Associated Press stories, Page 2550
A small but social spot: Trends in front-porch decorating
Back in the days before TV and air conditioning lured people indoors, Americans often hung out on front porches, enjoying the fresh air and socializing with neighbors. In later decades, when they wanted to relax outside, people tended to do it in the backyard, away from noise and traffic. But...
Francesco Molinari charges to victory at Bay Hill
ORLANDO, Fla. — Francesco Molinari had seen so many clutch birdie putts on the 18th green at Bay Hill, most of them by Tiger Woods in the final group, usually with Arnold Palmer standing next to the green expecting like everyone else for them go in. It was Molinari’s turn...
Former Wisconsin QB Alex Hornibrook transferring to Florida State
Former Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook says he is transferring to Florida State. Hornibrook posted a photo of himself with Seminoles coach Willie Taggart on his Instagram account Sunday to announce his plans. Hornibrook is a graduate transfer who will be eligible immediately. The Seminoles are in need of depth at...
Fire chief dies, suffers emergency at firefighter’s funeralVideo
PORTLAND, Maine — The tragedy of a Maine firefighter who was fatally injured while shielding a colleague from flames was compounded Sunday by the death of a fire chief who suffered a medical emergency at the memorial service. Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco suffered the emergency as several thousand people,...
Trump expected to seek $8.6B for border wall in new budget
WASHINGTON — President Trump will seek $8.6 billion in his new budget to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, two administration officials said Sunday, setting up another showdown with Congress, which has resisted giving him more money for his signature campaign promise. The request would more than double the $8.1 billion...
Jerome Powell says Trump’s attacks played no role in rate pause
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says political attacks by President Trump played no role in the Fed’s decision in January to signal that it planned to take a pause in hiking interest rates. He also said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he can’t be fired by the...
Pennsylvania man claims he found another R. Kelly sexual abuse tape
NEW YORK — A Pennsylvania man who said he was cleaning out an old videotape collection found what he thought was a recording of R&B singer R. Kelly in concert, but instead turned out to show a man who appeared to be Kelly sexually abusing girls, he and his attorney...
Trump donor claimed she could offer access to president
PALM BEACH, Fla. — A company run by a donor to President Trump claimed it could provide Chinese clients with a chance to mingle and take photos with the president, along with access to his private club in Palm Beach. It remains unclear how much Li Yang charged for the...
Josh Reaves’ career-high 26 points lead Penn State over Illinois
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State guard Josh Reaves has never gotten as many hugs or pats on the back as he did on Sunday. His teammates made sure to show their wily veteran their love after Reaves scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Penn State...
Boeing likely to face new questions after another 737 crash
Investigators rushed to the scene of a devastating plane crash in Ethiopia on Sunday, an accident that could renew safety questions about the newest version of Boeing’s popular 737 airliner. The Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the capital of Addis Ababa,...
Church pastor near deadly tornado: Lord reaching out hand
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — The pastor of a church that became a center for shelter, help and grieving when a tornado killed 23 people in eastern Alabama said in his first Sunday service after the storm that the Lord has reached out his hand to the community. Imperfect things like tornadoes...
‘Captain Marvel’ rockets to historic $153M debut
NEW YORK — “Captain Marvel,” Marvel Studios’ first female-fronted superhero movie, launched with $153 million domestically and $455 million globally, according to studio estimates Sunday, making it one of the biggest blockbusters ever led by a woman. It also sets a new worldwide mark for a film directed or co-directed...
Turbulence injures 30 on flight from Istanbul to New York
NEW YORK — Severe turbulence tossed terrified passengers and crew around a Turkish Airlines plane cabin as it passed over Maine on Saturday, with 30 people suffering bumps, bruises, cuts and a broken leg before the flight landed safely at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said. Dozens...
Melania Trump: Growing ease in first lady role, but not politics
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump came armed with surefire applause lines when she stepped up to address a largely female audience that had gathered to celebrate other women. The first lady showcased the record number of women serving in Congress. She said women’s unemployment had hit its lowest level in 65...
Town by town, local journalism is dying in plain sight
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. — Five minutes late, Darrell Todd Maurina sweeps into a meeting room and plugs in his laptop computer. He places a Wi-Fi hotspot on the table and turns on a digital recorder. The earplug in his left ear is attached to a police scanner in his pants pocket....
Modern policing: Algorithm helps NYPD spot crime patterns
NEW YORK — When a syringe-wielding drill thief tried sticking up a Home Depot near Yankee Stadium, police figured out quickly that it wasn’t a one-off. A man had also used a syringe a few weeks earlier while stealing a drill at another Home Depot 7 miles south in Manhattan....
No survivors in Ethiopian Airlines crash en route to Kenya
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A jetliner carrying 157 people crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ethiopian capital Sunday, killing everyone aboard, authorities said. More than 30 nationalities were among the dead. It was not clear what caused the plane to go down in clear weather. The pilot sent out a...
Keeping kids’ rooms calm, colorful and (relatively) tidy
Spring cleaning season is here, and some of us got a head start by taking Marie Kondo’s message to heart: You’ll be happier if you eliminate clutter. In many households, no room is a bigger magnet for clutter than a child’s bedroom. Designers say parents are increasingly interested in managing...
No. 3 UNC tops No. 4 Duke to earn share of ACC title
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Third-ranked North Carolina handled every push fourth-ranked Duke could manage, both in building a big lead and then hanging onto what was left of its edge in the final minutes. When it was over, the Tar Heels were ready to cut down nets, too. Freshman Coby...
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are engaged
LOS ANGELES — Jennifer Lopez said yes to Alex Rodriguez’s proposal, and with the rock he presented, who could say no? The couple posted an Instagram photo of their hands with a massive engagement ring on Lopez’s ring finger. The former Yankees shortstop captioned his photo with “she said yes”...
Babe Ruth’s last surviving daughter dies in Nevada at 102
HENDERSON, Nev. — Julia Ruth Stevens, the last surviving daughter of Hall of Fame baseball slugger Babe Ruth and a decades-long champion of his legacy, has died at age 102, her family has announced. Tom Stevens said Sunday that his mother died Saturday morning at an assisted living facility in...
7-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson looks to heat up in desert
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Jimmie Johnson is fighting a cold. It’s the kind of debilitating, in-your-throat cold that makes it painful to swallow, much less go for a run. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion tried on a cool morning in the desert but quickly bailed, putting off the resumption of...
Ebola treatment center in Congo is attacked again; 1 dead
KINSHASA, Congo — Heavily armed assailants again attacked an Ebola treatment center in the heart of eastern Congo’s deadly outbreak on Saturday, with one police officer killed and health workers injured, authorities said, while frightened patients waited in isolation rooms for the gunfire to end. The early-morning attack in Butembo...
Trump signed Bibles. Heresy? Many religious leaders say no
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — President Donald Trump was just doing what he could to raise spirits when he signed Bibles at an Alabama church for survivors of a deadly tornado outbreak, many religious leaders say, though some are offended and others say he could have handled it differently. Hershael York, dean...
As budget deficit balloons, few in Washington seem to care
WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit is ballooning on President Donald Trump’s watch and few in Washington seem to care. And even if they did, the political dynamics that enabled bipartisan deficit-cutting deals decades ago has disappeared, replaced by bitter partisanship and chronic dysfunction. That’s the reality that will greet...
