Associated Press stories, Page 1849
6-time All-Star Blake Griffin, Pistons agree to buyoutVideo
DETROIT — Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons agreed to a contract buyout, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the move was not yet official. The Pistons announced last month they would keep Griffin...
Americans vaccinated against covid-19 still wait for advice
More than 27 million Americans fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will have to keep waiting for guidance from federal health officials for what they should and shouldn’t do. The Biden administration said Friday it’s focused on getting the guidance right and accommodating emerging science, but the delays add to the...
Spacewalkers finish solar panel prep for station power boost
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts completed the first round of prep work Friday for new solar panels, part of a major power upgrade at the International Space Station. NASA’s Kate Rubins and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi installed mounting brackets and struts for the improved solar wings due to arrive in...
Nashville eyes $2.3M settlement in fatal shooting by officer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville officials are seeking a $2.25 million settlement with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a white Nashville police officer from behind during a 2018 foot chase, Mayor John Cooper’s administration said in a news release Friday. The city says its metro...
Iowa reporter faces trial in case seen as attack on press rights
IOWA CITY, Iowa — An Iowa journalist faces trial Monday on charges stemming from her coverage of a protest against racial injustice, a case that prosecutors have pursued despite international condemnation from free press advocates who say she was just doing her job. The case of Des Moines Register reporter...
Minimum wage hike falls short as Senate debates virus bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate seemingly killed progressives’ last-ditch effort to include a minimum wage hike in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill Friday, as the chamber began climactic votes on the huge package embodying President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority. Senators voted 58-42 against the increase, though the vote...
3rd-degree murder count could be reinstated against Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a judge to reconsider adding a third-degree murder charge against a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, handing a potential victory to prosecutors. A three-judge panel said Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill erred last fall when...
Gov. Wolf: ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ in virus fight
HARRISBURG — One year after the discovery of the first coronavirus case in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday that it has been a tough and trying year, but there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel with the growing availability of vaccines. Wolf, speaking at...
Blackhawks’ Brent Seabrook calls it a career because of injury
Longtime Chicago Blackhawks defenseman and three-time Stanley Cup winner Brent Seabrook announced Friday he is unable to continue playing hockey because of injury. After surgeries on his right shoulder and both hips, it’s a lingering right hip issue that’s keeping the 35-year-old Canadian from getting back on the ice. Seabrook...
Meghan: Talking with Oprah without royals’ input ‘liberating’Video
LOS ANGELES — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has described to Oprah Winfrey how “liberating” it was to have a conversation - let alone a sit-down interview - with the television host without royal minders. “CBS This Morning” aired a clip on Friday of Winfrey speaking to Meghan about a...
Canada clears Johnson & Johnson vaccine, first to approve 4
TORONTO — Canada is getting a fourth vaccine to prevent covid-19 as the country’s health regulator has cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two, officials said Friday. Health experts are eager for a one-and-done option to help speed vaccination. Canada has also...
Stocks climb, erasing earlier losses, as economy heats up
Stocks shook off an early slide and turned solidly higher in afternoon trading Friday, placing the market on track to snap a three-day losing streak. The S&P 500 was 1.9% higher as of 3:43 p.m. Eastern time, after spinning more than 360 degrees earlier. The benchmark index had jumped to...
Washington releases Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith
Washington released AP Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith on Friday, a move that was expected but still provides a cold ending to the veteran quarterback’s storybook tenure with the organization. Smith’s release clears just under $15 million in salary cap space for Washington, which is hoping to figure...
California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell sues Trump, allies over Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Swalwell, who served as a House manager in Donald Trump’s last impeachment, filed a lawsuit Friday against the former president, his son, lawyer and a Republican congressman whose actions he charges led to January’s insurrection. The California Democrat’s suit was filed Friday in federal court in...
1 of 2 teens in Slender Man stabbing to ask for release
WAUKESHA, Wis. — One of the teens convicted of stabbing a classmate to please the fictional internet horror character Slender Man is expected to ask for release from a Wisconsin mental health facility. Anissa Weier, 19, is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Waukesha County Circuit Court judge who earlier...
Reports: Cuomo aides pushed for N.Y. officials to alter count of nursing home deaths
NEW YORK — Some New York lawmakers are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment after reports late Thursday that his top aides altered a state Health Department report to omit the true number of people killed by covid-19 in the state’s nursing homes. The Wall Street Journal and The New...
LeBron James going to All-Star with elections on his mind
LeBron James is going to Georgia this weekend for more than the NBA All-Star Game. He’s thinking about upcoming elections as well. The Los Angeles Lakers’ star, one of the organizers of the More Than A Vote organization that aims to stop Black voter suppression and which played a major...
New Tokyo Olympic president tries to assure Japan on safety
TOKYO — The new president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee has begun holding weekly news conferences hoping to win over a doubting Japanese public with the postponed games opening in just under five months. Seiko Hashimoto is trying to assure everyone that the Olympics will be safe and secure,...
Poll: Americans largely back Biden’s virus response
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden is enjoying an early presidential honeymoon, with 60% of Americans approving of his job performance thus far and even more backing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. At a moment of deep...
France: Man wielding knife arrested outside Jewish school
MARSEILLE, France — Police in the French city of Marseille detained a man Friday who was wielding a knife outside a Jewish school and kosher market. Surveillance of Jewish sites in the city has been increased while they investigate his motives, according to local authorities. School security guards noticed the...
Government, rebels formally sign peace agreement in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal’s government and a communist rebel group formally signed a peace agreement Friday that it is hoped will end violent attacks, extortion and bombings by the rebels. Rebel leader Netra Bikram Chand, who is better known by his guerrilla name Biplav, emerged out of hiding on Friday...
Pope arrives in Iraq to rally Christians despite pandemic
BAGHDAD — Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday to urge the country’s dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit. The pope, who wore a...
Walter Gretzky, father of NHL great Wayne Gretzky, dies at 82
TORONTO — Walter Gretzky, the father of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, has died. He was 82. Wayne Gretzky said in a social media post Thursday night that his father battled Parkinson’s disease and other health issues the past few years. “It’s with deep sadness that Janet and I share the...
This date in sports history: March 5Video
1924 — Frank Carauna, of Buffalo, N.Y., becomes the first to bowl two straight 300 games. Carauna throws five strikes to open his third game, giving him 29 straight strikes. 1931 — WGL radio broadcasts the first game of the American Basketball League championship series. The Brooklyn Visitations beat the...
Prosecutors: Officer Derek Chauvin was on George Floyd’s neck for about 9 minutesVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — As the trial approaches for a white Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, prosecutors are putting the time Derek Chauvin’s knee was on the Black man’s neck at about nine minutes. The time has fluctuated before. It was recorded as 8 minutes,...
