Associated Press stories, Page 2535
94-year-old WWII veteran finally gets high school diploma
SHREWSBURY, Mass. — A 94-year-old World War II veteran has received his high school diploma — 74 years after he would have gotten had he not enlisted. Paul Snow says he felt “naked” from all the attention he received Thursday during a ceremony at St. John’s High School, but says...
R Kelly defense emerges, including saying accusers are lying
CHICAGO — R. Kelly yelled through tears in a recent TV interview before an audience numbering in the millions, saying he’s in a fight for his life to disprove sexual abuse charges. That fight will ultimately be waged in court, with an audience numbering just 12 jurors. While the day...
35 years in prison: Man exonerated in rape case and freed
BATON ROUGE, La. — A man convicted of a 1982 rape in Louisiana’s capital city walked free Thursday after 35 years in prison, following his exoneration using an updated fingerprint database. The Innocence Project, which works to free wrongly convicted defendants, said Archie Williams was freed after his conviction was...
Hungry wolves may get new home at Isle Royale National Park
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A U.S.-Canadian team prepared Thursday for another mission to relocate gray wolves to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan from a second Lake Superior island, where the predators are in danger of starvation after gobbling up a caribou herd. The targeted pack is on Michipicoten Island...
Jury convicts Georgia man for role in teacher’s 2005 slaying
ABBEVILLE, Ga. — A jury on Thursday convicted a Georgia man of concealing the death of a teacher whose slaying remained a mystery for more than a decade after her body was burned to ash and bone fragments in a rural pecan orchard. Bo Dukes was the first of two...
Hogan: Trump challenge now ‘doesn’t make any sense at all’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — While Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan isn’t completely ruling out a potential primary challenge to President Donald Trump, he said Thursday that currently “it doesn’t make any sense at all.” Hogan spoke to reporters Thursday with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Hogan friend who is in...
UCF’s 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall set for his NCAA Tournament debut
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The tallest man in college basketball is finally on the game’s grandest stage: 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall is set for the NCAA Tournament. Fall’s ninth-seeded UCF (23-8) opens East Region play Friday night against No. 8 seed VCU (25-7). “For me, for us, I would say it means...
Ichiro walks off into history in ‘sayonara’ at Tokyo Dome
TOKYO — At times, it seemed as if he’d go on hitting forever. But Thursday night, a player who defined baseball at its very best on two continents for a generation, took his final swing. The great Ichiro has said “sayonara.” Now 45, Ichiro Suzuki left the Tokyo Dome field...
Late mistakes cost New Mexico State in loss to Auburn
SALT LAKE CITY — After a teammate passed up an open layup that could have tied the game, New Mexico State’s Terrell Brown was fouled behind the arc and missed two of three free throws as the Aggies dropped a 78-77 heartbreaker Thursday to fifth-seeded Auburn in the NCAA Tournament....
NCAA Tournament roundup: Maryland holds off Belmont
Maryland’s Darryl Morsell made a crucial defensive stop as the Terrapins fended off Belmont, 79-77, in a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The mid-major powerhouse from Nashville, Tenn., couldn’t knock off the No. 6-seeded Terrapins from the Big Ten despite a 35-point performance by Dylan Windler. Maryland...
$38 million of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. customs officials say drug dogs have sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades inside a shipping container. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags. Customs and Border Protection’s Area...
Suspect in mob boss slaying could face lethal Mafia justice
NEW YORK — As Anthony Comello sits in jail on murder charges, he may have more than legal problems to worry about — namely, whether the Mafia is going to get its hands on him. The man he is accused of killing was the reputed boss of New York’s Gambino...
Cummings: Ivanka Trump not preserving all official email
WASHINGTON — A top House Democrat says Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a powerful White House aide, is not preserving all of her official email communications as required by federal law. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says in a letter that Trump’s...
ACLU: Black man detained while moving into his own home
TONGANOXIE, Kan. — The American Civil Liberties of Kansas has asked for a state investigation after a black man was detained by local police while moving into his own home. The ACLU said Thursday that Karle Robinson was held at gunpoint and handcuffed as he moved into a home he...
David Letterman: I stayed on network TV for too long
NEW YORK — David Letterman says he stuck around on network television about 10 years too long. He made that admission during an appearance Thursday on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. Letterman quit in 2015 after 33 years as a late-night host on CBS and NBC, and is beginning his second...
U.S. average mortgage rates fall; 30-year at 4.28 percent
WASHINGTON — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week, giving an incentive to potential buyers as the spring homebuying season opens. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage declined to 4.28 percent from 4.31 percent the previous week. Mortgage rates have fallen substantially since...
Levi Strauss readies for prime time in the public markets
NEW YORK — Levi Strauss & Co., which gave America its first pair of blue jeans, is public again, for the second time. The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder’s descendants took it private again in 1985. The...
Candy Crush vs. Mortal Kombat for Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The World Video Game Hall of Fame fielded thousands of nominations for the Class of 2019 from more than 100 countries, hall officials said Thursday after narrowing the field to 12. “Will ‘Centipede’ devour the competition? Can ‘Mortal Kombat’ fight its way to victory? Will ‘Microsoft Windows...
Ichiro walks off into history in ‘sayonara’ at Tokyo Dome
TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki has said “sayonara.” The 45-year-old Seattle Mariners star announced his retirement Thursday night, shortly after waving goodbye at the Tokyo Dome during a 5-4 win over Oakland in 12 innings. Ichiro went 0 for 4 and was pulled from right field in the eighth, saluting his...
Trump says public should see ‘ridiculous’ Mueller report
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller’s report should be released to the public, even as he disparaged its very existence as “ridiculous.” “Let it come out, let people see it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “Let’s see whether or not it’s legit.” Mueller is expected...
$625M jackpot at stake in Saturday’s Powerball
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery officials say the Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $625 million. The jackpot on Saturday would be the seventh-largest in U.S. history, with an estimated lump sum payout of $380.6 million before taxes. The odds of winning are extremely long, at 1 in 292.2...
National Guard called in after Texas petrochemicals facility fire
HOUSTON — National Guard troops have been called in and residents were told to stay inside after elevated levels of benzene were detected early Thursday near a Houston-area petrochemicals storage facility that caught fire this week. Harris County officials said the Guard and hazardous materials teams have established perimeters around...
Man faces 20 years in prison for threats against Obama, Waters
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Federal prosecutors say a central New York man faces up to 20 years in prison for threatening to kill former President Barack Obama and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. According to Syracuse.com , a jury convicted Stephen Taubert on Wednesday. The charges stemmed from phone calls, including racial...
Kentucky governor says he exposed his children to chickenpox
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview that he deliberately exposed his children to chickenpox so they would catch the highly contagious disease and become immune. During a Tuesday interview on Bowling Green radio station WKCT, Bevin said his children were “miserable for a few...
Trump’s invective at John McCain dismays some Republicans
WASHINGTON — Casting aside rare censure from Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump aimed new blasts of invective at the late John McCain , even claiming credit for the senator’s moving Washington funeral and complaining he was never properly thanked. By the time the president began his anti-McCain tirade in Ohio...
