Associated Press stories, Page 2267
North Central (Ill.) routs Wisconsin-Whitewater to win Division III titleVideo
SHENENDOAH, Texas (AP) — North Central of Illinois made the most of its first trip to the NCAA Division III championship game, starting fast and never looking back. Ethan Greenfield ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns, Broc Rutter threw for 263 yards and two scores and North Central routed...
Study: Northwest killer whales shrinking in size — and so are their prey, chinook salmon
SEATTLE — Hungry young orcas grow up to be stunted orcas, new research shows, revealing that salmon run downturns can have lifelong effects. The findings, published last month in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Endangered Species Research, were based on aerial photos taken by drone of whales in both the southern...
Texas man to be exonerated after DNA leads to new arrest
HOUSTON — Authorities said they will begin the process to exonerate a Houston man who was convicted in a 2010 fatal stabbing that investigators now believe was committed by someone else. Lydell Grant, 42, was freed on bond last month after a new analysis of DNA found on the victim’s...
White Sands monument re-designated as US national park
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — President Donald Trump’s signature on defense legislation enacted by Congress means White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is now White Sands National Park. White Sands became the 62nd designated national park Friday with Trump’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020,...
San Francisco musical, longest running in US, to hang up hat
SAN FRANCISCO — When you think of America’s longest-running musicals, Broadway favorites such as “The Lion King” or “Chicago” may come to mind. But there’s a small San Francisco show that’s been a must-see for tourists and locals alike for more than 45 years — and now the curtain is...
30-plus years of ‘Garfield’ comic strips to sell at auction
DALLAS — Cartoonist Jim Davis is offering up more than 11,000 “Garfield” comic strips hand-drawn on paper in an auction that will stretch into the coming years, with at least a couple of strips featuring the always-hungry orange cat with a sardonic sense of humor available weekly. “There are just...
Second Amendment Sanctuary push aims to defy new gun laws
BUCKINGHAM, Va. — A standing-room only crowd of more than 400 packed the meeting room, filled the lobby and spilled into the parking lot recently in rural Buckingham County, Virginia. They had one thing on their minds: guns. The vast majority favored a proposal to protect their right to carry...
The Jim Crow film that just won’t die, “Song of the South”
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Racially segregated movie theaters and whites-only water fountains disappeared decades ago after court rulings struck down the legal framework of Jim Crow America, but another element of the era just won’t die: Walt Disney’s 1946 movie “Song of the South.” With racist stereotypes and Old South tropes,...
US heads to court to build Trump border wall in Texas
HOUSTON — Three years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the U.S. government is ramping up its efforts to seize private land in Texas to build a border wall. Trump’s signature campaign promise has consistently faced political, legal, and environmental obstacles in Texas, which has the largest section of the U.S.-Mexico border,...
Buttigieg backers defend ‘wine cave’ fundraiser
RUTHERFORD, Calif. — The California winemakers who hosted a dinner at a “wine cave” for Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg are defending the fundraising event. Buttigieg’s political rivals used the recent fundraiser to criticize the South Bend, Indiana, mayor for soliciting campaign contributions from wealthy donors at Thursday’s Democratic presidential...
Penguins get goals from all over, Tristan Jarry comes through vs. Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta — Tristan Jarry made 26 saves, Jared McCann scored and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2, on Friday night. Chad Ruhwedel, Joseph Blandisi, Kris Letang and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Penguins, who have won four straight. Zack Kassian and former Penguins forward Riley Sheahan...
Man who kidnapped Wisconsin teen: She was ‘terrified of me’
MINNEAPOLIS — A man convicted of kidnapping a Wisconsin girl and killing her parents told police after his arrest that he never thought Jayme Closs would escape because she was petrified, and that after holding her captive for two weeks, he believed he’d get away with his crimes, according to...
Invasive silver carp confirmed for 1st time in SW Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — Two invasive silver carp have been caught in southwestern Minnesota after essentially sneaking into the state through the back door, marking the first confirmed discovery of the jumping fish in that area. They were netted only about 120 yards north of the Iowa border on the Ocheyedan River...
Wisconsin governor rejects ‘Making a Murderer’ pardon bid
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Friday he will not consider a pardon request from a man convicted of rape and murder when he was a teenager whose story was documented in the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” The request from Brendan Dassey filed in October does...
Chief: City employee targeted co-worker in deadly N.C. shooting
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A deadly shooting at a city building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was an act of “workplace violence” by one city employee who targeted a co-worker he’d disliked for a long time, police said Friday. Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson told news reporters the gunman at a city...
Biden: No regrets for talking openly about stuttering
LOS ANGELES — Joe Biden has been fighting a stutter since childhood, and he said Friday he has no regrets about talking openly about it after one of his responses in Thursday’s presidential debate prompted a mocking tweet from former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. “I don’t have any...
No. 23 Penn State basketball wins as ranked team for 1st time in 23 seasonsVideo
STATE COLLEGE — Myreon Jones scored 11 of his 21 points in the first half and No. 23 Penn State routed Central Connecticut, 87-58, on Friday. Izaiah Brockington scored 11 points and Lamar Stevens added 10 for the Nittany Lions (10-2), who won as a ranked team for the first...
Boy kidnapped in 1964 found through ancestry sites
CHICAGO — A Michigan man recently identified as the newborn boy snatched from his mother in 1964 by someone posing as a maternity-ward nurse was found through commercial ancestry websites after the man or a child of his submitted DNA to the sites to learn more about their family tree,...
Jets assistant coach Hines Ward wants ‘Gatorade shower’ if team beats SteelersVideo
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Hines Ward has been a popular guy this week — and he has the countless voicemails, texts and emails to prove it. The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town, and the former star wide receiver has been hearing from friends and former colleagues who hope to...
California sheriff fires deputy who choked suspect that died
SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California sheriff announced Friday he is firing a deputy who used a choke hold on a man, who later died, while officers were investigating a suspected carjacking. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said in a video that he found footage of the deputy’s actions “extremely...
Twitter fights interference, deletes 5,929 Saudi accounts
NEW YORK — Twitter has identified and removed nearly 6,000 accounts that it said were part of a coordinated effort by Saudi government agencies and individuals to advance the country’s geopolitical interests. Separately, Facebook said it removed hundreds of Facebook accounts, groups and pages linked to inauthentic behavior from two...
Police surveillance planes to fly above Baltimore in 2020
BALTIMORE — The city of Baltimore will be monitored by surveillance airplanes for up to six months next year under a pilot program announced Friday that is aimed at helping law enforcement investigate violent crime and that will effectively restart a tactic secretively used three years ago. The flights, which...
Paul Newberry: James Wiseman shows he’s wise young man by dumping collegeVideo
Congratulations to James Wiseman, a wise young man indeed. He didn’t need one-and-done. None-and-done will work just fine (we rounded down from the three games he played at Memphis). After tussling with those tyrants at the NCAA, Wiseman told the guardians of an unjust system what they could do with...
Bills out to end Patriots’ run of AFC East dominanceVideo
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For years, the Buffalo Bills have been one of three chasers in the AFC East, annually trying and failing to knock the New England Patriots from their decade-long run atop the division. Buffalo enters its Week 16 matchup with New England clinging to its best hope in...
Twitter fights interference, deletes 5,929 Saudi accounts
NEW YORK — Twitter has identified and removed nearly 6,000 accounts that it said were part of a coordinated effort by Saudi government agencies and individuals to advance the country’s geopolitical interests. Separately, Facebook said it removed hundreds of Facebook accounts, groups and pages linked to inauthentic behavior from two...
