COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Columbia’s old Rosewood Baptist Church may never not look like a church. This fall, when residents fill into modern new apartments inside the half-century-old sanctuary, they’ll set their dining tables beneath 40-foot arched windows, once filled by colorful stained glass. Their decor will be flanked by the old church’s dark oak panels; some will have the white-painted cinder block walls of former Sunday school classrooms. Someone’s living room will sit roughly in the footprint of the former baptismal pool.

RIPLEY, Miss. (AP) — Authorities say a man who stole a plane and flew it over Mississippi after threatening to crash it into a Walmart store faces charges of grand larceny and terroristic threats. Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka says 29-year-old Cory Wayne Patterson didn't have a pilot's license but had some flight instruction and was an employee of Tupelo Aviation. Patterson could also face federal charges.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is counting down toward a Saturday launch of its new moon rocket, its second attempt in a week. Fuel leaks and a bad engine sensor foiled Monday's try. Managers say they've fixed the leaks and will work around the faulty sensor, in hopes of finally getting the test flight off. Delayed for years, the 322-foot rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials set up emergency distribution centers for handouts of water and hand sanitizer Thursday in the capital city of Jackson, as efforts to restore a flood-impaired, long-troubled water system continued. Jackson’s residents were already under a boil-water order before flooding from the Pearl River exacerbated long-standing problems at one of the city’s two water treatment plants.

Local law enforcement agencies from suburban Southern California to rural North Carolina have been using an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that empowers them to follow people’s movements months back in time. Public records and internal emails obtained by The Associated Press show police have used the database known as “Fog Reveal” to search hundreds of billions of records drawn from 250 million devices.

CASTAIC, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters are battling two California blazes that are raging in rural areas and have prompted evacuations in the midst of a scorching heat wave. Authorities are battling a 4,625-acre blaze that prompted the evacuation of a mobile home park in the Castaic area in northwestern Los Angeles County. Eight firefighters have been treated for heat-related injuries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reports of sexual assaults across the U.S. military jumped by 13% last year, driven by significant increases in the Army and the Navy as bases began to move out of pandemic restrictions and public venues opened back up. U.S. defense and military officials also told The Associated Press that close to 36,000 service members said in a confidential survey that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact. That's a dramatic increase over the roughly 20,000 who said that in a similar 2018 survey.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s state Board of Canvassers has rejected a ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. The state Board of Canvassers denied the initiative Wednesday after its two Republican members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — People are waiting in lines for water in Jackson, Mississippi, after the partial failure of the city water system. Some homes and businesses have running water, but many do not. Flooding of the Pearl River worsened longstanding problems in one of two water-treatment plants.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Atlantic hurricane season has been oddly quiet. There's been a record-tying zero storms formed in August, which normally is the beginning of peak season. What's really strange is that all the major factors for a busy season are there: warm water, low winds and a La Nina. All the experts predicted this would be a more active than normal season, but then nothing happened.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky will receive up to 300 donated travel trailers from Louisiana to shelter people displaced by flooding that ravaged parts of Appalachia. The governors of both states made the announcement Wednesday. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says the first 65 donated trailers are being transported this week to eastern Kentucky. He says more trailers will be sent to the region in phases.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2021, falling by nearly a year from 2020. That's according to a new government report. In the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated American lifespan has shortened by nearly three years. The last comparable decrease happened in the early 1940s, during the height of World War II.

LA PORTE, Texas (AP) — The greatest challenge in recent years for the only surviving battleship that served in both world wars has been a leaky hull that's raised concerns it could sink. Now the foundation in charge of the USS Texas' care is towing it Wednesday from its longtime home along the Houston Ship Channel to a shipyard in Galveston for much-needed repairs.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State governments flush with money are returning billions of dollars to their residents. Already this year, at least 31 states have enacted some form of tax cut or rebate. That's likely to grow when Missouri and Idaho convene special sessions in September to consider tax breaks. The number of states enacting tax breaks is far beyond usual. States have extra money because of surging tax revenue and federal pandemic aid.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s capital city is struggling with multiple water problems — too much on the ground after heavy rainfall in the past week, and not enough safe water coming through the pipes for people to use. Parts of Jackson were without running water Tuesday because flooding worsened problems in one of two water-treatment plants. The city of 150,000 had already been under a boil-water notice for a month because the Health Department found cloudy water that could cause digestive problems.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — There is a limited amount of farmland, so when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last spring prompted worries that people would go hungry as wheat remained stuck in blockaded ports, there was little U.S. farmers could do to meet the new demand. But that may be changing. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture instituted new policies to encourage American farmers to begin growing two crops on one piece of land, one after the other.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities in Bend, Oregon, say an employee who died in a shooting at a Safeway supermarket attacked the gunman in the produce section and tried to disarm him, likely preventing more deaths. The 66-year-old employee, identified as Donald Ray Surrett Jr., was hailed as a hero by police. Surrett and a customer, 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett, were killed Sunday evening and two others were injured.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A member of the San Diego Zoo’s African penguin colony has been fitted with orthopedic footwear to help it deal with a degenerative foot condition. The San Diego Wildlife Alliance says the 4-year-old penguin named Lucas has lesions on his feet due to a chronic condition known as bumblefoot. If left untreated, bumblefoot could lead to sepsis and death by infection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The large fencing that has encircled the U.S. Supreme Court for months has now been removed. The non-scalable fencing was gone Monday morning, leaving only small barricades blocking off the plaza and steps in front of the high court. Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe would say only that the fence came down sometime during the weekend. “The Court as a matter of policy does not discuss security arrangements,” McCabe said in an email.

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — Some Jackson residents are moving belongings out of their homes while others are stocking up on sandbags in anticipation of the Pearl River flooding Mississippi’s capital city. Officials have not implemented a mandatory evacuation order but the city’s mayor urged anyone who could leave to do so immediately. Officials said residents risk fending for themselves if they choose to stay home.

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit police say a tip from someone close to the suspect led to his capture in the random shootings of four people, three fatally. Chief James White also said that the 19-year-old man may have been suffering from mental illness. He said an investigation is still underway into a motive for shootings that erupted early Sunday and fueled anxiety across the city until the man was captured later that evening.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A fuel leak and then an engine problem has forced NASA to scrub the launch of its new moon rocket on a crewless test flight. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket was set to lift off Monday morning with three test dummies aboard on its first flight, a mission to propel a capsule into orbit around the moon.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has told the Justice Department to provide her with more specific information about the classified records removed from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate. In an order on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida says it's her “preliminary intent” to appoint a special master in the case. A special master is often a former judge.

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — There's a new Army program that gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. The program is one way the Army is hoping to fill the ranks as it struggles with recruiting efforts that are expected to fall dramatically short of the goals this year. According to estimates, just 23% of young people age 17 to 24 are physically, mentally and morally qualified to serve without receiving some type of waiver. Moral behavior issues include drug use, gang ties or a criminal record.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday released a partially blacked-out document explaining the justification for an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate this month, when agents removed top secret government records and other classified documents.