LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — A search of the wildfire devastation on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of obliterated neighborhoods and landmarks charred beyond recognition, as the death toll rose to at least 53 and survivors told harrowing tales of narrow escapes with only the clothes on their backs.

PROVO, Utah (AP) — An armed Utah man accused of making violent threats against President Joe Biden was shot and killed by FBI agents hours before the president landed in the state Wednesday, authorities said. Special agents were trying to serve a warrant on the home of Craig Deleeuw Robertson in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, when the shooting happened at 6:15 a.m., the FBI said in a statement.

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A legal battle over the U.S. government's ongoing capture of thousands of wild horses in Nevada where 31 mustangs have died in a weekslong roundup goes before a judge Wednesday as opponents try to prove it's illegal and should be stopped. Federal land managers said in new court filings ahead of the Reno hearing that the deaths among 2,500 horses gathered since July 9 are an unfortunate — but expected — part of necessary efforts to cull the size of large herds.

KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — A wildfire tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui in darkness Wednesday, reducing much of a historic town to ash and forcing people to jump into the ocean to flee the flames. At least six people died and dozens were wounded. The fires continued to burn Wednesday afternoon, fueled by strong winds from Hurricane Dora as it passed well south of the Hawaiian islands. Officials feared the death toll could rise.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials said Tuesday they have referred 22 more cases involving unruly passengers on airline flights to the FBI for possible criminal charges. The allegations include sexually assaulting female passengers, attacking flight attendants, trying to break into the cockpit, making terror threats, and smoking in airplane lavatories.

Communities across the eastern United States were clearing away downed trees and power lines Tuesday after severe storms killed at least two people, damaged homes, cut electricity to more than 1.1 million homes and businesses, and canceled or delayed thousands of flights. Forecasters received more than 900 reports of wind damage from Monday's storms.

CHICAGO (AP) — A man was charged with first-degree murder Monday after witnesses said a 9-year-old Chicago girl riding a scooter was fatally shot by someone upset over noise. The charge was filed against Michael Goodman, 43, in the death of Sarabi Medina, Chicago police announced.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least two people died, thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power Monday as severe storms, including hail and lightning, moved through the eastern U.S. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A bus carrying up to 50 people traveling from New York to Ohio crashed and hit another vehicle on a Pennsylvania interstate, killing three passengers, state police said. The wreck happened during heavy rain around 11:50 p.m. Sunday on southbound Interstate 81 just north of Harrisburg, state police said.

LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A charter bus carrying up to 50 people collided with a vehicle on an interstate in Pennsylvania, killing three people, state police said. The crash happened during heavy rain around 11:50 p.m. Sunday on southbound Interstate 81 in Dauphin County's Lower Paxton Township, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State Police said. The bus hit an embankment, hit the back of a car, and flipped on its side.

CABAZON, Calif. (AP) — Three people were killed when two firefighting helicopters collided in Southern California on Sunday while fighting a blaze in Riverside County. One of the helicopters landed safely. “Unfortunately, the second helicopter crashed and tragically all three members perished, which included one Cal Fire Division chief, one Cal Fire captain and one contract client pilot,” Cal Fire Southern Region Chief David Fulcher said during a news conference early Monday.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — California authorities have captured four suspects in multiple break-ins at homes around South Lake Tahoe: a mama bear and three of her cubs. DNA has confirmed the large female black bear and her three little accomplices were responsible for at least 21 instances of property damage since 2022, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

SEATTLE (AP) — A vanload of church volunteers drove along a main street in north Seattle one night last month with sandwiches, water bottles and blankets for homeless people. They didn't find any — but they did see dozens of barely clothed women walking along the road or leaning into traffic to advertise their services.

Federal investigators said Thursday that the pilot of a charter jet took off without permission, creating a “conflict” with a JetBlue plane that was preparing to land on an intersecting runway at Boston's Logan International Airport in February. A screen grab from video shot from the JetBlue cockpit captures the moment that the Learjet operated by charter service Hop-A-Jet crossed the runway just in front of the JetBlue plane.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested and accused of providing sensitive military information to China — including details on wartime exercises, Naval operations and critical technical material, federal officials said Thursday.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who posed as an undercover police officer kidnapped a woman in Seattle, drove her hundreds of miles to his home in Oregon and locked her in a cinder block cell until she bloodied her hands breaking the door to escape, the FBI said Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 worshippers will be sentenced to death for perpetrating the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, a jury decided Wednesday.

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Santino Iamunno was born without most of his right hand, and the 11-year-old tends to keep that hand in his pocket when around new people, just to avoid the questions.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Get ready to say goodbye to the once ubiquitous incandescent light bulb, pioneered by Thomas Edison more than a century ago. You can thank — or blame — new federal energy efficiency regulations that went into full effect Tuesday. Quite possibly without you even noticing.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rhonda Hicks could have kept working into her 60s. She loved teaching and loved her students in Philadelphia’s public schools. As a Black woman, she took pride in being a role model for many children of color. But other aspects of the job deteriorated, such as growing demands from administrators over what and how to teach

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has launched a surprise military drill on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, just as the U.S. military increase its presence in the region over recent …

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — With advertising shrinking and newspapers vanishing, Maine’s largest newspaper group became the latest to try a nonprofit model with the completion of the sale of more than 20 daily and weekly newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United States government's credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels and a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” over the past two decades.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a woman she saw as a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess tasked with ushering in an apocalypse.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman became a cultural phenomenon through films and TV shows, has died. He was 70.