Associated Press stories, Page 2493
Minivan sales keep falling, but experts say they’ll live on
DETROIT — They were the suburban vehicle of choice in the 1990s and early 2000s, but ever since, minivans appeared to be riding the slow lane to extinction. The soccer moms who once made the boxy people-haulers ubiquitous have shunned them for car-based SUVs with three rows of seats. Many...
Endangered list sought for firefly with double-green flash
BETHANY BEACH, Del. — Peering through the darkness under the faint light of a peach-colored moon, wildlife biologist Jason Davis spots a telltale green flash in the bushes. Quick as a flash himself, Davis arcs a long-handled mesh net through the humid coastal air, ensnaring his tiny target. Ignoring the...
Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter Saoirse Hill dies at 22
A granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running for president, has died. Saoirse Kennedy Hill was 22. The Kennedy family confirmed the death in a statement Thursday night following reports that a person had been found unresponsive that day at the storied Kennedy compound in...
Police: Electric scooter rider fatally hit by car in Atlanta
ATLANTA — Another electric scooter rider has been fatally hit by a vehicle in Atlanta, the third such death since the e-scooters arrived in the city last year. News outlets report Atlanta police say 34-year-old Amber Ford died Thursday after being hit by a car over the weekend. A witness...
Ed Sheeran sets all-time highest-grossing tour record
LOS ANGELES — Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour is one for the record books. Pollstar confirms the 28-year-old British singer’s tour will set the all-time highest-grossing tour record with Friday’s show in Hannover, Germany. Pollstar forecasts the total gross to this point of $736.7 million will top the previous record of...
Fangio coaches after kidney stone issue, Denver wins
CANTON, Ohio — For a while Thursday, Vic Fangio didn’t know if his long-awaited debut as a head coach would happen in the Hall of Fame game. Fangio finished team meetings, then headed to a hospital because of a kidney stone. Though determined to lead his new team, the Denver...
Creativity, functionality both matter in playroom decor
Go bold. Stay practical. Think long-term. These are among the tips offered by interior decorators for creating a fresh, fun — even inspiring — playroom for kids. Foster creativity “I love bold choices in a playroom,” says Mel Bean, a designer in Tulsa, Okla. In one client’s theater room, for...
Yasiel Puig eager to get off on good foot with Indians
CLEVELAND — Yasiel Puig was so eager to make his Cleveland Indians debut, he forgot to check out his footwear before walking around the clubhouse. The slugger was wearing Reds flip-flops with his Cleveland workout gear Thursday, two days after being acquired from Cincinnati in a three-team trade that also...
Texas Rep. Will Hurd, lone black House Republican, won’t run again
SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, an ex-CIA undercover officer and the lone black Republican in the House of Representatives, says he won’t seek a third term next year. The San Antonio Republican’s announcement came in a statement Thursday posted on his House web page. He’s the third Texas...
Ex-Olympian Ashley Wagner says she was sexually assaulted
Former Olympian Ashley Wagner says she was sexually assaulted by another figure skater in 2008 when she 17. The three-time national champion wrote in USA Today on Thursday that John Coughlin climbed into her bed after a party at a skating camp and began kissing and groping her. Coughlin was...
Jets’ Le’Veon Bell feels ‘a million times better’ than Day 1 of camp
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Le’Veon Bell firmly believes he made the right decision, refusing to second-guess missing a season while in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The New York Jets star running back is sorry about only one thing: for letting down the fantasy football owners who expected...
Justice Department declines to prosecute James Comey over memosVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has declined to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of a series of memos he wrote that documented personal interactions with President Trump, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The memos, some of which Justice Department officials later determined contained...
Hall of Famer Ed Reed ‘made the impossible possible’Video
BALTIMORE — Combining instinct and tireless film study with an unyielding urge to be a difference-maker, Ed Reed established himself as one of the greatest safeties in NFL history. What he did with a football after plucking it from the air set him apart from anyone who ever played. Reed...
Kicker Phil Dawson, 44, retiring with Browns after 20 years
BEREA, Ohio — Kicker Phil Dawson has retired from the NFL at age 44 after 20 seasons. He spent his first 14 seasons with the Cleveland Browns and will sign a one-day contract to retire ceremonially with the franchise. Dawson played in 305 games, the seventh most in league history,...
Delay in grand jury action in death of twins left in car
NEW YORK — Prosecutors need more time to investigate the heatstroke deaths of twin 1-year-olds left in a parked car before deciding whether to proceed with charges against the children’s father, a New York City judge was told on Thursday. An assistant Bronx district attorney said at a court hearing...
Vexed with minority status and rancor, GOP lawmakers retire
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are suffering an early exodus ahead of next year’s elections, hampering their uphill prospects for recapturing control from Democrats as lawmakers chafe under life in the minority, today’s razor-edged partisanship and the tweets and tantrums of President Trump. Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, this week became the...
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster to step down after season
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster says the upcoming football season will be his final as an assistant coach. Foster has been the Hokies’ defensive coordinator since 1995. His 33 years on staff makes him the longest tenured assistant coach in the country at the same school. His teams...
Gunmaker asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear Sandy Hook appeal
HARTFORD, Conn. — The maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal Thursday of a state ruling against the company. Remington Arms, based in Madison, North Carolina, cited a much-debated 2005 federal law that shields firearms manufacturers...
Congress wants Capital One, Amazon to explain data breach
WASHINGTON — Leaders of House and Senate committees want Capital One and Amazon to explain to Congress how a hacker accessed personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications. The incident was the latest massive data breach at a large company. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top...
Trump threatens 10% tariffs on China starting Sept. 1
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the United States will apply a new tariff of 10% on about $300 billion worth of products from China on Sept. 1. Trump tweeted Thursday amid slow-moving talks with China that negotiations will continue. But he blamed China for not following through on stopping...
Hard-won budget, debt deal clears Senate, advances to Trump
WASHINGTON — A hard-won budget and debt deal easily cleared the Senate on Thursday, powered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement and a bipartisan drive to cement recent spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies. The legislation passed by a 67-28 vote as Trump and his GOP allies relied on...
Chinese army releases promo video for Hong Kong troops
HONG KONG — The Chinese army has released a promotional video for its Hong Kong-based troops showing them dealing with a mock street demonstration at a time of uncertainty over whether the military will intervene in the city’s summer of protest. On the eve of Thursday’s anniversary of the army’s...
7 Philadelphia officers resign over offensive Facebook posts
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department says seven officers have resigned in the last two weeks following an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening Facebook posts. Last month, the department suspended 13 officers with an intent to fire them after a nonprofit group published the results of a two-year review...
John Dillinger relatives doubt body in grave is the gangster
INDIANAPOLIS — Two relatives of notorious 1930s gangster John Dillinger who plan to have his remains exhumed say they have “evidence” the body buried in an Indianapolis cemetery beneath a gravestone bearing his name may not be him and that FBI agents possibly killed someone else in 1934. The FBI...
U.K. town evacuated over fears of dam collapse
LONDON — British police have ordered the evacuation of a town of 6,500 residents in northwest England over fears that a dam could collapse. The Derbyshire Police force says residents of Whaley Bridge should leave their homes because of the “significant threat to life.” A dam wall at the 19th-century...
