Associated Press stories, Page 1405
Experts see avocado price rise, damage to Mexican producers
MEXICO CITY — Experts say you may be paying more for your avocado toast in the short term, and the effects of the U.S. temporary ban on imports of the fruit is already being felt by avocado pickers in Mexico. Mexico is negotiating security guarantees for U.S. inspectors who certify...
Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympics: 5 individual races, no medals, 3 DNFs
BEIJING — There was simply no way to predict this. Not for anyone, including Mikaela Shiffrin herself. That the American skier would go 0 for 5 in individual races at the Beijing Olympics, leaving without a medal from any and with a best showing of ninth place, was hard enough...
Anna Shcherbakova wins figure skating gold as Russian teammate Kamila Valieva, at center of doping scandal, falls short of medals podium
BEIJING — Anna Shcherbakova won a stunning gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday night, relying on her experience to deliver a clean performance, while Russian teammate Kamila Valieva tumbled out of the medals in a mistake-filled end to her controversial Olympics. Shcherbakova performed a...
Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch vow to turn Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing into champs
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kurt Busch first met Michael Jordan in a board room last summer as the free-agent driver weighed his racing options. Busch was star-struck in an “awesome moment” when the 6-foot-6 NBA Hall of Famer stood and shook hands with his future 23XI Racing employee. The basketball...
‘The brand is so toxic’: Democrats fear extinction in rural U.S.
SMETHPORT — Some Democrats here in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they’re Democrats. The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge their party affiliation publicly. These Democrats...
More virus rules fall as CDC hints at better times ahead
The nation’s leading health officials said Wednesday that the U.S. is moving closer to the point that covid-19 is no longer a “constant crisis” as more cities, businesses and sports venues began lifting pandemic restrictions around the country. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during...
How American cash for Canada protests could sway U.S. politics
WASHINGTON — The Canadians who have disrupted travel and trade with the U.S. and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have been cheered and funded by American right-wing activists and conservative politicians who also oppose vaccine mandates and the country’s liberal leader. Yet whatever impact the protests have on...
Biden: Russian threat to invade Ukraine is still ‘very high’
Fears of a new war in Europe resurged Thursday as U.S. President Joe Biden warned that Russia could invade Ukraine within days, and violence spiked in a long-running standoff in eastern Ukraine that some worried could provide the spark for wider conflict. World dignitaries raced for solutions, but suspicions between...
Poulin leads Canada women to Olympic gold in 3-2 win over U.S.
BEIJING — Marie-Philip Poulin reminded everyone of her Captain Clutch reputation. And Canada regained its place atop the women’s hockey world. It was only fitting that Poulin delivered at a time her team needed it most by scoring twice, including her third Olympic gold-medal clinching goal, in Canada’s 3-2 win...
FAA head to resign; had tried to rebuild agency’s reputation
The leader of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose agency has been criticized for its oversight of Boeing and handling of questions surrounding 5G interference with aircraft, said Wednesday he will step down March 31. Stephen Dickson, a former pilot and executive with Delta Air Lines in Atlanta, had led the...
Crews end search for missing cruise traveler in Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a cruise ship passenger who jumped from her balcony into the sea and is missing in the Gulf of Mexico. An airplane had been conducting search patterns off the coast, but Coast Guard officials said Thursday night that the search had...
Plane crashes into tractor-trailer on North Carolina highway
LEXINGTON, N.C. — An airplane crashed into a tractor-trailer on Wednesday on a North Carolina highway, killing the pilot and sparking a small fire, the N.C. State Highway Patrol said. The Federal Aviation Administration said a twin-engine Beechcraft Barron crashed into the tractor-trailer on Interstate 85 South, near the Davidson...
GOP-led Arizona Senate OKs huge school voucher expansion
PHOENIX — Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate approved a massive expansion of the state’s school voucher system on Wednesday, a contentious proposal the sponsor says is aimed at low-income students but that also adds wealthier parents who could use public money to pay for private schools. The measure would make as many...
Florida House OKs budget that punishes mask mandate schools
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — School districts that ignored Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates will face a $200 million penalty under a budget bill passed Wednesday by the Florida House. The funding stripped from those districts would be spread among the state’s other districts. Republican Rep. Randy Fine angrily...
Kentucky Senate passes ban on older transgender athletes
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Wednesday to bar older transgender girls from participating in school sports that match their gender identity. The 27-8 vote followed an emotional plea from a lawmaker who shared her own family story and warned that the bill is hurtful because “you’re...
The meticulous path to ideal Olympic curling ice
BEIJING — Curling ice has come a long way in the 600 years since the Scottish began sliding stones across frozen lochs. A modern curling sheet like one at the Ice Cube venue in Beijing is made with ultra-purified water and maintained at a precise range of temperature and acidity....
Investigation: Zinke misused position as Interior secretary
BILLINGS, Mont. — Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a commercial development project that included a microbrewery in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement in the project, according to a report by federal investigators released Wednesday. The investigation...
Prosecutors reduce requested sentence for ex-cop Kim Potter
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota prosecutors have apparently backed away from their pursuit of a longer-than-usual sentence for the suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she killed Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist. Kim Potter, 49, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday following her...
Explainer: Will burglar alarms still work after 3G shutdown?
NEW YORK — As telecom companies rev up the newest generation of mobile service, called 5G, they’re shutting down old networks — a costly, years-in-the-works process that’s now prompting calls for a delay because many products out there still rely on the old standard, 3G. AT&T is scheduled to be...
Online harassment, real harm: Fixing the web’s biggest bug
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It should have been a time of celebration: Brittan Heller would soon graduate from college and head to one of the nation’s top law programs. But when a classmate with unrequited feelings for Heller wasn’t admitted to that same school, he turned his rage on her. He...
U.S. women’s soccer coach earned 28% of men’s coach’s salary
NEW YORK — Vlatko Andonovski earned $357,597 over his first full year as U.S. women’s soccer coach, less than 28% of the $1,291,539 that went to men’s coach Gregg Berhalter. The figures were revealed in the U.S. Soccer Federation’s tax filing for the year ending on March 31, 2021, which...
Super Bowl run excited fans, but Bengals still need work
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals weren’t expected to be in the Super Bowl. After all, they finished 4-11-1 and in last place in the AFC North in the 2020 season. The Bengals were a good team in 2021, but not a great one. The Super Bowl seemed improbable up until...
Prosecutors build case for hate crimes in Arbery killing
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Prosecution witnesses retook the stand Wednesday in the federal hate crimes trial of three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. The first witness was FBI intelligence analyst Amy Vaughan, who went through evidence from the defendants’ text messages and social media posts. On the first day...
Bengals extend coach Zac Taylor’s contract through 2026
CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor, who led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his third season as coach, was signed to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed. Taylor was 6-25-1 in his first two seasons leading the Bengals, his first head coaching...
Latest Trump-Russia filing generates buzz
WASHINGTON — The latest filing from special counsel John Durham in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe has been seized on by the conservative media and Donald Trump himself as vindication of the former president’s oft-repeated claims that he was “spied” on. One headline said Durham had...
