Associated Press stories, Page 1853
Attorneys say Joe Exotic of ‘Tiger King’ wants new trial
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame has found new attorneys who say they plan to file a motion for a new trial in a matter of months. Joe Exotic, whose real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison for violating...
Budget nominee Tanden withdraws nomination amid opposition
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets. Her withdrawal marks the first high-profile defeat of one of Biden’s nominees. Eleven of the 23...
Cardinals’ all-out recruiting pitch brings J.J. Watt to the desertVideo
TEMPE, Ariz. — J.J. Watt didn’t lack for suitors when deciding where to continue his football career. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year said there were four or five teams seriously in the hunt. But the more he looked at his options, the more the Arizona Cardinals made...
Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell rolls into Vegas on hot streakVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael McDowell was rolling along at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he saw another driver signal for a car to pass. When McDowell came upon the same driver, he wasn’t given the same courtesy. “I literally saw a driver wave another driver by, and then race me for the...
Wisconsin bills seek to ban transgender athletes
MADISON, Wis. — Transgender athletes would be banned from participating in girls and women’s sports in Wisconsin from kindergarten through college under bills introduced Tuesday by Republican lawmakers, proposals that come as more than a dozen other states consider similar measures. The Wisconsin proposal faces an almost certain veto from...
Big Ten confirms winning percentage to determine titleVideo
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Big Ten confirmed Tuesday its regular-season basketball championship will be determined based on winning percentage. Michigan, at 13-1 in conference play, is the current leader on the men’s side. Second-place Illinois, which is 14-4, played at Michigan on Tuesday night. The clarification from a league...
South Carolina Senate adds firing squad to execution methods
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina senators Tuesday added a firing squad to the electric chair as alternatives if the state can’t execute condemned inmates by way of lethal injection. The Senate then approved the bill on a key 32-11 vote with several Democrats joining Republicans in the proposal which would...
Braves’ Freddie Freeman celebrates his new baby ‘twins with a twist’Video
Freddie Freeman found a way to top the double honors of winning the NL MVP and Hank Aaron Award. The Atlanta Braves first baseman’s bigger thrill is having two new baby boys. He describes his babies, Brandon and Maximus Turner, as his “twins with a twist.” The twist is they...
Biden vows enough vaccine for all U.S. adults by end of May
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved...
FBI Director Christopher Wray calls riot at Capitol ‘domestic terrorism,’ warns movement is growing
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. Wray also defended to lawmakers his own agency’s handling...
Pa. lawmakers urge officials to improve vaccine distribution for seniors
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday implored state officials to do better at getting covid-19 vaccines to seniors while the Health Department said the new approval of a third vaccine will help. “This is unacceptable,” state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna, said during a House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee...
Biden’s plan to distribute virus aid benefits Democratic-led states, some GOP governors say
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Biden administration’s plan to funnel more coronavirus aid into states with greater unemployment has irked governors with lower jobless rates. The $1.9 trillion relief bill working its way through Congress allocates extra money to larger, mostly Democratic-run states with higher unemployment rates, while rural Midwestern and...
Gov. Whitmer: Michigan will loosen capacity limits for businesses
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday announced the further loosening of Michigan’s coronavirus restrictions, easing capacity limits in restaurants and a host of other businesses while also allowing for larger indoor and outdoor gatherings. The revised state health department order will take effect Friday and last through April...
Feds oppose release of Arizona man who wore horns in Capitol riot
PHOENIX — Prosecutors in Washington are opposing the pretrial release of an Arizona man who stormed the U.S. Capitol nearly two months ago while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns. Prosecutors told a judge in a filing Monday that Jacob Chansley should remain jailed until...
‘Emotional wreck’: Star departures hit Houston sports fans
HOUSTON — Five-year-old Sawyer Brown was inconsolable. Her father, Chris Brown, had told her James Harden wouldn’t be with the Houston Rockets anymore after being traded to Brooklyn. “I want James Harden to be on the Texas team,” she said, tears filling her eyes, in a video he shared on...
Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee, Iowa wrestlers try to defend Big Ten title after long layoff
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Running outdoors when the temperature was below zero wasn’t optimal, but it was the only way Iowa wrestlers could stay in shape during their 10-day pause because of positive covid-19 tests in the program. “When you’re doing that, you think, ‘I don’t know how many sports...
Bankruptcy judge approves sale of Conneaut Lake Park
CONNEAUT LAKE — A federal bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of a century-old amusement park in northwestern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Jeffrey Deller on Tuesday morning approved the sale of Conneaut Lake Park to Keldon Holdings LLC for a cash price of $1.2 million. An auction...
Pa. lawmakers urge improvements in vaccine distribution for seniors
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday implored state officials to do better at getting covid-19 vaccines to seniors while the Health Department said the new approval of a third vaccine will help. “This is unacceptable,” state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna, said during a House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee...
Senate confirms Raimondo as Biden commerce secretary
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to confirm Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to serve as President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary and help guide the economy’s recovery during and after the coronavirus pandemic. The vote was 84-15. Raimondo, 49, was the first woman elected governor of Rhode Island and...
Texas becomes biggest state to lift covid-19 mask mandate
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans. The Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the...
Collin Morikawa charts on course despite Tiger Woods comparisonsVideo
BRADENTON, Fla. — The red shirt for Collin Morikawa to wear Sunday at the Workday Championship never arrived in time. The comparisons with Tiger Woods keep coming up in other ways. When Morikawa turned pro in 2019 after graduating from Cal, he began his PGA Tour career by making the...
Indians manager Terry Francona: Team didn’t cover up for former pitching coachVideo
CLEVELAND — Indians manager Terry Francona said no one in the Cleveland organization “covered up” for former pitching coach Mickey Callaway, who is under investigation by Major League Baseball following allegations of sexual harassment. In a story Tuesday, The Athletic reported 12 current and former Indians employees have come forward...
33 years later, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall return to Zamunda in ‘Coming 2 America’
NEW YORK — When Eddie Murphy made the original “Coming to America,” he was, almost indisputably, the funniest man in America. Murphy was at the very height of his fame, coming off “Beverly Hills Cop II” and the stand-up special “Raw.” They were heady times. Arsenio Hall, Murphy’s longtime friend...
Biden choice for consumer watchdog agency makes debut in nomination hearing
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Joe Biden’s nominee to run the federal consumer watchdog agency faced some hostile questioning from Republican Senators on Tuesday, but appeared to be likely to be confirmed with Democrats controlling a majority in the Senate. Rohit Chopra, currently a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission,...
Senate Dems sorting final details of $1.9T virus relief bill
WASHINGTON — Democrats sorted through lingering disagreements over emergency jobless benefits and other issues Tuesday and prepared to commence Senate debate on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan that would deliver a major victory to President Joe Biden. With Democrats having no margin for error in the evenly split 50-50...
