Associated Press stories, Page 2243
Memo: Some in U.S. may not get stimulus checks until AugustVideo
WASHINGTON — The federal government expects to begin making payments to millions of Americans under the new stimulus law in mid-April, but some people without direct deposit information may not get checks until mid-August or later, according to a memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The document from the...
SXSW partners with Amazon to put its film festival online
The popcorn will be bring your own and the barbecue won’t be as good, but the Austin, Texas, SXSW Film Festival is moving online after having its 27th edition canceled by the coronavirus pandemic. SXSW announced Thursday that it’s partnering with Amazon Prime Video to stream as much of its...
U.S. border construction projects spur rural coronavirus fears
BILLINGS, Mont. — Major construction projects moving forward along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are raising fears that the coronavirus could race through temporary camps and workers could spread it to nearby rural communities that would not be able to handle an outbreak. Despite a clampdown on people’s...
Fauci says he feels safe despite threats, is focusing on job
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, said Thursday he feels safe despite reports he’s received online threats and has had uncomfortable personal encounters with admirers that prompted the Trump administration to assign him a security detail. Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus...
Democratic convention moving from July to August
The Democratic National Committee is delaying its presidential nominating convention until the week of Aug. 17 after prospective nominee Joe Biden said he didn’t think it would be possible to hold a normal convention in mid-July because of the coronavirus pandemic. Convention CEO Joe Solmonese confirmed the decision in a...
Stocks climb as soaring oil prices resuscitate energy stocksVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street pushed higher Thursday after a surge in oil prices helped resuscitate beaten-down energy stocks. The gains helped overshadow another report showing the coronavirus outbreak is forcing a record-breaking number of Americans into the unemployment queue. The S&P 500 rose more than 1.5% in morning trading...
Russia’s Putin orders non-working month to curb coronavirusVideo
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered most Russians to stay off work until the end of the month as part of a partial economic shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Putin said he was extending the...
James Patterson sets up fund to help indie booksellers
James Patterson has a history of helping independent bookstores. The best-selling novelist has donated millions in recent years to booksellers, while also giving millions to schools and libraries and literacy programs. Now, with stores closed or closing nationwide because of the coronavirus outbreak, Patterson has launched a new initiative. On...
Bitter business for maple syrup makers amid virus outbreak
MARSHFIELD, Vt. — The sap has been flowing for weeks in trees in maple country, but syrup sales may not be so swift, with restaurants and specialty food shops closed, sugaring events canceled and fans staying home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. In the largest maple-producing state,...
Nissan recalls over 250K vehicles to replace Takata air bags
DETROIT — Nissan is recalling more than a quarter-million SUVs, trucks and vans worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The vehicles have air bags with volatile ammonium nitrate that can explode with too much force and hurl shrapnel. But they have a moisture-absorbing chemical that was supposed...
Shut-in TV viewers push ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ to record rating
Shut-in television viewers tuned in to the game show “Let’s Make a Deal” in record numbers last week. TV programs across the dial recorded superlatives last week with a captive audience of millions of Americans told to stay home because of the coronavirus. Few were as interesting as the newfound...
Record 6.6 million Americans apply for unemployment in 1 weekVideo
WASHINGTON — More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus. The stunning report Thursday from the Labor Department showed that job cuts are mounting...
Leonardo DiCaprio, others launch $12M coronavirus relief food fund
Leonardo DiCaprio will help launch America’s Food Fund, which has already raised $12 million to help communities impacted by the coronavirus. The organization said Thursday that the funds will be aimed to help low-income families, the elderly, individuals facing job disruptions and children who rely on school lunch programs. The...
West Virginia governor’s coal companies to pay $5M in fines
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Billionaire West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies have agreed to pay more than $5 million for thousands of mine safety violations, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The civil case brought by prosecutors in Virginia last year on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor and the Mine...
Trump resists national shutdown, leaving it up to states
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus despite his administration’s projections that tens of thousands of Americans are likely to be killed by the disease. One by one, though, states are increasingly pushing shutdown orders...
Residents snitch on businesses, neighbors amid shutdowns
OAK PARK, Illinois — One Tulsa bar owner said more than a dozen motorcyclists showed up unannounced, but he served them a round of shots anyway to celebrate a birthday. Another live-streamed a drag queen show on Facebook while up to 20 people drank inside the locked bar, ignoring police...
Israel’s health minister has virus, top officials to isolateVideo
JERUSALEM — The new coronavirus is forcing more top Israeli officials into isolation after the country’s health minister, who has had frequent contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tested positive, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The Middle East has over 81,000 confirmed cases of the virus, most of those in...
New Orleans jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis dead at 85
NEW ORLEANS — Ellis Marsalis Jr., jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought by the new coronavirus, one of his sons said late Wednesday. He was 85. Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in...
Fountains of Wayne songwriter dies of coronavirus
Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and songwriter Adam Schlesinger, known for his work with his band Fountains of Wayne and on the TV show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” died Wednesday after contracting the coronavirus, his attorney said. Schlesinger died at a hospital in upstate New York, his longtime lawyer Josh Grier told The...
Titans making priority of keeping RB Derrick Henry long termVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans don’t want Derrick Henry going anywhere anytime soon, and the NFL rushing leader sounds as if he is eager to stick around too. General manager Jon Robinson said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters Henry is an important part of the Titans, and...
Azubuike, Toppin among five finalists for Wooden AwardVideo
LOS ANGELES — Udoka Azubuike of Kansas, Luka Garza of Iowa, Markus Howard of Marquette, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Obi Toppin of Dayton are the five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s top college basketball player. The 44th annual award will be presented April...
Call to arms: Compressed schedule could mean more pitchersVideo
NEW YORK — When and if Opening Day comes around this year, New York Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake anticipates a brimming bullpen. MLB and the players’ association have talked about a compressed schedule to get in as many games as possible. That will set off a call to arms....
Rangers veteran Shin-Soo Choo giving $1K to each of organization’s 191 minor leaguersVideo
Rangers veteran Shin-Soo Choo is helping out financially strapped minor league players with the season on hold, giving $1,000 each to 191 of them who are in the Texas organization. Choo said Wednesday he remembers the financial struggles when he was in the minors. The 37-year-old outfielder-designated hitter hopes the...
QB quest new for Patriots but familiar for AFC East foesVideo
NEW YORK — Welcome to the club, Patriots. You know, that unsettling feeling over not being sure who your starting quarterback will be this season, next year — or beyond. Just ask New England’s AFC East rivals about it. Miami, Buffalo and the New York Jets have lived through that...
Khabib Nurmagomedov won’t leave quarantine in homeland for UFC 249Video
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov said he won’t leave quarantine in Russia to fight, dealing another blow to UFC president Dana White’s determination to hold UFC 249 in two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nurmagomedov made his announcement Wednesday on Instagram, telling the mixed martial arts world to “take care...
