Ground squirrels have proliferated in Minot, North Dakota's fourth-largest city.

Allergy season can be miserable for tens of millions of Americans each year.

Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has agreed to a one-year, $14 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

The Chicago Blackhawks have fired coach Luke Richardson, signaling their frustration with the state of the franchise’s rebuilding project.

Allergy season is here, but it doesn't have to make you miserable.

Allergy season in the U.S. is starting sooner than experts expected.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory for several Metro Detroit counties.

The Texas city of Kyle, south of Austin, asked residents Wednesday to suspend water usage until further notice because of a shortage. “We are close to running out of water supply in Kyle.”In Memphis, Tennessee, the power and water company asked residents to reduce their water usage through Friday. Meanwhile, the city's fire department said it has received hundreds of broken water pipe calls since Monday. Austin Water told residents in the southwest section of the city to boil water before using it for drinking or cooking. AdLeaders in Austin and the Houston area asked residents to stop dripping water from their faucets because of a drop in water pressure.

Nearly 3.4 million customers around the U.S. were still without electricity, and some also lost water service. More than 100 million people live in areas covered by some type of winter weather warning, watch or advisory, the weather service said. Weather-related outages have been particularly stubborn in Oregon, where some customers have been without power for almost a week. At the peak of the storm, more than 350,000 customers in the Portland area were in the dark. In Oregon, authorities confirmed Tuesday that four people died in the Portland area of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chapman said she has been without power for two nights and is using the propane to keep warm. The worst U.S. power outages were in Texas, affecting more than 2 million homes and businesses. Texas officials said more than 400,000 doses due now will not arrive until at least Wednesday because of the storm. Several cities had record lows: In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 39 degrees Celsius). Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius).

Humberto Torres spreads ice melting pellets on the steps of an office building Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Richardson, Texas. A winter storm brought a coating of ice to parts of Texas. “The roadway was so treacherous from the ice that several of the first responders were falling on the scene,” Zavadsky said. AdIn suburban Austin, more than two dozen vehicles were involved in a pileup on an icy highway, and five people were taken to a hospital, emergency officials said. He said some areas that don't normally get snowfall will likely see heavy amounts over the next several days.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell more than 700,000 to 7.76 million. The still-elevated number of jobless claims underscores that a full recovery from the pandemic recession remains far off. Some research suggests that by September, unemployed Americans had spent about two-thirds of what they had saved. The outlook for the economy over the next six months fell particularly hard, according to the Conference Board, a business research group. With roughly 20 million Americans unemployed, the pandemic recession is still causing hardship for many families.

As daycare and youth camps re-open in Texas, operators are following appropriate safety measure to insure kids stay safe from COVID-19. We just didnt want to risk sending him off to day care unnecessarily, she said. The return of child care, summer camps and sports was part of Abbott's Phase 2 of reopening one of the world's largest economies. Abbott said child care facilities should operate under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. According to Child Care Aware, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care, nearly every state is allowing child care facilities to operate on some level.

Syracuse University has now named a scholarship in Richardsons honor. At Syracuse, we have a scholarship program called Our Time Has Come. But one spring night in 1989, hanging out in New York City's Central Park, would completely knock him off course. Richardson, along with four others, Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santiago, would come to be known as the Central Park Five. RELATED STORIES13-Year-Old Honors Central Park Five With Amazing Backpack PaintingCentral Park Five Presented With Award From ACLU and Michael B. JordanWhat Happened to the Central Park Five?