KALAMA, Wash. (AP) — Colorado and Washington are reliably Democratic states where elected officials have rejected moves to ban transgender women and girls from female sports competitions. Now activists have gone around lawmakers to put proposed bans on both states' ballots. At a time when some Democratic leaders nationwide are recalibrating their approach to transgender issues, particularly sports, and polls show Americans generally back the bans, supporters are optimistic they will pass and...

Barack Obama will campaign Saturday with Democratic candidates for the U. S. Senate in Ohio and Michigan, both highly competitive states that will help determine control of the chamber, as the former president ramps up his involvement in the midterm elections. Obama's first event is in Cleveland with former three-term Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is looking to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Amy Acton, a Democrat running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, will also appear at a...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is moving fast on its plans to build a moon base and return astronauts to the lunar surface in as little as two years. Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday that the space agency is still on track to launch Artemis III next summer on a docking exercise with Elon Musk's and Jeff Bezos' lunar landers. The two-week mission featuring four astronauts will be confined to orbit around Earth — no moon trip this time. The all-important Artemis IV — NASA's first...