Allergy season is here — and it's earlier and stronger than expected. More than 80 million Americans deal with itchy eyes, runny nose and other symptoms of seasonal allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Sentencing has concluded for the six white former officers in Mississippi who pleaded guilty to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing two Black men. High-ranking Former deputy Brett McAlpin, 53, was the fifth former law enforcement officer sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee after pleading guilty to the attack, which involved beatings and repeated uses of stun guns before one of the victims was shot in the mouth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package Thursday that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend and allows Congress, nearly six months into the budget year, to complete its work in funding the government through September.

NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors in Boston announced Thursday they have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-year-old patient. Massachusetts General Hospital said it’s the first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person.

HONOLULU (AP) — Richard C. “Dick” Higgins, one of the few remaining survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died, a family member said Wednesday. He was 102. Higgins died at home in Bend, Oregon, on Tuesday of natural causes, granddaughter Angela Norton said. Higgins was a radioman assigned to a patrol squadron of seaplanes based at the Hawaii naval base when Japanese planes began dropping bombs on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  (KT) – The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research and policy organization, released new data Tuesday demonstrating a spike in overall abortions provided nationwide and a continuing upward trend in the use of medication to terminate pregnancies last year.

WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) — Jamie Roberts and her husband felt lucky when they found an A-frame cabin on forest-draped Wrangell Island in southeast Alaska, where they could settle on a few acres and have some chickens.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Supreme Court decision that lets Texas arrest and deport migrants on charges of illegally entering the country could have a dramatic impact on the U.S.-Mexico border but its immediate effect was muted. Sheriffs and police chiefs who will put the law into effect were largely circumspect about when, where and how migrants may be arrested.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men will be sentenced by a federal judge starting Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Tom Lee will sentence two defendants each day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after twice delaying the proceedings. Each faces the potential of decades behind bars.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday continued to block, for now, a Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. while the legal battle it sparked over immigration authority plays out. A one-page order signed by Justice Samuel Alito indefinitely prevents Texas from enforcing a sweeping state immigration enforcement law that had been set to take effect this month.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Three people were killed and an infant was hospitalized in critical condition after an SUV crashed into a bus shelter in San Francisco, authorities said Sunday. Two victims, including a child, died at the scene of the crash Saturday afternoon in the city's West Portal neighborhood, police said. Three others were taken to hospitals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a busy term that could set standards for free speech in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Monday is taking up a dispute between Republican-led states and the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting three family members in their Philadelphia-area homes Saturday was arrested in New Jersey after evading law enforcement for hours as police mobilized across two states, shutting down a parade and an amusement park and ordering some residents to stay in their homes.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A suspect in the shooting death of a New Mexico state police officer was captured Sunday by law enforcement officers in the Albuquerque area based on a tip from a gas station clerk, authorities said. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office detained 33-year-old Jaremy Smith of Marion, South Carolina, in the southwestern reaches of Albuquerque after the clerk notified authorities of a man who fit Smith's description, Sheriff John Allen said at a brief news conference.

A suspect in the shooting death of a state police officer was captured Sunday by law enforcement officers in the Albuquerque area based on a tip from a gas station clerk, authorities said Sunday at a news conference.

LAKEVIEW, Ohio (AP) — Residents in a swath of the central U.S. hit by deadly tornadoes were cleaning up, assessing damage and helping neighbors on Saturday. But it will be a long recovery from the storms that ripped through parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas.

Several people were shot after gunfire erupted early Saturday in a suburban Philadelphia township, forcing cancellation of a St. Patrick's Day parade and shutting down a children's theme park, authorities said.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. marriages have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels with nearly 2.1 million in 2022. That's a 4% increase from the year before. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the data Friday, but has not released marriage data for last year.

Severe storms with probable tornadoes tore through several central U.S. states, damaging homes and businesses and killing at least three people, with more bodies likely to be discovered, authorities said. As the sun rose Friday, officials scrambled to assess the extent of the destruction with the power out. The three deaths came in Logan County, Ohio, according to the sheriff's office there.

DENVER (AP) — A major storm dumped heavy snow in Colorado on Thursday – forcing flight cancellations and shutting down a highway that connects Denver to Colorado ski resorts for much of the day, stranding some people in their cars for hours.

SpaceX came close to completing an hourlong test flight of its mega rocket on its third try Thursday, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth. The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The first-stage booster also ended up in pieces, breaking apart much earlier in the flight over the Gulf of Mexico after launching from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.

DENVER (AP) — A major storm dumped heavy snow in Colorado on Thursday – forcing flight cancellations and shutting down a highway that connects Denver to Colorado ski resorts. The storm, which began Wednesday night, delivered the slushy, wet snow typical for March, one of the snowiest months in Denver, and wasn't expected to wind down until Friday morning.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, bringing traffic to a standstill along Interstate 70, as storms unleashed possible tornadoes and meteorologists urged residents to stay indoors. There were three unconfirmed reports of tornadoes in Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties with reports of damaged structures, but no reports of injuries or homes damaged, according to meteorologist Matt Wolters with the National Weather Service’s Topeka office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown is visiting U.S. weapon factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas on Thursday as the Pentagon frames the $95 billion aid package hanging in the balance on Capitol Hill as not only vital to Ukraine’s survival but also critical to the U.S. economy.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — For the past five years, Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race has gone off mostly free of controversy, as teams of dogs and their mushers braved the elements in the 1,000-mile test of endurance across the frozen wilderness.