Associated Press stories, Page 1689
Harbaugh, Frost resolute about resurrecting programsVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — As their paths crossed at Big Ten media days, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Nebraska coach Scott Frost appeared to have one thing in common: They are at a crossroads in their careers. Both have been humbled in recent years. Both need to win now, quite possibly to...
Mississippi argues Supreme Court should overturn Roe v. Wade
JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn its landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and let states decide whether to regulate abortion before a fetus can survive outside the womb, the office of Mississippi’s Republican attorney general argued in papers filed Thursday with the high court. “Under...
Testing slowdown during covid shutdown raises issues about clean OlympiansVideo
TOKYO — The low numbers came in from across the globe and covered most every distance, from 100 meters through the marathon. The reasons behind all the improving times throughout the sport of track and field were every bit as diverse: better shoe technology, better running surfaces, less wear and...
DOJ won’t investigate how Pennsylvania handled nursing homes
HARRISBURG — The Justice Department told Gov. Tom Wolf’s office on Thursday that it has decided not to open an investigation into whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for covid-19 in a hospital. The letter comes 11 months after the...
Indexes inch higher on Wall Street, preserving weekly gainsVideo
Stocks eked out modest gains Thursday on Wall Street, extending the market’s winning streak into a third day and keeping the major indexes on pace to end the week higher. The S&P 500 shrugged off a midday slide and rose 0.2%. Banks, energy companies and industrial stocks weighed on the...
China rebuffs WHO’s terms for further covid-19 origins studyVideo
BEIJING — China cannot accept the World Health Organization’s plan for the second phase of a study into the origins of covid-19, a senior Chinese health official said Thursday. Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the National Health Commission, said he was “rather taken aback” that the plan includes further...
Gov. Tom Wolf says his position on voter ID has not changed
LOGANVILLE — With talks on wider election-related legislation at a standstill, Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that his position on expanding Pennsylvania’s voter identification requirements has not changed, and that he is against anything that would “suppress the vote.” An expansion of Pennsylvania’s voter ID requirements became one of the...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court says leaving scene of triple fatal is 1 charge, not 3
HARRISBURG — A truck driver who killed three people on an interstate outside Harrisburg can’t be sentenced to three consecutive prison terms for leaving the scene of the crash he caused while driving drunk, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The high court unanimously overturned a county judge’s decision to...
NHL roster freeze lifts, flat cap prompts money-saving movesVideo
Carolina traded its playoff starting goaltender to Detroit to avoid arbitration. Philadelphia sent a high draft pick to Arizona to take on a pricey defenseman. The New York Rangers gave a back-to-back Stanley Cup winner a contract reigning champion Tampa Bay never could have afforded. The moves made Thursday when...
Dems renew questions about FBI background check of Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are raising new concerns about the thoroughness of the FBI’s background investigation into Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after the FBI revealed that it had received thousands of tips and had provided “all relevant” ones to the White House counsel’s office. FBI Director Christopher Wray, responding...
Tennessee governor defends agency’s vaccine chief firing, outreach rollbackVideo
NASHVILLE — Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday came out in full defense of his administration’s firing of the state’s vaccination chief and rollback of outreach for childhood vaccines, both of which have sparked national scrutiny over Tennessee’s inoculation efforts against covid-19. “Government needs to provide information and education, provide...
Pennsylvania House Democrat Rep. Margo Davidson charged with theft, is resigning seat
HARRISBURG — A Democratic state representative from just outside Philadelphia issued a statement saying she’s resigning after being charged Thursday with theft and other offenses over her expense reimbursements. Delaware County state Rep. Margo Davidson, 58, was released on her own recognizance after appearing in a Harrisburg district court courtroom....
Amazon’s mission: Getting a ‘key’ to your apartment building
Amazon is tired of ringing doorbells. The online shopping giant is pushing landlords around the country — sometimes with financial incentives — to give its drivers the ability to unlock apartment-building doors themselves with a mobile device. The service, dubbed Key for Business, is pitched as a way to cut...
Pelosi says Jan. 6 panel to move ahead without GOP’s choices
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection “will do the job it set out to do” despite Republicans’ vow to boycott the probe. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Wednesday that Republicans won’t participate after Pelosi rejected two of the Republicans he chose...
NFL teams to face potential forfeits for unvaccinated covid outbreaks
NFL teams have been warned they could forfeit a game due to a covid-19 outbreak among non-vaccinated players, and players on both teams wouldn’t get paid that week. “As we learned last year, we can play a full season if we maintain a firm commitment to adhering to our health...
Police: Man defrauded Chinese pop singer in sex scandal
BEIJING — A man has confessed to defrauding a Chinese-Canadian pop singer, Kris Wu, over a teenager’s accusation he had sex with her when she was drunk, Beijing police said Thursday. The announcement added a bizarre twist to a scandal that cost Wu endorsement contracts with brands including Porsche and...
FirstEnergy to pay $230M in settlement in Ohio bribery case
The energy giant at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio admitted to riveting new details of its role in the conspiracy Thursday as part of a settlement agreement with federal prosecutors, including how it used secret dark money groups to fund the effort and paid a...
Death rates soar in Southeast Asia as virus wave spreads
Indonesia has converted nearly its entire oxygen production to medical use just to meet the demand from covid-19 patients struggling to breathe. Overflowing hospitals in Malaysia had to resort to treating patients on the floor. And in Myanmar’s largest city, graveyard workers have been laboring day and night to keep...
NBC doesn’t plan on adding crowd noise to Olympic broadcasts
One of Molly Solomon’s favorite memories from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics was watching Lindsey Vonn in the start house. Cameras would focus on the skiing great, with microphones picking up her breathing while she listened to final instructions. With no spectators in the stands during the Tokyo Games, Solomon is...
Olympic opening ceremony director fired for making Holocaust joke in 1998
TOKYO — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He...
Seeking reform, U.S. holds $1.3 million in dues from WADA
TOKYO — The U.S. government will hold onto nearly half of the $2.93 million in dues it owes to the World Anti-Doping Agency while it waits to see how the global drug-fighting agency moves forward with reforming its governing structure. Richard Baum of the White House drug control office told...
Texas, Oklahoma reportedly reach out to SEC about joiningVideo
The last time Texas got a wandering eye for alternative conference affiliations, it fueled a series of realignment in college sports that nearly killed the Big 12. A report that Texas could once again be exploring free agency ended up stealing the headlines at the SEC media days and cranked...
Louis Oosthuizen turns to 3M Open with British collapse behind him
After letting a major title slip away for the third time this year, Louis Oosthuizen tried to pivot quickly to his next opportunity. He’s hoping the disappointment and doubt of losing the final-round lead Sunday in the British Open were left behind at Royal St. George’s, or at least somewhere...
Brisbane picked to host 2032 Olympics without a rival bid
TOKYO — Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids. The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne hosted in 1956. “We know what it takes...
Indictment: Ohio man who hates women planned shooting at sorority
CLEVELAND — A man who identifies with a group that despises women appeared in federal court Wednesday in Cincinnati on charges related to his plans to kill sorority members at an unidentified university in Ohio, authorities said. Tres Genco, 21, of Hillsboro, Ohio, is charged with an attempted hated crime...
