Associated Press stories, Page 1928
Mississippi State tops Tulsa in Armed Forces Bowl, brawl eruptsVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — True freshman Will Rogers scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and had a 13-yard TD pass to lead Mississippi State past No. 22 Tulsa 28-26 on Thursday in the Armed Forces Bowl, which ended in a massive brawl. Minutes after the game ended following...
No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame move CFP clash to Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas — Playing a Rose Bowl game deep in the heart of Texas is anything but normal. Top-ranked Alabama being in a College Football Playoff semifinal game is nothing new. The SEC champion Crimson Tide (11-0) are in a familiar position despite the chaos of playing during the pandemic....
Sen. David Perdue quarantines for coronavirus exposure ahead of Georgia runoff
ATLANTA — Republican Sen. David Perdue was forced into quarantine Thursday in the home stretch of Georgia’s high-stakes Senate runoffs, disclosing just five days before the election that he had been exposed to a campaign worker infected with the coronavirus. Perdue’s campaign did not say how long he plans to...
Wisconsin hospital worker arrested for spoiled coronavirus vaccine dosesVideo
MADISON, Wis. — Authorities arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist Thursday suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights. The arrest marks another setback in what has been a slower, messier start to vaccinate Americans than public health officials had expected....
Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick tests positive for covid-19Video
MIAMI — Miami Dolphins backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tested positive for covid-19 and is expected to miss Sunday’s regular-season finale at Buffalo. Coach Brian Flores shared the news with Fitzpatrick’s teammates during a Zoom meeting Thursday, safety Eric Rowe said. Fitzpatrick’s positive test was first reported by NFL Network. “It...
Unfinished business for Clemson and Ohio State in Sugar Bowl
NEW ORLEANS — Everybody loves a comeback story, and both No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State arrive at the Sugar Bowl looking for redemption of sorts. For Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers, this College Football Playoff semifinal brings them back to the site of last season’s national championship...
Dick Thornburgh, ex-Pa. governor and U.S. attorney general, diesVideo
Dick Thornburgh, who as Pennsylvania governor won plaudits for his cool handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis and as U.S. attorney general restored credibility to a Justice Department hurt by the Iran-Contra scandal, has died. He was 88. Thornburgh died Thursday morning at a retirement community facility outside...
No charges for Maryland police in death of ‘boogaloo’ movement martyr
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland prosecutors have ruled out criminal charges against any police officers in the shooting death of a man whose family says he was sleeping in his bed next to his girlfriend when police opened fire, an attorney for the family said Thursday. Howard County State’s Attorney...
Gettysburg elementary teacher accused of child sexual abuse
GETTYSBURG — A second-grade public school teacher in Gettysburg has been charged with sexually abusing a child, and the state police are asking for tips if anyone believes there may be other victims. Vincent Paul Marfia, 40, a resident of Littlestown, was arraigned Thursday on charges that include involuntary deviate...
Major U.S. stock indexes waver on final day of tumultuous year
U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses in early afternoon trading Thursday, hovering near record highs as investors close the book on a tumultuous year. The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged and remains close to the record high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which set...
Hedge fund Alden offers to buy Tribune, valuing it at $521M
Hedge fund Alden, Tribune’s largest shareholder, has offered to buy the rest of the newspaper publisher at a price that values it at $520.6 million. Alden sent a letter to Tribune on Dec. 14, according to a regulatory filing posted Thursday, offering $14.25 per share for the stock of Tribune...
Race to vaccinate millions in U.S. off to slow, messy start
Terry Beth Hadler was so eager to get a lifesaving covid-19 vaccination that the 69-year-old piano teacher stood in line overnight in a parking lot with hundreds of other senior citizens. She wouldn’t do it again. Hadler said that she waited 14 hours and that a brawl nearly erupted before...
Covid-19 dominates annual list of banished words, terms
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language. “Covid-19” and “social distancing” are thrown in with “we’re all in this...
Nashville bombing spotlights vulnerable voice, data networks
The Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville led to phone and data service outages and disruptions over hundreds of miles in the southern U.S., raising new concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. communications. The blast seriously damaged a key AT&T network facility, an important hub that provides local wireless, internet...
Security firms say suspicious object on oil tanker off Iraq
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sailors involved in transferring fuel oil from an Iraqi tanker in the Persian Gulf to another vessel owned by a shipping company traded in the U.S. discovered a “suspicious object” they fear could be a mine, authorities said Thursday. The discovery comes amid heightened tensions...
Man called most prolific serial killer in U.S. history dies
LOS ANGELES — The man authorities say was the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, with nearly 60 confirmed victims, died Wednesday in California. He was 80. Samuel Little, who had diabetes, heart trouble and other ailments, died at a California hospital, according to the state Department of Corrections...
No reason given for Trump cutting short his Florida vacation
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is cutting short his Florida vacation and returning to Washington on Thursday, one day earlier than expected for reasons the White House didn’t explain. The White House announced the abrupt change in the president’s schedule late Wednesday, hours after Sen. Josh Hawley,...
Top cornerback out as Browns’ coronavirus concerns grow
CLEVELAND — The Browns are trying to shake free from covid-19 to face the Steelers. It hasn’t been easy. Cleveland’s issues with the virus intensified Thursday as top cornerback Denzel Ward and linebacker Malcolm Smith were placed on the covid-19 reserve list and the team was forced to close its...
China OKs 1st homegrown vaccine as covid-19 surges globally
China authorized its first homegrown covid-19 vaccine for general use Thursday, adding another shot that could see wide use in poorer countries as the virus surges back around the globe. The Sinopharm vaccine had already been given to groups such as health care professionals and essential workers under emergency-use guidelines...
Minneapolis to release bodycam video in fatal shootingVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Police in Minneapolis said they would release body camera video on Thursday from a traffic stop that ended with a man shot dead, the city’s first police-involved death since George Floyd died while being restrained by officers in May. Police said the man was a suspect in a...
New York makes exception to allow fans at Bills playoff game
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York is making an exception to its restrictions on large gatherings to allow about 6,700 fans to attend a Buffalo Bills home playoff game in January as long as all test negative beforehand. That’s about 10% of the stadium’s capacity. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the football...
Bomb-sniffing dogs? Check. Times Square crowd? Not this year
NEW YORK — New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions. But the department’s playbook this year includes an unusual mandate: preventing crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square....
Back pain causes pope to skip Vatican New Year’s ceremonies
VATICAN CITY — A back condition has forced Pope Francis to skip New Year’s ceremonies at St. Peter’s Basilica, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday. Francis was suffering from “painful sciatica” and could not preside at an hour-long, year-end prayer service Thursday evening, spokesman Matteo Bruni said. The pope also won’t...
New Year brings final U.K.-EU Brexit split
LONDON — Like a separated couple still living together, Britain and the European Union spent 2020 wrangling and wondering whether they can still be friends. On Thursday, the U.K. is finally moving out. At 11 p.m. London time — midnight in Brussels — Britain will economically and practically leave the...
No. 8 Oklahoma routs Florida in Cotton Bowl
ARLINGTON, Texas — Lincoln Riley will remember this Oklahoma season for a long time. It took a lot to get to the end of it — with two significant trophies. The No. 8 Sooners navigated through the season played under the cloud of a pandemic, and their first 0-2 start...

