Associated Press stories, Page 2084
NASCAR braces for potential fallout after banning Confederate flagVideo
NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from its races and venues grabbed headlines, and stars such as actress Reese Witherspoon and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara were quick to praise the stock car series for ridding itself of a symbol long associated with slavery and racism. Now...
Browns executive Adofo-Mensah proud to be part of diverse front officeVideo
CLEVELAND — The messages of congratulations came from strangers. They caught Kwesi Adofo-Mensah off guard. Hired last month as the new vice president of football operations for the Cleveland Browns after seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Adofo-Mensah was inundated with unexpected notes from people he didn’t know. “A...
Baseball plans game at Field of Dreams, but will they come?Video
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Spurred by a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come,” the Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner dutifully carved a baseball field out of his cornfield and then watched as Shoeless Joe Jackson and his Chicago White Sox teammates strode out of the stalks...
Judge: Reopen Puerto Rico school cafeterias or face arrest
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A judge on Thursday gave Puerto Rico’s education secretary 24 hours to open all public school cafeterias in the U.S. territory or face arrest as impoverished students struggle to obtain free meals amid the pandemic. The ruling is the latest development in a lawsuit that...
NFL extends virtual offseason until June 26Video
The NFL extended virtual offseason programs for teams through June 26 but no further. Although team facilities have opened for key personnel, coaches and players rehabilitating injuries, healthy players have been barred from those complexes because of the covid-19 pandemic. The remote programs have taken the place of on-site work,...
Microsoft joins Amazon, IBM in pausing face scans for police
Microsoft has become the third big tech company this week to say it won’t sell its facial recognition software to police, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM. Microsoft’s president and chief counsel, Brad Smith, announced the decision and called on Congress to regulate the technology during a Washington Post...
Breonna Taylor police report gives few details, some wrong
LOUISVILLE, Ky.— An incident report released by Louisville Police on the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor is mostly blank, with few details of the incident that spurred days of protests in the city. The report dated March 13, the day of the shooting, cites a police-involved death investigation and identifies...
X Games star Sara Price joins Ganassi
Sara Price needed less than two days in an off-road truck to complete an 800-mile solo race in Mexico. But to escape in a dune buggy from an entire flock of CGI ostriches? That daring drive in the desert took about nine days. Price has her own IMDB page, in...
Police: 7 arrested for vandalizing Columbus statue in MiamiVideo
MIAMI — Seven people have been arrested for vandalizing statues of Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de León in Miami, and one man was charged with smashing a patrol car with his skateboard and trying to incite a riot, the city’s police said. The arrests happened Wednesday after a chaotic...
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to reopen with new precautions
CLEVELAND — The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is reopening, but fans better practice social distancing by staying at least “two Stratocasters apart” and bring their credit cards, officials announced Thursday. Rock’s shrine will reopen on June 15 after closing on March 14 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Visitors...
Newspaper publisher in Missouri resigns after printing racist cartoon
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The publisher of a family-owned Missouri newspaper has resigned after publishing a racist syndicated cartoon depicting a black man stealing a white woman’s purse while hailing funding cuts to police. Bill Miller Sr. on Thursday told The Associated Press he has stepped down as publisher of the...
Lady Antebellum changes name to Lady A
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Grammy-winning country group Lady Antebellum is changing its name to Lady A, with members saying they are regretful and embarrassed for not taking into consideration the word’s associations with slavery. The band, made up of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, made the announcement Thursday on...
Chicago coronavirus survivor receives double lung transplant
Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus. Northwestern Medicine on Thursday announced the procedure, which took place last Friday. Only a few other covid-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants. The Chicago patient...
Dow sinks 1,800 as virus cases rise, deflating optimismVideo
The Dow Jones industrials lost more than 1,800 points, nearly 7%, as increases in coronavirus cases deflated optimism that the economy could recover quickly from its worst crisis in decades. The pullback Thursday comes after the market has been screeching higher for more than two months at a pace that...
Russia welcomes prospect of U.S. troop pullback from Germany
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed President Donald Trump’s reported plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany, saying it would help bolster security in Europe. Trump has reportedly signed off on a plan to cut the number of troops stationed in Germany from...
Former Baltimore mayor refunds $860K to campaign donors
BALTIMORE — Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is refunding more than $800,000 to campaign donors, months after she was convicted in a case involving the fraudulent sales her self-published children’s books to promote her political career. Pugh’s campaign committee issued checks totaling about $860,000 to more than 1,000 donors last...
Workers fired after black woman denied restroom access
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A business fired two Kentucky workers and issued an apology after a black woman was denied access to a restroom. Liquor Barn said in a statement Wednesday that it terminated the employee who turned the woman away and the general manager of the Louisville store, the Courier...
Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Va.Video
RICHMOND, Va. — Protesters pulled down a century-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the former capital of the Confederacy, adding it to the list of Old South monuments removed or damaged around the United States in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The bronze statue on Richmond’s Monument...
Fitness company apologizes for ‘I can’t breathe’ workout
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — A health club company is apologizing on behalf of a franchisee who posted an “I can’t breathe” workout at a gym in suburban Milwaukee. Photos of the workout instructions drawn on a dry erase board at Anytime Fitness in Wauwatosa were shared widely on social media and...
Thousands without power after storms sweep through MichiganVideo
DETROIT — About 290,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday in Michigan after thunderstorms barreled through the state, downing hundreds of trees and power lines. DTE Energy said about 137,000 of its customers in southeast Michigan were without service as of 6 a.m. after about 90,000 had power restored...
1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits – Jun. 11, 2020Video
WASHINGTON — About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening. The latest figure from the Labor Department marked the 10th straight weekly decline...
Queen Elizabeth takes part in first public video callVideo
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has taken part in her first public video conference call to chat to four carers about the challenges they face looking after people close to them during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of Carers Week in the United Kingdom, the 94-year-old monarch showed once again...
First large covid-19 vaccine test in U.S. on track for JulyVideo
The first experimental covid-19 vaccine in the United States is on track to begin a huge study next month to prove if it really can fend off the coronavirus, its manufacturer announced Thursday — a long-awaited step in the global vaccine race. The vaccine, developed by the U.S. National Institutes...
Stolen Banksy honoring Bataclan victims found in ItalyVideo
L’AQUILA, Italy — Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by the British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. L’Aquila prosecutors said the work was recovered on Wednesday during a search of...
Truex ends 2020 winless skid with victory at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. cruised down the stretch and won his first NASCAR Cup race of the season Wednesday night in the first race under the lights at Martinsville Speedway. Truex, the 2017 Cup champion, has been one of NASCAR’s biggest winners over the last three years, but...
