By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press Road conditions were deteriorating Saturday in the central U.S. as a winter storm brought a mix of snow, ice and plunging temperatures, with forecasts calling for the dreaded combo to spread eastward in the coming days. “Winter returned,” declared Bob Oravec, lead …

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson vows to ‘drastically’ slash the size of government as Republicans take power in Congress.

By TARA COPP, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press Investigators know that a highly decorated Army soldier shot himself in the head inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks just before it exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, but authorities say there …

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — 2 people died and 18 were injured when a small plane crashed into a Southern California building, police say.

By GUERRY SMITH Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Locked in a defensive struggle in which neither team gained 300 yards, Georgia coach Kirby Smart made an aggressive but ill-fated decision late in the first half of the Sugar Bowl.Right after Notre Dame took a 6-3 lead on a 48-yard …

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Flags were at half-staff outside the Superdome and at nearby state buildings on Thursday as fans arrived a day later than scheduled for the Sugar Bowl — a game serving this season as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal between Notre …

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The man who died in a Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside a Trump hotel was a member of the Army’s elite Green Berets.

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Oregon withstood many challenges en route to being the only unbeaten team and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. However, Ohio State’s opening flurry on offense and defense in the first half was too much to overcome as …

By ERIC TUCKER, JIM MUSTIAN, KEVIN McGILL and JACK BROOK Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A U.S. Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a …

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Texas avoided the first big upset of the College Football Playoff, hitting a fourth-and-long touchdown pass to keep the game going and beating Cam Skattebo and Arizona State 39-31 in double overtime when an interception by Andrew Mukuba finally ended a …