Associated Press stories, Page 1696
NHL teams shuffle before Seattle Kraken expansion draft
Before 30 NHL teams release the list of players available for the Kraken, many of them are shuffling the deck to make sure they’re in good position for the Seattle expansion draft. Rather than losing Ryan Graves, Colorado traded him to New Jersey. Rather than worry about whether 2020 playoff...
Fully vaccinated Americans may enter Canada as of mid-August
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into Canada as of mid-August for non-essential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September. Trudeau spoke with leaders of Canada’s provinces and...
4 NFL teams reportedly under 50% vaccinated; Steelers among teams with highest rateVideo
Four NFL teams remain under 50% vaccinated less than two weeks from the start of training camp, a person familiar with the vaccination rates told the Associated Press. Washington, Indianapolis, Arizona and the Los Angeles Chargers had the four lowest covid-19 vaccination rates in the league as of Thursday, according...
Braves look to bolster outfield, acquire Joc Pederson in trade with CubsVideo
CHICAGO — The Atlanta Braves acquired Joc Pederson in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, bolstering their outfield after losing Ronald Acuna Jr. to a season-ending knee injury. Atlanta sent minor league first baseman Bryce Ball to Chicago for Pederson, who is batting .230 with 11 homers and...
NASCAR driver Austin Cindric takes over Roger Penske’s iconic No. 2 next seasonVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The long breakup between Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski was finalized Thursday when Austin Cindric was named driver of the flagship No. 2, replacing the driver who won Team Penske its first Cup championship. Keselowski had a prolonged contract negotiation a year ago that netted him only...
Wizards’ Bradley Beal out of Olympics for health and safety reasonsVideo
On a U.S. basketball team filled with stars, nobody scored more than Bradley Beal during the season. At the top of his NBA game, he was finally set to take on the international one. The coronavirus has wrecked his Olympic dreams. Beal will miss the Olympics after being placed into...
Arizona election auditors seek more records, voter canvassVideo
PHOENIX — Contractors hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to oversee a partisan review of the 2020 election said Thursday that they don’t have enough information to complete their report, and urged legislators to subpoena more records and survey voters at home. Leaders of the GOP audit described a wide variety...
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian: No magic trick to make Longhorns contenders againVideo
ARLINGTON — Texas fans want more than top 10 rankings and bowl victories. They would like to win some Big 12 titles and be in contention for national championships. While the Longhorns still are the last Big 12 team to win a national title, that was long ago — the...
Judge orders Richard Sherman released from jail without bailVideo
SEATTLE — A judge ordered former Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers star Richard Sherman released from jail without bail Thursday after his arrest on suspicion of trying to break in to his in-laws’ home. King County District Court Judge Fa’amomoi Masaniai found probable cause that Sherman committed criminal trespassing,...
NCAA’s Mark Emmert: It is time to decentralize college sports
NCAA President Mark Emmert said Thursday the time is right to consider a decentralized and deregulated version of college sports, shifting power to conferences and campuses and reconsidering how schools are aligned. Emmert said the recent Supreme Court ruling against the NCAA along with the lifting of restrictions on athletes...
Bryson DeChambeau apologizes after blaming driver for struggles at British OpenVideo
Bryson DeChambeau fought the wind blowing in from the English Channel and the thick thatches of rough at Royal St. George’s. And then he fought with his clubmaker. After shooting a 1-over-par 71 in the first round of the British Open on Thursday, the 2020 U.S. Open champion blamed his...
Another Pa. county raises objection to lawmaker’s election audit
HARRISBURG — Another Pennsylvania county targeted for an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of the 2020 presidential election being pushed by former President Donald Trump is raising strong objections to a sweeping demand for access to its voting equipment and records. York County’s three commissioners — two Republican and one Democrat —...
Los Angeles County restores indoor mask mandate for all
LOS ANGELES — A rapid and sustained increase in covid-19 cases in the nation’s largest county requires restoring an indoor mask mandate even when people are vaccinated, Los Angeles County’s public health officer said Thursday. Dr. Muntu Davis said at a virtual press conference that a public health order requiring...
Yankees-Red Sox postponed after New York positive covid tests
NEW YORK — The Yankees’ post-All-Star break opener against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night was postponed because of positive covid-19 tests within New York’s organization. Major League Baseball said the postponement was to allow for more testing and contact tracing. New York was among the first major league...
Ex-Florida deputy gets 12 years for planting drugs in people’s cars
MARIANNA, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff’s deputy received a 12-year prison sentence for planting drugs inside drivers’ cars during traffic stops and then arresting them. Former Jackson County deputy Zachary Wester, 28, did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing. He was convicted in May on 19 of 67 counts, including...
Movie producer charged with operating prostitution service
NEW YORK— A movie producer was arrested Thursday in California on a New York indictment accusing him of using a movie production company to operate an international prostitution business. Dillon Jordan, 49, of Arrowhead Lake, California, was arrested in San Bernardino County, California, and awaited an initial court appearance in...
Penn State trustees vote to raise tuition for 2021-22 school year
HARRISBURG — Penn State will impose its first tuition increase for incoming in-state undergraduate students since the 2017-18 school year, under a plan approved by trustees on Thursday. Incoming Pennsylvania resident students will see a 2.5% tuition increase at all campuses for the 2021-22 school year. At the University Park...
Chip and Joanna Gaines step up to help lead a new TV networkVideo
Chip and Joanna Gaines made a name for themselves thanks to their knack for renovating homes. Now they’re ready to put their skills to work on building an entire TV network. The couple known for restoring old homes and buildings into styles varying from industrial to farmhouse are making the...
Cleveland State to require coronavirus vaccinations despite law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cleveland State University said Thursday it will continue to require that students living on campus be vaccinated against the coronavirus despite a new law prohibiting public schools and colleges in Ohio from mandating the vaccine. The school, the only public university in the state with such a...
More than 60 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeVideo
BERLIN — More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse. Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks,...
Covid-19 cases in Missouri reach highest level since JanuaryVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s health department on Thursday reported the highest daily count of new covid-19 cases since the dead of winter, and the association representing the state’s hospital is warning that the health care system is potentially on the brink of a crisis. The Missouri Department of Health...
Gunman found criminally responsible for killing 5 at Annapolis paper
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A jury on Thursday found the gunman who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper criminally responsible, rejecting defense attorneys’ mental illness arguments. The jury of eight men and four women found that Jarrod Ramos could understand the criminality of his actions and conform his conduct to...
Pennsylvania man in ‘double suicide’ at Gianni Versace’s former mansion, police say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Two men apparently killed themselves, police said, in a suite at the Miami Beach hotel that Gianni Versace turned into his mansion, nearly 24 years to the day after the fashion designer died on the building’s front steps. Their bodies were found by housekeeping on Wednesday, the...
Colin Kaepernick picture book to come out in April
NEW YORK — Colin Kaepernick will release a series of books through the children’s publisher Scholastic, starting with a picture story scheduled for next year. “I Color Myself Different” will come out in April, according to an announcement Thursday by Scholastic and Kaepernick Publishing, which the former NFL quarterback founded...
Louis Oosthuizen, Jordan Spieth lead way as normalcy returns to British Open
SANDWICH, England — Jordan Spieth rolled in putts like it was 2017. Louis Oosthuizen put those runner-up finishes in the last two majors out of mind and soared to the top of the leaderboard. They gave the British Open a familiar feel Thursday. Normalcy returned to the wind-swept links at...
