Associated Press stories, Page 2263
Man who made 27,000 crosses for shooting victims is retiring
AURORA, Ill. — An Illinois man who made more than 27,000 crosses to commemorate victims of mass shootings across the country is retiring. Greg Zanis came to realize, after 23 years, his Crosses for Losses ministry was beginning to take a personal and financial toll on him, according to The...
DJ Don Imus, made and betrayed by his mouth, dead at 79
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Disc jockey Don Imus, whose career was made and then undone by his acid tongue during a decades-long rise to radio stardom and an abrupt public plunge after a nationally broadcast racial slur, has died. He was 79. Imus died Friday morning at Baylor Scott and...
Joe Burrow vs. Jalen Hurts provides tantalizing Peach Bowl matchupVideo
ATLANTA — Joe Burrow needed a year under his belt, along with a coaching change and a new wide-open offense, to really find his way at LSU. Jalen Hurts didn’t have even that long to adjust, which makes his lone season at Oklahoma even more remarkable. Now, two transfer quarterbacks...
Superpower semifinal: Ohio State, Clemson meet in Fiesta BowlVideo
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Clemson coach Dabo Swinney grew up an Alabama fan, when crowning a champion in college football was all about polls and bowls, and the best teams often never got a chance to settle it on the field. “It’d be pretty cool to go back in time and...
Penn State defense to face stiff test vs. Memphis in Cotton Bowl
ARLINGTON, Texas — Penn State coach James Franklin listened to Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield talk about how phenomenal the Nittany Lions have been on defense. Franklin then expressed similar admiration about the high-scoring Tigers with quarterback Brady White, who are representing the Group of Five teams in the Cotton Bowl...
The Fun Guy: Kawhi Leonard is AP’s male athlete of 2019Video
He was the Fun Guy. The board man who got paid. He overcame injury to reclaim his rightful place as one of the very best basketball players on the planet. He conquered the NBA world for a second time, bringing a championship to Canada. And then he joined the Los...
North Carolina breezes past Temple in Military BowlVideo
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Freshman Sam Howell threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns in addition to catching a TD pass, and North Carolina blew out Temple, 55-13, in the Military Bowl on Friday to cap a satisfying return season for coach Mack Brown. Howell completed 25 of 34 passes and...
Man in ‘I Believe’ hat swipes $250, tip jar on Christmas in Philadelphia
Police in Philadelphia are looking for a thief who sported a hat that said “I Believe” as he swiped a tip jar stuffed with $250 on Christmas Day. Yalli Avitan at first thought an employee had moved the jar to empty it during the Christmas dinner rush at her family’s...
‘Mame,’ ‘Hello, Dolly!’ composer Jerry Herman dies at 88Video
Tony Award-winning composer Jerry Herman, who wrote the cheerful, good-natured music and lyrics for such classic shows as “Mame,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “La Cage aux Folles,” died Thursday. He was 88. His goddaughter Jane Dorian confirmed his death to The Associated Press early Friday. He died of pulmonary complications in...
Tina Turner mural defaced at North Carolina record store
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Employees at a record store in North Carolina say a mural of pop star Tina Turner has been defaced with a red swastika. The Citizen Times reported Thursday that the mural is outside Static Age Records in downtown Asheville. Store owner Jesse McSwain said someone unconnected to...
Berks County crash kills 81-year-old man, his adult daughter
A crash on a highway in Berks County killed an 81-year-old man and his adult daughter. The crash on Route 422 in Heidelberg Township occurred around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when a car driven by Richard Raihl was trying to turn onto Route 422 West. The vehicle and a pickup truck...
About a dozen hurt in blast at Beechcraft plant in Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. — More than a dozen people were injured Friday when a nitrogen line ruptured at the Beechcraft aircraft manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas, causing part of the building to collapse, authorities said. Daniel Wegner, deputy fire chief for Sedgwick County, said the explosion happened at around 8 a.m....
‘Tough year’ for measles and other infectious diseases in U.S.
NEW YORK — This year, the germs roared back. Measles tripled. Hepatitis A mushroomed. A rare but deadly mosquito-borne disease increased. And that was just the United States. Globally, there was an explosion of measles in many countries, an unrelenting Ebola outbreak in Africa and a surge in dengue fever...
Wawa facing lawsuits over data breach at all of its storesVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Wawa convenience store chain is facing a wave of lawsuits over a data breach that affected its 850 locations along the East Coast. Wawa Inc. discovered malware on its payment processing servers this month before stopping the breach Dec. 12, the company has said. Officials with the...
12 killed, dozens hurt after jetliner crashes in Kazakhstan
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — A jetliner with 98 people aboard struggled to get airborne and crashed shortly after takeoff Friday in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people, authorities said. The Bek Air jet, identified as a 23-year-old Fokker 100, hit a concrete wall and a two-story building soon after departing from...
Sister of singer George Michael dies exactly 3 years after he did
LONDON — One of pop superstar George Michael’s sisters has died exactly three years after her brother’s Christmas Day death in 2016. A statement from family lawyer John Reid confirmed the unexpected death of Melanie Panayiotou, 55, on Wednesday and appealed for privacy. “We can confirm that very tragically Melanie...
Disney characters say tourists inappropriately touched them
ORLANDO, Fla. — Walt Disney World employees who portray Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck each filed police reports this month claiming they were inappropriately touched by tourists. The woman inside the Mickey Mouse costume went to the hospital with neck injuries caused by a grandmother patting the character’s...
Greece gives actor Tom Hanks honorary Greek citizenship
Tom Hanks may officially consider himself Greek. Greece’s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has signed an honorary naturalization order allowing the 63-year-old actor to claim Greek citizenship, his office told the Associated Press on Friday. Hanks frequently spends his summer vacation on the Greek island of Antiparos and his wife, actress and...
Remains of 6 people found after Hawaii helicopter crashVideo
HONOLULU — The remains of six people have been found after a helicopter heading to one of the most rugged and remote coastlines in Hawaii crashed at the top of a mountain on the island of Kauai, authorities said. Officials said Friday that there are no indications of survivors and...
EU chief warns that new Brexit delay might be necessary
BRUSSELS — The European Union and Britain will struggle to seal an agreement on trade and other aspects of their future ties after Brexit next year and should consider extending the negotiations beyond 2020, a top EU official said in an interview published Friday. The U.K. is scheduled to leave...
Another executive departs as Boeing tries to correct course
A close adviser to Boeing’s ousted CEO will also leave the company. Mike Luttig was Boeing’s general counsel from 2006 until this spring. Shortly after the crash of a second Boeing 737 Max, the companies premiere aircraft, he was assigned to head the company’s legal strategy and to advise the...
India clamps down on marches, internet after deadly protests
NEW DELHI — A group of protesters in New Delhi was beaten and shoved into buses by police on Friday as they attempted to demonstrate against a new citizenship law that has triggered nationwide protests in recent weeks. About two dozen people gathered near an Uttar Pradesh state government building...
Russia commissions intercontinental hypersonic weapon
MOSCOW — Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that a new hypersonic weapon of intercontinental range became operational Friday following years of tests. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty, the Defense Ministry said....
Advice to first-time gardeners: Think small, find your spot
Another growing season is building momentum with the arrival of the 2020 seed catalogs, and gardeners are drafting plans for new harvests. There’s such a thing as being too enthusiastic, though, especially among novices. Beginners can achieve their best planting results by thinking small. “Starting too large is the most...
Daycare owner arrested after 26 kids found behind false wall
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado woman accused of hiding 26 children behind a false wall at her daycare center was arrested for investigation of misdemeanor child abuse, police said Thursday. Carla Faith, 58, was arrested Monday in Colorado Springs on suspicion of two counts of reckless child abuse without...
