All the details of Anne Heche's fatal crash, the aftermath of the Mar-a-Lago search, and more of this week's top news

SANDUSKY, Ohio — Cedar Point has a long list of guidelines for people who go on the amusement park’s many rides. Refraining from sexual intercourse while on the ride would seem to be a given.

Apparently not. A man and woman, both 32 years old, were arrested Sunday on charges of public indecency after witnesses say they saw the couple having sex while on the Giant Wheel, the park’s 145-foot tall Ferris wheel.

Sandusky police were called to the park just after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a police report. Four females, including two juveniles, told police they saw the couple having sex in the one of the ride’s cabins above them.

The couple initially denied they had sex during the ride, with the woman, a resident of Miamisburg, Ohio, telling police she was wearing shorts under her dress and that she had dropped a pack of cigarettes. She said she had bent over to pick up the pack and that her boyfriend had helped her.

However, the witnesses told police that it was clear the couple were partially nude and were engaging in sex. They also said the couple knew the females could see them but laughed and did not stop. One of the witnesses told police she was “shaken” by the incident and called it “traumatizing,” according to the police report.

Despite the witnesses, the male suspect, of Ruskin, Florida, continued to deny the couple had engaged in sex. After being told two of the witnesses were juvenile girls, the couple admitted to having intercourse on the ride and were arrested, the report says.

Both the man and woman appeared Monday in Sandusky Municipal Court and posted bond, according to court records. The public indecency charges are first-degree misdemeanors.

The 5 scariest roller coaster drops around the world

The big drop

Roller coaster fans savor every second of the ride, but there's something really special about that big drop.

Advances in technology, design and engineering over the decades have allowed amusement parks to offer ever taller, faster and steeper coasters (with loops and other kinds of inversions as well). These big hills are getting ever more thrilling and frightening -- and that's really the point, isn't it?

People will travel hundreds and thousands of miles to get their coaster fix, so you need to select a ride that delivers.

So what makes for a memorable, scary drop on a coaster?

"For me, it's the height and steepness of the drops," says roller coaster fan Patrick Lindich, who has had his own YouTube channel, CoasterFanatics, since 2016. "Standing on ground level looking up at those giant lift hills almost touching the clouds -- what's more impressive than that?

"The surrounding environment around the drop has a lot to do with it as well. Anything from tall trees to a lake or river around the drop. It all adds to the experience and makes the drop even more thrilling and scary."

Just in time for National Roller Coaster Day (Friday, August 16) in the US, here are five roller coasters around the world with some of the scariest, most impressive drops you'll find. Lindich also makes some suggestions of other thrilling coasters that didn't make the Top 5 but still provide excitement overload.

Some of these coasters are fairly new arrivals to the scene while others are older favorites that have stood the test of time:

Takabisha

Location: Fuji-Q Highland park; Fujiyoshida, Japan

Year it opened: 2011

Highest point: 43 meters (141 feet)

Length of drop hill with 121 degree angle: 43 meters (141 feet)

Top speed: 100km/h (62 mph)

Length of the entire ride: 1004 meters (3,294 feet)

One interesting feature of Takabisha is its most amazing drop comes not at the start of the ride but in the middle. And its drop isn't just steep or straight down. It comes at 121 degree angle.

"Although I haven't been on this one yet, it is definitely a bucket list coaster for me," says Lindich.

"The drop on these beyond-vertical drop coasters is hard to explain. You kind of feel like you will get ejected out of your seat as you go beyond vertical during your descent. It's funny because it just feels so wrong but so right at the same time. Very unique and unforgettable drop for sure."

Bonus on clear days: A gorgeous view of Mount Fuji.

Millennium Force

Location: Cedar Point; Sandusky, Ohio

Year it opened: 2000

Highest point: 310 feet (95 meters)

Length of drop hill: 300 feet (91 meter) with an 80-degree angle

Top speed: 93 mph (150kph)

Length of the entire ride: 6,595 feet (2,010 meters). That's a mile and quarter long.

Along with its oh-so-high first hill, the stunning view of Lake Erie helps set long-time favorite Millennium Force apart.

"Millennium is currently my favorite steel coaster and has a very memorable drop," Lindich says.

"Many people say that they can see Canada on the other side of Lake Erie from the top of this massive hill. The best part is that the hill is right next to the lake.

"As the train dives down, it gives you the illusion that you will drop right into the lake. ... It is truly one of my favorite drops on any roller coaster I've ever experienced. This ride has been ranked in the Top 5 steel coasters in the world since its opening in 2000 and is no doubt a must ride!"

SheiKra

Location: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay; Tampa, Florida

Year it opened: 2005

Highest point: 200 feet (61 meters)

Length of drop hill: 150 feet (46 meters) at 90 degrees

Top speed: Up to 70 mph (113 kph)

Length of the entire ride: 3,188 feet (972 meters) — more than half a mile.

Emerging from the humid grounds of Gulf Coast Florida, this dive coaster engineered by Bolliger & Mabillard does well on the fear factor.

"The seats give a very open feeling and are floorless, which allow your feet to dangle," Lindich says. "Once you crest the lift hill, the train slowly starts to creep forward with the use of its holding brake. The train then stops for a few seconds forcing the riders in front to look straight down. This is often the time you hear people scream like crazy."

Lindich says you get a fantastic view of the park as well as the trees and the walkway below.

"The brake releases and the train dives straight down past all the trees and right next to the walkway and station. ... Overall, one of the best drops in the world for sure."

Wildfire

Location: Kolmården Wildlife Park; Kolmården, Sweden

Year it opened: 2016

Highest point: 57 meters (187 feet)

Length of drop hill: 49 meters (160 feet)

Top speed: 115 kph (71 mph)

Length of the entire ride: 1,265 meters (4,150 feet)

Wildfire is the only wooden coaster in our Top 5 list. It has quite the view at the top and enough time up there to take in the scenery while building anticipation for what's to come. Its hair-raising plunge, taking riders underneath other parts of the track, makes it particularly memorable.

Lindich says it's extremely high on his bucket list.

"I have been on similar coasters by the same company such as Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City and Lightning Rod at Dollywood. They all offer a nice little pop of airtime at the top and give great views of the surrounding forest areas," Lindich says. "I would imagine Wildfire is just like the coasters I mentioned, which are fast, intense and unforgettable."

Yukon Striker

Location: Canada's Wonderland; Vaughan, Ontario

Year it opened: 2019

Highest point: 68 meters (223 feet)

Length of drop hill: 75 meters (245 feet). Coaster goes 90 degrees into underwater tunnel

Top speed: 129 kph (80 mph)

Length of the entire ride: 1,105 meters (3,625 feet)

This dive coaster's claim to fame is a straight drop that goes right into an underground tunnel surrounded by water.

Another cool feature that Lindich notes: "There is even another coaster at the bottom that wraps around the tunnel called Vortex.

"This ride offers excellent views of the park and the ground below during its drop. ... It looks to be the best drop out of all the dive coasters built so far."

Other great hills 'n' thrills

Any scariest/best of roller coaster list is going to leave out some truly fantastic rides. Lindich has some other favorites he suggests:

— Phantom's Revenge (Kennywood; West Mifflin, Pennsylvania). "The second drop on this amazing coaster dives right into a valley and directly underneath another coaster called Thunderbolt at the bottom. This drop is like no other in the world."

— Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point; Sandusky, Ohio). "This coaster is such an adrenaline rush. I love putting my hands in the air going through the spiral as the train dives down."

— Iron Rattler (Six Flags Fiesta Texas; San Antonio). "This ride has a massive lift hill that dives right off a quarry wall for a truly unforgettable experience."

— The Beast (Kings Island; Mason, Ohio). "This one is underrated. The second drop ... gradually banks to the left and then enters into a massive double helix that is surrounded by tunnels at the bottom. This coaster is legendary, and this drop is my favorite part."

— Time Traveler (Silver Dollar City; near Branson, Missouri). "I love this drop because it has spinning trains that drop you straight down out of the station backwards. There is nothing else like it here in the U.S., and it makes me laugh like a little kid again every time I ride it."

___

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Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53.

Here are some photos from her life and career:

Photos: Anne Heche through the years

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anne Heche is on life support after suffering a brain injury in a fiery crash a week ago and her survival isn't expected, according to a statement from a representative.

The actor, who is in a coma and in critical condition, is being kept on life support for possible organ donation, according to the statement released Thursday night on behalf of her family and friends.

See photos of Anne Heche through the years at the end of this story

Heche, who's been hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital north of Los Angeles, suffered a "severe anoxic brain injury," the statement said. Such an injury is caused by a sustained lack of oxygen to the brain.

"She is not expected to survive," the statement said. "It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable."

On the morning of Aug. 5, Heche's car smashed into a house in a neighborhood in west Los Angeles and a fire erupted with the car embedded inside the home.

Earlier Thursday, police said they were investigating Heche for driving under the influence. Detectives with a search warrant took a sample of her blood and found narcotics in her system, LAPD spokesperson Officer Jeff Lee said.

Toxicology tests, which can take weeks to complete, must be performed to identify the drugs more clearly and to differentiate them from any medication she may have been given for treatment at the hospital.

Evidence is still being gathered from the crash, police said, and they would present a case to prosecutors if it is warranted when the investigation is complete.

A representative for Heche declined comment on the investigation.

On Tuesday, Heche spokesperson Heather Duffy Boylston said she had been in a coma since after the accident, with burns that required surgery and lung injuries that required the use of a ventilator to breathe.

"Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work — especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love," Thursday's statement said. "She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light."

Heche, 53, was among the most prominent film stars in Hollywood in the late 1990s, playing opposite actors including Johnny Depp ("Donnie Brasco") and Harrison Ford ("Six Days, Seven Nights"). In a 2001 memoir, she discussed her lifelong struggles with mental health.

She recently had recurring roles on the network TV series "Chicago P.D." and "All Rise," and in 2020 was a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars."

Photos: Anne Heche through the years

The FBI recovered documents that were labeled “top secret” from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also “sensitive compartmented information,” a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause “exceptionally grave” damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a “leatherbound box of documents,” and information about the “President of France.” A binder of photos, a handwritten note, “miscellaneous secret documents” and “miscellaneous confidential documents” were also seized in the search.

Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts — one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were “all declassified,” and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbent's powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump’s home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department moved forward with the warrant simply as a means to retrieve the records or as part of a wider criminal investigation. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information, with both criminal and civil penalties, as well as presidential records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant, unsealed the warrant and property receipt Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was “substantial public interest in this matter,” and Trump said he backed the warrant’s “immediate” release. The Justice Department told the judge Friday afternoon that Trump’s lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.”

Take a look at the Mar-a-Lago search documents here:

Photos taken at the scene of the fatal helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were shared by a Los Angeles County firefighter during the cocktail hour at an awards ceremony a month after the crash, according to witness testimony.

On Wednesday, the trial was launched for a federal civil lawsuit filed by Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant, which claims that photos from the January 2020 crash were shared by county fire and sheriff's department employees in settings irrelevant to the investigation, including at a bar.

Former emergency medical technician and wife of a Los Angeles firefighter, Luella Weireter, testified in court on Friday that during the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California's Golden Mike awards in February 2020, she saw LA County firefighter Tony Imbrenda share photos of Bryant's remains and other images from the crash site with ceremony attendees.

Many firefighters attended the media event, which was also honoring fire department public information officers for their work informing the public about wildfires.

After a small group of people at her table convened to look at images on a cell phone, in what Weireter characterized as being like a party trick, she testified about seeing one firefighter break away from the group, saying, "I can't believe I just looked at Kobe's burnt up body, and now I'm about to eat."

After that comment, Vanessa Bryant could be seen in the courtroom with her head in her hands, rocking back and forth, crying.

Weireter is the cousin of Keri Altobelli, who, along with her husband John and daughter Alyssa, also perished in the helicopter crash.

About two weeks after the awards ceremony, Weireter drove to a county fire station in Malibu and filed an official complaint with a battalion chief, she testified. That same day, the LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone called her to follow up.

Also Friday, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Deputy Doug Johnson testified that he was instructed to document "the entire scene," including taking photos of human remains.

Johnson, who was the first of two deputies to arrive at the crash scene, said he took about 25 photos at the site on his personal cell phone because he was not issued a work phone, and about one-third of the images contained human remains.

Photos shown to the courtroom were graphic in nature, depicting severed limbs and deceased children.

Johnson said it is a common practice to text close-up photos of dead bodies to other deputies, and he had received numerous similar photos throughout his career without ever being disciplined.

"I know I didn't do anything wrong," he testified, adding that he does not regret what he did and wouldn't have done anything differently.

He sent the photos to the command post and airdropped them to a fire department "supervisor" he was unable to identify. This person has not been identified by anyone else in the court up to this point, leading the plaintiff attorney to suggest the photos could still be accessible somewhere.

Johnson said he deleted the photos he took the night of the crash once he got home as well as the text thread with a deputy at the command post with whom he had shared the photos.

Vanessa Bryant was not present for Johnson's testimony.

Photos: Statue of Kobe, Gianna Bryant placed at site of crash

Bartender describes seeing photos

On Thursday afternoon, Vanessa Bryant walked out of court during testimony that described photos taken at the scene of the crash. She became emotional when Victor Gutierrez, a bartender, was asked if he had seen the body of her daughter, Gianna Bryant, in the images. Gutierrez had been describing what he saw in the photos shown by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy at a bar on a prior date.

Vanessa Bryant cried, stood up and her attorney asked the presiding judge permission for her to leave the courtroom.

Bryant did not return for the remainder of Gutierrez's testimony, which continued with a series of surveillance clips from the bar he was working at on Jan. 28, 2020 — two days after the crash and a month before the awards ceremony. Gutierrez described wincing at the photos and then admitted to telling the condition of the victims' bodies to five sets of people.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks and witnesses will likely include Vanessa Bryant and LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The suit, which was filed in September 2020, seeks undisclosed damages and claims civil rights violations, negligence, emotional distress and violation of privacy.

A jury of six women and four men was selected for the case. They include a nun, someone who works in TV production for NBC Universal, a college student, a real estate investor, a pharmaceutical researcher, a computer science professor and a restaurant host.

___

Photos: Remembering Kobe Bryant, 1978-2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 50 years after Sacheen Littlefeather stood on the Academy Awards stage on behalf of Marlon Brando to speak about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences apologized to her for the abuse she endured.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Monday said that it will host Littlefeather, now 75, for an evening of "conversation, healing and celebration" on Sept. 17.

When Brando won best actor for "The Godfather," Littlefeather, wearing buckskin dress and moccasins, took the stage, becoming the first Native American woman ever to do so at the Academy Awards. In a 60-second speech, she explained that Brando could not accept the award due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry."

Some in the audience booed her. John Wayne, who was backstage at the time, was reportedly furious. The 1973 Oscars were held during t he American Indian Movement's two-month occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota. In the years since, Littlefeather has said she's been mocked, discriminated against and personally attacked for her brief Academy Awards appearance.

In making the announcement, the Academy Museum shared a letter sent June 18 to Littlefeather by David Rubin, academy president, about the iconic Oscar moment. Rubin called Littlefeather's speech "a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity."

"The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified," wrote Rubin. "The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration."

Littlefeather, in a statement, said it is "profoundly heartening to see how much has changed since I did not accept the Academy Award 50 years ago."

"Regarding the Academy's apology to me, we Indians are very patient people — it's only been 50 years!" said Littlefeather. "We need to keep our sense of humor about this at all times. It's our method of survival."

At the Academy Museum event in Los Angeles, Littlefeather will sit for a conversation with producer Bird Runningwater, co-chair of the academy's Indigenous Alliance.

In a podcast earlier this year with Jacqueline Stewart, a film scholar and director of the Academy Museum, Littlefeather reflected on what compelled her to speak out in 1973.

"I felt that there should be Native people, Black people, Asian people, Chicano people — I felt there should be an inclusion of everyone," said Littlefeather. "A rainbow of people that should be involved in creating their own image."

BERWICK, Pa. (AP) — One person was killed and another 17 people injured when a vehicle struck a crowd gathered at a Pennsylvania bar for a fundraiser for victims of a house fire that killed 10 earlier this month; the man police say was the driver was arrested shortly afterward in the beating death of his mother nearby.

The crash occurred at about 6:15 p.m. Saturday outside the Intoxicology Department bar in Berwick, which had been scheduled to hold an all-day fundraising event to benefit victims of the Aug. 5 blaze, that killed seven adults and three children in Nescopeck.

Pennsylvania State Police identified the driver as 24-year-old Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes of Nescopeck. He was arraigned early Sunday morning on two counts of criminal homicide.

Shortly after the crash was reported, troopers were called about a man “physically assaulting" a woman less than a mile away in Nescopeck. Troopers arrived to find that Sura Reyes had been arrested by local police and a woman was dead.

Read more about the story here:

The polio virus has been found in New York City sewage, but officials are stressing that the highest risk is for people who haven't been vaccinated.

Polio was once one of the nation's most feared diseases, with annual outbreaks causing thousands of cases of paralysis. Its elimination in the U.S., officially declared in 1979, is considered one of the nation's greatest public health victories. Yet cases have cropped up occasionally since then, often among people who had traveled to other countries.

Recently, an unvaccinated young adult north of New York City contracted polio. On Friday, health officials in the nation's largest city said they had found the virus in wastewater samples, suggesting it was spreading among the unvaccinated.

Here are some details on polio and the vaccine:

HOW DOES POLIO SPREAD?

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

AREN'T MOST AMERICANS VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO?

IF I AM VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO, DO I NEED TO DO ANYTHING?

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AM UNVACCINATED?

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Trump pleads the Fifth, everything you need to know about the Brittney Griner trial, and more of the week's top news

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The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it ran off the road and collided with a residence, authorities said.

Jeff Bohnert had all but given up on seeing his poodle-hound mix again after she went missing in early June. Two months later, he got a text from a neighbor: People exploring a nearby cave found a dog. Could it be Abby?

Bohnert doubted it, but still curious, he went to the cave site near his rural Missouri home. That's when he saw the picture one of the rescuers took.

"I said, 'that's my dog,'" Bohnert recalled Monday.

Making Abby's tale even more amazing is the fact that she's just weeks shy of turning 14. Yet somehow, she managed to survive nearly 60 days out on her own, apparently much or all of it in a barren, pitch-dark, 58-degree Fahrenheit (14-degree Celsius) cave.

Abby and Bohnert's other dog, Summer, do everything together, including misbehave.

On June 9, the pair ran away from home, Bohnert recalled. It had happened before, and in the rural area near Perryville in eastern Missouri, it was generally no big deal. The dogs would scamper through the fields, maybe chase something, then head home.

When Bohnert awoke the next morning, Summer was back home but Abby was not.

"They never separate," he said. "I figured something bad had happened. I mean, she's old. She could just get overcome by the heat."

Bohnert posted about his missing dog on Facebook, reached out to neighbors and contacted police, but no one had seen Abby.

On Aug. 6, Gerry Keene and five other adults, along with five children, had just entered the Berome Moore Cave, planning a day of exploring. One of the kids ran ahead of the group and yelled back to his dad, "There's a dog in here."

"Their dad was like, no there's not," Keene said.

Yes, there was.

"She was just lying there curled up in a ball," Keene recalled. "She lifted her head and looked at us but she didn't respond to verbal commands. She looked like she was pretty close to being done."

Keene enlisted the help of another caver who happened to be there, Rick Haley. They knew Abby couldn't make the estimated 500-foot walk back to the entrance, especially since it was through tight passageways and up a steep incline.

Haley was trained in cave rescues, and he retrieved a duffel bag and a blanket from his truck. They put the blanket inside the bag, then the dog, who immediately took to the warm blanket after weeks laying in the cold mud.

Still, getting Abby out was tricky given her fragility.

"It was critical that we not give her any rough handling," Haley said. In the rocky areas through small passageways, "We would carry her short distance, set her down, then kind of move in front of her, reach back, pick her up, and put her in front of us." He described it as "kind of a leap-frog kind of thing."

Soon after initially finding Abby, Keene briefly went to a few homes nearby to see if anyone was missing a dog. One neighbor reached out to Bohnert, who lives close enough to the cave site that he can see it from his home.

He went there assuming it couldn't be Abby — how could a 13-year-old dog have survived such an ordeal?

To his amazement, she did, and roughly an hour-and-a-half after the rescue began, she was out. One of the rescuers gave Abby a bite of beef.

"She almost ate his finger off," Keene said. Almost immediately, she began to perk up.

Bohnert figures Abby ended up in the cave after falling into a sinkhole or a hidden entrance. Haley said there were paw prints everywhere, indicating she initially tried to get out.

After that, Haley and Bohnert believe she hunkered down, able to essentially live off her own body fat.

"I think she was just in a preservation mode," Bohnert said.

Abby normally weighs about 50 pounds (23 kilograms), Bohnert said, but he guessed she lost half her body weight in the cave. Since her rescue, she has regained weight and started to get back the voice she likely lost barking for help.

She's also wagging her tail again, showing she's putting the trauma behind her.

"It's amazing how she's springing back already," Bohnert said. "She's acting like herself again."

Dog breeds with the most timeless popularity

Dog breeds that are consistently popularity

#35. Chow chows

#34. Brittanys

#33. Newfoundlands

#32. West Highland White Terriers

#31. Pugs

#30. Siberian Huskies

#29. Irish setters

#28. Airedale terriers

#27. Chesapeake Bay Retrievers

#26. Saint Bernards

#25. Dalmatians

#24. Yorkshire terriers

#23. Basset hounds

#22. Scottish terriers

#21. Pembroke Welsh corgis

#20. Shetland sheepdogs

#19. Chihuahuas

#18. Miniature schnauzers

#17. French bulldogs

#16. German shorthaired pointers

#15. Golden retrievers

#14. Collies

#13. Pomeranians

#12. English Springer Spaniels

#11. Great Danes

#10. Doberman pinschers

#9. Boxers

#8. Cocker spaniels

#7. Labrador Retrievers

#6. Poodles

#5. Boston terriers

#4. German shepherds

#3. Bulldogs

#2. Dachshunds

#1. Beagles

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's top public health agency relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others.

The changes, which come more than 2 1/2 years after the start of the pandemic, are driven by a recognition that an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, agency officials said.

“The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years,” said the CDC's Greta Massetti, an author of the guidelines.

Many places around the country long ago abandoned social distancing and other once-common precautions, but some of the changes could be particularly important for schools, which resume classes this month in many parts of the country.

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Officials in a school district near Fort Worth, Texas, have directed school staff and librarians to temporarily remove books that have been challenged through the district's formal complaint process in the past school year, including the Bible and an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank's diary.

The Keller Independent School District Board of Trustees adopted policies last week that set new standards for how books and other instructional materials are chosen for schools, including putting books up for 30 days of public review before they are purchased by libraries and removing challenged materials from shelves while they are being reviewed.

"Right now, Keller ISD's administration is asking our campus staff and librarians to review books that were challenged last year to determine if they meet the requirements of the new policy," the school district said in a statement after an email sent to principals about the policy was obtained by the Texas Tribune newspaper.

"All of the books included in Tuesday's email have been included on Keller ISD's Book Challenge list over the past year. Books that meet the new guidelines will be returned to the libraries as soon as it is confirmed they comply with the new policy," the statement said.

NYC library: Youths read banned books online free

The Keller school district allows parents, employees and district residents to file formal objections, or challenges, to books and instructional materials used in schools. A committee then considers whether the materials are educationally suitable and makes a decision on whether the material will remain in schools, the district website says.

The group may also decide to limit use of the materials to particular grade levels or students who get parental permission.

Books that were challenged in the past year include some that explore LGBTQ experiences, such as "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson, which the committee decided to keep in high schools, and "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe, which was removed from the district's campuses, according to the district website. Toni Morrison's novel "The Bluest Eye" was also challenged and kept by the committee.

The new library and educational materials policies were approved unanimously by the board on August 8. The decision came as discussions over school library books and curriculum have become key issues across the country. An April analysis from PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization, found 1,586 books were banned in 86 school districts across 26 states from July 31, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Texas led the country with the most book bans at 713, the analysis found, followed by Pennsylvania and Florida.

"We are very pleased that our new unwoke school board has made these changes," one speaker said during the public comment portion of the August 8 Keller school board meeting. "This is just the beginning, I hope."

Wednesday is the first day back to school for the district.

Here are the top 10 books people wanted removed from schools and libraries in 2020

10. "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

9. "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

8. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

7. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

6. "Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice" by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin

5. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie

4. "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

3. "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

2. "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

1. "George" by Alex Gino

Attorney General Merrick Garland will make his first public statement Thursday since federal agents searched former President Donald Trump's Florida home at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The statement comes after days of silence from the Justice Department with regard to the search, as is the department's normal practice for ongoing investigations.

The topic of the statement was not given in the Justice Department's announcement.

This story is breaking and will be updated here:

Merrick Garland to speak on unprecedented search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

Attorney General Merrick Garland will make his first public statement Thursday since federal…