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An Idaho lawmaker facing rape allegations from a 19-year-old intern refused to answer some questions during a legislative ethics hearing Wednesday after his attorney told him to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger’s ethics hearing is expected to last one day. The investigation into von Ehlinger’s conduct began in March after the intern told a supervisor that von Ehlinger raped her at his apartment after the two had dinner at a restaurant. The Boise Police Department is investigating. Von Ehlinger has denied the allegations and maintains the sexual activity was consensual.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther has asked the Department of Justice for an investigation into the city’s police department following a series of police killings of Black people. The Democratic mayor says while the city is committed to reform and has already established a number of “significant” changes in the past few years, it is not enough. Wednesday's request said a culture change is needed inside the police department. The Justice Department recently announced it’s opening probes into policing in Louisville, Kentucky, over the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, and in Minneapolis following last year’s death of George Floyd. 

Atlanta’s two biggest outdoor pro sports stadiums will both allow 100% capacity at events beginning next month. The Braves say they will return to normal capacity at 41,084-seat Truist Park beginning May 7, when they face the Philadelphia Phillies to begin their third homestand of the season. They'll join the Texas Rangers, who opened the season at 100%. Officials also say Mercedes-Benz Stadium will return to 100% capacity beginning May 15 when Atlanta United hosts a Major League Soccer match against CF Montreal. Mercedes-Benz Stadium can hold more than 70,000 fans. Face coverings will continue to be required at both stadiums. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Joe Biden's first joint address to Congress (all times local): 5:30 p.m. The White House says President Joe Biden's speech to Congress will call on lawmakers to lower prescription drug costs by acting…

Return To Normalcy! That’s not exactly the slogan for the NFL draft being staged Thursday through Saturday in Cleveland. It’s more at the top of the league’s wish list as it allows some prospects and fans to attend the festivities — yes, there are those going on by the shores of Lake Erie. Sure the draft is the NFL’s most popular event other than the Super Bowl and opening day. And it being held virtually in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic was a most emphatic sign that very little would be normal for pro football last year. The league is taking a more optimistic approach this week.

Federal authorities have released videos showing Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick being attacked with a chemical spray as the pro-Trump mob descended on the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. The videos were released Wednesday after media outlets, including The Associated Press, went to court to demand that they be made available to the press. Sicknick died after defending the Capitol. The Washington medical examiner’s office found that Sicknick suffered a stroke and died from natural causes. The release of the video comes as the two men charged in the assault on Sicknick and other officers are fighting to be released from jail.

A man has used a sledgehammer to smash the face of a Virgin of Guadalupe mural painted on tiles at a Los Angeles church. The man was recorded on security camera video during the attack at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church in the city's Van Nuys neighborhood last week. A church website statement calls the vandalism that happened before dawn on April 21st one of the parish's saddest moments. The Virgin of Guadelupe is considered central to Mexican identity and is widely worshipped as the patron saint of the Americas. The parish is seeking donations to restore the 35-year-old mural and install a plexiglass casing for protection.

Drew Lock now has some serious competition for his starting quarterback job in Denver. The Broncos' new general manager George Paton acquired veteran QB Teddy Bridgewater from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Paton has said since he succeeded John Elway that he wanted to bring in competition for Lock, who is 8-10 in his two years Denver's starter. Paton might also draft a quarterback in the first round Thursday night. The Broncos own the ninth overall pick and have had their eyes on several of the quarterbacks in this draft class.

BERLIN (AP) — More than half of Europe's population should have received the coronavirus vaccine in the next two months, allowing governments to consider easing lockdown rules for those who've been immunized, the head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech said…

The 2020 census is shifting the clout of some states in presidential politics. And while the changes won’t upend the parties' basic strategies for securing the votes needed to win the White House, they do hint at new paths emerging. New population counts announced this week will result in 13 states seeing a change in their number of votes in the Electoral College. Rust Belt and upper Midwestern states will hand some of their votes to Sun Belt and Western states in 2024 and 2028. Gone are the days when Republicans held a near-absolute advantage across the southern half of the country, forcing Democrats to secure victories throughout the industrial north. Instead, the two regions are now parallel battlegrounds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations featured two African American nominees for appeals court openings, giving Democrats an early chance to promote racial diversity on the bench and provide a contrast to the…

The National Women's Hockey League is doubling its salary cap to $300,000 for each of its six teams. At the same time, Boston Pride chairman Miles Arnone says the league is putting off adding an expansion franchise in Montreal until the 2022-23 season because of continuing uncertainties due to the coronavirus pandemic. Arnone has a stake in the BTM ownership group behind the Montreal expansion bid and operates the Toronto Six. The dramatic increase of the salary cap is based on league projections indicating that the NWHL is making strides in achieving financial stability entering its seventh season. The move comes after a year in which the league was restricted to playing a two-week season, which was disrupted further by an outbreak of COVID-19.

BUCHAREST (AP) — Moldova’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday canceled a state of emergency introduced to combat COVID-19 infections, enabling President Maia Sandu to dissolve parliament and call for an early election on July 11. “Through this decision we have paved…

NEW YORK (AP) — After massive U.S. government spending helped send the stock market back to record heights, with even more potentially on the way, the bill may be coming due for the nation's wealthiest investors. President Joe Biden is…

A member of the jury that convicted Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd says the deliberations were straightforward but could have been over sooner. Jurors took little more than a day to find the former Minneapolis police officer guilty last week. In a series of TV interviews Wednesday, Brandon Mitchell said there were some “hiccups” with “terminology and understanding” during deliberations but that for the most part there wasn't too much back and forth. Mitchell says he most convinced by the testimony of Dr. Martin Tobin, an expert medical witness, who broke down the science so that everyone could understand.

PARIS (AP) — Seven Italians convicted of left-wing domestic terrorist crimes in the 1970s and 1980s, including several former members of the Red Brigades, were arrested at their homes in France on Wednesday, the French presidency said, a development Italy…