Associated Press stories, Page 1737
West Virginia announces 20 more unreported covid-19 deaths
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Friday that 20 coronavirus deaths went unreported, on top of the 165 deaths he announced last week that were previously not publicized. The Republican governor vowed a “complete investigation, all the way down, to pinpoint exactly where the shortcomings are.” Those...
Plans solidify for 93rd Oscars: No Zoom, no sweatshirts
With nominations set and just over a month until showtime, details are trickling out about the 93rd Oscars and neither sweatshirts nor zoom made the cut. “Our plan is that this year’s Oscars will look like a movie, not a television show,” said show producers Jesse Collins, Stacy Sher and...
Celebrity Cruises to end yearlong pandemic hiatus in June
Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for covid-19 before getting on a ship. The company’s Celebrity Cruises subsidiary said its Celebrity Millennium ship will relaunch on June 5 from St. Maarten. One itinerary will stop in...
Biden picks former Florida senator who flew in space to lead NASA
President Joe Biden has chosen a former senator from Florida who flew on the space shuttle right before the Challenger accident to lead NASA. Biden on Friday announced his intent to nominate Bill Nelson as the space agency’s administrator. If confirmed by the Senate, Nelson will become NASA’s 14th administrator,...
Russian man admits ransomware plot against Tesla in Nevada
A Russian man has pleaded guilty to offering a Tesla employee $1 million to get computer malware into the electric car company’s massive electric battery plant in Nevada for a ransomware attack that never happened, according to court records. Federal public defenders representing Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov did not immediately respond...
4 more women sue Texans QB Watson for sex assault
HOUSTON — Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has been sued by four more women who accuse him of sexual assault and harassments. The lawsuits were filed Thursday night, hours after the NFL said it was investigating earlier allegations by three massage therapists who said the quarterback sexually assaulted them during...
LSU, Wade push on under cloud of suspicion in NCAA tourney
The enduring controversy that prevented LSU’s Will Wade from coaching his team in the last NCAA Tournament two seasons ago hasn’t stopped him from getting the Tigers back to college basketball’s marquee event. Wade is set to coach his first NCAA Tournament game for the Tigers (18-9) on Saturday against...
Bucks County prosecutor demoted for DoorDash moonlighting during work
A top aide to a district attorney in suburban Philadelphia has been demoted because he was caught moonlighting for DoorDash during work hours. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced the punishment Thursday against prosecutor Gregg Shore, who was demoted from the office’s first assistant district attorney to being a...
Michigan requires teen athlete testing amid climbing covid case rates
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan on Friday eased outdoor stadium capacity restrictions before baseball’s Opening Day but ordered weekly testing of teen athletes amid a climbing coronavirus case rate that ranks fourth nationally over the past week. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, for now, she does not plan to tighten covid-19 restrictions...
5 White House staffers lose jobs over drugs, marijuana use
Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden’s administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition. The administration...
Lou Barletta to decide soon on whether to run for Pa. governor
HARRISBURG — Lou Barletta, the former congressman who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, said Friday that he will make a decision in the next few weeks on whether to seek the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. Barletta began considering a run late last year,...
Kremlin: Putin’s offer of a call with Biden was to save ties
MOSCOW — The Kremlin said Friday that President Vladimir Putin’s offer to speak by phone with U.S. President Joe Biden was intended to prevent bilateral ties from completely falling apart over the American’s remark that the Russian leader was a killer. Putin made it clear that “it makes sense to...
Happiness Report: World shows resilience in face of covid-19
STOCKHOLM — The coronavirus brought a year of fear and anxiety, loneliness and lockdown, and illness and death, but an annual report on happiness around the world released Friday suggests the pandemic has not crushed people’s spirits. The editors of the 2021 World Happiness Report found that while emotions changed...
In dealing with immigration, Biden is using some of same tactics as Trump, leaving Democrats in political bind
WASHINGTON — Democrats who long blistered the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies are suddenly in a tough political bind. The Biden administration is responding to a wave of children crossing the southern border into the U.S. with some of the very tactics that evoked moral outrage from Democrats when former...
L.L. Bean sees sales boom amid pandemic’s push to outdoors
FREEPORT, Maine — With Americans hunkering down and hankering to get outdoors during the pandemic, L.L. Bean recorded its best annual sales growth in nearly a decade, the company said Friday. The Freeport-based retailer started its fiscal year with store closings and worries about survival but the company weathered the...
CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be closer
NEW YORK — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its social distancing guidelines for schools Friday, saying students can now sit 3 feet apart in classrooms. The revised covid-19 recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has forced some schools to remove desks, stagger scheduling...
Atlanta police on shooting probe: ‘Nothing is off the table’
ATLANTA — Police said Thursday that “nothing is off the table” in the investigation of the deadly shootings at two Atlanta massage businesses, including whether the slayings were a hate crime. Those attacks and a third one near the suburban town of Woodstock killed eight people and prompted President Joe...
Wall Street closing lower; bank stocks fall
Stocks are closing mostly lower on Wall Street Friday. The S&P 500 lost 0.1% to end with its first weekly loss in the last three. Bank stocks fell after the Federal Reserve announced it would end some emergency measures put in place for the industry last year to help deal...
Morehead St. seeks another NCAA upset over West Virginia after 10-year absence
INDIANAPOLIS — Preston Spradlin didn’t fret when Morehead State stumbled out of the gate, and he’s making sure the Eagles aren’t comfortable despite their red-hot roll. After all, there’s so much to achieve in their long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament, as Kentucky’s lone representative yet. Wednesday marked 10 years...
Judge refuses to delay, move trial of ex-cop in George Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS — A judge on Friday denied a defense request to delay or move the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death after a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family raised concern about a tainted jury. Jury selection was halfway complete last week in former...
UCLA beats Michigan State in overtime in First Four game
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — UCLA showed plenty of fight in its overtime win over Michigan State in a First Four game in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans showed some fight, too — among themselves. After coach Tom Izzo and forward Gabe Brown carried a shouting match into halftime, the Spartans...
Emergency sites for migrant children raising safety concerns
McALLEN, Texas — The U.S. government has stopped taking immigrant teenagers to a converted camp for oil field workers in West Texas as it faces questions about the safety of emergency sites it is quickly setting up to hold children crossing the southern border. The Associated Press has learned that...
Matt Jones ties course record with 61 in Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Matt Jones’ opening round at the Honda Classic was remarkable. He was remarkably unimpressed. Jones tied the course record Thursday on a typically windy day at PGA National with a bogey-free 9-under-par 61 giving him a three-shot lead. He matched the mark set by Brian...
U.S. won’t recognize Syria presidency vote unless UN involved
UNITED NATIONS — The United States warned Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday that the Biden administration will not recognize the result of its upcoming presidential election unless the voting is free, fair, supervised by the United Nation and represents all of Syrian society. The acting U.S. deputy ambassador to...
North Korea cuts diplomat ties with Malaysia over U.S. extradition
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday said it was cutting diplomatic ties with Malaysia to protest a court ruling that allowed a North Korean to be extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the charges an “absurd fabrication and sheer...
