Associated Press stories, Page 2405

JACKSON, Miss. — Former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran was a master of the federal budget process, quietly shrugging off criticism about pork-barrel spending while directing billions of dollars back to his home state of Mississippi. Cochran died Thursday at age 81. He was the 10th longest-serving senator in U.S. history...

DALLAS — About 1,000 people arrive in Texas each day, drawn by jobs, newly built homes and other opportunities. But in a state where prolonged drought is a regular occurrence, officials are struggling to ensure they can sate everyone’s thirst. Water experts are trying to determine how “resilient” the state’s...

ATLANTA — New York voters for years have experienced some of the longest wait times in the nation on Election Day. Attempts to fix the problem routinely became casualties of the divided politics of the state Legislature. That dynamic changed last November, when Democrats won majorities in both legislative chambers,...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Twelve people were killed in a shooting Friday at a Virginia Beach municipal building. On Saturday, city officials named them, showed their photos, and gave details of their lives during a news conference. Eleven of the twelve were city employees; one was a contractor. The victims...

LAKEWOOD, Wis. — Word of the arrest — via a friend’s text message — hit Wayne Sankey like a thunderbolt. “I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’” Sankey recalled. “And then I told the wife and she couldn’t believe it. ‘There’s no way,’ she said. ‘Ray down the road?’” Ray...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The gunman who killed 12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building was identified by police Saturday as a 15-year city employee who had served in the military and was described by neighbors as quiet and rarely smiling. Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera identified the...

SINGAPORE — U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Saturday denounced China’s efforts to steal technology from other nations and militarize man-made outposts in the South China Sea as a “toolkit of coercion,” saying activities by Beijing the U.S. perceives as hostile must end. In his first major speech on...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Relentless flooding in the central U.S. on Friday inundated communities and damaged or spilled over levees on three major rivers in two states, and authorities discovered the body of a drowning victim at a Missouri lake. The fast-flowing Arkansas River smashed a 40-foot hole in a...

NEW YORK — Frank Lucas, the former Harlem drug kingpin whose life and lore inspired the 2007 movie “American Gangster,” has died, a relative said Friday. Lucas, who was 88, died Thursday in New Jersey, nephew Aldwan Lassiter said. Lucas had been in declining health, according to his former lawyer....

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Japan’s Mamiko Higa said she wasn’t nervous holding the first-round lead at the U.S. Women’s Open. Now, she’s given her nerves a much bigger test after Friday’s weather-delayed second round. Higa shot an even-par 71 to maintain her edge in first appearance in the year’s second major....

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth has permanently shut down after 47 years of generating electricity, bring to a close the era of nuclear power in Massachusetts. The final shutdown occurred at 5:28 p.m. Friday. Entergy announced in 2015 it would retire Massachusetts’ only remaining reactor,...

SAN DIEGO — The Navy’s tracking of emails to lawyers defending a SEAL accused of murder may have intruded on attorney-client privilege but wasn’t severe enough to throw out the case, a military prosecutor argued in court Friday. Lt. Scott McDonald said the effort only gathered data, such as internet...

BILLINGS, Mont. — Scientists tasked with reviewing government plans to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. said in a report released Friday that the proposal has numerous factual errors and other problems. The five-member scientific panel’s conclusions were detailed in a 245-page report delivered to the...

PASADENA, Calif. — Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris dueled Friday over Hispanic votes in California, a central front in the nation’s immigration battle where Latinos represent the state’s largest ethnic group. As the nation’s most populous state, California holds a trove of 2020 delegates that are being eagerly sought by...

CHICAGO — Chicago’s top prosecutor gave a new justification in documents released Friday for why she recused herself from the investigation into “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s claim he was the victim of a hate crime: there were false rumors she was related to Smollett and she didn’t want any hint...

DUBLIN, Ohio — Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer is tied for the lead going into the weekend at the Memorial, and whether he wins is not what drives him. He knows his game is close enough that he can. Kaymer kept it simple Friday with birdies on all the par...

ST. LOUIS — John Moore is ready for his closeup and the chance to make an impact in the Stanley Cup Final. Moore is expected to replace injured defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in the Boston Bruins’ lineup for Game 3 at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. Grzelcyk is in...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A longtime city employee opened fire in a municipal building in Virginia Beach, killing 12 people on three floors and sending terrified co-workers scrambling for cover before police shot and killed him following a “long gun battle,” authorities said. Four other people were wounded in Friday’s...

Next summer, the Raiders are slated to relocate to Las Vegas and begin playing in a sleek $1.8 billion dome with a transparent roof, a black glass exterior to match their boldest uniform color and retractable doors to frame an 80-foot-tall by 215-foot wide view of the casinos on the...

TORONTO — The path to the best NBA Finals debut in seven years began in Cameroon and has stretched from New Mexico to the suburbs of Toronto. Pascal Siakam had to emerge from small settings before he could reach the big time. That made Siakam’s 32-point performance in Game 1...

Michigan had a multitude of options to replace longtime coach John Beilein. The Wolverines could have gone with a big-name hire, an up-and-coming young coach or a veteran assistant. Instead, athletic director Warde Manuel raised at least a few eyebrows in Ann Arbor and beyond by turning to Juwan Howard...

PARIS — When Serena Williams saw a young U.S. tennis player distraught after a loss at a tournament earlier this season, she did what just felt right. Williams, 37, went over to console 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova, even if that sort of thing doesn’t usually happen on tour. “I really take...

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Bill Cosby has dropped his countersuit against seven women who accused him of sexually assaulting them. Court papers filed Friday show the four-year defamation case in Massachusetts is now over. Cosby’s insurer had settled with the women last month for an undisclosed sum. The 81-year-old comedian objected...

The IRS has proposed an update to the Form W-4 that it says will increase its accuracy and reduce its complexity. But experts caution that it will feel different to employees and may prove a bit more difficult for some. Employees currently fill out a one-page form that asks a...

IRVING, Texas — Big 12 revenues are up again and expected to surpass $40 million per school annually before the current media rights deal runs out in about five years. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says each university was receiving $38.8 million for 2018-19, or a total of $388 million in the...