Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Trump, who was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event was scheduled to appear at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 22.

Kirk co-founded and was CEO of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, with an early focus on proselytizing on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. The political organization eventually grew to holding large rallies with thousands of attendees and featuring top conservative leaders, including Trump.

Student chapter Turning Point USA at the U scheduled Kirk and Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, to speak as part of Turning Point USA’s The American Comeback Tour. The event, scheduled on the Carlson Family Stage at Northrop Auditorium, is described as “a high-energy evening featuring a candid conversation about conservative values, followed by a live Q&A.”

University officials did not respond Friday to requests to confirm whether the event is still going ahead, but Knowles pushed back on a social media user’s urging Thursday night that he cancel public appearances.

“I appreciate the concern, but I will not be canceling any public appearances,” Knowles tweeted on social media platform X.

An employee with Northrop Auditorium also did not confirm whether the event was still scheduled when called Friday, though it still appeared on the Northrop website that same day. The tour’s next scheduled event at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., also still appears on the tour’s website.

Kirk previously appeared at the University of Minnesota in 2017, according to a social media post by the U’s Turning Point USA student chapter at that time. Requests for updates to the group on the Sept. 22 event were not answered.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has referred to Kirk’s killing at Utah Valley University as a political assassination carried out from a rooftop as Kirk spoke at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. The suspected shooter has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington, Utah.

Robinson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, and obstruction of justice charges, according to a court affidavit. A judge ordered that Robinson be held without bail. Formal charges are expected to be released early next week when Robinson is due to make an initial court appearance.

Kirk had been outspoken on politics and events in Minnesota on his social media.

He previously made disparaging remarks about George Floyd, who was murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020. Kirk also was condemned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in July when Kirk tweeted a video of mayoral candidate Omar Fateh and claimed “Muslims are commanded to take over the government in the land they live. The attempted Islamic takeover of America is made possible thanks to mass migration.”

Frey and Fateh, along with political leaders across the political spectrum have condemned the attack on Kirk. Utah Gov. Cox also made an impassioned plea on Friday for Americans to use Kirk’s death as a moment to turn away from political violence and division.

Related Articles

Farm Aid considering new venue amid Teamsters strike at UMN

University of Minnesota service workers strike on campuses across state

UMN service workers poised to begin striking over labor contract

Twin Cities mom wants to help you have ‘The Talk’ with your kids

Gov. Walz names four to fill UMN Board of Regents vacancies

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

The federal government said Friday that it is suing Uber for allegedly discriminating against passengers with disabilities.

Related Articles

OpenAI reaches new agreement with Microsoft to change its corporate structure

California lawmakers pass bill barring authorities from wearing face masks

Across the US, cities combine art, shade and education to help people beat the heat

Lawsuit says US held West African migrants in straitjackets for 16 hours on flight to Ghana

Man arrested in Charlie Kirk’s killing had no known criminal history, had become ‘more political’

The Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve individuals with disabilities, including those with service dogs. Uber is the largest ride-hailing company in the U.S.

The lawsuit alleges that Uber drivers have charged illegal cleaning fees for service animal shedding and imposed cancellation fees after denying service. The lawsuit also alleges that drivers have refused to allow disabled individuals to sit in the front seat so they can use the back seat for mobility devices.

Disabled individuals have missed appointments, experienced significant delays and have been stranded in inclement weather, the lawsuit said.

“For too long, blind riders have suffered repeated ride denials by Uber because they are traveling with a service dog,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit seeks to end this persistent discrimination and allow riders with disabilities to use Uber.”

In a statement Friday, Uber said all of its drivers must acknowledge and agree to comply with its service animal and accessibility policies.

Uber said it prohibits drivers from denying service to someone with a service animal and it requires drivers to provide transportation to a person with a disability as long as they get into the vehicle on their own. It also prohibits drivers from refusing to assist with the stowing of devices like walkers, crutches and folding wheelchairs.

“Riders who use guide dogs or other assistive devices deserve a safe, respectful and welcoming experience on Uber — full stop,” the company said. Uber said it disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit.

Uber said it established a hotline in 2023 for customers who were denied a ride because of a service animal. Uber said when it confirms that a violation has occurred, it takes action, including deactivating a driver’s account.

The Department of Justice is seeking $125 million for disabled individuals who have previously submitted complaints to Uber or the Department of Justice.

The case was filed in federal court in Northern California. Uber Technologies is based in San Francisco.

By THALIA BEATY and MATT O’BRIEN

OpenAI has reached a new tentative agreement with Microsoft and said its nonprofit, which technically controls its business, will now be given a $100 billion equity stake in its for-profit corporation.

Related Articles

Thinking about getting an EV? Here’s why you need to move by Sept. 30

With Hyundai raid, Trump’s immigration crackdown runs into his push for foreign investment

Wall Street coasts toward the finish of its best week in the last 5

What I’ve done right with my portfolio

A United Airlines passenger plane makes emergency landing in Osaka as cargo fire is suspected

The maker of ChatGPT said it had reached a new nonbinding agreement with Microsoft, its longtime partner, “for the next phase of our partnership.”

The announcements on Thursday include a few details about these new arrangements. OpenAI’s proposed changes to its corporate structure have drawn the scrutiny of regulators, competitors and advocates concerned about the impacts of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and its nonprofit board has continued to control the for-profit subsidiary that now develops and sells its AI products. It’s not clear whether the $100 billion equity stake the nonprofit will get as part of this announcement represents a controlling stake in the business.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last week that his office was investigating OpenAI’s proposed restructuring of its finances and governance. His office said they could not comment on the new announcements but said they are “committed to protecting charitable assets for their intended purpose.”

Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings also sent the company a letter expressing concerns about the safety of ChatGPT after meeting with OpenAI’s legal team earlier last week in Delaware, where OpenAI is incorporated.

“Together, we are particularly concerned with ensuring that the stated safety mission of OpenAI as a non-profit remains front and center,” Bonta said in a statement last week.

Microsoft invested its first $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and the two companies later formed an agreement that made Microsoft the exclusive provider of the computing power needed to build OpenAI’s technology. In turn, Microsoft heavily used the technology behind ChatGPT to enhance its own AI products.

The two companies announced on Jan. 21 that they were altering that agreement, enabling the smaller company to build its own computing capacity, “primarily for research and training of models.” That coincided with OpenAI’s announcements of a partnership with Oracle to build a massive new data center in Abilene, Texas.

But other parts of its agreements with Microsoft remained up in the air as the two companies appeared to veer further apart. Their Thursday joint statement said they were still “actively working to finalize contractual terms in a definitive agreement.” Both companies declined further comment.

OpenAI had given its nonprofit board of directors — whose members now include a former U.S. Treasury secretary — the responsibility of deciding when its AI systems have reached the point at which they “outperform humans at most economically valuable work,” a concept known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI.

Such an achievement, per its earlier agreements, would cut off Microsoft from the rights to commercialize such a system, since the terms “only apply to pre-AGI technology.”

OpenAI’s corporate structure and nonprofit mission are also the subject of a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk, who helped found the nonprofit research lab and provided initial funding. Musk’s suit seeks to stop OpenAI from taking control of the company away from its nonprofit and alleges it has betrayed its promise to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.

The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP’s text archives.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

NEW YORK — Federal health officials intend to award a contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate whether there is a link between vaccinations and autism, according to a government procurement notice.

Related Articles

California lawmakers pass bill barring authorities from wearing face masks

Lawsuit says US held West African migrants in straitjackets for 16 hours on flight to Ghana

Man arrested in Charlie Kirk’s killing had no known criminal history, had become ‘more political’

States are taking steps to ease access to COVID-19 vaccines as they await federal recommendation

Missouri Senate passes Trump-backed plan that could help Republicans win an additional US House seat

The Troy, New York, engineering school is getting the no-bid contract because of its “unique ability” to link data on children and mothers, according to the notice posted this week.

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to questions about the notice, including how much the contract is for or what exactly the researchers intend to do.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the antivaccine movement before President Donald Trump selected him to oversee federal health agencies, announced in April a “massive testing and research effort” to determine the cause of autism by this month. He has repeatedly tried to link vaccines to the condition.

An RPI biotech engineering professor, Juergen Hahn, has used artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to look for patterns in blood samples of children with autism. Hahn “is renowned for the quality and rigor of his research,” RPI officials said in a statement acknowledging the intended grant.

“If this project is awarded, he intends to publish the results of his work at the conclusion of the project,” the statement added.

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from Hahn.

The notice raises many questions, said Alycia Halladay, who oversees research activities and grants for the Autism Science Foundation.

RPI is not known in the field as having any special access to data on this kind of question and “wouldn’t be the obvious choice,” Halladay said.

It’s also not clear how the contract fits into other autism research that the government may be planning, she said.

But perhaps the biggest question is why money is being spent on such a study at all, she added.

Scientists have ruled out a link between vaccines and autism, finding no evidence of increased rates of autism among those who are vaccinated compared with those who are not.

“The question has been studied for 20 years, multiple times by researchers around the world using millions of people, and there has never been a credible association found between vaccines and autism,” Halladay said.

Those who have spent decades researching autism have found no single cause. Genetics play a role, and other factors include the age of a child’s father, the mother’s weight, and whether she had diabetes or was exposed to certain chemicals.

Whatever amount is being spent on the project could instead be going to “other important research questions,” including studies of genetics and environmental factors, Halladay said.

“I think that’s the most frustrating part,” she said.

For months, HHS officials have been trying to use vaccine safety data compiled by the CDC to look for harms that might be tied to shots. Kennedy has accused CDC leaders of stonewalling those efforts, but the actual obstacle has been something else, said one former federal health official familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

About a dozen medical research organizations collect the vaccine safety data and report it to the CDC. Contracts that stretch back nearly two decades give those entities — not the CDC — control over the data, and HHS has not yet been able to get it, the official said.

Related Articles

Paul Wellstone’s green bus featured at Walk for Recovery Saturday

Many Black, Latino people can’t get opioid addiction med. Medicaid cuts may make it harder

West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings

Barry Sanders advocates for people to know their cholesterol numbers a year after his heart attack

Child dies from complication of measles contracted years earlier

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.