Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys leaned heavily on experts to mount their defense about her 2016 ski collision with a 76-year-old retired optometrist who sued her years later. Her defense team chose to devote their final full day to call witnesses, they questioned four medical experts, who cast doubt on the extent of the injuries claimed by the man suing Paltrow. That man, Terry Sanderson, says that the movie star's recklessness on the slope left him with four broken ribs and years of post-concussion symptoms. Paltrow's defense team is expected to rest their case Thursday and send the decision to the jury.

Hundreds of people have gathered at a candlelight vigil to mourn the three children and three adults slain in a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. The crowd in the city's downtown was largely somber and silent and filled with young people. First lady Jill Biden and Sheryl Crow were among those featured. So were fellow musicians Margo Price and Ketch Secor. Civic leaders were also in the evening's lineup. Mayor John Cooper called Monday's shootings at the private Christian school “our worst day.” Earlier in the day, Pope Francis sent his condolences to the city and offered prayers to those affected.

A judge has ordered the U.S. government to resume regular oil and gas lease sales on federal lands in North Dakota. The order came Monday, even as a legal battle continues over the Biden administration’s decision to suspend leasing two years ago in an effort to combat climate change. North Dakota's attorney general says the canceled lease sales have cost the state over $100 million in revenue each year. A U.S. Department of Justice attorney argued that ordering lease sales before the lawsuit is decided is a “rush to judgment” that could cause increased litigation risk from environmental conservation groups.

A protester arrested for disrupting West Virginia lawmakers as they moved to ban abortion last September will see all charges dropped against her — if she stays out of trouble for the next six months. Lindsey Jacobs, a 38-year-old lawyer, was ordered to perform 25 hours of community service. And at a court hearing Wednesday, the magistrate dismissed two misdemeanor charges for obstructing an officer and willful disruption of governmental processes. Lopez agreed to dismiss a third misdemeanor for disorderly conduct if Jacobs stays out of trouble the next six months. Jacob was arrested the same day West Virginia's Republican governor signed into law a ban on abortion with few exceptions.

Actor Melissa Joan Hart says she helped a class of kindergartners that was fleeing the school shooting in Nashville earlier this week. Hart said in a video posted on Instagram Tuesday that her children attend a school next to the private Christian Covenant School. Hart said she and her husband were headed to her kids’ school conferences Monday when they helped some students get away from the shooting that killed six people. She said they "helped all these tiny little kids cross the road and get their teachers over there, and we helped a mom reunite with her children.”

North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff. The Republican-controlled state House on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto. It’s the legislature’s first veto override since 2018. The GOP-led Senate already voted that way Tuesday. The bill scraps the longstanding requirement that sheriffs perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. Bill supporters say the sheriff screening process is no longer necessary in light of updates to the national background check system. But Gov. Roy Cooper and other opponents say the repeal allows a greater number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales.

Mississippi's Republican-led Senate has voted against confirming longtime educator Robert P. Taylor as state superintendent of education, angering some lawmakers. Some Black Democrats say they believe the rejection Wednesday was at least partly because Taylor is Black and because he wrote years ago about Mississippi's racist history. Taylor graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990. His comments about race came in a 2020 article on the university's Center for Black Studies website. The state education board had announced Taylor as their unanimous choice for superintendent. Taylor told The Associated Press he's disappointed but respects the process. He said senators in the past have confirmed all previous nominees for state superintendent.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has signed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. With the Republican’s approval, West Virginia joins at least 10 other states that have enacted laws restricting treatments for transgender youth. The bill outlaws minors from being prescribed hormone therapy and fully reversible puberty blockers. It also bars minors from receiving gender-affirming surgery, something physicians say doesn’t even happen in West Virginia. Unlike measures in other states, however, West Virginia’s law contains a unique exemption. It permits doctors to prescribe medical therapy if a teenager is considered at risk for self-harm or suicide.

Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World say their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers. The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said at a meeting Wednesday that their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with the company that gave Disney maximum developmental power over Disney World’s 27,000 acres. The supervisors were appointed to the board after the Florida Legislature overhauled Disney’s government in retaliation for the entertainment giant publicly opposing “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

The leader of California’s reparations task force said it won't take a stance on how much the state should compensate individual Black residents. Economists estimated that residents may be owed more than $800 billion for over-policing and housing discrimination. The $800 billion estimate is more than 2.5 times California's annual budget. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation creating the reparations task force in 2020. It has until July 1 to submit recommendations on how the state can atone for its role in perpetuating damage done by slavery. Ultimately, it's up to lawmakers to decide which reparations to approve, if any. Opponents say California taxpayers are not responsible for slavery.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill regulating some of the most personal aspects of life for transgender young people. The bill bans access to gender-affirming health care and restricts the bathrooms they can use. The votes to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto were lopsided on Wednesday. The debate is likely to spill over into this year’s gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky. It could reach the courts if opponents follow through on promises to mount a legal challenge against the bill. Activists on both sides held competing rallies before lawmakers took up the bill.

Police response times to school shootings have come under greater scrutiny in the 10 months since the deadly event in Uvalde, Texas. In that shooting, 70 minutes passed before law enforcement stormed the classroom. On Monday, six people were fatally shot at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Police records show about eight minutes passed from the initial call of an active shooter to when Nashville officers arrived at the school. About 15 minutes after the school doors were shot in, the 28-year-old shooter was taken down. Nashville Police Chief John Drake says he didn't have a “particular problem” with his department's response.

A California lawmaker wants to end a ban on state-funded travel to states with discriminatory LGBTQ laws. State Sen. Toni Atkins said Wednesday she wants to replace the ban with a state-authorized marketing campaign to promote inclusive messaging in those states. California passed a law in 2016 banning state-funded travel to states that discriminate against the LGBTQ community. California now bans state-funded travel to 23 states, including Florida, Texas and Arizona. The law has created issues for academic researchers and college sports teams. The San Diego State University men's basketball team is traveling to the Final Four in Texas. The school says the NCAA is paying for the travel.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s live-streamed trial over a 2016 ski collision at a posh Utah resort has drawn worldwide attention, spawned memes, and sparked debate about the burden and power of celebrity. The first seven days in the courtroom have touched on themes including wealth, fame and skier’s etiquette, and has shined a spotlight on Park City. Attorneys are expected to rest their cases Thursday, sending the decision about 76-year-old retired optometrist Terry Sanderson’s lawsuit to an eight-member jury. Sanderson is suing Paltrow for more than $300,000, claiming the collision left him with four broken ribs and a concussion. She's countersued for a symbolic $1.

Legal experts say a Maryland appellate court ruling that sided with the victim’s family and reinstated Adnan Syed’s murder conviction could have serious implications in Maryland and beyond. While crime victim advocates celebrated their victory, others warned Wednesday that the outcome could have a chilling effect on some criminal justice reform measures, including ongoing efforts to fight wrongful convictions. Syed's protracted legal odyssey garnered international attention through the hit podcast “Serial.” He plans to appeal the ruling, which found the family of victim Hae Min Lee received insufficient notice about the September hearing where a judge granted a request from prosecutors to vacate his conviction and released Syed from custody.

Climate experts say the wildfire season might be delayed in some parts of the Southwestern U.S. because of a deluge of winter moisture. In others, red flag warnings for dry and windy conditions are prompting officials in New Mexico and Arizona to urge caution. New Mexico's governor was flanked Wednesday by the state forester and firefighters during a visit to a state park in the heart of Albuquerque. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pointed out the dry leaves and cottonwood trees surrounding her. She said much of the state is at extreme risk and that everyone must be prepared if they want to prevent a historic season like last year when more than 1 million acres burned.

Oil companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil offered a combined $264 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico in a sale mandated by last year’s climate bill compromise. Wednesday's Department of Interior auction could further test the loyalty of environmentalists and young voters who backed President Joe Biden but were frustrated by this month’s approval of the huge Willow drilling project in northern Alaska. The auction was the first in the Gulf in more than a year and drew interest from industry giants including ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron. Bids were up 38% from the last auction and marked the most offered in a sale since 2017.

Most gig workers in Seattle will be permanently entitled to paid sick leave and safe time under a first-in-the-nation law. The new measure signed by Mayor Bruce Harrell on Wednesday expands protections extended during the coronavirus pandemic and strengthens labor rights for app-based workers. Seattle previously allowed food delivery workers to accrue paid sick and safe time. But that policy was due to expire May 1, six months after the end of the city’s emergency pandemic order. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to make it permanent for “on-demand” gig workers on apps such as DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart. In an emailed statement, Instacart suggested the measure was “misguided.”

The National Women’s Hall of Fame has announced a new group of inductees. Among the honorees are social justice pioneers, groundbreaking physicians and women who have championed Jewish feminist theology and the financial well-being of Native Americans. All will be honored during an induction ceremony in September. Making up the class of 2023 announced Wednesday are scholars and activists Kimberlé Crenshaw, Peggy McIntosh, Judith Plaskow, Loretta Ross and Sandy Stone. Posthumous honors will go to Dr. Patricia Bath, Dr. Anna Wessels Williams and Elouise Pepion Cobell. The National Women's Hall of Fame inducts a new class every other year.

North Dakota schools would be required to show students high-quality video of how a human fetus develops in each week of pregnancy under a bill that Senate lawmakers have approved. The Wednesday vote comes on the heels of the North Dakota Supreme Court’s abortion ruling this month. The ruling decided a state abortion ban will remain blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds. Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal helped introduce the bill. She hopes young people will think twice about getting abortions after seeing the videos. The bill still needs to gain final approval in the House and a signature from the governor to become law.

Twitter says it has removed tweets showing a poster promoting a ‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ protest in support of transgender rights in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety, said in a tweet Wednesday that the company automatically removed more than 5,000 tweets and retweets of a poster promoting the event. In removing the tweets, Twitter said it used automated processes to do it quickly at a large scale, without considering what context the tweets were shard in. Because of this, both tweets that were critical of and those that supported the protests were removed.

Prosecutors have charged seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2020 death of a man who screamed “I can’t breathe” while multiple officers restrained him as they tried to take a blood sample. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced the charges Wednesday in the death of Edward Bronstein. The 38-year-old man was taken into custody by CHP officers on March 31, 2020, following a traffic stop. In addition to the manslaughter charges, the six CHP officers and one sergeant face one felony count each of assault under the color of authority.

The man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” and was freed by Rwanda last week from a terrorism sentence returned Wednesday to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Paul Rusesabagina's arrival back in the U.S. on Twitter. Officials said Rusesabagina was in Doha, Qatar, before arriving in the U.S. The 68-year-old, who saved hundreds of people in the country’s 1994 genocide, was convicted in Rwanda in 2021 of terrorism offenses and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Santa Fe’s district attorney has appointed two veteran New Mexico lawyers to serve as the new special prosecutors in the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin over the fatal “Rust” film set shooting. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced the appointments of Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis on Wednesday. The original special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb, resigned earlier in the wake of missteps in the filing of initial charges against Baldwin and objections that Reeb’s role as a state legislator created conflicting responsibilities. Baldwin and a weapons supervisor, who also faces manslaughter charges, have pleaded not guilty. A weekslong preliminary hearing in May will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

Details from the rich, full lives of the three adults killed Monday at a Nashville elementary school have quickly emerged. But information on the three 9-year-old children who died has been slower to surface from a community buried in grief. The children who died at The Covenant School were Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. Evelyn was described as the Dieckhaus family’s “shining light” on a GoFundMe page. A woman who identified herself as Hallie’s aunt wrote on Facebook that Hallie was “incredibly smart" and “feisty." Another GoFundMe page said William had "an unflappable spirit." The adults who died were Katherine Koonce, the head of the school, Mike Hill, a custodian, and Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher.

West Virginia will no longer allow children and young teens to marry. Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed a compromise bill on Wednesday that bans marriage for those age 15 or younger. Minors age 16 and 17 can still marry, but will now need parental consent. They also can’t marry someone more than four years older than them. Previously, any minor could marry with a judge’s waiver. Some Democrats wanted to eliminate child marriage altogether. Republicans spoke about how they or their parents had married before adulthood, arguing that marriage keeps young families together.

Family, friends and other mourners gathered at a Virginia church to remember Irvo Otieno at a funeral service. Attendees at the Wednesday service celebrated his life and called for mental health care and policing reforms after the 28-year-old Black man’s death earlier this month while in custody at a state psychiatric hospital. Otieno, whose family said he had long struggled with mental illness, died March 6 after he was pinned to the floor by sheriff’s deputies and others while being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County. Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in his death, and an investigation is ongoing.

Weather officials say they’re retiring the names Fiona and Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with those names. The World Meteorological Organization announced Wednesday that Farrah will replace Fiona on the lists, and Idris will replace Ian. Officials say storm names are used to help communicate warnings and to alert people about potentially life-threatening risks. The names are usually repeated every six years unless a storm is so deadly that the name is retired. Since the current storm-naming system was adopted in 1953, 96 names have been retired from the Atlantic basin list.

The countries of the United Nations led by the island nation of Vanuatu adopted what they called a historic resolution Wednesday calling for the U.N.‘s highest court to strengthen countries’ obligations to curb warming and protect communities from climate disaster. The resolution was adopted by consensus and Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau called it “a win for climate justice of epic proportions.” While the opinion isn’t binding, it would encourage states to act on promises made to limit warming.

A cold low pressure system spinning off the coast of California has sent bands of rain and snow across the state. Mountain travel is difficult Wednesday as the storm adds to an epic snowpack. The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the Eastern Sierra says this has been its snowiest season on record, with 695 inches at the main lodge and 870 inches on the summit of the 11,053-foot peak. Forecasters said the storm was not as strong as the systems that pounded the state all winter. But chains have been required for vehicles on highways through the Sierra Nevada, and gusty winds, hail and brief periods of heavy rain have hit the San Francisco Bay Area.

Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz insisted the coffee chain hasn’t broken labor laws and is willing to bargain with unionized workers during an often testy, two-hour appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Schultz was firm in his stance that the Seattle-based company provides good wages and benefits and doesn’t need a union. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and a vocal supporter of Starbucks labor organizers, has sought Schultz’s testimony for months, saying the Starbucks chief has violated workers' rights by opposing unionization. At least 293 of Starbucks' 9,000 company-owned U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late 2021.

The Minneapolis City Council is set to hold a special meeting to discuss a potential settlement in a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights over the city’s policing practices after the murder of George Floyd. City and state officials had been negotiating the agreement since the state agency issued a scathing report last year. The report said the police department had engaged in a pattern of race discrimination for at least a decade. The city and state then agreed to negotiate a court-enforceable agreement known as a consent decree. The city is also awaiting the results of a similarly sweeping federal investigation.

Boeing's first launch of astronauts has been delayed again, this time until July. NASA announced the latest postponement Wednesday, saying more time is needed to certify the Starliner capsule that will blast off with two test pilots. Additional software testing is also underway. Boeing already was running years behind schedule when it had to repeat its test flight without a crew to the International Space Station because of software and other problems. NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting lab. SpaceX launched its seventh NASA crew earlier this month.

Federal safety investigators are looking at a natural gas pipeline for fractures and other damage as they gather evidence on the cause of a deadly explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory. The National Transportation Safety Board opened a probe into Friday’s blast at R.M. Palmer Co., which killed seven, wounded several others and leveled the building in West Reading. An agency spokesman said Wednesday that safety investigators are gathering evidence about the pipeline. The family that owns the factory says the loss of their employees “will be felt forever.” The coroner's office says autopsies preliminarily revealed all seven died of blast injuries.

An official with Xcel Energy says a faulty pipe that allowed water containing a radioactive isotope of hydrogen to leak at a Minnesota nuclear power plant has been repaired and that the plant will return to service in the next week. Meanwhile, a state agency says a fish kill in the Mississippi River near the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant was caused by a water temperature change resulting from the shutdown of the plant, not by any tritium-containing water, which they say has not leaked into the river. Tritium occurs naturally in the environment and is a common by-product of nuclear plant operations. It emits a weak form of beta radiation that does not travel far and cannot penetrate human skin.

Stocks rallied as Wall Street shook off more of the fear that dominated it earlier this month. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% Wednesday for its fourth gain in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.8%. They followed similar gains in other markets around the world. A measure of nervousness among stock investors on Wall Street is back near its lowest levels since early this month, when Silicon Valley Bank became the second-largest U.S. bank failure in history. The S&P 500 is on track to close a tumultuous month with a modest gain.

Rail safety measures proposed after the East Palestine train derailment are closer to becoming law in Ohio. A transportation budget approaching $13.5 billion cleared the Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday with those proposals. The package now heads to GOP Gov. Mike DeWine for final approval. The legislation mostly funds highway and bridge projects over the next two years. One of the included rail safety proposals would require that wayside detectors be installed along railways at shorter intervals to identify problems. The Ohio Railroad Association argues several of the measures are preempted by federal law. But state lawmakers contend they have the authority to create statewide safeguards.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to exclusively use Ohio-based businesses to clean up the site of a fiery train derailment last month in a small town near the Pennsylvania state line. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the announcement Wednesday. Yost said he thought the railroad should hire statewide businesses to do the work, which could take two years to complete. No one was injured in the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine. But concerns over a potential explosion led state and local officials to approve releasing and burning toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars that forced the evacuations of half the village and closed schools for a week.

An academic building at Michigan State University where a gunman fatally shot two students and wounded five others in February will not hold classes or events through next fall. Michigan State says Wednesday on its website that Berkey Hall on the school’s East Lansing campus will remain closed for the rest of this academic year and the start of the 2023-24 school year “to allow time for inclusive conversations about next steps.” The school says it is working to relocate classes tentatively assigned to Berkey Hall. Anthony McRae of nearby Lansing fired shots on Feb. 13 inside a classroom at Berkey. The 43-year-old McRae fired more shots nearby at the landmark MSU Union killing a third student.

Congress is taking another look at creating a new no-fly list for unruly passengers. It's an idea that was floated last year but never got off the ground. On Wednesday, several members of the U.S. Senate and House introduced legislation to let the Transportation Security Administration ban people from flying if they've been convicted or fined for assaulting or interfering with airline crew members. Flight attendant unions say the measure is needed to prevent violent incidents on planes. But civil libertarians oppose a new no-fly list, saying there are already measures in place to address unruly passengers.

This summer's Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans will commemorate the 50th anniversary of hip hop with performances by Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion and Jermaine Dupri. Rap innovator Doug E. Fresh will curate special performances by other soon-to-be announced hip hop pioneers, while Hill will mark the 25th anniversary of her five-time Grammy-winning album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The event also will laud Dupri, a Grammy award-winning producer and founder of the So So Def record label, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.  Also headlining is three-time Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion, whose work includes “Savage” and “Hot Girl Summer.” The four-day festival runs June 30 to July 3.

Longtime Boston civil rights activist Mel King, whose 1983 campaign for mayor helped the city repair some of the racial divisions sparked during the school busing crisis, has died. He was 94. Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged his death. King became the first Black man to reach a general mayoral contest in Boston, facing off against Ray Flynn, who would go on to win. The election was a test for the city, which had undergone years of strife following the court-ordered desegregation of the public schools in the mid-1970s. Instead of reigniting the discord, the race had the opposite effect, being seen as respectful, even friendly at times.

The effort to feed thousands of pounds of lettuce to starving manatees in Florida has officially ended for the winter season, as deaths of the marine mammals appear to be slowing despite the long-term threat of pollution to their main food source, seagrass. State and federal wildlife officials said Wednesday that just under 400,000 pounds of lettuce was provided to hundreds of manatees at a warmwater power plant site along the east coast where they typically gather for the winter. It marked the second year of the experimental feeding program. More than 2,000 manatees have died mostly from starvation from January 2021 through March 10 of this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

An 81-year-old Colorado man accused of killing his wife and daughter with an ax told police he lost his job and was afraid that they would end up homeless. Court documents say Reginald Maclaren told police he didn’t regret killing them because he “knows they are in a better place." Maclaren is being held in jail in Saturday's killings and is scheduled to appear in court next Monday. That's when prosecutors say they plan to file formal charges against him. He is being represented by a lawyer from the state public defender's office. The office doesn't comment on its cases.

Crews were working Wednesday to remove three remaining barges that got loose on the Ohio River, including one carrying methanol. The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet says a total of 10 barges got loose early Tuesday on the river near Louisville. Most were recovered, but the U.S Army Corp of Engineers says three were pinned against the McAlpine Locks and Dam and the locks are closed to traffic until the barges are stabilized. Kentucky officials say one barge was carrying 1,400 tons of methanol and was partially submerged. Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is a colorless liquid that’s flammable and acutely toxic. Louisville Metro Emergency Services told news outlets they're monitoring air and water, but “there is zero evidence of a tank breach or any leaks.”