Associated Press stories, Page 1944
12 Democratic governors vow that all votes will be counted
LANSING, Mich. — Twelve Democratic governors issued a joint statement on Wednesday defending American democracy, vowing that every valid ballot will be counted in the election after President Donald Trump sowed distrust during the first presidential debate. Trump claimed without evidence Tuesday night that mail voting — surging in popularity...
NASCAR turns right, adds variety to 2021 scheduleVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After two decades of the same left turns at the same tracks over and over again, NASCAR finally upended its stagnant calendar with a 2021 schedule that is as radical as the sport has ever seen. Three new venues. A dirt race for the first time in...
California to study reparations for Black Americans
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will develop a detailed plan for reparations under a new law signed on Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making it the first state to mandate a study of how it can make amends for its role in the oppression of Black people. The law creates a...
Video: Hobbled Black woman begged for help in police cruiser
DENVER — A suburban police agency near Denver is facing more scrutiny for its officers’ treatment of Black people after a video emerged showing a woman begging to be lifted up after she fell to the floor in the back of a police cruiser with her hands and feet cuffed...
Hunter Renfroe slam helps Rays sweep young Blue Jays in 1st round
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam, and the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays won a postseason series for the first time in 12 years, overpowering the young Toronto Blue Jays, 8-2, on Wednesday to finish a two-game sweep of their AL wild-card matchup. Renfroe launched the first...
Former Pirate Corey Dickerson homers as Marlins beat Cubs in playoff openerVideo
CHICAGO — Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer off a fading Kyle Hendricks in the seventh inning, and the Miami Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1, on Wednesday in Game 1 of their NL wild-card series. Jesus Aguilar also homered, and Sandy Alcantara pitched three-hit ball into the seventh as...
Finally! Braves snap record drought to beat Reds in 13 innings
ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman singled home the winning run in the 13th inning, finally ending the longest scoreless duel in postseason history as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0, in the opener of their NL wild-card series Wednesday. The East champion Braves won the first game of a...
Pelosi, Mnuchin have ‘extensive’ talks on covid-19 relief
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held an “extensive conversation” Wednesday on a huge covid-19 rescue package, meeting face to face for the first time in more than a month in a last-ditch effort to seal a tentative accord on an additional round of coronavirus...
Astros sweep as Twins lose 18th straight in playoffsVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa hit a two-out, tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning for the Houston Astros, who produced another stifling pitching performance and swept Minnesota with a 3-1 victory Wednesday that sent the Twins to a record 18th straight postseason loss. Nine months after Houston’s rules-breaking, sign-stealing system...
Penn State product Mike Gesicki hopes to polish TD celebrations with DolphinsVideo
MIAMI — Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki concedes his latest touchdown celebration was too slow to develop. After Gesicki made a leaping catch at the goal line last week in Jacksonville, there were fist pumps and hugs before he pushed two teammates away to simulate playing cards with Durham...
Debate commission will make changes after 1st meeting between Trump, Biden
NEW YORK — The presidential debate commission says it will soon adopt changes to its format to avoid a repeat of the disjointed first meeting between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. The commission said Wednesday the debate “made clear that additional structure should be added to the format...
Trump campaign threatens to sue over Philly election offices
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s campaign has threatened a lawsuit by Wednesday afternoon if it does not gain access soon for its campaign officials to observe activity inside newly opened satellite election offices in Philadelphia, where people can register to vote, apply for mail-in ballots and fill them out. A...
Julian Assange bugged while at Ecuadorian Embassy, UK court told
Julian Assange’s conversations in the latter part of his 7-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London were systematically bugged, even in the toilet, a London court heard Wednesday. In written statements at Assange’s extradition hearing, two anonymous witnesses who worked for a Spanish firm with a security contract at...
Gray parrots separated at zoo after swearing a blue streak
LONDON — A British zoo has had to separate five foul-mouthed parrots who keepers say were encouraging each other to swear. Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade and Elsie joined Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre’s colony of 200 gray parrots in August, and soon revealed a penchant for blue language. “We are quite used...
9 discarded ballots weren’t fraud, Pennsylvania election chief says
HARRISBURG — It appears that an election worker’s decision to throw out nine military ballots in Wilkes-Barre amounted to a mistake and not “intentional fraud,” the state’s top elections official said Wednesday. Workers in the elections office in Luzerne County are getting training on handling mailed-in military and overseas ballots,...
Trump urged to intervene in trial of U.S.-Saudi national
The trial of a U.S. citizen who is also a Saudi national began Wednesday in Saudi Arabia in a counter-terrorism court that has been used to imprison rights activists in a case that could spark further tensions in already uneasy U.S.-Saudi relations. The case of Salah al-Haidar, who has been...
As Brazil’s wetlands burned, government did little to help
PORTO JOFRE, Brazil — After hours navigating Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands in search of jaguars earlier this month, Daniel Moura beached his boat to survey the fire damage. In every direction, he saw only devastation. No wildlife, and no support from federal authorities. “We used to see jaguars here all the...
Portland asks U.S. to rescind deputization of city police
The mayor of Portland has asked U.S. officials to end the federal deputation of dozens of police officers in Oregon’s largest city as part of the response to ongoing protests in the city. Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement late Tuesday that he had “asked the U.S. Attorney’s office...
FAA chief tests changes to Boeing’s grounded 737 MaxVideo
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration began a test flight of Boeing’s revamped 737 Max jetliner on Wednesday as his agency considers whether to allow the plane to return to flight after two deadly crashes. FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson, a pilot who flew for the military and Delta Air...
Brazil president says Biden’s Amazon comments ‘disastrous’
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday attacked U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden for saying that the South American nation should suffer “significant economic consequences” if devastation of the Amazon rainforest continues. Biden said during Tuesday’s debate with President Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, that foreign...
U.S. says it will block palm oil from large Malaysian producer
The United States will detain shipments of palm oil and its products from a major producer in Malaysia after a wide range of labor abuse indicators were found, including physical and sexual violence and forced child labor, an official said Wednesday. The withhold release order against FGV Holdings Berhad goes...
Cold weather means new challenges for struggling restaurants
U.S. restaurants are moving warily into fall, hoping their slow recovery persists despite the new challenge of chilly weather and a pandemic that’s expected to claim even more lives. New York opens indoor dining on Wednesday, restricting capacity to 25%. San Francisco may do the same as early as this...
Seattle, Las Vegas set for WNBA Finals matchup
For the fourth time in five seasons the best two teams in the WNBA will square off for the championship when Seattle and Las Vegas play in the finals. The best-of-five series begins Friday night. Las Vegas needed to beat Connecticut in a decisive fifth game of the semifinals Tuesday...
Resorts to RV parks: Parents take school year on the road
NEW YORK — In RVs, rental homes and five-star resorts, families untethered by the constraints of physical classrooms for their kids have turned the new school year into an extended summer vacation, some lured by the ailing hotel industry catering to parents with remote learners through “roadschooling” amenities. With the...
Curses! Postseason losses continue for long-suffering teams
It was not a good start to the Major League Baseball postseason for those who don’t believe in curses. The Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics extended their string of postseason futility Tuesday with losses in the openers of their respective best-of-three, wild-card series. If they don’t win Game 2 on...
