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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs says it has reached out to nearly 140,000 veterans in the past two months to get them off waiting lists and into clinics for medical appointments.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson revealed the number Thursday as the VA released new audit figures showing improved patient access at 731 VA hospitals and clinics nationwide.

The audit of patient access information is the third released by the VA in the past month as the agency responds to a national outcry over reports of patient deaths and treatment delays at VA facilities across the country. Audits of 731 VA hospitals and clinics also were released June 9 and June 19.

As of June 15, about 46,000 veterans waited at least 90 days for their first VA medical appointments, the agency said. That's down from 57,000 who waited more than 90 days as of May 15.

An additional 7,000 veterans had never gotten an appointment for VA care, despite seeking one over the past decade, the VA said. That's down from about 64,000 veterans who did not get appointments as of May 15.

Despite the improvements, Gibson said veterans in many communities still are waiting too long to receive needed care. The VA provides health care to nearly 9 million enrolled veterans.

"There is more work to be done," Gibson said Thursday. "We must restore the public's trust in VA, but more importantly, we must restore the trust of our veterans who depend on us for care."

A veteran died this week after collapsing in an Albuquerque, New Mexico, veterans hospital cafeteria. The man waited 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials said Thursday.

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Follow Matthew Daly: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When American flag-waving protesters forced busloads of migrants to leave Murrieta earlier this week, the Southern California city became the latest flashpoint in an intensifying immigration debate that could heat up even more as patriotism surges on the Fourth of July.

The city's mayor has become a hero to those seeking stronger immigration policies with his criticism of the federal government's efforts to handle the thousands of immigrants, many of them mothers and children, who have flooded the Texas border.

Some of those immigrants were flown to California and were supposed to be processed at a Border Patrol facility in Murrieta, a fast-growing community in the conservative-leaning Inland Empire region. But protesters blocked the road, forcing federal officials to take the immigrants elsewhere.

A second protest is planned for July 4, when another convoy of buses with immigrants is rumored to arrive.

"We've had it," said Carol Schlaepfer, a retired Pomona resident who protested Tuesday in Murrieta. "We all want a better life. ... You can't come to our country and expect American citizens to dole out what you need, from grade school till death."

People on both sides of the issue want immigration reform, but immigrant rights advocates say anti-illegal immigration protesters chastise the mostly women and children crossing the border.

"It's sad that some community members don't see the big picture," said Luz Gallegos, co-founder of the immigration legal aid center TODEC in nearby Perris.

Thousands of children and families have arrived on the Texas border in recent months fleeing violence, murders and extortion from criminal gangs in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Since October, more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been detained.

The crunch on the border in Texas' Rio Grande Valley prompted U.S. authorities to fly immigrant families to other Texas cities and to Southern California for processing.

The Border Patrol is coping with excess capacity across the Southwest, and cities' responses to the arriving immigrants have ranged from welcoming to indifferent. In the border town of El Centro, California, a flight arrived Wednesday without protest.

The same day, 140 miles north in Murrieta, an overflow crowd filled a school auditorium for a town hall convened on immigrant arrivals. Those in the crowd chanted "Send them back!" at a Border Patrol official.

Some local leaders said the outrage among some area residents is justified, given the already stressed social services infrastructure and the stagnant Inland Empire economy. Murrieta has a population of about 106,000.

"It's not the 140 we're concerned about," Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone said of the number of people on the three buses turned away by Murrieta protesters. "It's the thousands more that will follow that will strain our resources and take away the resources we need to care for our own citizens."

More protests are expected in the city Friday as rumors circulate of another convoy of immigrants arriving at the border patrol station there. The Murrieta Police Department plans to have additional staff in place, Lt. John Flavin said.

The Department of Homeland security said that because of security concerns, it will not publicize immigrant transfers among border patrol facilities.

Elsewhere in the Southwest, hundreds of children are being dropped off daily at a large Border Patrol warehouse in Nogales, Arizona. Residents there have lent a hand.

The city that sits on the border with Mexico collected dozens of boxes of clothing and other items donated by Nogales residents who wanted to help. The city's mayor, Arturo Garino, has said he welcomes the children and wants to assist them in any way he can.

In New Mexico, one of a few states that grants driver's licenses to immigrants who entered the country illegally, residents have been less enthusiastic about taking on the burden.

At a town hall meeting this week, Artesia residents spoke out against a detention center that recently started housing immigrants there. The facility holds women and children migrants while immigration officials work on deporting them. It can house up to 700 people.

Residents told authorities they were afraid the immigrants would take jobs and resources from U.S. citizens.

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Associated Press writers Astrid Galvan in Tucson, Arizona, and Amy Taxin in Tustin, California, contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are edging up Wednesday following a report that business hiring surged in June, a promising sign for economic growth. The report comes a day after news of stronger manufacturing activity helped push the stock market to another all-time high.

KEEPING SCORE: Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 23 points at 16,899 less than an hour before the start of regular trading.

Standard & Poor's 500 index futures are up two points to 1,968, while Nasdaq 100 futures are up four points at 3,889.

The Dow edged within two points of 17,000 for the first time after separate reports showed that manufacturing expanded in China and the U.S., the world's two largest economies.

JOBS: ADP, a payroll processer, said businesses added 281,000 jobs last month, up from 179,000 in the previous month. The figure suggests the government's jobs report, due out Thursday, could also show a significant gain from May's tally of 217,000 jobs. But the ADP survey only looks at the private sector so often diverges from the government's more comprehensive report.

A DEAL: Kroger, a supermarket chain, announced plans to buy the online vitamin seller Vitacost.com in a $280 million deal. Cincinnati-based Kroger said it will pay $8 per share in cash for Vitacost.com, a 27 percent premium compared with its closing price of $6.28 on Tuesday. Shares in Vitacost.com were up $1.71 to $7.99 in premarket trading.

EUROPE: Major markets in Europe edged up. France's CAC 40 rose 0.1 percent while Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.4 percent.

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) — An overpass under construction collapsed Thursday in this World Cup host city, killing at least two people and trapping a commuter bus, two construction trucks and a car in an embarrassment for a country that has been basking in praise for what has mostly been a smoothly running soccer tournament.

At least 22 people were reported injured. There was not yet any word on whether foreign tourists were among those killed or injured.

Brazilian officials didn't think the casualty numbers would rise too sharply — though they said they had not yet reached a small passenger car that was flattened by the falling overpass. It was not known if anyone inside the car escaped or remained inside.

The incident is the biggest black eye yet for Brazil's hosting of the World Cup, which has been carried out with less chaos than many had feared.

In the run-up to the event, there were serious concerns about the ability of Brazil's airports and roads to handle the influx of tourists because of delays or outright cancelations of projects to improve urban transportation.

After Brazil was awarded the World Cup in 2007, politicians promised $8 billion would be spent on 56 airports, subway lines and other such projects nationwide. But less than 10 of the infrastructure projects were completed in time for the tournament, including the project where the overpass collapsed in Belo Horizonte.

It was not known what caused the overpass to fall. Cowan, the construction company responsible for building it, said investigators were on site but had not released any conclusions.

"It sounded like an earthquake or a bomb," said Alexandra Pereira, a teacher who was taking a nap with her 10-year-old son in her apartment building just 20 meters (yards) from the overpass. "I looked out my window and panicked. I couldn't see anything but a huge cloud of dust."

Within seconds, Pereira said, her neighbors from the ground floor rushes out to pull injured from the bus that was partially trapped under the overpass.

Pereira said she and several neighbors in a group of nine residential buildings close to the overpass had long complained to the mayor's office that they feared for their safety from the construction and asked authorities for compensation so they could move.

She said the request was rejected and the mayor's office assured them the project was safe. The mayor's office ws closed for the day, but Lt. Col. Edgar Estevo da Silva, a spokesman for the fire department, said officials had inspected the nearby apartment buildings and didn't find any sign they were at risk because of the overpass collapse.

Among the dead was a woman who was driving a commuter bus trapped by the overpass died, said Capt. Federico Pascual of the Belo Horizonte fire department. An official in the mayor's office reported the death of a second person.

The official said 22 people were known to be injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media about the incident.

The overpass collapsed about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Mineirao stadium, which has hosted several World Cup matches in recent weeks and is the site of a semifinal match Tuesday.

The overpass "arched over a really busy thoroughfare," Pascual said.

Security camera footage showed heavy traffic on the street below the structure the moment that the overpass collapsed, striking vehicles below and trapping them underneath.

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Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon reported this story from Sao Paulo and Victor R. Caivano reported in Belo Horizonte.