Associated Press stories, Page 2557
Sheriff: Girl buried in backyard had been caged and starved
GUYTON, Ga. — An investigator with the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia says a girl whose body was buried in the backyard had been beaten, bound, starved and shocked with a stun gun. The Savannah Morning News reports Investigator Abby Brown testified Tuesday that 14-year-old Mary Crocker also was...
Bloodied man walks into Pennsylvania hospital, says he killed boyfriend
MANHEIM — Authorities say a man covered in blood walked into a Pennsylvania hospital and told staffers there he had just fatally stabbed his boyfriend. Manheim Township police say 30-year-old Matthew Van Zandt is charged with homicide in the death of 31-year-old Ian Shannon, whose body was found Wednesday in...
Ohio cheese wins U.S. Championship Cheese Contest
GREEN BAY, Wis. — A cheese from Ohio has captured the top spot at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin. The baby Swiss made by Guggisberg Cheese in Millersburg, Ohio, barely edged out a Gouda made by Marieke Penterman in Thorp, who won the contest in 2013. Penterman was...
Pope denounces ‘depraved’ antisemitism and urges dialogue
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis denounced the “depraved hatred” behind a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in parts of the world and said interfaith dialogue can help counter it. Francis met Friday with a delegation of the American Jewish Committee and praised their longstanding good relations. He lamented that their meeting...
Cleveland suburb to pay $1M to estate of man fatally shot by police
CLEVELAND — A city outside Cleveland has agreed to pay $1 million to the estate of an unarmed man fatally shot by a police officer after a vehicle chase in 2017. Cleveland.com reports an attorney for the estate of Roy Evans Jr. confirmed Thursday that Strongsville has agreed to settle...
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson is resigning
WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, once seen as a candidate to succeed Jim Mattis as defense secretary, said Friday she is resigning to become president of the University of Texas at El Paso. A former U.S. House Republican member from New Mexico and graduate of the U.S. Air...
Pa. Lottery machines spent most of the day down due to outage
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Lottery officials say many machines around Pennsylvania had been offline for most of the day due to a service outage. Department of Revenue spokesman Jeffrey Johnson said the outage Friday was due to connectivity issues with Verizon’s cellular service at some terminals throughout the state. It only...
Holocaust survivor says teens in swastika photo apologized
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The high school party took an ugly turn. Drink cups were used to form a crude swastika. Nazi salutes flashed. Cameras clicked. What appears to have been a woefully misguided attempt at humor turned into a national embarrassment for the Southern California city of Newport Beach,...
Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim deemed ‘not reckless’ in fatal crash
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim will not be charged in last month’s fatal highway accident, and the case is closed. Boeheim was “not reckless,” Onondaga County district attorney William Fitzpatrick said Thursday. Fitzpatrick added his decision came after reviewing the police accident report. Boeheim declined to comment,...
Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, much less than what was called for under sentencing guidelines. Manafort, sitting in a wheelchair as he deals with complications...
Sheriff: Hammer used to kill girlfriend, 2 children in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — A woman and two children bludgeoned to death with a hammer in a suburban New Orleans apartment were killed by the woman’s boyfriend, authorities said Thursday. Two other children remain hospitalized as a result of the attack Wednesday morning in Terrytown. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto identified...
House broadly condemns hate after anti-Semitism dispute
WASHINGTON — Divided in debate but mostly united in a final vote, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other bigotry Thursday, with Democrats trying to push past a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could dog them through elections next year. The one-sided...
Pa. man jailed for choking wife now charged with plotting her murder
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania man already serving time for assaulting and choking his wife faces new charges of plotting to kill her from prison. WHP-TV reports Dauphin County officials say Leroy Newton Vencak Jr. has been charged with solicitation to commit murder. A criminal complaint says Vencak solicited another person...
Gov. Wolf orders review of Glen Mills over abuse allegations
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered a review of complaints against the oldest reform school in the country as a result of a newspaper investigation detailed decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups at the campus. Lawmakers and children’s advocates on Wednesday called for the state to launch an...
Police: Taylor Swift stalker re-arrested for doing it again
NEW YORK — Authorities say a man who served jail time for breaking into Taylor Swift’s Manhattan townhouse has been arrested for doing it again. Roger Alvarado of Homestead, Florida was arrested around 2:30 a.m. Thursday after he allegedly climbed a ladder to a second-floor patio and smashed a glass...
N.J. town calls for hefty fine, jail time for barking dog owners
SADDLE RIVER, N.J. — A New Jersey town is putting some bite in an ordinance that could result in hefty fines and even jail time for owners of barking dogs. The Saddle River council is amending a one-sentence noise rule by placing time restrictions that would prohibit dogs from barking,...
At least 16 diagnosed with mumps at Temple University
PHILADELPHIA — Health officials say at least 16 cases of mumps have been confirmed at Temple University, the most cases in the city since 2011. The Department of Public Health for Philadelphia said Thursday the effectiveness of the mumps vaccination tends to wane over time so it’s not necessarily a...
Monthly shots control HIV as well as pills in 2 big studies
SEATTLE — Monthly shots of HIV drugs worked as well as daily pills to control the virus that causes AIDS in two large international tests, researchers reported Thursday. If approved by regulators in the United States and Europe, the shots would be a new option for people with HIV and...
Cohen sues Trump Organization, wants it to pay nearly $2M in legal bills
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defense. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in New York state court, claims the Trump Organization stopped...
Colorado man discloses details about killing wife, daughters
DENVER — A Colorado man strangled his pregnant wife in their bed before driving her body and their two daughters to a worksite where he smothered the girls with a blanket, according to records of an interview he gave police from prison. Christopher Watts made the statements during authorities’ prison...
Justice Department targeting scams against older people
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Thursday that it has charged more than 225 individuals over the past year in connection with fraud scams that victimize people age 60 and older. Attorney General William Barr and other law enforcement officials announced what they said was the department’s largest-ever nationwide crackdown...
Facebook’s vision of future? Looks like Chinese app WeChat
LONDON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking the social media company in a new direction by focusing on messaging. Chinese tech giant Tencent got there years ago with its app WeChat. Zuckerberg outlined his vision to give people ways to communicate privately, by stitching together Facebook’s various services so...
In response to expanded gambling, MLB wants notice of lineups before stadium announcements
NEW YORK — Major leagues teams this season must notify the commissioner’s office of their starting lineups before they are announced at stadiums. The decision Thursday comes in response to the Supreme Court ruling that has led to more widespread legal gambling. Through last season, clubs announced lineups as they...
Melania Trump recognizes women of courage around the world
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump is honoring women from around the world with international courage awards. The first lady said at Thursday’s ceremony in Washington that courage is one of the qualities society needs most. She says courage is what propels the world forward. Mrs. Trump joined Secretary of State Mike...
Germany: Woman cries ‘murder’ for faster response to car blocking garage
German police say officers called to investigate a murder arrived to find that the woman who had reported it just wanted someone to remove a car blocking her garage. The woman, who wasn’t named, rang emergency dispatchers early Thursday and claimed that her husband had been killed, sending police and...
