Associated Press stories, Page 1559
Gov. Tom Wolf adds to mounting veto tally, kills permitless-gun bill
Gov. Tom Wolf followed through on his veto threat Thursday, rejecting Republican-penned legislation to allow people to carry a firearm openly or concealed, without a permit, adding to his total for Pennsylvania’s chief executive with the most vetoes in more than four decades. Wolf, a Democrat, called the bill “dangerous.”...
U.S. jobless claims rise by 28,000, but still low at 222,000
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week even though the U.S. job market has been rebounding from last year’s coronavirus recession. Jobless claims climbed by 28,000 to 222,000 from the previous week’s 52-year low 194,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which...
Broad rally lifts stocks after run of volatile trading
A broad rally on Wall Street pushed stocks higher Thursday, giving the S&P 500 its best day in seven weeks as the market recouped some of its losses after several days of volatile trading. The benchmark index rose 1.4%, its biggest gain since mid-October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose...
Omicron coronavirus variant found in multiple states
NEW YORK — The omicron variant of covid-19, which had been undetected in the United States before the middle of this week, had been discovered in at least five states by the end of Thursday, showing yet again how mutations of the virus can circumnavigate the globe with speed and...
Omicron and delta spell return of unpopular restrictions
PARIS — Greeks who are over age 60 and refuse coronavirus vaccinations could be hit with monthly fines of more than one-quarter of their pensions — a get-tough policy that the country’s politicians say will cost votes but save lives. In Israel, potential carriers of the new omicron variant could...
Lawyer backs up Alec Baldwin’s assertion he didn’t pull trigger
NEW YORK — The assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin a prop gun that went off on a New Mexico film set, killing a cinematographer, backs up the actor’s assertion that he did not pull the trigger. Lisa Torraco, a lawyer for assistant director David Halls, told ABC News that...
This date in sports history: Dec. 2
1907 — Tommy Burns defends his world heavyweight title by knocking out Gunner Moir in the 10th round at London. 1944 — Ohio State quarterback Leslie Horvath wins the Heisman Trophy. 1947 — Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lujack wins the Heisman Trophy. 1952 — Oklahoma halfback Billy Vessels is named...
Miami subdues Penn State in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
UNIVERSITY PARK — Sam Waardenburg scored 14 points and Kameron McGusty, Charlie Moore and Isaiah Wong each scored 12 and Miami beat Penn State 63-58 in a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game Wednesday night. Jaheam Cornwall made two foul shots to reduce Penn State’s deficit to 60-58 with 1:31 remaining. McGusty...
College Football Playoff expansion talks inch forward, no agreement in sightVideo
DALLAS — The latest meeting on expanding the College Football Playoff wrapped up without a resolution Wednesday as the people involved agreed to keep talking. CFP executive director Bill Hancock said there remains a strong consensus among the management committee, comprised of the 10 major college football conference commissioners and...
Source: Marcus Freeman to be Notre Dame’s next head coach
Notre Dame is working on a deal to promote defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to head coach to replace Brian Kelly, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press on Wednesday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing had been finalized, though the first piece...
Jan. 6 panel votes to hold former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark in contemptVideo
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection voted Wednesday to pursue contempt charges against Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who refused to answer the committee’s questions — but the panel agreed to let him come back for another try. The committee voted 9-0...
GOP risks government shutdown to fight Biden vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON — The federal government could be heading for temporary shutdown, with Republicans poised to stall a must-pass funding bill in their effort to force a debate in Congress on rolling back the Biden administration’s covid-19 vaccine mandates for some workers. Conservative Republicans in the House and Senate who are...
Man who threatened Congress by phone sentenced to 33 months
CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire man who pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls to members of Congress if they didn’t support former President Donald Trump has been sentenced to over two years in prison. Ryder Winegar, 34, of Amherst, was accused of leaving phone messages on Dec. 16,...
Science report: U.S. should make less plastic to save oceans
America needs to rethink and reduce the way it generates plastics because so much of the material is littering the oceans and other waters, the National Academy of Sciences says in a new report. The United States, the world’s top plastics waste producer, generates more than 46 million tons a...
Sheriff: Hunter accidentally kills his 11-year-old daughter in Texas
HALLSVILLE, Texas — A hunter accidentally shot and killed his 11-year-old daughter while they were hunting near their East Texas hometown, investigators said this week. In a statement, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office in Marshall, Texas, said it received multiple reports shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday of a hunting accident...
Facebook: Fake scientist used to spread anti-U.S. propaganda
A disinformation network with ties to China used hundreds of fake social media accounts — including one belonging to a fictitious Swiss biologist — to spread an unfounded claim that the U.S. pressured scientists to blame China for the coronavirus, Facebook said Wednesday. The company based in Menlo Park, Calif.,...
Markets turn cautious, reversing an early gain to end lowerVideo
Another roller-coaster ride on Wall Street whipsawed investors Wednesday as an early market rally reversed course by midafternoon, piling up more losses for stocks. The S&P 500 had been up 1.9% in the early going following some better-than-expected readings on the U.S. economy, but the gains gradually gave way to...
1983 AL Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt dies at 66
CHICAGO — LaMarr Hoyt, who won the 1983 AL Cy Young Award with the Chicago White Sox, has died. He was 66. The White Sox announced his death on Wednesday. The team said he died Monday in his hometown of Columbia, S.C., following a lengthy illness. Hoyt went 98-68 with...
Women’s tennis tour suspends China events over Peng concerns
In the strongest public stand against China taken by a sports body, the head of the women’s professional tennis tour announced Wednesday that all WTA tournaments there would be suspended because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former government official...
Fed survey finds supply-chain shortages boosting inflation
WASHINGTON — Many parts of the country were hit by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages in November, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. In a survey of business conditions around the country, the Fed’s 12 regional banks found that the economy continued to grow at a modest-to-moderate pace, and the...
Daystar CEO Marcus Lamb dies after covid diagnosis
DALLAS — Marcus Lamb, CEO and founder of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who was outspoken against covid-19 vaccines, has died at age 64 after contracting the virus. Daystar confirmed his death Tuesday. “It’s with a heavy heart we announce that Marcus Lamb, president and founder of Daystar Television...
MLB lockout begins as collective bargaining agreement expires
IRVING, Texas — Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired Wednesday night and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day. The strategy, management’s equivalent of a strike under federal labor...
U.S. reports 1st case of omicron variant in returning traveler
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of the omicron variant Wednesday — in a vaccinated traveler who returned to California after a trip to South Africa — as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous...
New dinosaur species from Chile had a unique slashing tail
Fossils found in Chile are from a strange-looking dog-sized dinosaur species that had a unique slashing tail weapon, scientists reported Wednesday. Some dinosaurs had spiked tails they could use as stabbing weapons and others had tails with clubs. The new species, described in a study in the journal Nature, has...
Omicron unravels travel industry’s plans for a comeback
Tourism businesses that were just finding their footing after nearly two years of devastation wrought by the covid-19 pandemic are being rattled again as countries throw up new barriers to travel in an effort to contain the omicron variant. From shopping districts in Japan and tour guides in the Holy...
