North America

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A glimpse of student athletes in peak physical condition vaping just moments after competing in a football game led Stamford High School Principal Raymond Manka to reconsider his approach to the epidemic.

His school traditionally has emphasized discipline for those caught with e-cigarettes. Punishments become increasingly severe with each offense, from in-school suspensions to out-of-school suspensions and, eventually, notification of law enforcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Boastful on the occasion of Memorial Day, President Donald Trump and his Veterans Affairs secretary are claiming full credit for health care improvements that were underway before they took office.

Trump said he passed a private-sector health care program, Veterans Choice, after failed attempts by past presidents for the last “45 years.” That’s not true. The Choice program, which allows veterans to see doctors outside the government-run VA system at taxpayer expense, was first passed in 2014 under President Barack Obama.

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Residents in parts of Arkansas were preparing for what meteorologists on Sunday predicted will be the worst flooding in recorded history along parts of the Arkansas River over the coming week.

The National Weather Service said in the statement that levee “over topping” is likely with “significant impacts to life and property across a very large area.”

The Arkansas River reached 38.2 feet (11.6 meters) on Sunday near Fort Smith, Arkansas, surpassing the historic crest of 38.1 (11.6) feet in April 1945.

EL RENO, Okla. (AP) — A tornado leveled a motel and tore through a mobile home park near Oklahoma City overnight, killing two people and injuring at least 29 others before a second twister raked a suburb of Tulsa more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, authorities said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump held up and read from a sheet of paper in the Rose Garden this past week as he argued he’s been hounded by investigators in the Russia probe for no reason. “Nearly 500 search warrants,” says the page, from an ABC News graphic. “More than 2,500 subpoenas.” And: “19 special counsel lawyers & 40 FBI agents worked the case.”

If that sounds like overkill by the Robert Mueller inquiry, it’s only half the story.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Nearly two decades after the Aryan Nations’ Idaho compound was demolished, far-right extremists are maintaining a presence in the Pacific Northwest.

White nationalism has been on the rise across the U.S., but it has particular resonance along the Idaho-Washington border, where the Aryans espoused hate and violence for years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic leaders in Congress have argued that impeaching President Donald Trump is a political mistake as the 2020 election nears. Most of the candidates running to succeed him seem to agree, for now.

EL RENO, Okla. (AP) — A likely tornado killed at least two people as it destroyed a motel, roared through a nearby mobile home park and caused significant damage in the Oklahoma City area, officials said Sunday.

El Reno Mayor Matt White said during a news conference that “there have been two fatalities at this point in time,” adding that officials are currently working to notify relatives.

White said search and rescue efforts are continuing.

26 May 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump, declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress on Friday to complete the sale of over $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Reuters reports.

The Trump administration informed congressional committees that it will go ahead with 22 military sales to the Saudis, United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

26 May 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump said he is considering pardons for “two or three” US soldiers charged with war crimes, a move he said would be controversial but justified because he said they had been treated “unfairly”, as reported on Reuters.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he has not decided yet on the cases, and said he may wait until after the men accused of the war crimes go through trials before determining whether to pardon them.