 1st, except July 27th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Retired Brighton Township police captain gets charged for possessing child pornography

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) A school resource officer and a retired Brighton Township police captain now has charges of possessing child pornography. Sixty-eight-year-old Peter James Benedict, Jr. of Beaver has eleven counts of possessing material of children getting sexually abused and one count of use of a communication facility for criminal purposes. Investigators searched the home of Benedict and found explicit pictures of children under ten years old on his computer. Benedict retired in 2023 and worked briefly at Dutch Ridge Elementary School in late 2022 as an interim school resource officer. Benedict also served in his capacity as a D.A.R.E. officer for the Brighton Township Police Department. Benedict has a bond of $500,000 and is in the Beaver County Jail being held there.

The Latest: Major media say Gaza staff face starvation as United States envoy prepares to host ceasefire talks

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Khaleda El-Feki embraces the body of her husband, Mohamed El-Maghribi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

(AP) Four leading news organizations said Thursday that their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, while top U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet with key negotiators from the Middle East for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal and the release of hostages.

“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.”

The statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.

The statement came a day after more than 100 charity and human rights groups said that Israel’s blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip toward starvation.

Also Thursday, Hamas confirmed it had sent its latest ceasefire proposal to Israel, with an Israeli official calling it “workable,” although no details were provided. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Here is the latest:More than 40 Palestinians died from malnutrition in July, Gaza’s Health Ministry says

Gaza’s Health Ministry said 48 Palestinians have died of malnutrition this past month, adding that 59 Palestinians died of malnutrition so far in 2025, up from 50 in 2024, and four in 2023 when Israel started its war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza after its rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

In the most recent cases, a man and a woman died of malnutrition Wednesday, the Shifa Hospital told The Associated Press.

Of the 113 that died of malnutrition in Gaza since 2023, 81 were children, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Since Israel’s aid blockade in March, Gaza’s humanitarian situation has become dire, alarming international organizations. The United Nations World Food Program has said 100,000 women and children are facing famine levels of starvation.

The International Rescue Community said their teams in Gaza have reported a surge in cases of children being rushed to the hospital due to malnutrition.

“Their small bodies are shutting down — they can’t breathe, their immune systems are collapsing, and they are highly vulnerable to infection,” IRC’s acting director in the occupied Palestinian Territories, Scott Lea, said in a statement Wednesday.

“Their lives are hanging by a thread.”

Rocket landed near Gaza aid site, Israel says

Israel’s military said militants had fired a rocket that landed close to an aid distribution site in southern Gaza.

In a statement Thursday, the military said militants in the city of Khan Younis had fired a rocket that landed 250 meters (820 feet) from an aid site in Rafah. The military did not say if the rocket strike injured anyone.

The aid site is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American organization distributing aid in Gaza which launched operations in May.

The U.S. and Israel seek to replace the traditional U.N.-led aid distribution system in Gaza, asserting that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The U.N. denies the allegation.

Indonesia condemns Israeli motion to annex the occupied West Bank

Indonesia has strongly condemned the Israeli Parliament’s symbolic motion to annex the occupied West Bank.

In a statement Thursday by Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country reiterated that Israel has no legitimate sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory and that such actions do not alter the legal status of the territory.

“This move constitutes an act of annexation, violating the fundamental principle of non-acquisition of territory by force,” the statement said.

“We reaffirm our support for the establishment and sovereign State of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Two-State Solution.”

The declarative motion, passed Wednesday by the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, has no direct legal implications, although it could place the issue of annexation on the agenda of future debates.

The Southeast Asian nation urged the United Nations Security Council and the international community to take concrete measures to halt what it termed Israel’s illegal actions, saying it aims to make its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory permanent.

Israeli military says 8 soldiers wounded in ramming attack

Eight Israeli soldiers were wounded Thursday when a car rammed into a bus stop near the central coastal city of Netanya, the military said. The driver fled the scene, prompting a police manhunt.

Two soldiers were moderately wounded and another six were lightly wounded in the attack. The military did not identify the attacker or provide further details.

Palestinian militants have carried out scores of shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has launched major military operations in the occupied West Bank, and there has been a spike in settler violence against Palestinians there.

5 Palestinians killed in central Gaza

At least five Palestinians were killed in central Gaza late Wednesday, according to the Aqsa Hospital morgue that received the bodies Thursday in the city of Deir al-Balah.

Two people, a man and a woman, were killed east of the city in Israeli tank shelling.

Another person was killed by Israeli troops in a shooting in the Bureij refugee camp, and two others were among a group of people hit by an Israeli strike in Zawaida.

The Israeli military, which has expanded operations in the area in the last few days, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Major media say their journalists in Gaza are ‘increasingly unable to feed themselves’

Four leading news organizations said Thursday their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on.

“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.”

The statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.

Israel has barred international media from entering Gaza independently throughout the 21-month war.

The deal on the table

Top U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to Italy on Thursday to meet top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and discuss the ceasefire deal on the table, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.

For Israel, sending Dermer — a close Netanyahu confidant — to the meeting marks a show of seriousness in reaching a deal.

The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.

Hamas earlier Thursday submitted a response to the latest ceasefire proposal which an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, billed as “workable.”

American Jewish groups demand an investigation into Israeli settler violence

Prominent religious Jewish leaders in the United States are calling on Israel to investigate a surge of settler violence against Palestinians and the recent killing of an American citizen by Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union for Reform Judaism and the American Conference of Cantors said Israel must undertake a “full investigation” into the death of Sayfollah Musallet, a Palestinian-American from Tampa, Florida. Palestinian authorities say Musallet was beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank.

Violence has spiraled in the occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, with at least 955 Palestinians killed there by Israeli fire, according to the United Nations.

The rabbis said Israel must also investigate the “growing phenomenon” of settler violence overall. They wrote that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “seems to tolerate and even encourage violence against Palestinians.”

Israeli official says Hamas’ latest proposal is workable

An Israeli official familiar with ceasefire talks said a Hamas proposal was “workable” and that Israel was studying it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on record.

Hamas confirmed sending a response to mediators in an statement early Thursday.

Israel said that it was reviewing Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal to potentially wind down the war. A statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed receipt of the Hamas response Thursday but did not specify what it entailed.

— By Julia Frankel in Jerusalem

Israeli fire kills two teens in the occupied West Bank

Palestinian health officials said Thursday that two Palestinian teenage boys were killed by Israeli fire Wednesday night in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel’s military said its forces had fired at Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails toward a highway, killing two near the West Bank town of Al-Khader.

Palestinian health officials named the teens killed as Ahmed Al-Salah, 15, and Mohammed Khaled Alian Issa, 17.

Violence has spiraled in the occupied West Bank since the war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Over 955 Palestinians have been killed there by Israeli fire during that time, according to the United Nations, many during raids Israel says are to stamp out militancy.

The Latest: House lawmakers vote to subpoena all Epstein-related files from Justice Department

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York on July 2, 2020. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

(AP) A subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally. Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work to draft the subpoena was beginning.

The vote came just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break. House Speaker Mike Johnson has adjourned Major business in the House ahead of Congress’ August recess to avoid contentious votes on Epstein-related matters as the President Donald Trump ‘s administration faces intense public pressure to release more information about the sexual predator.

Earlier Wednesday, a judge rejected the Justice Department’s request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Epstein years ago in Florida, saying the request doesn’t meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A similar records request is still pending in New York.

Here’s the latest:

US automakers say Trump’s 15% tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage

U.S. automakers have said the tariffs on Japanese vehicles at 15% would put them at a competitive disadvantage, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council — which represents General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis — said in an interview that the U.S. companies and workers “definitely are at a disadvantage” because they face a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on parts and finished vehicles. There are some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020.

The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump’s promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity.

▶ Read more about automakers’ reactions

Deal between Columbia University and Trump administration goes beyond $220 million payment

Columbia University has said it will implement a series of changes previously announced in March, including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it is “comprehensive and balanced” and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs “do not promote unlawful DEI goals,” among other changes.

“The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track,” acting University President Claire Shipman said.

The school had been threatened with the loss of billions of dollars in government support after the Trump administration said the university failed to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war.

Appeals court upholds block of Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the order is unconstitutional, affirming a lower-court decision that blocked its enforcement nationwide.

The ruling puts the issue one step closer to quickly coming back before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Columbia University reaches a deal with Trump to restore federal research funds

Columbia University announced it reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore the federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus.

Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay the $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty, acting University President Claire Shipman said.

Bondi facing Democratic calls to testify following report she told Trum

p he was in Epstein files

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump his name was among many high-profile figures mentioned in the files.

Trump’s personal ties to Jeffrey Epstein are well-established and his name is already known to have been included in records related to the wealthy financier, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing.

“We need to bring Bondi and (FBI Director Kash) Patel into the Judiciary Committee to testify about this now,” Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in response to the report in a video posted on X.

The Justice Department issued a joint statement from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying “nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution.”

▶ Read more about calls for Bondi to testify

Tech industry tried reducing AI’s pervasive bias. Now Trump wants to end its ‘woke AI’ efforts

After retreating from their workplace diversity, equity and inclusion programs, tech companies could now face a second reckoning over their DEI work in AI products.

In the White House and the Republican-led Congress, “woke AI” has replaced harmful algorithmic discrimination as a problem that needs fixing.

Past efforts to “advance equity” in AI development and curb the production of “harmful and biased outputs” are a target of investigation, according to subpoenas sent to Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and 10 other tech companies last month by the House Judiciary Committee.

And the standard-setting branch of the U.S. Commerce Department has deleted mentions of AI fairness, safety and “responsible AI” in its appeal for collaboration with outside researchers.

▶ Read more about efforts to deter DEI work in AI products

Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power

The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is “not critical for the federal government to have a role” in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy’s planned Grain Belt Express that would deliver solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S.

The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee.

President Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as “unreliable” and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars’ worth of commitments “rushed out the doors” by former President Joe Biden’s administration after Trump won the election.

▶ Read more about the canceled loan for green power line

What’s next for congressional action on Jeffrey Epstein

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, while a subcommittee voted to subpoena the Justice Department for documents related to Epstein. And senators in both parties have expressed openness to holding hearings on the matter after Congress’ August recess.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has introduced legislation with bipartisan support that would require the Justice Department to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his associates.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, have said they will address whatever outstanding Epstein-related issues are in Congress when they return from recess.

Republican leadership say they don’t want to stymie actions from the Trump administration or release information that may harm Epstein’s victims.

Democrats, meanwhile, have seized on Epstein as a talking point in their broader message against the GOP’s agenda they plan to take home to their districts during the August recess.

Josh Shapiro, a leading Jewish Democrat, says Mamdani left room for ‘extremists’

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro criticized Zohran Mamdani for declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” during his winning primary campaign for New York City mayor.

Weighing in on the controversy for the first time, Shapiro told Jewish Insider Wednesday that during Mamdani’s campaign, he “left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things.”

The issue has followed Mamdani as he campaigns for the general election in America’s most Jewish city. Last week Mamdani said he would not use the “intifada” phrase and discourages others from doing so, noting the pain the phrase engenders among Jews.

Elected officials have an obligation speak out against harmful language, said Shapiro, who is seen as a leading candidate for president in 2028.

House subcommittee’s subpoena vote shows growing intensity for Epstein disclosure

House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted to get the House out of town. Democrats — and a few Republicans — had other plans Wednesday afternoon.

In the hours after the House took its last votes for several weeks and many lawmakers headed to the airport for their annual August recess, a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for records on the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

It exemplified the intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation even as Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to act — has repeatedly rebuffed calls for the full House to vote on release of the files.

The House Committee on Oversight also issued a subpoena Wednesday for Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late Epstein, to testify before committee officials in August.

Epstein-related records already made public included mentions of Trump’s name

According to news reports Wednesday, the Justice Department told Trump in May that his name was among high-profile people mentioned in government files of Epstein, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing.

The mention of the president’s name in the documents was previously known. Files that had already been released by the government included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted she spent several hours with Epstein at Trump’s Atlantic City casino but didn’t say if she met Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Trump has also said he once thought Epstein was a “terrific guy” but that they later had a falling out.

White House spokesperson Steven Cheung on Wednesday said the reports were “nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”

Trump signs three executive orders to wrap up his AI keynote speech

The first order seeks to streamline federal permitting of AI infrastructure projects to make it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings needed to form and run AI products.

The second promotes the sale of American AI products abroad, a move Trump said would help make the U.S. an “AI export powerhouse.”

Trump’s third executive order appeals to allegations among his backers that leading AI chatbots have a liberal bias. He said the order declares that the federal government should not procure AI technology that has a partisan bias or an ideological agenda.

Trump said the orders will help America win the AI race.

Democratic representative faces possible House censure after visit to migrant detention center

A House Republican wants to censure Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver over a skirmish with law enforcement during a congressional oversight visit to a new immigration detention facility in her home state of New Jersey. She has pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from the May 9 incident.

Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana pushed forward the measure, which also calls for removing McIver from her seat on the Homeland Security Committee.

Higgins says McIver violated the chamber rules that require a member “to behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”

The congresswoman said in a statement that “Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news.”

The prospect of censure used to be rare in the House but has become more frequent. House Republicans have been quick to punish Democratic lawmakers for transgressions large and small.

GOP House members want to run in other races. Trump is telling them to stay in their seats

Republican Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa had been weighing a run for governor until he had a conversation with Trump. Afterward, he opted to seek reelection to a seat that national Republicans feel would have been more competitive without an incumbent on the ballot. Trump offered a full-throated endorsement of Nunn’s reelection after he said he spoke with him.

Trump has launched increasingly heavy-handed efforts to keep incumbent House members in their seats and keep those seats in GOP hands as he and his political team try to avoid what happened in his first term, when Republicans lost the chamber after two years. The party in power historically loses seats in midterm elections.

From Michigan to New York to Iowa, Trump has actively worked to reshape Republican primary fields, demonstrating the enormous influence he wields over a party that, by and large, answers to him.

▶ Read more about Trump’s efforts to keep GOP House members in their seats

Trump offers industry-friendly takes in AI speech

In his AI speech, Trump is sharing some views on the technology that industry lobbyists are sure to appreciate.

Saying he wants the U.S. to do “whatever it takes to lead the world” on AI, the president argued AI firms can’t be successful if they must pay for all the works they use to train their models. Publishers, authors, musicians and others have raised alarm about AI models using their works without permission, arguing it violates copyright law.

Trump also called for a federal standard on AI laws and denounced the patchwork of state AI laws that exists without meaningful federal legislation on the technology. Tech companies had fought for a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws in Congress, but the Senate voted it down earlier this month.

House subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files

Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Committee on Oversight made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break.

Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally.

The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work was beginning to draft the subpoena but that it would take some time for both sides to work out the final language.

Trump appears at AI event touting trade deals

The president, speaking at an AI summit being held at an auditorium in Washington, opened his remarks focusing on one of his favorite subjects: tariffs.

Trump was supposed to discuss his AI action plan but instead launched into a recap of his trade deal announced Tuesday with Japan, along with a trade framework for the Philippines.

Trump said he’s making so many deals that “even if you’re like me, a deal junkie, that’s a lot of deals.”

House Republicans move to create new panel to investigate Jan. 6 Capitol attack

The representatives say they will vote on a resolution this fall to create a new select subcommittee to handle the investigation.

Republicans have argued for years that President Trump was not to blame for the violent attack in 2021 by his supporters as he was pushing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Shortly after taking office, Trump pardoned or commuted prison sentences for around 1,500 people who had been charged with crimes related to the rioting, including leaders of the militant Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups and roughly 200 people who had pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement.

A separate Republican subcommittee in the last Congress investigated security failures that day. It also probed the Democratic-led Jan. 6 select committee that found in 2022 that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.

Justice Department creates ‘strike force’ to assess material released by Gabbard

The department said the team will “investigate potential next legal steps” arising from the materials regarding Russian election interference that National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard recently made public.

Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department “will leave no stone unturned to deliver justice.”

State Department notifies Congress of $322M weapons sales to Ukraine

The State Department sent a congressional notification Wednesday that it had approved a new slate of arms to Ukraine as it fends off escalating attacks from Russia.

The sales include $150 million for the supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul of U.S. armored vehicles, and $172 million for surface-to-air missile systems.

The approvals come weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause on other weapons shipments to Ukraine to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise.

President Trump then said the U.S. would continue to send weapons, with some on their way in early July. The Trump administration has gone back and forth about providing more vital military aid to Ukraine more than three years into Russia’s invasion.

Colleges face investigations over scholarship programs for immigrants

The Trump administration is investigating five universities for their scholarship programs that support students who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened the investigations at the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.

The administration argues the scholarships for immigrants in the country illegally discriminate based on where students were born.

Officials at several of the colleges say they are reviewing the claims.

Tesla profit plunges in latest quarter as Elon Musk’s turn to politics continues to keep buyers away

The car company that has faced boycotts for months said Wednesday that revenue dropped 12% and profits slumped 16% in the three months through June.

Quarterly profits at the electric vehicle, battery and robotics company fell to $1.17 billion, or 33 cents a share, from $1.4 billion, or 40 cents a share. That was the third quarter in a row that profit dropped.

Revenue fell from $25.5 billion to $22.5 billion in the April through June period, slightly above Wall Street’s forecast.

Musk, who helped elect Trump with a massive campaign donation and then headed his Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting program, has seen Tesla sales fall not just in the U.S. but also Europe. He alienated many in the market for cars in Great Britain, France, Germany and elsewhere by embracing far-right candidates for office on the continent.

▶ Read more about Tesla’s latest reported profits

Supreme Court rules Trump can remove 3 Consumer Product Safety Commission members

Trump had previously fired the three Democratic members, but they were later reinstated by a federal judge.

The justices acted on an emergency appeal from the Justice Department, which argued that the agency is under Trump’s control and the president is free to remove commissioners without cause.

The court provided a brief, unsigned explanation that the case is similar to earlier ones in which it allowed Trump to fire board members of other independent agencies, whom Congress protected from arbitrary dismissals. The three liberal justices dissented.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission helps protect people from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump fired the three Democrats on the five-member commission in May. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by former President Joe Biden.

▶ Read more about the ruling on the Democratic members’ firing

House Oversight Committee subpoenas Ghislaine Maxwell

The committee ordered that Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late Jeffrey Epstein, testify before committee officials on Aug. 11. Lawmakers and staff will conduct her deposition at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, where Maxwell is imprisoned.

The subpoena notes that Maxwell’s case has received “immense public interest and scrutiny” in recent years. The Trump administration has come under intense scrutiny to release documents related to Epstein after Trump vowed to do so on the campaign trail.

“While the department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to your and Mr. Epstein’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of you and Mr. Epstein,” reads the subpoena’s cover letter to Maxwell.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a press conference that he doubted if Maxwell can “be counted on to tell the truth” but said he supported Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s investigation.

Experts said release of Epstein grand jury records was a long shot

Before a judge turned down a request to release grand jury materials about Jeffrey Epstein, experts had expressed doubt that transcripts would reveal much.

Federal grand juries hear evidence in secret and then decide whether there is enough for an indictment. Experts say the transcripts likely would not offer surprises because prosecutors typically don’t introduce the entire investigation.

U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in Florida said the Trump administration’s request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the exceptions to make them public under federal law. She said no in a 12-page opinion Wednesday.

Similar requests remain pending in New York federal court in separate grand jury investigations from 2018. Epstein, a wealthy financier, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He killed himself in a jail cell about a month later, authorities said.

House Democrats launch bid to subpoena Department of Justice for Epstein files

Congressman Summer Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat, motioned for the committee to order the Justice Department release all files to the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein during a House Oversight subcommittee meeting.

“If our colleagues on this committee don’t join us in this vote, then what they’re essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity,” Lee said of Republicans.

The vote is still pending after the Republican majority took a brief recess in the meeting. Democrats have for several weeks been eager to highlight the Trump administration’s reticence to release information connected to Epstein.

Republicans have suspended most business in the House to avoid more contentious votes on the subject before Congress enters a month-long August recess. Some Republicans have repeatedly raised the subject as a matter of government transparency alongside Democrats, who are eager to tie the president to Epstein.

Trump campaigned on releasing more information about the late sexual predator, while Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this year that the Justice Department would release more documents without specifying what materials.

Judge bars ICE from immediately taking Abrego Garcia into custody if he’s released from jail

A federal judge in Maryland has prohibited the Trump administration from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he’s released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to an order issued Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the U.S. government to provide notice of three business days if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against the Maryland construction worker.

The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision that Abrego Garcia was under before he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Abrego Garcia to live and work in Maryland for years, while he periodically checked in with ICE.

Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies following his wrongful explusion to El Salvador in March. Trump’s administration violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.

Judge rejects effort to unseal Epstein grand jury records in Florida

A judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, though a similar records request is pending in New York.

U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach said the request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public.

White House doesn’t make it clear what kind of ‘accountability’ Trump wants of Obama

Trump has repeated baseless claims that Obama engaged in treason and Leavitt said the president wants his predecessor to be held accountable. But she had no details, when pressed, about how Trump wants to see Obama held accountable when the Supreme Court ruled last year in a case involving Trump that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their constitutional authority.

Leavitt said that the White House would let the Justice Department decide what to do.

“It’s in the Department of Justice’s hands and we trust them to move the ball forward,” she said.

Musk’s AI company won’t get Trump’s blessing

White House press secretary Leavitt said President Trump will not support federal agencies contracting with Elon Musk’s AI company.

Trump issued an AI action plan Wednesday meant to put the U.S. at the forefront of AI development, with recommendations including updated guidelines around federal contracting.

Asked at a press briefing if federal agencies would have Trump’s blessing to contract with xAI, Musk’s company, Leavitt said, “I don’t think so, no.”

Trump previously threatened to cut federal contracts with Musk’s companies as their relationship publicly flamed out in June.

Gabbard said she hasn’t seen a Jeffrey Epstein link to US or foreign intelligence

Asked to rule out that Epstein was connected to any kind of intelligence, Gabbard said she hadn’t seen any evidence or information to support that.

“I haven’t seen any evidence or information that reflets that,” Gabbard said.

She said if any information is found that “changes that in any way,” she supports “loud and clear” Trump’s statement that the American people should see “any credible evidence.”

Calls for retribution in Russia investigation run into reality of Supreme Court immunity ruling

As President Donald Trump urges scrutiny of fellow commander-in-chief Barack Obama, it’s worth remembering a simple fact: Former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts they take in office.

That’s thanks to a Supreme Court opinion issued last year that shielded Trump in a case charging him with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The topic has resurfaced thanks to efforts by the Trump administration to rewrite the history of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has suggested that investigators should look into Obama and other senior officials, though none of them have been accused of any wrongdoing and the Supreme Court ruling in any event would foreclose the possibility of a prosecution of Obama.

Gabbard calls Obama’s response a ‘disservice’

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said former President Barack Obama did a “disservice to the American people” when his office attacked the government’s rehashed grievances over the Russia investigation that overshadowed President Donald Trump’s first term.

Obama’s post-presidential office issued a rare statement on Tuesday, condemning the Trump administration’s allegations as a “ridiculous and “a weak attempt at distraction.”

Asked about it at a Wednesday press briefing, Gabbard said Obama and others from his administration are “trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal.”

Gabbard doesn’t answer question about her motivations

The director of national intelligence didn’t address a question about those who suggest she is making the report public in order to improve her standing with Trump after she seemed to fall from favor earlier this year when he dismissed her assessments about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Instead, Leavitt opted to answer the question for Gabbard, who said the only people questioning Gabbard’s motives were news reporters “who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos amongst the president’s Cabinet.”

Gabbard lashes out at Obama administration officials on Russia investigation

Tulsi Gabbard, the Trump administration’s director of national intelligence, is touting from the White House podium the release of a House report that she claims helps undercut the reality of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Gabbard made a surprise appearance just hours after she made public a declassified report from House Republicans that was produced during the first presidential administration.

The report does not dispute the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the election, but alleges tradecraft failings in how intelligence officials reached the conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to have Trump win.

The release of the report, as Trump is facing backlash from elements of his base over the handling of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to rewrite the history of Russian election interference.

Gabbard lashed out during lengthy remarks at specific members of the Obama administration.

Gabbard appears at White House briefing

Leavitt brought Gabbard up to the podium as a surprise guest at the daily press briefing.

The director of national intelligence was accompanied by her cinematographer husband, Abraham Williams, who was filming her appearance in the White House briefing room. Williams is a filmmaker and was often seen filming Gabbard during her 2020 presidential campaign.

Government Accountability Office issues impoundments decision on Head Start

The audit watchdog for Congress has found that the Trump administration earlier this year withheld funds for Head Start programs in violation of federal law.

The finding Wednesday underscores Democratic lawmakers’ concerns that the administration is unilaterally canceling funding for programs it does not view as a priority.

The Government Accountability Office said that the Department of Health and Human Services between January 20 and April 15 significantly reduced the rate of disbursements for Head Start grants compared to the same period the prior year. Based on that evidence, it concluded the department was in violation of the Impoundment Control Act.

The GAO also said current data suggests that Head Start funds have since been made available at rates consistent with those from the year before.

Democrats said the damage was done, however.

“It does not matter how long these funds were frozen,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “The chaos and uncertainty of illegally withholding these funds is costly and hurts the hundreds of thousands of families that depend on Head Start.”

White House condemns Kohberger as ‘vicious and evil killer’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt started a press briefing 45 minutes late on Wednesday and addressed the sentencing of Bryan Kohberger that had just concluded.

Leavitt started the briefing with condolences to the victim’s family and called Kohberger a “vicious and evil killer.”

“If it were up to the president, he would have forced this monster to publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls,” Leavitt said.

Kohberger was sentenced to serve four consecutive life sentences without parole for the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago.

Leavitt: Trump’s AI plan will ‘secure a brighter future for all Americans’

Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Trump’s new AI plan, which incorporates familiar pitches from tech lobbyists, during her press briefing.

She noted Trump will speak on the plan at an event later in the afternoon and said he’ll also sign three executive orders there.

“Under president Trump’s leadership, our country will lead the world in AI to secure a brighter future for all Americans, massively grow our economy and protect our national security,” Leavitt said.

Trump’s new AI plan leans heavily on Silicon Valley ideas

An artificial intelligence agenda that started coalescing on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being forged into U.S. policy as President Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign.

The “AI Action Plan” revealed by the White House on Wednesday includes some familiar tech lobby pitches: Accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct energy-hungry data centers in the U.S.

It also includes some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year.

▶Read more on Trump’s new AI plan

FEMA acting chief defends response to Texas floods

The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 135 people.

“I can’t see anything we did wrong,” FEMA acting administrator David Richardson told a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee Wednesday morning, calling the relationship between state and federal agencies “a model for how disasters should be handled.”

Richardson denied reports that FEMA’s flood response was impaired by bureaucratic delays that slowed the deployment of urban search and rescue teams and left FEMA call centers unstaffed.

FEMA’s search and rescue leader, Ken Pagurek, resigned Monday.

The response “brought the maximum amount of capability to bear in Texas at the right time and the right place,” said Richardson.

Johnson says no need for House vote this week on Epstein records

Speaker Mike Johnson said the House doesn’t need to vote this week on releasing records related to the Jeffrey Epstein case because the Trump administration is “already doing everything within their power to release them.”

The comments come as Democratic repeatedly try to force votes on the matter, casting it as an issue of trust in the government. GOP leadership has also unveiled a resolution that has no legal weight but would urge the Justice Department to produce more documentation. None of those efforts will be brought before the House for a vote before lawmakers return home for the traditional August recess.

“There’s no point in passing a resolution to urge the administration to do something that they are already doing,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “That’s why we’re going to let that process play out.”

Johnson said that if the process for releasing the information stalls out, “then we’ll take appropriate action when everybody returns here, but we have to allow the court process to play out.”

As Trump targets Harvard, other Republicans take aim at higher education nationally

No government effort to influence a university — private or public — has gotten more attention than the clash at Harvard, where the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding as it seeks a series of policy changes. But far beyond the Ivy League, Republican officials are asserting control over public universities.

These conservatives in GOP-led states say colleges are out of touch, too liberal and loading students with too much debt. First they focused on the critical race theory that racism is embedded in the nation’s institutions. Then they went after diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Since Trump took office, officials in states including Indiana, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Idaho have sought control over university governance — the rules for who picks presidents and boards and how curricula and tenure are determined. As at Harvard, they’ve sought to reduce the power of faculty members and students.

▶ Read more about GOP efforts to reshape higher education

What are Americans thinking? Check out the new AP-NORC polling tracker

Wondering how Trump’s approval rating has changed, or where U.S. adults stand on trust in the Supreme Court, or whether they think climate change is happening?

Take a look at the new AP-NORC polling tracker, which shows the latest poll numbers as well as how they’ve changed over time. The tracker shows AP-NORC polling results going back as far as 2018. Go deep into the data and look at how the results break down by party, race, gender, and age.

The polling tracker shows shifts in public opinion on trust in institutions, favorability of Trump and Vance, the state of the country’s economy, and more.

The Trump administration has opposed international mandates on global warming

The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions.

But those who cling to fossil fuels could go broke doing it, the U.N. secretary-general told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview this week.

Simply having the court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations:

1. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems.

2. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

The UN’s top court delivers landmark decision on tackling climate change

The United Nations’ top court’s advisory opinion Wednesday declares that a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment” is a human right.

The International Court of Justice’s opinion describes the obligations of every nation to tackle climate change — and the consequences they may face if they don’t.

The non-binding opinion, which runs to over 500 pages, is seen as a potential turning point in international climate law. Enshrining a sustainable environment as a human right paves the way for other legal actions, including states returning to the ICJ to hold each other to account, as well as domestic lawsuits.

“The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is therefore inherent in the enjoyment of other human rights,” court President Yuji Iwasawa said.

▶ Read more about the UN court’s landmark climate ruling

 

The Latest: Judge sentences Kohberger to life in prison for murdering 4 University of Idaho students

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Brian Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)

(AP) A judge sentenced Bryan Kohberger to serve life in prison for the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago.

No motive has been offered and Kohberger chose not to speak at the hearing.

The hearing gave the families of Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves the opportunity to describe the anguish they’ve felt since their loved ones were killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022. The victim impact statements lasted about two hours.

Here’s the latest:

Sentence was in line with the plea deal Kohberger agreed to earlier this month

Judge Hippler sentenced Kohberger to 10 years for burglary and four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, along with $270,000 in fines and civil penalties.

Judge Steven Hippler spoke next, reading from a statement and holding back tears

Kohberger “senselessly slaughtered” the four victims, Hippler said.

Hippler credited law enforcement and “the killer’s incompetence” for the court’s ability to prosecute him.

“The world and this court unmasked this unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss,” Hippler said.

Kohberger declined to make a statement at the sentencing hearing

“I respectfully decline,” he said.

One person said, “surprise, surprise,” in the courtroom. Another said, “coward.”

Thompson choked up as he made his sentencing argument to the judge

He placed four individual pictures of the victims, one at a time, as he stated the four consecutive life sentences the state is recommending for Kohberger.

The livestream cut away from Kohberger to show each individual photo.

Thompson said the sentences should run back to back, not at the same time, to respect the “unique individuality” of each of the victims.

“We can never undo the horror of what occurred on the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, in Moscow Idaho,” he said.

After impact statements, prosecutor Bill Thompson clarified reasons the state offered plea deal

Thompson said a trial could have resulted in years or decades of appeals, in part because of the huge number of motions that were filed in the case.

The defense team made “dozens” of attempts to dismiss the case.

Among those efforts, Thompson noted that the defense unsuccessfully suggested that other people were somehow responsible for the crimes.

He said he respected each family’s “candid” reactions to the plea deal.

Members of Xana Kernodle’s family spoke of how religion factored into understanding of justice

Xana Kernodle’s mother, Cara Northington, said Jesus allowed her to forgive Kohberger, even though he never expressed remorse.

“Nothing man can do to you can ever compare to the wrath of God,” she said.

Towards the end of her testimony, she read from the Bible, taking multiple breaks to wipe her tears away and catch her breath.

Northington said she wouldn’t share good memories of her daughter because she didn’t want Kohberger to know them.

“You don’t deserve our good memories that we have,” she said.

Victims’ families not the only ones ruined by the killings

Randy Davis, Xana Kernodle’s stepfather, said Kohberger had also ruined the lives of the Kohberger family.

“He has contaminated, tainted their family name, and pretty much made a horrible miserable thing to ever be related to him,” he said.

Then he turned to Kohberger.

“I don’t know what my limits are here. I am struggling man,” Davis said. He said he wished he had five minutes with Kohberger in the woods to teach him about loss and pain.“You are going to suffer man. I’m shaking because I want to reach out to you but I hope you feel my energy,” he said, banging on his chest. “Go to hell.”

The courtroom applauded as he walked away from the podium.

Xana Kernodle’s aunt, Kim Kernodle, was the first to forgive Kobherger in her testimony

“You know, this is probably gonna bother everybody, but Bryan, I’m here today to tell you that I have forgiven you because I could no longer live with that hate in your heart,” she said, turning to face Kohberger directly.

“Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number, no judgment because I do have questions about what happened,” Kim Kernodle said.

Xana Kernodle’s family began testimony after a 10-minute break

Jazzmin Kernodle, her sister, said she was unsure if she would be capable of testifying Wednesday.

“I believe in a god whose justice is not bound by this courtroom,” she said.

Xana Kernodle’s father, Jeff Kernodle, testified next.

“On my way up here, flying up here on the plane, about halfway through the flight a little girl was calling out for her dad. ‘dad, dad, dad,’” he said. For a minute, it sounded like Xana, he said.

When Xana Kernodle was gone, Jeff Kernodle said he realized how important his daughter was.

The way she influenced him was “way beyond what I ever thought,” he said.

Kohberger’s mother and sister sat in the gallery near the defense table

His mother quietly wept at times as the victims’ parents described their grief. She sobbed briefly when Maddie Mogen’s grandmother said her heart goes out to the other victims’ families, as well as to Kohberger’s family.

His father did not attend the sentencing hearing, though he was present when Kohberger pleaded guilty earlier this month.

Kristi Goncalves continued her family’s polemic against Kohberger

“You’re not that good. In fact you’re not that good at anything. You couldn’t secure a job, you couldn’t get along well with others,” she said.

Goncalves said she was disappointed that Kohberger wouldn’t be executed by firing squad and reveled in how he would suffer in prison.

“You will always be remembered as a loser, an absolute failure,” she said.

“Hell will be waiting,” Goncalves’ mother said.

Her testimony was also followed by applause.

Alivea Goncalves’ voice didn’t waver as she asked Kohberger about details of the killings

Among the questions was what her sister’s last words were.

The family has previously blasted the plea deal because it thwarted the opportunity to reveal those details in a trial.

“If you were really smart, do you think you’d be here right now? What’s it like needing this much attention just to feel real?” she said.

Kohberger remained expressionless as Alivea Goncalves insulted him.

“You didn’t win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are. You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser,” she said.

The courtroom applauded after Goncalves’ sister delivered her final line, saying that if Kohberger hadn’t attacked the victims in the middle of the night, Kaylee Goncalves would have beaten him up.

Kaylee Goncalves’ sister, Alivea Goncalves, matched her father’s angry tone in her testimony

She said she didn’t immediately cry when she first heard about her sister’s death — she listened to the details of her final night.

“I’m angry every day” she said.

Alivea Goncalves said her sister and Maddie Mogen had “always known her love,” she said, and would never ask her to prove it by further victimizing herself by showing vulnerability to Kohberger now.

“I won’t offer you tears, I won’t offer you trembling. Disappointments like you feed on fear,” she said.

Goncalves’ heated testimony emphasized how quickly police were able to find Kohberger

“You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid,” he said, noting investigators had his DNA right away.

He taunted Kohberger and referenced Kohberger’s degree in criminal justice.

“Master’s degree? You’re a joke — a complete joke.”

He said Kohberger would die nameless, while the world would remember the legacy of the four victims.

“You picked the wrong family, and we’re laughing at you on your way to the pen,” he said.

Kaylee Goncalves’ dad, Steve Goncalves, was first to speak to Kohberger directly during testimony

“Today we are here to finish what you started,” Goncalves said.

Kohberger nodded subtly in response.

“You tried to break our community apart, you tried to plant fear, you tried to divide us. You failed,” he said sharply.

Testimony from Ben Mogen, Maddie Mogen’s father

His voice cracked as he described his only child as “the only great thing that I ever really did and the only thing I’m proud of.”

He described his personal struggle with addiction and substance abuse — but said his daughter kept him alive by being such a beautiful person.

“Thank you for always encouraging me to do my best. I love you lots and lots. Love Maddie May,” he said.

He cut his testimony off as his emotion overcame him and his breathing became labored.

“I wrote a bunch of stuff but I just don’t know what to say right now,” he said.

“I just love you, Maddie, and I wish you were still here,” he finished.

Mogen’s grandma, Kim Cheeley, recounted her fondest memories of her granddaughters’ childhood

People in the courtroom chuckled softly as Cheeley recounted the nickname Mogen gave her grandmother — “Deedle” — when Mogen was little.

Before she died, Mogen gave her grandmother a necklace with “Deedle and Maddie” engraved on it. She got an angel wing tattoo in her memory after she died.

“The foundation fell out of our world,” when the murders happened, Cheeley said.

Cheeley said they also created a holiday called Maddie May Day on Mogen’s birthday and encouraged the courtroom to do random acts of kindness in her memory.

Mogen family attorney Leander James read a statement for Maddie Mogen’s mother, Karen Laramie

“Any one of us would have given our own life to have been outshone by hers,” Karen Laramie’s brief statement read.

Mogen’s mother also declined to address Kohberger directly, as he remained expressionless, but closed her statement by saying the family might never forgive him or “ask for mercy” for what he did.

“His acts are too heinous,” Karen Laramie’s statement read.

At the end of his testimony, Laramie said he supported the plea agreement

The family of Kaylee Goncalves was initially outspoken in their opposition to the plea deal that took the death penalty off the table.

“Society needs to be protected against this evil,” Laramie said.

But Mogen’s stepfather declined to address Kohberger directly.

“We will not waste the words. Nor will we fall into hatred and bitterness. Evil has many faces, and we now know this, but evil does not deserve our time and attention. We are done being victims. We are taking back our lives,” he said, before thanking the judge.

Maddie Mogen’s stepdad, Scott Laramie, and Karen Laramie were first of victims’ families to testify

Scott Laramie’s voice cracked as he spoke. Kohberger’s eyes locked on the stepfather, occasionally darting to glance at the gallery where people listened intently to the heart wrenching descriptions of Mogen.

Laramie described Mogen as “an easy child to raise.”

“This world was a better place with her in it,” Laramie said. He described how she brightened family events, barbecues and picnics with her bright personality.

“Karen and I are ordinary people, but we lived extraordinary lives because we had Maddie. Maddie was taken senselessly and brutally in a sudden act of evil,” Laramie said.

Second surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, who was in house during the killings, testified next

She tearfully described panic attacks that force her to relive the trauma of that night relentlessly throughout the years that followed the murders.

“I was too terrified to close my eyes, terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went,” Mortensen said.

Kohberher’s head bobbed slightly as she spoke. Mortensen ended her testimony with an emphasis on her determination to heal.

“He may have shattered parts of me but I’m still putting myself back together piece by piece,” Mortensen said.

— This item has been updated to correct the spelling of Dylan Mortensen’s last name.

Funke’s testimony brought many people in the courtroom to tears

Much of her statement was devoted to remembering her four close friends who died: recounting the nights they spent binge watching reality television, making dinner together, going to parties at their university and the love that they had for each other.

She described one of the victims, Xana Kernodle, as “one in a million. She was the life of the party.”

Funke’s statement said she received backlash online after the killings got national attention

“I was getting flooded with death threats and hateful messages from people who do not know me at all,” Funke’s statement read.

Kohberger’s gaze remained locked on the friend reading Funke’s statement.

Bethany Funke’s statement described her long recovery

“I hated and still hate that they are gone, but for some reason, I am still here and I got to live. I still think about this every day. Why me? Why did I get to live, and not them?” Funke’s statement read.

For a year after the killings, Funke said she slept in her parents’ rooms.

Funke said she still checks her room every night before bed.

“The fear never really leaves,” her statement read.“For a long time, I could barely get out of bed. But one day I realized, I have to live for them,” it read.

Roommate who survived the attack, Bethany Funke, provided a statement a friend read on her behalf

She described the day her four friends died as “the worst day of my life, and I know it always will be.”

Kohberger remained expressionless as the testimony went on.

Kohberger entered the packed courtroom wearing a bright orange prison jumpsuit

His attorneys asked Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler for a five minute break, which the judge granted.

The father of Kaylee Goncalves, Steve Goncalves, walked into the courthouse before the hearing

The Goncalves family has been outspoken about their opposition to the plea deal Kohberger entered earlier this month. Steve Goncalves stormed out of the early July hearing, saying the deal denied his family clarity about his daughters last moments, and calling the process “a zoo.”

It’s not yet known if Kohberger will take the opportunity to speak when he’s sentenced

His team of defense attorneys, led by Anne Taylor, announced last week that they won’t be releasing any statements after the sentencing.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson will take part in a news conference after the sentencing is over, along with Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger, Moscow Police Corporal Brett Payne, and Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson.

The news conference is intended to provide some insight into the investigation and key developments in the case, the Moscow Police Department said.

Interest in the case has been high

By 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, more than 50 people were already lined up outside the Ada County Courthouse in hopes of getting a seat in the courtroom.

Security at the courthouse is tight in preparation for Kohberger’s sentencing hearing on four counts of first-degree murder.

Some onlookers arrived as early as 10 p.m. Tuesday night, but they were shooed off by courthouse officials who cited a Boise city ordinance prohibiting overnight camping.

Shortly after the sun rose, an Idaho State Police officer ran a K9 trained in smelling explosives through the plaza in front of the courthouse, carefully checking the camera equipment brought by news outlets and the more than 60 people lined up outside the courthouse.

A Q-tip and spotless car were key evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to murders of 4 Idaho students

The lead prosecutor tasked with finding justice for the four victims laid out his key evidence earlier this month at a court hearing.

The evidentiary summary spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the dead of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was “essentially disassembled inside” and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger’s path.

These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance footage, cell phone tracking and DNA matching.

Once investigators had honed in on Kohberger, they needed to prove he was their suspect.

With the DNA of a single mystery male on the knife sheath, they worked with the FBI and the local sanitation department to secretly retrieve garbage from the Pennsylvania home of Kohberger’s parents, seeking a DNA match to their suspect.

With that, Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he had gone for the holidays, and ultimately was extradited to Idaho for prosecution.

▶ Read more about the evidence in the case

The Ada County Courthouse has opened in preparation for Kohberger’s sentencing hearing

A court administrator handed out numbered tickets to the dozens of people lined up outside.

A security screening at the courthouse entrance included metal detectors and bag screening machines. A second bag check was performed on the fourth floor, just outside the courtroom. Then attendees were ushered into a large room normally used for prospective jurors and directed to sit in numbered seats that matched their tickets.

Once the courtroom opens, the attendees with the lowest numbers will be allowed to sit inside, while the remaining people will have to watch the proceedings via a projection screen in the holding room.

More than a hundred people were in the holding room roughly an hour before the hearing was set to begin.

Foundations honor Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan

Friends and family members have sought to commemorate the victims’ lives by raising money for scholarships and other initiatives.

Ethan’s Smile Foundation, started by Chapin’s family, honors his “love of life, people, and new adventures by providing scholarships that enable others to follow their dreams,” its website says.

The Made With Kindness Foundation honors the legacy of Mogen, Goncalves, and Kernodle through scholarships, wellness support and empowerment initiatives. “Our mission is to inspire and uplift the next generation, turning their dreams into realities in a world that values compassion and community,” its website says.

The University of Idaho built the Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial in memory of all students who passed away while enrolled at the school.

Kohberger’s motive and many other details are unknown

If they know why Kohberger did it, investigators haven’t said so publicly. Nor is it clear why he spared two roommates who were home at the time.

Cellphone location data did show Kohberger had been in the neighborhood multiple times before the attack.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson has said that Kohberger used his knowledge about forensic investigations to attempt to cover his tracks by deep cleaning his vehicle after the crime.

Police say Kohberger’s Amazon purchase history shows he bought a military-style knife as well as the knife sheath found at the home. But the knife itself was never found.

Kohberger will have the opportunity to speak at Wednesday’s hearing. Defendants sometimes use such chances to express remorse, ask for mercy, or to say whatever else they think the court should hear before sentencing.

But Kohberger also has the right to remain silent — despite a suggestion from President Donald Trump that the judge should force Kohberger to explain himself.

A judge lifted the gag order last week

An Idaho judge lifted a sweeping gag order Thursday in Bryan Kohberger’s quadruple murder case.

A coalition of news organizations, including The Associated Press, had asked the court to lift the gag order since a trial is no longer planned.

“The primary purpose of the non-dissemination order, which is to ensure that we can seat an impartial jury, is no longer at play,” Hippler said. He said he couldn’t justify continuing the gag order because the public has the right to receive information about the case, and those rights are “paramount.”

Kohberger’s defense team argued against lifting the gag order, saying it could lead to more media coverage and jeopardize the integrity of the sentencing process.

“The media frenzy, as it’s been described, will continue regardless,” Hippler said. “Lifting the non-dissemination order does not require the counsel or others previously bound by it to speak.”

A different judge in Moscow, Idaho, originally issued the gag order early in the case, saying additional publicity could harm Kohberger’s right to a fair trial.

▶ Read more about the gag order

Families of the Idaho students Bryan Kohberger stabbed to death are set to see him sentenced

A judge is expected to order Bryan Kohberger to serve four life sentences without parole this week for the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago.

Wednesday’s sentencing hearing will give the families of Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves the opportunity to describe the anguish they’ve felt since their loved ones were killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.

Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania about six weeks after the killings. He initially stood silent when asked to enter a plea, so a judge entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.

As the criminal case unfolded, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson announced that he would seek the death penalty if Kohberger was convicted. The court-defense team challenged the validity of the DNA evidence, unsuccessfully pushed to get theories about possible “alternate perpetrators” admitted in court, and repeatedly asked the judge to take the death penalty off of the table.

But those efforts largely failed, and the evidence against Kohberger was strong. With an August trial looming, Kohberger reached a plea deal.

▶ Read more about the case