By JEFF MARTIN

Concern is rising that the first major storm outbreak in the run-up to spring could strike the nation’s heartland, putting millions of Americans from Texas to Iowa at risk of potentially strong tornadoes.

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Some scattered severe thunderstorms were expected to begin firing up late Thursday in the Texas Panhandle and across western Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, the National Weather Service said. Large hail, damaging winds and possibly a few tornadoes were also expected, according to the forecasters.

But the strongest storms were expected Friday in a zone that includes much of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri and extends into some nearby states, according to weather service projections.

More than 6 million Americans are at the highest risk of severe weather Friday in an area that includes the metropolitan areas of Kansas City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to the national Storm Prediction Center. Another 22 million people are at a slightly lesser risk in a zone that includes Oklahoma City; St. Louis; Omaha, Nebraska; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The weather pattern that’s bringing the potential for strong storms is also expected to usher in extremely warm temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.

“Temperatures will be 20-30 degrees above average, with 80s reaching as far north as parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic,” federal forecasters wrote in their long-range forecast discussion. “Daily records could become widespread.”

MIDDLETON, Wis. – Carter Meyer picked a good morning to have a great game. His Amery teammates were pretty good, as well.

Meyer stopped 34 shots to propel Amery to a 3-1 victory over top-seeded Waunakee on Thursday in the Division 2 semifinals of the Wisconsin boys state hockey tournament, sending the Warriors to the title game for the second consecutive season.

“Once we got settled in, I thought we played really well,” Amery coach Matt Humpel said. “You want to be playing your best games at the end of the year, and that was definitely our best game we played all year in all three zones. We’ve been struggling a little bit in certain situations, and today we nailed it.”

Fourth-seeded Amery (20-8) advances to Saturday’s title game at 11 a.m. against the winner of third-seeded Somerset/St. Croix Falls (17-10) and second-seeded Northland Pines (20-6).

Amery lost to Tomahawk 5-3 in last year’s state title game after beating Somerset/St. Croix Falls 4-3 in the semifinals.

Somerset/St. Croix Falls defeated Amery twice this regular season, 7-6 in overtime and 8-5. Amery also lost to Northland Pines, 4-2, early in the season.

Carter kept Waunakee off the board with 15 saves in the first period and 11 in the second. After Waunakee’s lone goal, he stopped two breakaways in third period and survived constant pressure over the final 2:52 after Waunakee pulled its goalie.

“I kept telling people that he’s going to steal us a game, he’s going to win us a game,” Humpal said of Carter. “And today, he did. It’s the biggest one yet. So, I’m really happy for him. We see that every day in practice.”

Waunakee dominated play early, but Meyer’s stinginess in net and a goal by Leo Jenson gave the Warriors a 1-0 first period lead. Jensen snapped the scoreless tie with 1:45 left in the period with a sharp angle shot from the bottom of the left circle.

Amery extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the second period when Oscar Troff got a stick on Gavin Lindsay’s shot from the right side and re-directed it into the net.

Waunakee got on the board just 38 seconds into the third period when Andrew Mussallem gathered in a pass directly in front of the goal and tapped it into the upper left part of the net.

Just 17 seconds later, Amery’s Evan Schultz was assessed a two-minute penalty for tripping, but the Warriors killed the penalty and halted Waunakee’s newfound momentum.

Meyer then turned away a pair of breakaways by Waunakee’s Sam Cutrano.

“I know I played well, so I’ve got that,” Meyer said. “Once you get in the groove, the breakaways are not that tough.”

Jacob Maxen restored Amery’s two-goal advantage with a shot from the left side with 10:34 remaining.

“Hockey coaches are supposed to try to stay calm and I got pretty excited when we scored the third goal,” Humpal said. “You never know, but I didn’t feel like Carter was giving up four goals today.”

Waunakee outshot Amery 35-22 and was not called for a single penalty, while the Warriors were whistled four times. Waunakee goalie Weston Meyer had 19 saves.

“I’ll have to go back and look at the film, but just the general feeling that we out-chanced them,” Waunakee coach Chase Drake said. “I don’t think it was the lack of chances. Their goaltender played extremely well.”

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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida handyman who was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children had been convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

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Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, is among several Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged with new crimes since Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Capitol rioters. On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack.

Johnson was convicted last month of two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, according to prosecutors in Hernando County, Florida. County Circuit Judge Judge Stephen Toner handed down Johnson’s life sentence.

Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the child molestation allegations against Johnson in July 2025. One of his victims told investigators that the abuse started around April 2024, several months before Johnson was sentenced for his Capitol riot conviction.

Johnson told one of his victims that he expected to be compensated for being a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant and would be putting the child in his will to inherit any leftover money, according a sheriff’s office report.

“This tactic was believed to be used to keep (the child) from exposing what Andrew had done,” the report said.

Investigators found sexually explicit messages that Johnson exchanged with one of his victims on the Discord messaging app, according to Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson’s office.

“In the messages, Johnson attempted to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards,” Gladson’s office said in a news release.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in Washington sentenced Johnson in August 2024 to one year behind bars after he pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges stemming from the riot. Johnson had asked to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming that he was pressured into it, but the judge rejected his request before sentencing.

Johnson, of Seffner, Florida, was carrying a bullhorn as he marched to the Capitol after attending Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. He entered the building through an office window that other rioters had smashed, according to federal prosecutors. Johnson cursed and yelled at police officers after they used tear gas to disperse the mob of Trump supporters, prosecutors said.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

Trump, who said he would nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats.

FILE – Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Jan. 14, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Trump says he’ll make Noem a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.

Noem, took the stage to address a Department of Homeland Security event moments after Trump’s announcement but made no immediate mention of her ouster. Instead, she read from prepared remarks, including reinforcing Trump’s message from the State of the Union last month.

Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Noem’s departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits.

Noem’s tenure looked increasingly short-lived after hearings in Congress this week where she faced rare but blistering criticism from Republican lawmakers. One particular point of scrutiny was a $220 million ad campaign featuring Noem that encouraged people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.

Noem told lawmakers that Trump was aware of the campaign in advance, but Trump disputed that in an interview Thursday with Reuters, saying he did not sign off on the ad campaign.

Noem has faced waves of criticism as she’s overseen Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement officers. The former South Dakota governor was also criticized over the way her department has spent billions of dollars allocated to it by Congress.

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Frustrations over Noem’s execution of the Republican president’s hard-line immigration agenda — particularly her leadership after the shooting deaths of the two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis — as well as her handling of disaster response, paved the way for her downfall. She faced blistering criticism from Democrats, and some Republicans, in Congress hearings this week over those issues and others.

Aside from immigration, Noem also faced criticism — including from Republicans — over the pace of emergency funding approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the Trump administration’s response to disasters.

Mullin would need to be confirmed by the Senate, but under a federal law governing executive branch vacancies, he would be allowed to serve as an acting Homeland Security secretary as long as his nomination is formally pending.