Associated Press stories, Page 1678
Stocks edge higher as tech gains offset healthcare slide
A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended Thursday with stocks broadly higher and another all-time high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Banks and technology companies led a late-afternoon turnaround that pushed the S&P 500 to a 0.8% gain, reversing the benchmark index’s losses for the week. Gains...
Productivity rebounds at solid 5.4% rate in 1st quarter
U.S. productivity posted a sharp rebound between January and March after falling in the previous quarter. Labor costs declined slightly. Productivity increased at an annual rate of 5.4% in the first quarter, recovering from a 3.8% rate of decline in the fourth quarter of last year, the Labor Department reported...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs GOP voting law critics call ‘un-American’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a major rewrite of Florida’s elections law on Thursday, tightening rules around drop boxes and mail-in voting in the presidential battleground. Critics say the changes will make it harder for voters, particularly the elderly and people of color, to cast ballots. It’s the...
U.S. unemployment claims fall to a pandemic low of 498,000
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 498,000, the lowest point since the viral pandemic struck 14 months ago and a sign of the job market’s growing strength as businesses reopen and consumers step up spending. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that...
T.J. Oshie has hat trick, 6 fights break out in Caps-Rangers rematch
NEW YORK — T.J. Oshie had a hat trick, Vitek Vanecek made 19 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the depleted New York Rangers 4-2 in a fight-filled game Wednesday night. Oshie beat Alexandar Georgiev 12 seconds into the middle period with a shot from the right circle with Rangers...
Josh Duggar granted release as he awaits child porn trial
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge on Wednesday allowed former reality TV star Josh Duggar to be released as he awaits trial on charges that he downloaded and possessed child pornography. Magistrate Judge Christy Comstock ordered Duggar, 33, confined to the home of family friends who have agreed to...
Bills GM Brandon Beane would consider cutting unvaccinated playerVideo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane theoretically would consider cutting an unvaccinated player if it meant the team being able to lift NFL covid-19 protocols restricting in-person team meetings. “Yeah, I would,” Beane told the team-sponsored ” One Bills Live” broadcast Wednesday. “You guys saw it in...
Golf super league resurfaces as McIlroy puts stock in legacyVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy returned to the site of his first PGA Tour victory and made it clear Wednesday that he is more interested in creating his place in history than chasing Saudi-backed money in a proposed super league. Justin Thomas wasn’t far behind in that line of thinking....
Texas Senate advances bill allowing handguns without license
AUSTIN — Texas would allow people to carry a handgun without a license, and the background check and training that go with it, under a measure approved by the state Senate on Wednesday. Texas already has some of the loosest gun laws in the country and has more than 1.6...
New York Rangers abruptly dump team president, GMVideo
The New York Rangers abruptly fired president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton on Wednesday with three games left in the season. Chris Drury was named president and GM. He previously served as associate GM under Davidson and Gorton. The stunning move came less than 24 hours after the...
South Carolina House adds firing squad to execution methods
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state’s execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs — a measure meant to jump-start executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved...
Next Gen car finally arrives, ushers NASCAR into futureVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR’s next generation race car finally is here after two years of hype and hope that it will revolutionize the stock car series. How can a spec car radically change a sport? Competition. Cost containment. Manufacturer relevance. The Next Gen car, first proposed in 2018 and originally...
Chelsea ousts Madrid to set up all-English Champions League final vs Man CityVideo
LONDON — Chelsea’s decision to fire a club legend suddenly doesn’t seem so callous after all. While Frank Lampard’s name has hardly been forgotten by the Chelsea fans — who were chanting it outside Stamford Bridge before kickoff on Wednesday — new manager Thomas Tuchel is quickly creating his own...
Orioles’ John Means throws 1st career no-hitter in win over MarinersVideo
SEATTLE — John Means threw the third no-hitter in the majors this season and came within a wild pitch on a third strike of a perfect game, pitching the Baltimore Orioles over the Seattle Mariners, 6-0, on Wednesday. Means (4-0) struck out 12 and walked none. Seattle’s runner was Sam...
Kentucky medical student found dead at bottom of cliff at Red River Gorge
STANTON, Ky. — A 24-year-old University of Kentucky student who went hiking at Red River Gorge has been found dead at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff, authorities said. Powell County Search and Rescue said in a statement that the organization was notified Tuesday that the woman had gone hiking...
Stock indexes mixed as tech rebound fades; Peloton sinks
Major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed Wednesday after an early technology company rebound faded, tempering the market’s recovery from a sell-off a day earlier. The S&P 500 eked out a 0.1% gain after having been up 0.7% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 0.3% gain,...
U.S. birth rate falls to lowest point in more than a century
NEW YORK — The U.S. birth rate fell 4% last year, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report being released Wednesday. The rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly every age group, falling to the lowest point since...
Pennsylvania GOP wants to restore work-search rule for jobless benefits
HARRISBURG — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature are advancing legislation to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits, with one survey showing that workers aren’t taking open jobs at a record rate. The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday. Lawmakers suspended the...
West Virginia sets new targets in sluggish vaccine campaign
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice made an array of promises Wednesday to turn around the state’s lagging coronavirus vaccination campaign as it trails over a dozen states. The state is confronting vaccine hesitancy, Justice has said, amid a focus on vaccinating residents aged 16 to 35. The Republican...
In visit to Mexican restaurant, Biden touts $28.6B covid-relief grants for eateriesVideo
WASHINGTON — Setting foot in a restaurant for his first time as president, Joe Biden made a Cinco de Mayo taco and enchilada run to highlight his administration’s $28.6 billion program to help eateries that lost business because of the coronavirus pandemic. The president went to Taqueria Las Gemelas in...
Firing of Atlanta officer who shot Rayshard Brooks reversed
ATLANTA — The firing of the former Atlanta police officer who’s charged with murder in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks was reversed after a review panel found the city failed to follow its own procedures for disciplinary actions. Garrett Rolfe was fired in June, a day after he shot...
Minor league baseball draws 103,483 for 47 games in return
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Minor league baseball drew 103,483 fans for 47 games on its opening day after missing the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. The largest crowd Tuesday was 5,004 for the Tulsa Drillers’ 4-3 loss to Amarillo in the Double-A Central. All four Double-A South games...
NCAA aims for less contact in preseason football practice
The NCAA football oversight committee is preparing to recommend changes to preseason camp that will include fewer fully padded practices and the elimination of some old-school collision drills. The latest move to scale back contact in practice comes in response to a five-year study involving six major college football teams...
Families, advocates mark day of awareness for Native victims
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — From Washington to Indigenous communities across the American Southwest, top government officials, family members and advocates gathered Wednesday as part of a call to action to address the ongoing problem of violence against Indigenous women and children. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials commemorated...
60 years since 1st American in space: Tourists lining up
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sixty years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, everyday people are on the verge of following in his cosmic footsteps. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company used Wednesday’s anniversary to announce an auction for a seat on the company’s first crew spaceflight, launched by...
