Associated Press stories, Page 1779
Ohio proposal would ban drivers from holding phones, devices
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Holding a cell phone or other electronic device while driving in Ohio would be illegal under legislation introduced Monday that takes aim at distracted driving by targeting not just texting but scrolling through social media and other hands-on phone uses. Having an electronic device in your hand...
Biden lifts Trump refugee cap after delay backlashVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by former President Donald Trump. Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Biden to quadruple the number of...
Minors primer: What’s new as minor league returns in 2021?Video
NEW YORK — They have waited for the Wahoos, stood by for the Sod Poodles, bided their time for the Biscuits or Trash Pandas. After more than a year of uncertainty and empty ballparks, fans in minor league cities finally are getting baseball back. “Small town baseball, it’s the fabric...
Groups say gunshot detection systems unreliable, seek review
CHICAGO — The gunshot detection system that set in motion the recent fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Chicago routinely reports gunshots where there are none, sending officers into predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods for “unnecessary and hostile” encounters, community groups argued in a court filing Monday. The...
West Virginia high school basketball player set to graduate fatally shot
BECKLEY, W. Va. — An 18-year-old high school basketball standout who was set to graduate this month has been killed in a shooting in southern West Virginia. Dewayne Marquette Richardson, Jr. was shot once in the chest Sunday night, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the Beckley Police Department....
Storms spawn twisters in Mississippi, kill 2 in GeorgiaVideo
YAZOO CITY, Miss. — Much of the South is facing the risk of more severe weather Tuesday, forecasters say, after tornadoes struck parts of the region Sunday night and Monday, causing heavy damage in some parts of Mississippi. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, as well as corners...
Verizon sells internet trailblazers Yahoo and AOL for $5BVideo
AOL and Yahoo are being sold again, this time to a private equity firm. Wireless company Verizon will sell Verizon Media, which consists of the once-pioneering tech platforms, to Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion deal. Verizon said Monday that it will keep a 10% stake in the new...
EPA rule to phase out greenhouse gases used in refrigerators, coolants
WASHINGTON — In the first Biden administration rule aimed at combating climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The proposed rule follows through on a law Congress passed in December...
Calls for justice at N.C. funeral of Andrew Brown Jr.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The Rev. Al Sharpton issued a powerful call for transparency and the release of body camera footage at the funeral Monday for Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot and killed by deputies in North Carolina, with the civil rights leader likening withholding the video to...
Amazon to take over ‘Thursday Night Football’ package in ’22Video
Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” package a year earlier than originally anticipated. Amazon and the league announced Monday that Prime Video will take over the entire package in 2022, which will make it an 11-season deal through 2032. It originally was...
Google signs deal with WNBA to help champion women’s sportsVideo
NEW YORK — The WNBA signed a multiyear deal with Google on Monday to be the presenting partner for the league’s playoffs, part of the technology giant’s efforts to help champion women’s sports. Twenty-five WNBA games will be televised on ABC and ESPN in celebration of the league’s 25th season,...
Wall Street logs gains Monday on strong earnings
Health care and energy companies helped push stocks higher Monday, as Wall Street kicked off the first trading day in May with more gains after a four-month winning streak. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%. Industrial and financial stocks also helped lift the market. Falling technology and communication stocks, and companies...
Top general drops opposition to change in sex assault policy
In a potentially significant shift in the debate over combating sexual assault in the military, the nation’s top general says he is dropping his opposition to a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of commanders. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
GOP: Wolf should fire vendor that mishandled virus data
Pennsylvania should immediately terminate the no-bid state contract of a company that performed covid-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents, Republican state lawmakers said Monday. GOP leaders also called for state and federal probes into the Atlanta-based contractor’s mishandling of the data,...
Philadelphia man gets life term in parking lot slaying of ex-girlfriend
NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man who prosecutors said stabbed and ran over his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of her suburban workplace has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Lawrence Crawley, 36, apologized Monday in Montgomery County Court before the mandatory sentence was imposed, The Philadelphia...
Restrictions easing in U.S. and Europe amid disaster in India
Air travel in the U.S. hit its highest mark since covid-19 took hold more than 13 months ago, while European Union officials are proposing to ease restrictions on visitors to the continent as the vaccine rollout sends new cases and deaths tumbling in more affluent countries. The improving picture in...
Sheriff: Wisconsin casino shooter was fired employee
MADISON, Wis. — A man who shot and killed two people and wounded a third at a northeastern Wisconsin tribal casino restaurant before police killed him had been fired from the eatery and banned from the property, authorities said Monday. Bruce Pofahl, 62, walked into the Duck Creek Kitchen and...
Florida governor signs law preempting local covid edicts
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining covid-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law on Monday freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic — including mask mandates, limitations on business...
N.Y. Times, Washington Post, NBC correct articles on Giuliani
NEW YORK — The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News all issued similar corrections to stories regarding Rudolph Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, and his dealings in Ukraine. The corrections, to stories that ran last Thursday or Friday, take back reports that the former New...
U.K.’s Johnson voices optimism over lockdown easing routeVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that there is a “good chance” that social distancing rules in England will be scrapped on June 21 if coronavirus infections and deaths stay low. Johnson told reporters in the north England town of Hartlepool where he is campaigning before a...
Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed in April from March high
WASHINGTON — Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed slightly in April partly due to a snarled global supply chain after hitting a 37-year high in March. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity fell last month to a reading...
Bobby Unser, 3-time Indianapolis 500 winner, dies at 87
There wasn’t much Bobby Unser wouldn’t do to promote the Indianapolis 500, which is how he found himself at a show-and-tell at an Indiana elementary school a few years ago. He had the famed Indy 500 winners’ Borg-Warner Trophy with him and proudly showed the students the Unser legacy. He...
First-grade teacher accused of pushing boy to ground
SHREVEPORT, La. — A northwest Louisiana teacher faces criminal charges over accusations that she pushed a 7-year-old boy to the ground. Local news outlets report that Melody Harris Moffett, a first-grade teacher at Judson Elementary School in Shreveport, was arrested on April 20. She was booked into jail on a...
Puerto Rican boxer held without bail after pregnant lover found dead
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge on Monday ordered Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo held without bail after he was charged in the death of his 27-year-old pregnant lover whose body was found in a lagoon. Verdejo is charged with kidnapping and carjacking resulting in the death of...
Alan Moore working on short stories, 5-volume fantasy series
NEW YORK — Alan Moore has many, many stories still to tell. The celebrated British author known for “V for Vendetta” and “Watchmen” among other works has a deal with Bloomsbury for the story collection “Illuminations” and a five-volume fantasy series, “Long London.” In a statement Monday, Moore said he...
