Associated Press stories, Page 2459
Arrest in 43-year-old murder case stuns Wisconsin town
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...
Officials ID Virginia Beach gunman as city employee
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...
Defense chief calls out China on tech theft, South China Sea
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...
Record floods breach Arkansas levee, overtop 2 in Missouri
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...
Frank Lucas, druglord portrayed in ‘American Gangster,’ dies
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....
Mamiko Higa still leads weather-battered U.S. Women’s Open
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....
Pilgrim shutdown ends nuclear power era in Massachusetts
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,...
Prosecutor says email tracking harmless in Navy SEAL case
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...
Scientists find flaws in plan to lift US wolf protections
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...
Sanders, Harris seek Hispanic votes at California forum
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 prosecutor shifts Smollett case recusal explanation
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...
Share of Memorial lead long time coming for Martin Kaymer
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...
Bruins’ John Moore ready for closeup in Stanley Cup Final
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...
Police: City worker kills 12 in Virginia Beach; suspect dead
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...
NFL stadiums come long way from Lambeau Field
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...
Raptors’ Pascal Siakam goes from unknown to NBA Finals star
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’s Juwan Howard latest NBA player to coach college
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...
Serena Williams to face 20-year-old American Kenin in Paris
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...
Bill Cosby drops defamation claims against 7 accusers
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...
IRS proposes update to Form W-4 to increase accuracy
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...
Big 12 revenues on track to pass $40M per school
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...
Pa. museum gets massive, century-old steam engine running again
A century-old steam engine has been put on display at Pennsylvania’s National Museum of Industrial History after workers got it running again for the first time in nearly four decades. The 115-ton Corliss engine once pumped 8 million gallons of water a day for the York Water Co. in York....
Union warns Disney World fire department is understaffed
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Firefighters for Walt Disney World’s private government say they’re understaffed and that poses a safety risk as the Florida theme park resort grows even bigger with this year’s openings of a new Star Wars land and air gondolas. “We just don’t have enough firefighters on...
Tornado that ravaged parts of Ohio packed 170 mph winds
DAYTON, Ohio — The National Weather Service says one of the tornadoes that tore through western Ohio this week was the strongest in the state since 2010. Survey teams have confirmed at least 18 tornadoes touched down in the region during storms Memorial Day evening and early Tuesday. The Weather...
Tariffs aimed at Mexico, but U.S. companies in line of fire
The surprise imposition by President Donald Trump of an escalating tariff regime against Mexico sent ripples through almost every economic sector in the U.S. Friday, hammering American companies that sell automobiles or run railroads, grow vegetables or create medical devices. Trump vowed to slap a 5% tariff on all Mexican...
