Chris Bullock has a lot to be grateful for as she decorates her new home for Christmas. One year ago Saturday, a massive tornado obliterated wide swaths of her Kentucky hometown of Dawson Springs. It left her homeless after a terrifying night of death and destruction. Things look much different now. In August, Bullock and her family moved into their new home. It sits on the same site where their home of 26 years was wiped out. The holiday season tragedy killed 81 people across Kentucky and turned buildings into rubble. On Saturday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will lead commemorative events.

The impacts of climate change hit communities across the country, yet voters in rural areas are the least likely to feel Washington is in their corner on the issue. Rural Americans and experts suggest there’s a disconnect between the way leaders talk about climate change and the way these communities experience it. AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of the 2022 midterm electorate, shows clear differences between urban and rural communities in voter sentiment on President Joe Biden’s handling of climate. Around 6 in 10 urban voters approve, but the figure drops to roughly 4 in 10 for rural voters.

The former Minneapolis police officer who held down George Floyd’s back as one of his colleagues kneeled on the Black man’s neck has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty in October to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. He is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, and the state and federal sentence will be served at the same time. Kueng appeared at his sentencing via a video feed from a federal prison in Ohio. When given the chance to address the court, he declined.

A California woman who warned a judge last year about the danger posed by the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter says the deaths could have been prevented if earlier charges against the suspect weren’t dismissed. Jeanie Streltzoff, who is related to suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, urged Colorado Judge Robin Chittum in a letter last November to incarcerate Aldrich. She told The Associated Press on Friday that Aldrich should have been in prison and prevented from obtaining weapons after the suspect's 2021 arrest uncovered a stockpile of more than 100 pounds of explosive materials, firearms and ammunition.

Jurors at the Los Angeles rape and sexual misconduct trial of Harvey Weinstein have been deliberating for a week without reaching a verdict. The jury of eight men and four women went home Friday afternoon and will resume deliberations Monday. They have had no questions for the court that might provide insight into the status of their work. The 70-year-old former movie mogul has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and seven other counts of sexual assault. He is already serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York.