Associated Press stories, Page 1769
Georgia senators vote to end changing clocks twice a year
ATLANTA — Georgia senators want to stop changing their clock twice a year, saying shifting from standard time to daylight saving time and back is disruptive. The Senate voted 46-7 Wednesday to pass Senate Bill 100, which calls for Georgia to observe standard time year round. It goes to the...
Special prosecutor picked for case against St. Louis couple
ST. LOUIS — A former U.S. attorney and circuit judge was appointed Wednesday as special prosecutor in the case against a St. Louis couple who waved guns at racial injustice protesters last summer. Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer chose Richard Callahan to prosecute Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who have pleaded not...
Pa. Republicans say Gov. Wolf is trying to sabotage ballot question
HARRISBURG — Republican leaders of Pennsylvania’s Legislature said Wednesday that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is trying to sabotage ballot questions to amend the constitution to shift authority over the length of emergency declarations from governors to lawmakers. The measures arose from Republican lawmakers’ strident disagreement with how Wolf, a Democrat,...
Red-hot U.S. housing market: January new home sales jump 4.3%
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Demand for new homes in the U.S. surged 4.3% in January with the housing market still one of the strongest segments of the economy. Last month’s increase pushed sales of new homes to an adjusted annual rate of 923,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That’s much...
Biden to order a review of U.S. supply chains for vital goods
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is preparing to sign an executive order to review U.S. supply chains for large-capacity batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors that power cars, phones, military equipment and other goods. The United States has become increasingly reliant on imports of these goods — a potential national...
Gains for bank stocks help lead major indexes higher
Stocks shook off a weak start and closed broadly higher Wednesday, nudging the Dow Jones Industrial Average to another all-time high. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% after having been down 0.6% in the early going. Gains in financial, technology and industrial stocks powered the comeback. Utilities fell. U.S. Treasury yields...
Girl dies, boy hurt in fall through ice in Ohio; officer also dies
HILLSBORO, Ohio — A 16-year-old girl died and a teenage boy was injured after they fell through an icy lake in Ohio, officials said. An Ohio Natural Resources Department police officer who responded to the call at Rocky Fork State Park in Hillsboro also died after he suffered a medical...
Myreon Jones scores 29; Penn State holds off Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. — Myreon Jones scored a career-high 29 points to lead five in double figures, and Penn State held off Nebraska for an 86-83 victory on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak. Nebraska (5-16, 1-13 Big Ten), which trailed most of the game and by 10 points...
FDA says Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot prevents covid; final decision soonVideo
WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe covid-19, according to an analysis by U.S. regulators Wednesday that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration’s scientists confirmed that overall the...
Controversy swirls over lowering of flags for Rush Limbaugh
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving ahead with plans to honor recently deceased conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh by lowering flags to half-staff despite protests from some public officials who don’t see Limbaugh as worthy of the honor. DeSantis announced Tuesday that he was directing the U.S....
Betty White, furry friends star in 50-year-old ‘Pet Set’
LOS ANGELES — On a TV show Betty White hosted 50 years ago, the perpetual charmer flirts with James Brolin, teases Della Reese and trades quips with Carol Burnett. But White appears most delighted in the company of the real stars of “Betty White’s Pet Set,” among them elephants, lions...
Mars rover’s giant parachute carried secret message
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white strips of...
China ponders approving 2 more covid vaccines
BEIJING — China is moving ahead with two more covid-19 vaccines in the regulatory process, one from state-owned company Sinopharm and another from a private company CanSino. Both vaccines have been submitted to regulators for approval this week. CanSino said that Chinese regulators are reviewing its application for its covid-19...
Lucky to be alive, Tiger Woods faces difficult recoveryVideo
LOS ANGELES — In a career filled with remarkable comebacks, Tiger Woods faces perhaps his toughest recovery of all. Woods was driving alone through a sweeping, downhill stretch of road through coastal suburbs of Los Angeles when his SUV struck a sign, crossed over a raised median and two oncoming...
Tip led to FBI arrests of Iowa mother, son in Capitol attack
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The FBI has identified an Iowa woman and her adult son as participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after receiving a tip from a longtime family acquaintance, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. Videos that Deborah Sandoval and Salvador Sandoval Jr....
USPS selects Oshkosh Defense to build greener mail truck
WASHINGTON — The United States Post Office said Tuesday that it has chosen Oshkosh Defense to build its next-generation mail-delivery vehicle, part of an effort to make the USPS more environmentally friendly by switching a portion of its huge fleet to electric vehicles. Oshkosh Defense, a division of Wisconsin-based Oshkosh...
Taz Sherman, Derek Culver lead West Virginia over TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas — Taz Sherman scored 23 points, Derek Culver had 18 points and 14 rebounds and No. 10 West Virginia continued its solid play on the road with a 74-66 victory over TCU on Tuesday night. Miles McBride added 11 points for the Mountaineers (16-6, 9-4 Big 12)....
Audits find no problems with Arizona election equipment
PHOENIX — Two independent audits of election equipment in Arizona’s most populous county found no modified software, malicious software or incorrect counting equipment, and none of the computers or equipment were connected to the internet. However, the state Senate wants its own audit and a judge will decide if it...
No. 10 West Virginia to play 3 makeup games next weekVideo
IRVING, Texas — The Big 12 has scheduled a dozen makeup games next week in the break the conference left open for such games before the start of postseason tournament play. No. 2 Baylor, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 14 Texas and No. 18 Texas Tech all...
Ex-NYPD officer and Marine charged in violent Capitol attack
A retired New York Police Department officer and retired U.S. Marine was deemed a danger to the community and ordered held without bail Tuesday after his arrest on charges that he attacked a police officer during the Capitol attack in early January. Thomas Webster, 54, who runs a landscaping business,...
Board leaders of Texas’ grid operator resign after outagesVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — Top board leaders of Texas’ embattled power grid operator said Tuesday they will resign following outrage over more than 4 million customers losing electricity last week during a deadly winter storm, including families whose frigid homes lacked heat for days in subfreezing temperatures. The resignations are the...
No charges against Rochester officers involved in Daniel Prude’s death
Police officers who put a hood over the head of a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them, New York’s attorney general announced Tuesday. Daniel Prude, 41, died last...
Washington taps pastors to overcome racial divide on vaccineVideo
WASHINGTON — Stately and deliberate, with a distinctive white streak in his black hair, the Rev. Wallace Charles Smith started his Valentine’s Day sermon at Shiloh Baptist Church by talking about love and vaccinations. “That’s what love’s all about. When you get a vaccination, you are saying to everyone around...
Capitol defenders blame bad intelligence for deadly breachVideo
WASHINGTON — Faulty intelligence was to blame for the outmanned Capitol defenders’ failure to anticipate the violent mob that invaded the iconic building and halted certification of the presidential election on Jan. 6, the officials who were in charge of security declared Tuesday in their first public testimony on the...
Hillary Clinton, Louise Penny co-writing mystery novel ‘State of Terror’
One of the world’s better known fans of mystery novels, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is now writing one. Clinton is teaming up with her friend, the novelist Louise Penny, on “State of Terror,” which has a plot that might occur to someone of Clinton’s background: A “novice” secretary of state, working...
