Associated Press stories, Page 1776
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...
Biden repeals Trump-era rule on gig workers
NEW YORK — The Biden administration nullified a Trump-era rule Wednesday that would have made it easier to classify workers as independent contractors, blocking a change supported by delivery and ride-hailing services. The Labor Department’s decision came just two days before the Trump-era rule was supposed to take effect. The...
Louisiana cop who used stun gun on handcuffed man resigns
PORT ALLEN, La. — An officer who used a stun gun twice on a handcuffed, seated man has resigned from a Louisiana police department one day before a termination hearing. Nolan Dehon III had been scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the Port Allen City Council, to consider whether to...
Myanmar’s military disappearing young men to crush uprising
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Myanmar’s security forces moved in and the street lamps went black. In house after house, people shut off their lights. Darkness swallowed the block. Huddled inside her home in this neighborhood of Yangon, 19-year-old Shwe dared to peek out her window into the inky night. A flashlight shone back,...
Peloton recalls treadmills, halts sales, after a child dies
NEW YORK — Peloton is recalling about 125,000 of its treadmills, less than a month after denying they were dangerous and saying it would not pull them from the market, even though they were linked to the death of a child and injuries of 29 others. The company said Wednesday...
Covid’s U.S. toll projected to drop sharply by the end of July
NEW YORK — Teams of experts are projecting covid-19’s toll on the U.S. will fall sharply by the end of July, according to research released by the government Wednesday. But they also warn that a “substantial increase” in hospitalizations and deaths is possible if unvaccinated people do not follow basic...
Macron to commemorate 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death
PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday is marking the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon Bonapart, the warrior and emperor who famously bequeathed to France its civil code but whose legacy is today tarnished in the eyes of some for reinstating slavery. In a speech, Macron is expected to...
Hot mic in courtroom captures insurance adjuster calling judge an idiot
Virtual court proceedings during the covid-19 pandemic have seen their share of cyber blunders. Participants have appeared naked or with a beer in hand, while an errant video filter turned a Texas attorney into a cat during a Zoom hearing. In the Silicon Valley last month, an insurance adjuster provided...
2 Denver officers suspended for excessive force in protests
DENVER — Two police officers in Denver have been suspended without pay after city officials said they used excessive force during racial justice protests last year sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Officers Derek Streeter and Diego Archuleta were the first in the department to be...
Canada authorizes Pfizer vaccine for age 12 to 16
TORONTO — Canada’s health regulator has authorized Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine for ages 12 and older. Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser at Health Canada, on Wednesday confirmed the decision for the ages to 12 to 15 and said it will help children return to a normal life. The vaccine was...
Woman from Mali expecting 7, gives birth to 9 babies in Morocco
BAMAKO, Mali — A Malian woman has given birth to nine babies after only expecting seven, Mali’s Ministry of Health said Wednesday. The 25-year-old Halima Cisse gave birth to the babies via cesarean section on Tuesday in Morocco after being sent there for special care, the ministry announced. “The newborns...
