Associated Press stories, Page 1670
Vermont House passes resolution on racism health emergency
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that racism is a public health emergency. The House voted 135-8 in favor of the non-binding resolution, which still must be passed by the Senate to be adopted. The resolution says that systemic racism affecting public health...
Police: 2-year-old shoots, wounds parents inside Maine home
WEST BATH, Maine — A 2-year-old boy in Maine shot and wounded his parents Wednesday after discovering a handgun on a nightstand, police said. The 22-year-old mother suffered a leg wound, the 25-year-old father suffered a minor head wound, and the boy was injured by the recoil of the weapon,...
Explainer: With bankruptcy tossed, what’s next for the NRA?
NEW YORK — Now that a judge has rejected the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy bid, blocking its plan to reincorporate in Texas, the gun rights group is back to fighting New York regulators in a lawsuit that threatens to put it out of business. Harlin Hale, a federal bankruptcy judge...
Matsuyama returns at Nelson, 1st event since winning MastersVideo
McKINNEY, Texas — Hideki Matsuyama has the simple goal of getting his game back in shape at the AT&T Byron Nelson, his first tournament since becoming the first Japanese player to win the Masters. Local favorite Jordan Spieth didn’t intend to be away just as long but ended up getting...
Times Square shooting suspect arrested in FloridaVideo
NEW YORK — A man suspected of shooting three people in New York’s Times Square, including a 4-year-old girl, was arrested Wednesday in Florida, police said. Farrakhan Muhammad was taken into custody in a McDonald’s parking lot near Jacksonville, the official said, four days after the shooting Saturday that rattled...
Republicans purge Liz Cheney for ‘unity,’ but Trump bent on retribution
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders insisted that purging Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney from their ranks was necessary to unify the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections. But former President Donald Trump, who celebrated Cheney’s ouster by calling her a “bitter, horrible human being,” has made clear he has no...
Report: Drop in Xinjiang birthrate largest in recent history
BEIJING — Xinjiang in far western China had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank. The report from the Australian Strategy Policy Institute, obtained exclusively ahead of publication by The Associated...
U.S. advisers endorse Pfizer covid shot for kids 12 and upVideo
U.S. health advisers endorsed use of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine in kids as young as 12 on Wednesday, just as expected new guidelines say it’s OK for people of any age to get the shot at the same time as other needed vaccinations. The sprint to vaccinate millions of middle and...
Congressional hearing on Jan. 6 violence at Capitol devolves into partisan divisionsVideo
WASHINGTON — Republicans sought to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 insurrection during a rancorous congressional hearing Wednesday, painting the Trump supporters who attacked the building as mostly peaceful patriots and downplaying repeatedly the violence of the day. Democrats, meanwhile, clashed with Donald Trump’s former Pentagon chief about the...
Analysis: Connor McDavid NHL’s MVP front-runner in condensed season
Using any metric, Connor McDavid’s 100-plus point season makes the Edmonton Oilers captain the clear frontrunner for the NHL MVP award. Other than teammate Leon Draisaitl’s 81 points entering play Tuesday, no one else was within 30 points of McDavid in his bid to win a second Hart Trophy. Determining...
New York Rangers fire coach Dave Quinn, 3 assistants
NEW YORK — The New York Rangers fired coach David Quinn and three assistant coaches Wednesday after missing the playoffs with one of the NHL’s up-and-coming young teams. The move is the first major one from new general manager Chris Drury, who took over last week after the team fired...
Schools ditch student mask requirements in growing numbersVideo
As a lengthy, bitter fight over mask requirements for students neared its conclusion, the chairperson of a Florida school board announced that she would agree to lift a mandate that had been in place since September even though she preferred leaving it in place until the end of the academic...
Police: California Tesla driver riding in backseat arrested
OAKLAND, Calif. — A motorist was arrested after an officer observed him in the backseat of a Tesla traveling on a San Francisco Bay Area freeway, the California Highway Patrol said. Param Sharma, 25, was arrested for alleged reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer, the highway patrol said in...
Taming the covid virus: U.S. deaths hit lowest level in 10 months
Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. have tumbled to an average of around 600 per day — the lowest level in 10 months — with the number of lives lost dropping to single digits in well over half the states and hitting zero on some days. Confirmed infections, meanwhile, have fallen...
2 charged in North Carolina after gas station line fight amid panic-buying
KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — Two people are charged with assault after a fight in a line at a North Carolina gas station as a fuel pipeline shutdown sparks panic-buying, authorities said. Knightdale police officers were called to a Marathon gas station in the town on Tuesday afternoon for a report of...
Ellen DeGeneres to end long-running TV talk show next year
NEW YORK — Ellen DeGeneres is calling time on her long-running talk show. The daytime host, who has seen a ratings hit after allegations of running a toxic workplace, has decided that the upcoming 19th season will be the last, ending in 2022. It coincides with the end of her...
As chip shortage goes on, cars are scarce and prices are up
DETROIT — For the next few months, Charlie Gilchrist figures his 11 car dealerships in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will sell just about every new vehicle they can get from the factories — and at increased prices. In normal times, that would be cause for joy. Not so much now....
List of candidates for next Columbus police chief down to 9
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s capital city has narrowed the list of candidates for the job of police chief to nine, all of them from outside the agency as promised by the Columbus mayor. City officials, including Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr., were interviewing candidates this week with the goal...
NFL returning to London with 2 games in October
LONDON — The NFL is returning to London in October for its first games in the city since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Atlanta Falcons will play the New York Jets on Oct. 10, and the Jacksonville Jaguars face the Miami Dolphins a week later. Both games will be...
Judge backs aggravating factors in Chauvin trial, clears way for longer prison term
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge has ruled that there were aggravating factors in the death of George Floyd, paving the way for the possibility of a longer sentence for Derek Chauvin, according to an order made public Wednesday. In his ruling dated Tuesday, Judge Peter Cahill found Chauvin abused his...
Stocks sink again on Wall Street as inflation worries mount
Inflation worries rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 680 points lower and placing the major stock indexes on track for their worst week in more than six months. The selling came as investors reacted to a surprisingly big jump in inflation last month...
Andrew McCarthy taps into ’80s nostalgia with new memoirVideo
NEW YORK — Andrew McCarthy admits he “fled” from his shaggy-haired 1980s persona and didn’t look back for decades. Much like the slouchy blazers he wore in movies like “Pretty in Pink” and “St. Elmo’s Fire,” that Brat Pack moniker and image never really fit. But time has put a...
Israel steps up Gaza offensive, kills senior Hamas figuresVideo
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel on Wednesday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in a series of airstrikes. The Islamic militant group showed no signs...
House GOP ousts Trump critic Liz Cheney from top post
WASHINGTON — House Republicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as the chamber’s No. 3 GOP leader on Wednesday, punishing her after she repeatedly rebuked former President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Meeting behind closed...
Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and Go-Go’s in Rock Hall on 1st try
NEW YORK — Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and the Go-Go’s were elected Wednesday to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame their first time on the ballot, leading a class that also includes Tina Turner, Carole King and Todd Rundgren. Each will be honored during an induction ceremony in Cleveland on...
