WASHINGTON (AP) — Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota hosted primary elections Tuesday, but much of the political world was focused on Maine's high-stakes U. S. Senate contest. The results were never in question. Neither Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins nor Democratic challenger Graham Platner faced serious opposition for their party's nomination. And yet Tuesday marked an especially significant moment for Platner, the embattled veteran and oyster farmer, who is fighting to his in...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary for U. S. Senate on Tuesday, channeling voter frustration over the high cost of living and overcoming revelations about his past to set up a high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Speaking to supporters in the small town where he was born, Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, stressed a message of redemption as he promised to oust Collins. The race is seen as a top opportunity to flip a GOP-held...

Chris Andrews was working the belt at the Anchorage airport last fall, watching international cargo arrive. “An employee said, ‘Hey, this box stinks, Chris,’” Andrews recalled. The box was labeled “car parts. ”Other stinky boxes came down the belt. When opened, Andrews found they were filled with thousands of shark fins headed to Hong Kong, likely intended for shark fin soup. Eventually, officers confiscated 1,600 pounds of shark fins — from nearly 17,000 sharks — around the It...