Associated Press stories, Page 2587
Texans star J.J. Watt to serve as Daytona 500 grand marshal
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Houston Texans star J.J. Watt will serve as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, making him the first NFL player to give the command for drivers to starts their engines before NASCAR’s most famous race. Daytona International Speedway made the announcement Monday, six days before...
Toys R Us plans second act by holiday season
NEW YORK — Toys R Us fans in the United States should see the iconic brand re-emerge in some form by this holiday season. Richard Barry, a former Toys R Us executive and now CEO of the new company called Tru Kids Brands, told The Associated Press he and his...
Pair of starters kicked off WVU men’s basketball team
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia starters Esa Ahmad and Wes Harris were dismissed from the team for undisclosed violations of athletic department policies. The Mountaineers announced the dismissals Monday night without elaboration. Ahmad was the team’s third-leading scorer this season at 12 points per game and the third-leading rebounder at...
Troubled running back Kareem Hunt signs with Browns
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns’ signing of Kareem Hunt once again shines a spotlight somewhere other than the team’s on-field performance. Hunt, who was released 2½ months ago by Kansas City after a video surfaced showing the star running back pushing and kicking a woman, signed with Cleveland on Monday....
Kyler Murray chooses NFL over baseball and Athletics
MESA, Ariz. — When Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy, the Oakland Athletics knew there was a chance he might choose football over baseball. That is exactly what happened. On the day the A’s started spring training workouts, Murray said he will pursue a career in the NFL. “We took...
W.Va. GOP chief rebukes delegate’s remarks on gay community
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The head of the West Virginia Republican Party has denounced comments from a GOP member of the House of Delegates about the gay community. State GOP chairwoman Melody Potter says in a statement Mercer County Delegate Eric Porterfield’s comments were “hateful, hurtful, and do not reflect the...
GOP pummels Gov. Tom Wolf’s minimum wage proposal
HARRISBURG — Hearings on Gov. Tom Wolf’s $34.1 billion budget plan kicked off with a volley of Republican attacks on the Democrat’s new proposal to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. Monday’s first House budget hearing featured Republicans repeatedly criticizing the broader impact of a minimum wage increase, including whether it would...
Tennessee remains at No. 1 in AP poll, ahead of Duke
The NCAA Division I Basketball Committee slated Duke as the No. 1 overall seed in its initial tournament rankings over the weekend. Voters in the AP Top 25 stuck with Tennessee as their top team. The Vols received 40 of 64 first-place votes from a media panel in the poll...
Phil Mickelson finishes off record 5th win at Pebble Beach Pro-Am
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson is closing in on three decades on the PGA Tour and a half-century on Earth, and he still feels his best golf is good enough. He was at his best at Pebble Beach, and no one had a chance. A Monday finish brought on...
NBA All-Stars break out specialty shoes for weekend
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NBA players once again will be sharing personal stories this weekend during All-Star festivities — and using basketball shoes as a platform to get their message out. When Kevin Durant takes the floor on Sunday he’ll be wearing pink Nike KD 11 Aunt Pearls shoes bearing the...
Michael Jackson wax statue removed by Danish mall
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s oldest shopping mall has removed a wax statue of Michael Jackson out of fears it could offend customers and may be vandalized because of accusations that the late pop star molested boys. Charlotte Andersen, marketing manager for the Roedovre Centrum mall in suburban Copenhagen, told Denmark’s...
U.S. Steel cites Trump in resuming construction project
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — U.S. Steel Corp. says it’s restarting construction on an idled manufacturing facility in Alabama, and it’s giving some of the credit to President Donald Trump’s trade policies. The Pittsburgh-based company says Trump’s “strong trade actions” are partly responsible for the resumption of work on an advanced plant...
Historians challenge Va. governor’s ‘indentured servants’ remark
NORFOLK, Va. — Historians say they were “shocked” and “mystified” when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wrongly used the term “indentured servants” Sunday in reference to the first Africans to arrive in English North America 400 years ago. Most historians abandoned use of the term in the 1990s after historical records...
Thousands of dogs begin vying for Westminster Kennel Club title
NEW YORK — Dogs from affenpinschers to Yorkshire terriers are rounding the rings at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Breed judging began Monday at the illustrious show in New York. More than 2,800 dogs in 203 breeds and varieties are signed up to compete over two days, leading up...
Social media’s ‘Plainpotatoess’ charged over viral videos
BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man who goes by ‘Plaintpotatoess’ on social media is charged with 21 counts of harassment and trespassing in connection with the making of his viral videos. The Baltimore Sun reports 20-year-old Marquel A. Carter was charged Thursday. Carter has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on...
Trump tries to turn border debate his way with El Paso rally
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is trying to turn the debate over a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border back to his political advantage as his signature pledge to American voters threatens to become a model of unfulfilled promises. Trump will hold his first campaign rally since November’s midterm elections in...
Iranians mark anniversary of victory day in 1979 revolution
TEHRAN, Iran — Waving Iranian flags, chanting “Death to America” and burning U.S. and Israeli flags, hundreds of thousands of people poured out onto the streets across Iran on Monday, marking the date that’s considered victory day in the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. On Feb. 11 that year, Iran’s military...
Top Pentagon official in Afghanistan amid push for peace
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Pentagon’s top official made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders amid a push for peace with the Taliban. Pat Shanahan, the recently installed acting secretary of defense, said he has no orders to reduce the U.S. troop...
Senior lawmakers say they’ve agreed on border bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators announced an agreement late Monday to prevent a government shutdown and finance construction of new barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, overcoming a late-stage hang-up over immigration enforcement issues that had threatened to scuttle the talks. Republicans were desperate to avoid another bruising shutdown. They tentatively agreed...
Phil Mickelson on verge of winning Pebble Beach pro-am
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson put himself on the brink of a fifth victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am by turning a three-shot deficit into a three-shot lead when a wild day of weather kept him from finishing Sunday. Mickelson was bogey-free with six birdies, and he made...
Ducks fire coach Randy Carlyle amid 7-game losing skid
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray tried to give Randy Carlyle as much time as possible to turn things around. But a seven-game losing streak and freefall into last place in the Western Conference showed Murray a turnaround wasn’t coming soon. Murray announced he would take over...
Suspect charged in fatal shooting of Milwaukee officer
MILWAUKEE — A man who was charged Sunday with killing a Milwaukee officer during a drug raid on his home told investigators that he didn’t realize it was police trying to break down his door, authorities said. Jordan P. Fricke, 26, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other crimes...
Grammys: Kacey Musgraves wins album of the year; Childish Gambino makes history
LOS ANGELES — Women returned at the Grammys on Sunday as female acts won album of the year and best new artist, while rap also triumphed, with Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” becoming the first rap-based song to win record and song of the year. Kacey Musgraves’ “Golden Hour” picked...
Congressman Walter Jones Jr. of North Carolina dies at 76
RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. of North Carolina, a once-fervent supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq who later became an equally outspoken Republican critic of the war, died Sunday, his 76th birthday. The congressman’s office confirmed his death in a statement, saying Jones died...
Byron wins Daytona 500 pole, puts Hendricks up front again
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — William Byron put Hendrick Motorsports in a familiar position: on the pole for the Daytona 500. His bigger goal is to make the starting spot pay dividends for the NASCAR powerhouse. The 21-year-old Byron and 25-year-old teammate Alex Bowman locked in the front row for “The...
