Associated Press stories, Page 1843
International evangelical pastor Luis Palau dies at 86
PORTLAND, Ore. — Luis Palau, an evangelical pastor who was born in Argentina and went on to work with Billy Graham before establishing his own powerhouse international ministry, died Thursday. He was 86. The Luis Palau Association said he died at his home in Portland, Oregon. He had announced in...
Pennsylvania to lift last moratorium on utility shutoffs
Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved the lifting of its year-old moratorium preventing utilities from terminating service to all non-paying customers, adopted as Gov. Tom Wolf began ordering shutdowns to fight the spreading coronavirus. The moratorium will lift April 1 for the state’s lower-income utility customers, but the commission...
Digital art by Beeple sells for $69.4 million amid NFT boom
LONDON — Christie’s says it has auctioned off a digital collage by an artist named Beeple for nearly $70 million, in an unprecedented sale of a digital artwork that fetched more money than physical works by many better known artists. The piece, titled “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days,” sold for...
Hendrick off to fast start with 2 wins heading into Phoenix
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hendrick Motorsports celebrates each race win with a Victory Bell t hat is carted across the campus for every employee to ring. If not for the pandemic, the bell would have made two trips so far this season. The Hendrick folks believe the count should actually be...
Texans’ Culley on possible Deshaun Watson trade: ‘He is our quarterback’
HOUSTON — New Houston Texans coach David Culley reiterated Thursday that the team has no intention of trading Deshaun Watson despite the star quarterback’s request to be dealt. Culley, hired in January to replace Bill O’Brien, was asked more than a half-dozen times about Watson’s future with the team. Every...
Portland pays $2.1 million in police shooting of Black teen
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland, Oregon, will pay more than $2 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit arising from the police killing of a Black teenager in 2017, but family members of Quanice Hayes say they are still upset that the officer who pulled the trigger was not disciplined. City...
White House: $1,400 individual checks may arrive soon
WASHINGTON — The White House says the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans funded by the American Rescue Plan will start showing up in bank accounts as early as this weekend. Press secretary Jen Psaki says the government will make the first direct deposits this weekend. She says payments will...
Pennsylvania to pay $475K to family of pot suspect killed by dozer
READING — The state of Pennsylvania will pay $475,000 to the estate of a man who died underneath a bulldozer that Pennsylvania State Police had used to chase him for growing a handful of marijuana plants, according to a settlement revealed in court Thursday. Gregory Longenecker, 51, had fled into...
Appeal by former Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice dismissed
CLEVELAND — An appeals court in Cleveland ruled Thursday that the white Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black child playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center, should not get his job back. The 8th District Court of Appeals in its ruling dismissed an appeal...
‘Controlled environment’: NCAA plunges ahead with tourneys
Mount St. Mary’s earned its sixth bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night by beating Bryant in the Northeast Conference Championship game, setting off a postgame celebration that included joy, anticipation, hugs — and covid-19 testing. Before the Mountaineers made the 7 1/2-hour bus trip from Smithfield, Rhode Island,...
Soleil Moon Frye’s doc ‘Kid 90’ is a time capsule for Gen XVideo
NEW YORK — One thing to understand about Soleil Moon Frye is that she is a historian of her life. While many of us may have saved diaries from our past, Frye can do you one better. She has diaries, videos and voicemails. It’s all documented and recorded. Frye says...
No. 12 Oklahoma St. beats No. 10 West Virginia in Big 12 Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Avery Johnson III hit the go-ahead bucket for Oklahoma State with less than a minute to go, and Sean McNeil’s tying 3-pointer came a split-second after the final buzzer, allowing the No. 12 Cowboys to escape with a 72-69 win over No. 10 West Virginia in...
Barbie’s friend Ken celebrates a milestone birthday: 60
Ken is turning 60, two years after his best friend Barbie did. Mattel launched a reproduction of the original Ken doll on Thursday to commemorate his 1961 debut. That slender doll with blond felt hair wears a red bathing suit and comes with red sandals and a yellow towel. Over...
Biden signs $1.9T relief bill before speech to nation
WASHINGTON — Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health. The signing came hours before Biden delivers his first prime-time address...
Emperor’s mosaic displayed in Italy after stint as NYC table
NEMI, Italy — A looted mosaic that once decorated a ship of the Roman Emperor Caligula and ended up as a coffee table in New York City finally returned home Thursday, as details emerged about the lucky break in the investigation that got it there. Officials unveiled the mosaic at...
Mississippi governor signs bill limiting transgender athletes
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Thursday to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams. Mississippi is the first state this year to enact such a ban, after a federal court blocked an Idaho law last year. Mississippi’s Senate Bill 2536...
Uber, Lyft team up on database to expose abusive drivers
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years. The clearinghouse unveiled Thursday will initially list drivers expelled by the ride-hailing rivals in...
NBA fines Heat’s Meyers Leonard $50,000 for anti-Semitic slur
MIAMI — The NBA has fined Meyers Leonard $50,000, the maximum allowed by league policy, and suspended him from using all Miami Heat facilities and activities for one week in response to his use of an anti-Semitic term. Commissioner Adam Silver, in announcing those sanctions, also said that he believes...
Greek protesters attack police with firebombs at rally
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Extensive clashes broke out between police and protesters Thursday in Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, after authorities ended an occupation by students and other demonstrators at the city’s main university building. Protesters threw firebombs at police after street clashes erupted near the city center. Police responded with tear...
March 11, 2020: The night that sports, as we knew them, ended
Nobody knew exactly what to say in Oklahoma City around 7:10 p.m. local time on March 11, 2020. That was an issue for Mario Nanni, whose job as the Oklahoma City Thunder public-address announcer is to tell fans exactly what’s happening. He had just introduced the starting lineups. The Thunder...
Resignation demands grow as police get Cuomo groping report
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s grip on power appeared increasingly threatened Thursday as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation, Democrats launched an impeachment investigation and police in the state capital said they stood ready to investigate a groping allegation. The firestorm around the Democrat...
Duke pulls out of ACC Tournament after positive covid test; NCAA tourney streak ends
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Duke arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament hoping to make an unprecedented run to extend its long NCAA Tournament streak. Instead, the Blue Devils abruptly had to pull out of the tournament and end its season due to a positive covid-19 test and the resulting quarantining...
More records for stock indexes as stimulus bill becomes law
Broad gains in stocks pushed several major indexes to all-time highs on Wall Street. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a measure of small-company stocks all closed at record levels on Thursday. The S&P 500 added 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.5%, but remains below the record...
House renews push to expand background checks for guns
WASHINGTON — Emboldened by their majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are making a new push to enact the first major new gun control laws in more than two decades — starting with stricter background checks. The House is poised to pass two bills on Thursday that would require...
IOC and China make vaccine deal for Tokyo, Beijing Olympians
GENEVA — The International Olympic Committee and China have teamed up to offer vaccines to athletes and teams preparing for the upcoming games in both Tokyo and Beijing. The collaboration with Chinese Olympic officials was announced Thursday during an online IOC meeting. “We are grateful for this offer, which is...
