Brad Matthews

Price of used cars drops sixth straight month, falling 8.8% in a year

After rocketing early in the pandemic, the cost of used cars dropped 8.8% year-over-year from December 2021 to December 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index.

January 17, 2023

Customs officials catch parrot in truck crossing Texas border

Customs officials in Texas made an odd discovery when they found a green parrot in a truck crossing into the U.S., border officials said.

January 13, 2023

Pepsi using new sweetener in revamped sugar-free cola

Pepsi has rolled out a new version of Pepsi Zero Sugar using a new sweetener, the company said Friday.

January 13, 2023

Clouded leopard escapes from Dallas Zoo, prompting facility to close

A clouded leopard identified as Nova escaped from the Dallas Zoo on Friday, prompting the facility to close for the day. Police are assisting zoo staff in locating the wild cat.

January 13, 2023

Robot umpires are on the way with Triple-A parks to use electronic strike zones in 2023

Baseball's experiment with robot umpires is taking another step forward, with the electronic strike zone plugging in at all 30 Class AAA Minor League Baseball parks in 2023.

January 13, 2023

IRS sets Jan. 23 as start of 2023 tax filing season

The Internal Revenue Service has set the beginning of the 2023 tax filing season as Jan. 23. From that date until April 18, the IRS will accept and process 2022 tax returns, the agency announced Thursday.

January 13, 2023

Pepsi lemon-lime soda Sierra Mist discontinued, replaced with citrus-flavored Starry

Pepsi has discontinued its lemon-lime soda Sierra Mist, and is rolling out a new citrus-flavored competitor to Coca-Cola brand Sprite called Starry, the company has announced.

January 12, 2023

NASA confirms first exoplanet uncovered by James Webb Space Telescope

NASA confirmed an exoplanet discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope Wednesday. Planet LHS 475 b is 41 light years away from Earth and is 99% the size of our planet.

January 12, 2023

Orca found beached in Florida, first killer whale stranding recorded in Southeast

An orca was discovered Wednesday morning in Palm Coast, Florida, having beached itself at the municipality's Jungle Hut Park. Found alive at first, it died later in the day.

January 12, 2023

New law in Muslim-majority Michigan city will let residents religiously sacrifice animals at home

The city council of Hamtramck, Michigan, which has a Muslim majority population, voted 3-2 Tuesday night to allow the religious sacrifice of animals at people's homes.

January 12, 2023

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs executive order banning use of ‘Latinx’

In one of her first executive orders, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has barred the term "Latinx" from all state government documents.

January 11, 2023

EA Sports to remove CPR celebration from ‘Madden NFL 23’ after Damar Hamlin incident

Video game developer EA Sports is removing from "Madden NFL 23" the CPR touchdown celebration in light of last week's collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

January 11, 2023

Russia to launch replacement Soyuz module to International Space Station in February

Russia's Roscosmos will launch the Soyuz MS-23 module to the International Space Station on Feb. 20, the space agency said Wednesday in a joint announcement with NASA.

January 11, 2023

Mega Millions lottery jackpot reaches second-highest amount, $1.35 billion

After no one won Tuesday's drawing, the Mega Millions lottery jackpot hit $1.35 billion, its second-highest tally. Sixteen won the second-tier prize of $1.3 million.

January 11, 2023

DOT forwards thousands of customer complaints to Southwest Airlines, sets 60-day deadline to respond

Department of Transportation officials are sending thousands of customer complaints directly to Southwest Airlines, including those alleging delays in refunds for the carrier's holiday cancellations.

January 11, 2023

Traffic fatalities level off after two years of dramatic spikes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its most recent projections for traffic fatalities in 2022 on Monday, covering the first nine months of the year.

January 10, 2023

Virginia man pleads guilty to two separate schemes to break U.S. sanctions on Iran

A Virginia resident and naturalized U.S. citizen pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, the Justice Department announced.

January 10, 2023

Violent crime rate in Detroit fell in 2022, police chief announces

The rate of violent crime in Detroit went down in 2022, fueled by decreases in robberies, rapes and aggravated assaults, Detroit Police Department Chief James White announced Monday.

January 10, 2023

Green comet to pass closest to sun this week, might be visible in Northern Hemisphere

The comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will pass the Sun at its closest point Thursday, letting it possibly become visible to observers in the Northern Hemisphere while the sky is clear and dark.

January 10, 2023

Virgin Orbit satellite launch out of Britain manages to reach space, but falls short of orbit

A Virgin Orbit satellite-launching rocket reached space Monday night, but couldn't achieve the satellite's final orbit after experiencing an anomaly in its second stage.

January 10, 2023