Chris Colfer's new book series for young people will launch in 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — The hero of Chris Colfer's next book series is no ordinary boy.

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers announced Tuesday that the actor and million-selling author is working on “Roswell Johnson Saves the World,” which the publisher calls a space fantasy that “combines the heart-pounding action of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’" and "thrilling real-world science.” The title character is an 11-year-old named for the city in New Mexico where mysterious debris found in 1947 led to conspiracy theories about alien life, which the boy himself will learn about first-hand.

Birkenstock has set a price for its initial public offering of stock that values the 249-year-old German maker of upmarket sandals at $8.64 billion. The company said Tuesday that it had priced its IPO at $46 a share, in the middle of its expected price range of $44 to $49 per share. It is due to start trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the “BIRK” ticker symbol. The company’s footwear was first cobbled together by Johann Adam Birkenstock in Germany in 1774. The sandals have long been derided as the antithesis of high fashion but have a cult following and this year got a plug in the blockbuster film “Barbie.”

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Milwaukee suburb has finally started to pull millions of gallons of water per day from Lake Michigan after spending years seeking approval from regulators.

Authorities say they have arrested a suburban Chicago man who threw rocks at the home of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, breaking three windows. Illinois State Police said Tuesday the 38-year-old Villa Park man is charged with two counts of stalking and one count of criminal damage to property. Chicago police located the man on video surveillance cameras and took him into custody without incident after the vandalism Monday morning. He's being held until going before a judge. Police say Pritzker and his wife were home at the time. No one was injured. State police say they subsequently identified the man as the same person who in August twice left letters at Pritzker’s home.

The Democratic members of Virginia’s congressional delegation have urged the U.S. Justice Department to investigate an apparent administrative error that led to at least 275 people being improperly removed from the state’s voter rolls. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration acknowledged last week that it was working to address the problem. It apparently stemmed from a misclassification of felony probation violations as felony convictions in data transmitted to the elections department by the state police. Officials have said at least 275 people were wrongly removed. All will be reinstated. The letter said the error created a barrier to the democratic process for those affected with early voting already underway for the November election.

An airport in London said all flights have been suspended after a fire broke out in one of its parking lots. Luton Airport, located north of central London, said that all flights were suspended as emergency services respond to the blaze. It said access to the airport was restricted and urged people not to travel to the airport. Video posted on social media and British news outlets’ websites showed police and fire department vehicles gathered outside a multi-story parking lot which had its top level engulfed in orange flames. No other details were immediately available.

Nebraska's top election official has confirmed that Nebraska voters will decide next year whether public money can go to private school tuition. The Nebraska Secretary of State's office confirmed Tuesday that the petition effort to get the question on the November 2024 ballot well exceeded the number of signatures needed to put the controversial question before voters. The effort began this summer after the Nebraska Legislature passed a measure allowing businesses, individuals, estates and trusts to donate a portion of owed state income tax to organizations that grant private school tuition scholarships.

NEW YORK — U.S. Rep. George Santos hit unsuspecting donors with tens of thousands of dollars in phony credit card charges, according to new court documents, the latest twist in the series of scandals enveloping the freshman congressman.

LOS ANGELES — Two straight collapses, two straight years, too much to believe?

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will rank all 32 NFL teams. The rankings will take into account not just weekly performance, injuries and roster depth, but how well each team measures up as Super Bowl contenders.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two laws to require the California State University system and urge the University of California system to update the state on their progress to return Native American remains to tribes. These campuses are mandated by law to return remains and artifacts to tribes, but the state auditor found in recent years that many campuses have not done so. State audits of the university systems found that they need clear protocols for how to return these items. The legislation requires the state auditor’s office to review the University of California system’s progress in 2024 and 2026.

A former Alabama lawmaker has pleaded guilty to a voter fraud charge that he rented a closet-sized space in a home to fraudulently run for office in a district where he did not live. Former state Rep. David Cole pleaded Tuesday to a charge of voting in an authorized location. A judge sentenced the Republican from Huntsville to 60 days in jail. The remainder of his three-year sentence suspended under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors. Prosecutors said Cole signed a lease in 2021 and paid $5 per month for a 5-by-5 foot space in a home to run for Alabama House District 10.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida inched closer to the postseason with a decisive homecoming win against Vanderbilt.

A Gloucester County, New Jersey, construction worker who tussled with officers outside the Capitol building and an Atlantic City man whose father boasted that he and his son could have defecated on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from their partic…

A new indictment unsealed Tuesday charges U.S. Rep. George Santos with stealing the identities of donors to his campaign and then using their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. Prosecutors say some of that stolen money ended up in his own bank account. The 23-count indictment replaces one filed earlier against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses.

ATLANTA — A prominent conspiracy theorist and the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee are among the latest to make District Attorney Fani Willis’ witness list for the trial of former Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell later this month.

Police in Jamaica say they have arrested a government official and charged him with abducting and raping a 16-year-old girl. Tyrone Guthrie, 45, is councilor of the Truro division in the parish of Westmoreland and was charged after turning himself into police. Authorities said Tuesday that the girl went to Guthrie’s home in June to help do his hair and was allegedly raped after she was prevented from leaving upon finishing the job. Guthrie could not be immediately reached for comment. The People’s National Party has removed Guthrie from his position.

Brendan Malone, father of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone and champion of ‘The Jordan Rules’ that helped the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls on the way to two championships, has died at 81. A Nuggets representative told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a family member confirmed his death. The elder Malone spent three decades mostly as an assistant in the NBA and was best known for his work with the “Bad Boys” Pistons in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Some Walgreens pharmacists are walking off the job this week over concerns about their working conditions. Pharmacists say their teams are short-staffed and overworked, leading to issues with patient safety and staff wellbeing. The number of stores impacted by the walkouts is unclear. An organizer estimated that more than 300 locations have been impacted, while a Walgreens spokesman said no more than a dozen pharmacies saw disruptions. Employees say their workload doesn't match staffing levels. They also want the company to provide more training for new staffers. An organizer said that further walkouts would be planned for the end of the month if their requests are not met.

The Baltimore Orioles won an AL-leading 101 games during the regular season. The Los Angeles Dodgers also reached triple digits in victories. Those impressive accomplishments earned both teams a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. Clearly, the time off did them no good. Tossing in the 104-win Atlanta Braves and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, baseball’s four top seeds went a combined 2-6 on their home fields to start the best-of-five division round. Is it time to say goodbye to the bye?

New indictment charges Rep. George Santos with stealing donor IDs, making unauthorized charges to their credit cards.

The Georgia prosecutor who has accused former President Donald Trump and others of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state is seeking to call Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as witnesses in a trial for two of the defendants scheduled to begin later this month. Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in August along with Trump and 16 others, accused under the state’s anti-racketeering law of participating in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The two attorneys are being tried separately from the others because they invoked their right to have a speedy trial.

ATLANTA — Several metro Atlanta sheriff’s agencies have stepped up their presence in Jewish and Muslim communities in the wake of this weekend’s surprise attacks by Hamas on Israel.

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams scoffed Tuesday at growing momentum for a progressive Democrat to run against him in the 2025 election, ridiculing the efforts as “people who are meeting in a basement somewhere” while at the same time affirming he takes every potential primary rival seriously.

Former NHL player and coach Barry Melrose is stepping away from his career as one of hockey’s most recognized analysts after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The news of Melrose’s illness and retirement was made on ESPN’s SportsCenter the same day the NHL 2023-24 season opened with a three-game slate. Melrose was a network fixture during his near 30-year career. The 67-year-old turned to broadcasting in 1996 after being fired as coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Three years earlier, Melrose coached a Wayne Gretzky-led Kings team to the Stanley Cup Final, which L.A. lost to Montreal in five games.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Prosecutors in the Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons double murder case want Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy to hide the names of jurors from the public, at least temporarily, for his upcoming retrial.

Californians will be able to make a single request asking that data brokers delete their personal information, under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Tuesday.

Hughes Van Ellis, who was the youngest known survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre and who spent his latter years pursuing justice for his family and other descendants of the attack on “Black Wall Street,” has died. He was 102. His family’s publicist, Mocha Ochoa, says the World War II veteran and published author who was affectionately called “Uncle Redd” by his family and community died Monday while in hospice in Denver. Van Ellis was just 6 months old when he and his family escaped what is widely considered one of the most stark examples of racial violence in American history. Only two Tulsa Race Massacre survivors are still alive, including his 109-year-old sister, Viola Ford Fletcher.

Each week I'll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define "widely available" as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

The NBA has promoted Intae Hwang and Sha’Rae Mitchell to its full-time referee staff for the coming season. Hwang is a native of South Korea who moved to New Jersey in 2020 with hopes of becoming a referee in the U.S. He worked seven games as a non-staff official last season and has also worked in the G League, the WNBA, the Summer Olympics and the Basketball World Cup. Mitchell refereed 11 games as a non-staff official last season, and has also worked in the G League and WNBA. She also worked college games for five years, in the Pac-12, West Coast, Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences.

The Colorado Buffaloes got back to work after a win over Arizona State where coach Deion Sanders described their play as “hot garbage.” At 4-2, Colorado already exceeded the win total most oddsmakers had for a school coming off a one-win season. The Buffaloes can take another step toward bowl eligibility when they face Stanford this week. Colorado may receive a big boost much sooner than anticipated as two-way standout Travis Hunter was cleared to practice and could potentially play. Hunter has been out since taking a late hit in the Colorado State game on Sept. 16 that sent him to the hospital with a lacerated liver.

FGFTRebDALLASMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTSJones Jr.18:154-60-12-5018Williams24:463-50-01-9418Lively II20:113-50-12-6256Doncic4:593-60-00-0109Exum25:394-53-30-29313Hardaway Jr.22:478-190-01-30021Curry19:385-112-30-01213Green17:452-54-61-3329Powell16:056-81-23-40213Kleber15:010-20-00-4000Hardy14:073-93-4…

Johan Santana threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Minnesota Twins before Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner had a special guest bring him the ball: Pablo López. Santana had a surprise for López when he approached the mound: a López jersey. The two Venezuelans shared a smile and a hug as the Target Field crowd roared. López wore a Santana jersey to the ballpark last week before he pitched the Twins to a victory in the AL Wild Card Series. López grew up idolizing Santana.

DENVER — The officer who shot and killed 14-year-old Jor’Dell Richardson on June 1 did not violate any department policies, according to an Aurora Police Department internal investigation released Tuesday.

Luka Doncic has returned to Spain to a warm reception from former club Real Madrid in a preseason game with the Dallas Mavericks. He received a standing ovation by the home fans and was honored by his former teammates before the game. The “Luuukaaa” chants were back in the Spanish capital five years after the star guard left for the NBA. The Mavericks’ star looked moved while watching his past highlights on the big screen before the game. Doncic played less than five minutes and scored nine points in Dallas’ 127-123 loss against his former club. Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with 21 points for the Mavs.

Nigerian police say gunmen have attacked yet another school in the country's troubled northern region where they abducted four students. The Nasarawa State University, near the capital city of Abuja, was “invaded by unidentified gunmen” who took the students hostage from their lodge, said a spokesman for the Nasarawa police. The police said security forces responded to a distress call about the attack and “combed the area, but to no avail.” The police commissioner has ordered a manhunt for the culprits and hopes to rescue the four victims unharmed. It is the third school abduction in the West African nation in the last month.

A flock of swans that grew from a gift from Queen Elizabeth II nearly 70 years ago is being rounded up in Florida to ensure they are all healthy. Some 50 swans were collected Tuesday in Lakeland, which is east of Tampa. Park supervisor Steve Williams said the birds are a cherished part of the city. The roundup occurs each fall so that veterinarians can conduct health examinations of the city-owned swans, with those scheduled for Wednesday morning. Lakeland’s mute swans are descended from a pair given by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.