Associated Press stories, Page 2175
MLB players keep service time in new deal; draft could be trimmedVideo
NEW YORK — Players agreed to a deal with MLB that would preserve service time in the event this season is canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press. As part of the agreement Thursday night, management was given the right to...
MLB uniform maker switches to producing medical masks, gownsVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Bryce Harper jersey that could have been worn this baseball season by the biggest Philadelphia Phillies fan is now a protective mask in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for MLB, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the...
Doubleheaders? Winter windup? Baseball’s 2020 could be creativeVideo
PHOENIX — It has been another ideal week of March weather in central Arizona, with highs in the 70s and plenty of sunshine. Perfect for an Opening Day baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves that isn’t happening as planned because of the coronavirus pandemic. That reality was...
U.S. leads world in confirmed coronavirus cases
NEW YORK — The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 535,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. U.S. deaths have now topped 1,200, in another grim update for a global outbreak that has wreaked...
Tim Dahlberg: Enough greed, just shorten the baseball seasonVideo
Major league owners and players seem to be in rare agreement. They want to play as many games as possible, as soon as possible. Ordinarily that would be something to cheer for. But one look at the line of people in masks stretching outside Costco at 7 a.m. is evidence...
Signing college free agents is rare NHL business going onVideo
Colton Poolman had a good feeling about what was to come. He and his North Dakota teammates were ranked third in the country with the conference tournament coming up. They felt they had as good a chance as anyone to win the NCAA title until the season was abruptly canceled...
Brazil’s governors rise up against President Jair Bolsonaro’s coronavirus stanceVideo
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s governors are defying President Jair Bolsonaro over his call to reopen schools and businesses, dismissing his argument that the “cure” of widespread shutdowns to contain the spread of the new coronavirus is worse than the disease. Bolsonaro contends that the clampdown already ordered by many governors...
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker seeks federal disaster declaration; help for homelessVideo
BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday submitted a request to the federal government for a major disaster declaration for Massachusetts. If approved, the declaration would provide Massachusetts with additional assistance beyond what was included in an emergency declaration issued by President Donald Trump on March 13, the Republican governor...
Space Force launches its 1st mission with virus precautions
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The newly established U.S. Space Force launched its first national security satellite Thursday with a leaner staff because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Nothing stops the space launch mission!” the 45th Space Wing tweeted from Cape Canaveral. The approximately $1 billion satellite is the sixth and final...
Pandemic fallout: NCAA slashes distribution by $375 millionVideo
The NCAA will distribute $225 million to its Division I members in June, a whopping $375 million less than had been budgeted after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the big-money men’s basketball tournament. Ohio State president Michael Drake, chairman of the NCAA board of governors, said the association...
Harlem Globetrotters great Curly Neal dies at 77Video
Fred “Curly” Neal, the dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters for parts of three decades, died at age 77. The Globetrotters said Neal died in his home outside of Houston on Thursday morning. “We have lost one of the most genuine human beings the world has ever...
Home internet jammed up? Try these steps before upgrading
With so much of the U.S. workforce — and its families — now cooped up at home to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, it’s not a huge surprise that home internet is showing the strain. If you’ve had a business videoconference stutter while your teenagers play Call of...
Trump says feds developing new guidelines for virus risk
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation’s governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant...
AP Source: Browns tackle, former Steeler Chris Hubbard restructures contractVideo
CLEVELAND — Browns right tackle Chris Hubbard has agreed to rework his contract and take a substantial pay cut after the team signed free agent Jack Conklin, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Thursday. Hubbard, who lost his starting job when Cleveland signed Conklin to...
UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones arrested, accused of DWIVideo
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones has been arrested on suspicion of DWI and other offenses after officers heard gunshots and found him in a parked car with a handgun and a half-empty bottle of liquor early Thursday, Albuquerque police said. The 32-year-old Jones was arrested...
Trump say feds developing new guidelines for coronavirus risk
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation’s governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant...
Canada tells U.S. not to put troops at border during pandemicVideo
TORONTO — Canada has told the United States it is strongly opposed to a Trump administration proposal to put troops at the U.S.-Canada border amid the pandemic and said if it goes ahead it would damage relations between the two longtime allies. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government has...
Indianapolis 500 postponed until August because of covid-19Video
The Indianapolis 500 has been postponed until August because of the coronavirus pandemic and won’t run on Memorial Day weekend for the first time since 1946. The race will instead be held Aug. 23, three months later than its May 24 scheduled date. “The month of May at the Indianapolis...
Autism diagnosis more common in the U.S. as racial gap closesVideo
NEW YORK — Autism has grown slightly more common in the United States, but a gap in diagnosis of white and black kids has disappeared, according to a government report released Thursday. Closure of that gap — thanks to increased screening — is the main reason autism diagnoses are up...
Peeps production stops, but Easter is coveredVideo
No more Peeps are being hatched for at least a couple of weeks — but it shouldn’t affect Easter baskets. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Just Born confections company said its production facilities there and in Philadelphia closed Wednesday through April 7. But the company says it had already produced and shipped...
Congress’ relief bill would vastly expand unemployment aidVideo
NEW YORK — With record-high numbers of Americans seeking unemployment benefits after losing their jobs because of the coronavirus, Congress is set to significantly enhance the program. The $2.2 trillion rescue package nearing final approval will, for four months, add $600 a week to standard unemployment benefits, which vary by...
Golden Globes amend eligibility rules due to virusVideo
NEW YORK — The Golden Globes will accept movies submissions without a theatrical release for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Thursday. The press association, which puts on the annual award show, said films that are first released on television or a...
In drastic move, Italy shuts most factories to halt virusVideo
SOAVE, ITALY — Italy has become the first Western developed nation to idle most of its industry to halt the spread of the coronavirus, a potential cautionary tale for other governments, such as the Trump administration, that are resisting such drastic measures. After more than two weeks of a nationwide...
Meghan to narrate Disney nature film in first post-royal job
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has her first post-royal job: narrating a Disney documentary about elephants. Disney announced Thursday that the duchess, who is married to Britain’s Prince Harry, is lending her voice to “Elephant,” released April 3 on the Disney+ streaming service. It’s one of a series of animal-...
Dreaming of lottery riches? Virus could cut jackpots
DES MOINES, Iowa — Hoping to escape all the coronavirus-caused economic uncertainty by winning a giant lottery jackpot? Think again. Those jackpots are going to shrink as the pandemic tamps down lottery sales. The group that oversees the Powerball game announced Wednesday night that it would cut minimum jackpots in...
