Associated Press stories, Page 1044
Tennessee House speaker mulls rejecting U.S. education money
NASHVILLE — One of Tennessee’s most influential Republican lawmakers says the state should stop accepting the nearly $1.8 billion of federal K-12 education dollars that help provide support for low-income students, English learners and students with disabilities. House Speaker Cameron Sexton told The Associated Press that he has introduced a...
Biden’s fentanyl position sparks criticism from 2 sides
President Joe Biden’s calls in his State of the Union speech for strong criminal penalties in response to soaring deaths linked to the potent opioid fentanyl are being rebuked by harm reduction advocates who say that approach could make the problem worse, even as some in Congress jeered the comments...
Damar Hamlin appears during Super Bowl event to accept Alan Page Community AwardVideo
PHOENIX — Damar Hamlin made a brief appearance in Phoenix during Super Bowl week to receive the NFLPA’s Alan Page Community Award. The Buffalo Bills safety received the award at the Phoenix Convention Center on Wednesday, a little over a month after he went into cardiac arrest and needed to...
West Virginia’s $1 billion surplus sparks pitched tax battle
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Republican Senate leaders have answered the call to dramatically slash the state income tax by proposing to shave 15% off the rate at a cost of about $600 million, or more than half the state’s budget surplus. GOP senators described the plan as a safer,...
Florida high school sports officials reconsider menstrual questions
ORLANDO, Fla. — Facing blowback, the director of Florida’s high school sports governing body is backing away from using an eligibility form that requires female athletes to disclose their menstrual history in order to compete. Instead, the executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association is recommending that most...
AI search engines can now chat with us, but glitches abound
REDMOND, Wash. — Nearly a quarter-century after Google’s search engine began to reshape how we use the internet, big tech companies are racing to revamp a familiar web tool into a gateway to a new form of artificial intelligence. If it seems like this week’s newly announced AI search chatbots...
Another $237M granted to Honda battery plant project in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s privatized economic development office has finalized an agreement with Honda to infuse $237 million into development of a massive battery plant project that the Japanese automaker plans to use to transform the state into its North American electric vehicle hub. JobsOhio posted details of the package...
Trump ex-lawyer Cohen meets again with New York prosecutors
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen said he was meeting yet again Wednesday with New York City prosecutors who have spent years examining the former president’s financial dealings. Cohen stopped briefly to talk with reporters as he entered the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He said it was...
Ex-Twitter execs deny pressure to block Hunter Biden story
WASHINGTON — Former Twitter executives conceded Wednesday they made a mistake by blocking a story about Hunter Biden, the president’s son, from the social media platform in the run-up to the 2020 election, but adamantly denied Republican assertions they were pressured by Democrats and law enforcement to suppress the story....
Zelenskyy tells U.K. ‘freedom will win,’ pushes for warplanes
LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for fighter jets to ensure his country’s victory over Russia in a dramatic speech before the U.K. Parliament, where he also thanked the British people for their support since “Day One” of Moscow’s invasion. The embattled leader’s surprise visit to Britain in a...
Day care in Canada struck by city bus; 2 children dead
LAVAL, Quebec — A city bus crashed into a day care center Wednesday north of Montreal, killing two children and injuring six, authorities said. The driver was arrested and charged with homicide and careless driving. A neighbor who ran to the center in Laval, Quebec, said she saw children screaming...
Primary care remains hot deal target with CVS $10.6B bid
Big money is pouring into primary care clinics as the nation’s health care giants hunt for ways to cut costs by keeping people healthy. CVS Health said Wednesday that it will spend about $10.6 billion to buy Oak Street Health, which runs clinics that specialize in treating Medicare Advantage patients....
In new role, Bernie Sanders demands answers from Starbucks CEO
WASHINGTON — As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders settles into his new role as chairman of a committee that oversees health and labor issues, he says some corporations “should be nervous.” And the longtime liberal crusader’s first target is Howard Schultz, the interim CEO of Starbucks who has aggressively fought his...
What LeBron passing Kareem means to NBA, greatest debate
It has happened. LeBron James finally has passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s career scoring record, the torch getting passed from one member of the Los Angeles Lakers to another. The record-breaker came Tuesday, when James scored 38 points to push his career total to 38,390 — three more than...
IOC responds to Paris mayor on Olympic plan for Russians
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee pushed back against the mayor of Paris on Wednesday, insisting there were no plans for “a Russian or Belarusian delegation” at the 2024 Games while also acknowledging that some athletes from those countries could be welcomed. The IOC statement came a day after...
John Travolta, Adam Driver star in Super Bowl ads
NEW YORK — The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest, glitziest stage. Big name advertisers from Netflix to Google are paying as much as $7 million for a 30-second spot during the big game on Sunday, in order to capture the attention of the roughly 100 million viewers who tune in...
U.K. holds ceremony replete with tradition to consider coinsVideo
LONDON — A jury sat solemnly in a gilded hall in central London on Tuesday, presided over by a bewigged representative of the crown in flowing black robes, but there were no criminals in the dock. Britain’s coinage was on trial. In a ceremony that dates back to the 12th...
Danish queen to undergo ‘major back surgery’
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, whose half-century reign makes her Europe’s longest-serving monarch, will undergo “major back surgery” later this month, the royal palace said Wednesday. The 82-year-monarch will be hospitalized afterward and undergo “a longer rehabilitation process,” the royal household said in a statement. “During a long...
United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey turns around after fire in cabin
SAN DIEGO — A fire on board a New Jersey-bound United Airlines plane prompted it to return to San Diego International Airport and four people were taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, authorities said. Flight 2664 was heading to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey when...
Hope fading as deaths in Turkey, Syria quake pass 11,000
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — With hope fading to find survivors, stretched rescue teams toiled Wednesday in Turkey and Syria, searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll passed 11,000 in the deadliest quake worldwide in more than a decade....
North Korean troops encouraged by Kim Jong Un, his daughter
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded the “irresistible might” of his nuclear-armed military as he visited troops with his daughter to mark the 75th founding anniversary of his army, state media said Wednesday. The visit came amid indications North Korea is preparing to stage a...
U.S., states weigh farmland restrictions after Chinese balloon
HARLOWTON, Mont. — Near the banks of Montana’s Musselshell River, cattle rancher Michael Miller saw a large, white orb above the town of Harlowton last week, a day before U.S. officials revealed they were tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the state. The balloon caused a stir in the...
Toxic gases connected to Ohio train derailment cause concern
Days after crews released and burned toxic chemicals transported by a wrecked train in Ohio, residents remain concerned about the toxic substances that could be lingering in their evacuated neighborhoods. About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash Friday in East Palestine, according to rail...
Ex-Twitter execs to face GOP questioning on Hunter Biden
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are expected to question former Twitter executives about the platform’s handling of reporting on Hunter Biden, the president’s son, fulfilling a party promise to investigate what they have long asserted is anti-conservative bias at social media companies. Three former executives will be appearing Wednesday before the...
Arkansas Gov. Sanders slams Biden for ‘woke fantasies’
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders painted a dystopian portrait of the country in her rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, leaning heavily into Republican culture war issues and accusing Biden of pursuing “woke fantasies.” Speaking from the governor’s mansion in...
