Associated Press stories, Page 1776
Man arrested in hit-and-run death of Nicki Minaj’s father
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A 70-year-old man arrested Wednesday in the hit-and-run death of rapper Nicki Minaj’s father stopped briefly to ask the injured man if he was OK but didn’t call for help, police said. Charles Polevich faces charges of leaving the scene of an incident and tampering with physical...
South Carolina House passes bill restricting abortions
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed a bill banning nearly all abortions, following the lead of other states with similar measures that would go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. The proposal passed the Senate on Jan. 28. It...
Fact check: Joe Biden and his shifting goalposts on reopening schools
WASHINGTON — How do you define success when it comes to reopening schools in the pandemic? President Joe Biden and his aides are having difficulty settling on an answer to that question. At his town-hall forum Tuesday night, Biden denied that his administration ever thought one day of classroom instruction...
Russia rejects European rights court’s order to free Navalny
MOSCOW — Europe’s top human rights court has ordered Russia to release jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a ruling quickly rejected Wednesday by Russian authorities who are bent on isolating the Kremlin’s most prominent foe. The decision by the European Court of Human Rights had demanded that Russia free Navalny...
Rush Limbaugh, ‘voice of American conservatism,’ dies at 70
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who ripped into liberals, foretold the rise of Donald Trump and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right, died Wednesday. He was 70....
California lawmaker proposes ban on fracking by 2027
Heeding the call of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a state senator introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban all fracking in the nation’s most populated state by 2027 and halt the oil and gas extraction method around schools and homes by Jan. 1. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique used...
Detroit Lions hire former Steeler Antwaan Randle El to coach wide receivers
The Detroit Lions have hired wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El. Detroit coach Dan Campbell added the former NFL receiver to his staff Wednesday after he was with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers the past two seasons as an offensive assistant. Randle El was drafted by Pittsburgh in...
11 rescued from flooded Philadelphia streets following water main break
At least 11 people were rescued Tuesday evening after a large water main break in Philadelphia left cars submerged and the area completely flooded, authorities said. The 48-inch break occurred around 6 p.m. in the Nicetown area of North Philadelphia, news outlets reported. Flood waters consumed the streets, swamping cars...
British queen’s husband, Prince Philip, admitted to hospital
LONDON — Britain’s 99-year-old Prince Philip has been admitted to a London hospital after feeling unwell, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday. The palace said the husband of Queen Elizabeth II was admitted to the private King Edward VII Hospital on Tuesday evening. It called the admission “a precautionary measure” taken on...
Ford to go all electric in Europe by 2030
FRANKFURT, Germany — Ford announced a major push into electric vehicles in Europe, vowing to convert its entire passenger car lineup on the continent to electrics by 2030. Ford will spend $1 billion to revamp its factory in Cologne, Germany and make it a base for production of battery powered...
U.S. retail sales jumps 5.3%, thanks to $600 stimulus checks
NEW YORK — The $600 stimulus checks got Americans shopping again. After three months of declines, retail sales soared a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the biggest increase since June and much larger than the 1% rise Wall...
Japan starts covid vaccinations with eye on Olympics
TOKYO — Japan launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign Wednesday, months after other major economies started giving shots and amid questions about whether the drive would reach enough people quickly enough to save a Summer Olympics already delayed by the pandemic. Despite a recent rise in infections, Japan has largely dodged...
New York sues Amazon over worker safety during pandemic
New York is suing Amazon, claiming the company failed to provide workers with a safe environment at two warehouses in the state as covid-19 infections surged nationwide. The suit from New York Attorney General Letitia James landed just days after Amazon preemptively sued to block the suit over its coronavirus...
100 million Americans brace for more cold, ice and snow
The winter weather that has overwhelmed power grids unprepared for climate change and left millions without electricity in record-breaking cold kept its grip on the nation’s midsection Wednesday. At least 20 people have died, some while struggling to find warmth inside their homes. In the Houston area, one family succumbed...
This date in sports history: Feb. 17Video
1923 — Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators becomes the NHL’s career scoring leader. He scores his 143rd goal to surpass Joe Malone in a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. 1924 — Johnny Weissmuller sets a world record in the 100-yard freestyle swim with a time of 52.4 seconds....
Biden reframes his goal on reopening of elementary schoolsVideo
MILWAUKEE — President Joe Biden is promising a majority of elementary schools will be open five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office, restating his original goal after his administration came under fire when aides said schools would be considered open if they held...
Seattle woman, 90, walks 6 miles through snow for vaccine
SEATTLE — A rare winter storm that dumped a foot of snow on Seattle couldn’t keep a 90-year-old woman from her first appointment for the coronavirus vaccine. The Seattle Times reports that Fran Goldman walked six miles round trip to get her shot. “I have been calling to get an...
Trump slams Mitch McConnell as GOP divide deepens post-impeachmentVideo
WASHINGTON — In the most caustic sign yet of deepening GOP divisions, former President Donald Trump blistered Mitch McConnell as a “political hack” on Tuesday, days after the Senate’s top Republican denounced him as the inciter of U.S. Capitol attack. “The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong...
Some dinosaur migration was delayed by climate, study shows
Plant-eating dinosaurs probably arrived in the Northern Hemisphere millions of years after their meat-eating cousins, a delay likely caused by climate change, a new study found. A new way of calculating the dates of dinosaur fossils found in Greenland shows that the plant eaters, called sauropodomorphs, were about 215 million...
‘A complete bungle:’ Texas’ energy pride goes out with frigid temperaturesVideo
AUSTIN — Anger over Texas’ power grid failing in the face of a record winter freeze mounted Tuesday as millions of residents in the energy capital of the U.S. remained shivering with no assurances that their electricity and heat — out for 24 hours or longer in many homes —...
Millions endure record cold without power; at least 20 dead across U.S.Video
OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. — A winter storm that left millions without power in record-breaking cold weather claimed more lives Tuesday, including three people found dead after a tornado hit a seaside town in North Carolina and four family members who perished in a Houston-area house fire while using a...
Report: Iran and Russia begin joint naval drill
TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian and Russian militaries have kicked off a joint naval drill in the Indian Ocean aimed at boosting security of maritime trade in the region, Iran’s state TV reported on Tuesday. The TV said units from Iran’s Navy and the powerful Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces will...
Stocks end wobbly day mostly lower; natural gas prices surge
Stocks ended a tentative day of trading with mixed results as gains for energy companies and banks were offset by losses in other sectors. The S&P 500 ended down less than 0.1% Tuesday, and the Nasdaq lost 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to eke out another record high...
Hospitals still ration medical N95 masks as stockpiles swell
Mike Bowen’s warehouse outside Fort Worth, Texas, was piled high with cases of medical-grade N95 face masks. His company, Prestige Ameritech, can churn out 1 million masks every four days, but he doesn’t have orders for nearly that many. So he recently got approval from the government to export them....
Case dropped after woman in racist NYC run-in gets therapy
NEW YORK — Amy Cooper, the white woman arrested last year for calling 911 on a Black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park, had her criminal case thrown out Tuesday after completing a diversionary counseling program that prosecutors said was meant to educate her on the harm of her actions....
