Associated Press stories, Page 1554
Walgreens joins other retailers with starting pay boost
Walgreens will hike starting pay to $15 an hour beginning in October, as employers across the United States continue boosting wages to attract workers. The drugstore chain said Tuesday that the wage hike will take effect in phases and be completed by November 2022. It will affect workers in the...
Mike Richards is out as producer of ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel’
Mike Richards is out as executive producer of “Jeopardy!”, days after he exited as the quiz show’s newly appointed host because of past misogynistic and disparaging comments. Richards is also no longer executive producer of “Wheel of Fortune,” according to a memo to staff that was confirmed by Sony Pictures...
Survey: Owners frustrated when linking phones to vehicles
Automobile quality rose last year, but glitches in pairing smartphones with infotainment systems frustrated owners more than anything, according to a large U.S. survey of auto owners. For the first time, a brand from Fiat Chrysler, now Stellantis, ranked No. 1 for having the fewest problems. Ram trucks finished first,...
Ida collapses Mississippi road; kills 2, injures at least 10
LUCEDALE, Miss. — Two people were killed and at least 10 others were injured when seven vehicles plunged into a deep hole where a dark, rural highway collapsed as Hurricane Ida blew through Mississippi. Torrential rain may have caused the collapse Monday night, and the drivers may not have seen...
Patriots cut Cam Newton, clearing way for Mac Jones to start
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Mac Jones era in New England has begun. The Patriots released Cam Newton on Tuesday, clearing the way for the rookie to open the season as New England’s quarterback. Newton’s release came hours before NFL teams had to reduce their rosters to 53 players and brings...
U.S. home prices soar at record pace in June
WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices jumped by a record amount in June as homebuyers competed for a limited supply of available houses, the latest evidence that the housing market remains red-hot. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index jumped 19.1% in June compared with a year earlier, the largest...
J&J: Potential HIV vaccine falls short in mid-stage study
A potential HIV vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson did not provide protection against the virus in a mid-stage study, the drugmaker said Tuesday. J&J plans to end that study, which involved young women in sub-Saharan Africa. But researchers will continue a separate, late-stage trial involving a different composition...
Wisconsin school board reverses on opting out of free meals
WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin school district has reversed a decision to leave a federal free meals program following widespread criticism and loud protests from parents and others. Waukesha school board members said they received threats in the wake of national attention after voting to opt out of the program...
Poland seeks to stem migrants along border with Belarus
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government asked the president Tuesday to declare a state of emergency along the border with Belarus as it tries to stop an increase number of migrants from entering from the neighboring country. The government citied the potential risk from foreign actors and the actions of protesters...
Thousands face weeks without power in Ida’s aftermath
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana communities beginning the huge task of clearing debris and repairing the damage inflicted by Hurricane Ida are facing the depressing prospect of weeks without electricity in the stifling, late-summer heat. Ida ravaged the region’s power grid, leaving all of New Orleans and hundreds of thousands of...
Ukraine’s leader to talk with Biden on security, Russian gas
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s leader is traveling to the United States this week in hopes of bolstering security ties with Washington and persuading the administration to ramp up sanctions against a new Russian natural gas pipeline that bypasses his country. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called Washington’s failure to block the...
This date in sports history: Aug. 31Video
1881 — The first U.S. men’s single tennis championships begin at the Newport Casino, in Newport, Rhode Island. 1895 — The first professional football game is played at Latrobe between Latrobe and Jeannette. Latrobe pays $10 to quarterback John Brallier for expenses. 1934 — The Chicago Bears and the College...
After U.S. Open loss, Andy Murray calls Tsitsipas breaks ‘nonsense’Video
NEW YORK — Andy Murray is aware that Stefanos Tsitsipas has a growing reputation for pushing the boundaries when it comes to taking breaks during a match. Murray expected that to be an issue during their first-round match at the U.S. Open — and, when it was, that didn’t sit...
Lightning strike at Jersey Shore kills lifeguard, injures 7Video
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A young lifeguard was killed and seven other people, including three other lifeguards, were injured when lightning struck a Jersey Shore beach Monday afternoon, authorities said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed that a lifeguard in Berkeley Township was killed in the afternoon. It marked the...
European Union takes U.S. off safe travel list; backs travel restrictionsVideo
BRUSSELS — The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the United States because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in. The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from...
Florida officials withhold school board salaries over mask mandates
TALLAHASSEE — Florida state education officials on Monday began to make good on threats to withhold funding from local school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates, despite a circuit judge last week ruling the ban unconstitutional. Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that the Florida Department...
Weekly covid-19 tests for vaccinated NFL playersVideo
Fully vaccinated players will be required to get tested for covid-19 weekly instead of every 14 days as part of the revised protocols for the regular season agreed upon by the NFL and NFLPA. The weekly testing applies also for fully vaccinated Tier 1 and 2 staff. There’s an option...
Ex-lawmaker Rick Saccone to run for lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — A former state lawmaker and two-time congressional candidate from the Pittsburgh area who appeared to support efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory said Monday that he will run for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor next year. Rick Saccone, 63, will make a formal announcement on Sept....
Displaced by Hurricane Ida, Saints set up shop at Cowboys stadiumVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Displaced by Hurricane Ida, the New Orleans Saints went back to work Monday about 500 miles away in the stadium of another NFL team. Coach Sean Payton stood on the star logo in the middle of the home field of the Dallas Cowboys as the Saints stretched...
NASCAR championship contender Ryan Blaney steps into leadership role at Team PenskeVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ryan Blaney through 24 races was having an OK season with one victory and a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs locked down. Fast forward to the final two weeks of the regular season and Blaney is suddenly the hottest driver in NASCAR with the momentum needed to perhaps...
No. 12 Wisconsin expects to show off offense vs. No. 19 Penn StateVideo
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has plenty of reasons to believe its offense will bounce back from its ineffective 2020 performance. Quarterback Graham Mertz has more pass-catching targets now that Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor are healthy. Coach Paul Chryst is calling plays again. Chez Mellusi has arrived from Clemson to...
Covid-19 cases stay high, hospitalizations drop in Florida
MIAMI — The number of patients with coronavirus in Florida hospitals continues to drop as infection rates stay high, a sign that while more people are testing positive for the virus, they are not necessarily developing severe illness. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tallied 15,488 patients with...
As Ida leaves Gulf, analysts foresee modest economic damage
WASHINGTON — With more than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi having lost power, Hurricane Ida is sure to take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast. But the impact on the overall U.S. economy will likely be modest...
Wildfire forces thousands from popular Lake Tahoe resortVideo
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Thousands of people rushed to get out of South Lake Tahoe as the entire tourist resort city came under evacuation orders and wildfire raced toward the large freshwater lake of Lake Tahoe, which straddles California and Nevada. Evacuation warnings issued for the resort city of...
McDavid’s NHL MVP defense begins with defensive improvement
Connor McDavid did not take much time off after he and the Edmonton Oilers were swept out of the playoffs in the first round. The unanimous NHL MVP returned to the ice in July and worked hard to improve his defensive game with an eye on building off a 105-point...
