Associated Press stories, Page 2073
AMC Theaters reverses course on masks after backlash
LOS ANGELES — The nation’s largest movie theater chain changed its position on mask-wearing less than a day after the company became a target on social media for saying it would defer to local governments on the issue. AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron said Friday that its theaters will require...
Judge to OK $58B plan to end PG&E bankruptcy after wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A federal judge on Friday said he was approving a $58 billion plan by the nation’s largest utility to end a contentious bankruptcy saga that began after Pacific Gas & Electric’s outdated equipment ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people, wiped out entire...
Apple re-closes some stores, raising economic concerns
Apple’s Friday decision to close stores in four states with surging coronavirus cases highlights a question that other businesses may soon face: Stay open or prepare for more shutdowns? Apple, like many other major U.S. retailers, shut down all of its U.S. locations in March. On Friday, it said it...
Hollywood evolves during pandemic with drive-in premiere
LOS ANGELES — Dave Franco says the drive-in premiere for his directorial debut was “perfect” but admittedly “a little weird.” The 35-year-old actor found himself at the center of Hollywood’s evolving response to the coronavirus pandemic Thursday as he premiered his directorial debut “The Rental” to more than 1,300 people...
Georgia senators say hate crimes law should protect police
ATLANTA — Republicans in Georgia’s state Senate have added police as a protected class to proposed hate crimes legislation deemed essential by state leaders, complicating chances of its passage by lobbing a political grenade into the belly of the bill with little time left in the legislative session. The Senate...
NFL teams went high-tech for team bonding this offseasonVideo
NEW YORK — NFL players and coaches went home in March and stayed there for the next few months, along with most of the world. Football pads were replaced by iPads. Handshakes and high-fives gave way to emojis and video chats. When the coronavirus pandemic forced everyone indoors — away...
Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau contend at Hilton Head in different waysVideo
Webb Simpson spent two days at Harbour Town watching bulked-up Bryson DeChambeau swing out of his shoes and realized his own brand of golf works just fine. They traded birdies Friday morning in the RBC Heritage until Simpson got the last word with a 6-footer on his final hole for...
Summer vacationers weigh testing, quarantine or staying home
PORTLAND, Maine — Homebound travelers desperate to venture out for the first time since the pandemic are confronting a vacation landscape this summer that may require coronavirus tests for the family and even quarantines. States from Maine to Hawaii are trying to strike a balance between containing the new coronavirus...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ends string of more than 100 daily covid-19 briefings
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrapped up a string of more than 100 daily briefings that became appointment viewing around the nation, alternatively informative, grave, jocular and combative, by declaring Friday that New York has “done the impossible” in taming the coronavirus. Cuomo appeared alone behind his desk during...
Blue Jays shut Florida camp, player shows virus symptomsVideo
DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays shut down their spring training complex Friday after a player presented symptoms consistent with covid-19, the second big league team to close their Florida camp because of the coronavirus. The Blue Jays’ announcement came hours after the Philadelphia Phillies shuttered their site because...
Nick Watney first on PGA Tour to test positive for covid-19Video
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — In the second week of returning to golf, Nick Watney became the first player to test positive for covid-19. Watney withdrew from the RBC Heritage on Friday, the PGA Tour said. Watney missed the cut last week in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, the...
5 Tampa Bay Lightning employees test positive for covid-19Video
The Tampa Bay Lightning closed their facilities Thursday after five team employees tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on Friday on the condition of anonymity because the NHL and the team are not announcing...
Disney to roll out new reservation system when parks reopen
When Walt Disney World reopens its Florida theme parks next month after shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, they’ll be introducing a new reservation system. The company announced Friday that the new Disney Park Pass System will operate through disneyworld.com on either a desktop or mobile device, and registration through...
Twins remove statue of ex-owner Calvin Griffith over racist remarks
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins on Friday announced they removed a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field, citing racist remarks he made in 1978. Griffith’s statue was one of several installed when the team opened the ballpark in 2010. Its removal came on Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration...
Wall Street ends a sluggish day lower, still up for the week
NEW YORK — Wall Street careened through all the forces that have pushed and pulled it through the week, at first rising on Friday amid hope for the economy and then falling on worries about worsening coronavirus levels in some states, all before ending with modest losses. The S&P 500...
Gov. Wolf loosens restrictions in last of Pa.’s counties except Lebanon
Parts of Pennsylvania that were among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic will move next week into the less restrictive “green” zone for reopening businesses and restarting group activities, the Wolf administration announced Friday. The 12 counties going from yellow to green under Gov. Tom Wolf’s color-colored reopening system...
Canada approves plan to play hockey in country amid pandemic
Canada has approved the NHL’s return-to-play proposal that could lead to one or more cities north of the border serving as host sites for the league’s 24-team playoff format. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Friday that the nation’s top public health officer, and health officials in Alberta, British Columbia...
Tulsa mayor sets curfew around site of Trump’s weekend rallyVideo
TULSA, Okla. — The mayor of Tulsa has declared a civil emergency and set a curfew for the area around the arena where President Donald Trump plans to hold a campaign rally this weekend. In his executive order establishing a curfew around the BOK Center from 10 p.m. to 6...
Putin orders officials to fully clean Arctic fuel spill area
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government Friday to fully repair environmental damage from a massive fuel leak in the Arctic. A power plant in the Siberian city of Norilsk leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region, the worst such accident in decades. Putin...
Washington D.C. announces phase 2 reopening starting Monday
WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is moving ahead with the second phase of its reopening Monday, as city officials credited months of social restrictions with blunting an anticipated spike in COVID-19 infections. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that playgrounds, libraries, gyms and nail salons in Washington, D.C., will be able to...
AP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans support police protestsVideo
NEW YORK — Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality, a majority of Americans say they approve of recent protests around the country. Many think they’ll bring positive change. And despite headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in cities nationwide, the poll from...
Google loses appeal against $56 million fine in France
PARIS — France’s highest administrative court has upheld a fine of $56 million Google was ordered to pay for not being “sufficiently clear and transparent” with Android users about their data protection options. Google was first slapped with the fine in January 2019, the first penalty for a U.S. tech...
Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting to be firedVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s mayor said Friday that one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Mayor Greg Fisher said interim Louisville police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while...
Sheriff’s office: 6 killed in fiery head-on crash in Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Six people were killed and one was seriously injured in a fiery head-on crash on a northeast Kansas highway, authorities said. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened around 6:40 p.m. Thursday when a Ford Fusion and another vehicle collided on U.S. 40 southwest of...
Belmont sets pace for Triple Crown, with Tiz the Law favored
It has been 17 years since Jack Knowlton and his Sackatoga Stable pals rode yellow school buses to the Belmont Stakes. It was a rollicking party on wheels for the group that came to watch their colt, Funny Cide, try to sweep the Triple Crown. It didn’t happen that day....
