COLU @ CONCEPTS

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An emerging debate about whether elected officials violate people’s free speech rights by blocking them on social media is spreading across the U.S. as groups sue or warn politicians to stop the practice. The American Civil Liberties Union this week sued Maine Gov. Paul LePage and sent warning letters to Utah’s congressional delegation. It followed recent lawsuits against the governors of Maryland and Kentucky and President Donald Trump. Trump’s frequent and often unorthodox use of Twitter and allegations he blocks people with dissenting views has raised questions about what elected officials can and cannot do on their official social media pages. Politicians at all levels increasingly embrace social media to discuss government business, sometimes at the expense of traditional town halls or in-person meetings. “People turn to social media because they see their elected officials as being available there and they’re hungry for opportunities to express ...

DENVER (AP) — Taylor Swift’s mother and confidante took the witness stand Wednesday, saying she and her daughter’s managers had told the bosses of a disc jockey accused of groping the singer-songwriter that they hoped he would be fired but didn’t ask them to do so. Andrea Swift said during her emotional testimony at a civil trial in federal court in Denver that she had no doubt about what happened during a pre-concert photo op, based on a conversation with her daughter. “She said, ‘Mom, a guy just grabbed my ass.’ ... She was really shaken. She was humiliated,” a tearful Andrea Swift told jurors. Taylor Swift fans waited outside a Denver courthouse on Wednesday for a chance to see the pop star in court in a civil case she has lodged against a DJ accused of groping her. (August 9) Andrea Swift is a co-defendant in the lawsuit filed by David Mueller. Mueller’s attorney, Gabriel McFarland, asked why Swift’s team didn’t contact police. “I did not want this event to d...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Alex Beach played a practice round with Luke Donald, walked off the ninth green and signed autographs. The club pro from New Jersey is savoring every moment of his first PGA Championship. And deservedly so. About a year ago at this time, he was in a hospital. “It took a long time to fight back,” Beach said Wednesday, “but to be here a year and some change later, it feels very special.” So while Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and the rest of golf’s glamour names likely will dominate the headlines later in the week, the eve of the season’s final major championship belonged to Beach and the 19 other club professionals who scratched their way into the field at Quail Hollow. “It’s kind of the underdog story. I think everyone likes that,” Beach said. “The PGA is such a great brand, and they do a lot for the game, and a lot of these guys wouldn’t be where they are without a PGA professional, and I’m no different. “We all had mentors growing up, and peopl...

HONOLULU (AP) — The small U.S. territory of Guam has become a focal point after North Korea’s army threatened to use ballistic missiles to create an “enveloping fire” around the island. The exclamation came after President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Here’s a look at the U.S. military’s role on the island, which became a U.S. territory in 1898. ___ WHAT INSTALLATIONS ARE ON GUAM AND HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE THEY? There are two major bases on Guam: Andersen Air Force Base in the north and Naval Base Guam in the south. They are both managed under Joint Base Marianas. The tourist district of Tumon, home to many of Guam’s hotels and resorts, is in between. The naval base dates to 1898, when the U.S. took over Guam from Spain after the Spanish-American War. The air base was built in 1944, when the U.S. was preparing to send bombers to Japan during World War II. Today, Naval Base Guam is the home port for four nuclear-powered fast...

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — The tiny U.S. territory of Guam feels a strong sense of patriotism and confidence in the American military, which has an enormous presence on the Pacific island. But residents are increasingly worried over Washington’s escalating war of words with North Korea. The people of Guam woke up Thursday to another pointed threat from Pyongyang, which vowed to complete a plan to attack waters near the island by mid-August — adding a timeline to a threat from a day earlier that North Korea would create an “enveloping fire” around Guam. The people of Guam woke up on Thursday to another pointed threat from Pyongyang, which vowed to complete a plan to attack waters near the island by mid-August. Guam is a US territory, and its residents are US citizens. (Aug. 10) Like other U.S. territories, Guam has a sometimes complicated relationship with the U.S. mainland but many across the island say despite the threats and concerns they feel reassured and protected by th...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A group that represents farmers is calling the costs of saving imperiled salmon in the largest river system in the Pacific Northwest unsustainable and is turning to the Trump administration to sidestep endangered species laws. The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association wants the government to convene a Cabinet-level committee with the power to allow exemptions to the Endangered Species Act. Known as the “God squad” because its decisions can lead to extinctions of threatened wildlife, it has only gathered three times — the last 25 years ago during a controversy over spotted owl habitat in the Northwest. The irrigators association is frustrated with court rulings it says favor fish over people, claiming the committee could end years of legal challenges over U.S. dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and bring stability for irrigators, power generators and other businesses that rely on the water. Environmental groups call the request a publicity stunt a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two-year-old U.S. diplomatic relationship with Cuba was roiled Wednesday by what U.S. officials say was a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device. In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case. Several of the diplomats were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of former President Barack Obama’s reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. Some of the diplomats’ symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States, officials said. After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. I...