Associated Press stories, Page 2596
Likely top NBA pick Zion Williamson referenced at NCAA trial
NEW YORK — The player widely projected to be the NBA Draft’s top overall pick came up at a college basketball corruption trial Thursday as jurors heard a recording of a Clemson coach who seemed eager for help from an aspiring agent. The charismatic Zion Williamson played a year at...
DA: New York man ran prostitution ring out of parents’ basement
NEW YORK — A Long Island man ran a prostitution ring out of his elderly parents’ sprawling suburban home, enticing women with drugs and locking them in a basement where he forced them to use a bucket instead of a bathroom, prosecutors said Thursday. Raymond Rodio III, 47, used social...
Judges: Michigan must redraw congressional, legislative maps
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan must redraw dozens of congressional and legislative districts for the 2020 election because Republicans configured them to unconstitutionally guarantee their political dominance and dilute the power of Democratic voters, federal judges ruled Thursday. In a 3-0 ruling — which will be appealed — the panel gave...
Massachusetts judge charged with helping man evade ICEVideo
BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge was indicted Thursday on charges that she helped a man who was living in the United States illegally evade an immigration agent by sneaking out the back door of a courthouse. District Court Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and onetime court officer Wesley MacGregor were...
3M shares post biggest 1-day drop in decades
ST PAUL, Minn. — Shares in 3M posted the biggest one-day drop in decades after the company reported first quarter results that fell short of Wall Street projections. The company also announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring due to a slower-than-expected 2019. The maker...
Taylor Swift poses with fans ahead of big announcement
Taylor Swift, who has been teasing fans for weeks with clues about a new project to be announced Friday, hyped fans up when she visited a mural in Nashville on Thursday. The pop star surprised a few hundred fans, posing with them in front of a mural she commissioned. View...
3 sought in $450K colonoscopy instruments theft at Pennsylvania hospital
Police say two men and a woman broke into a Philadelphia-area hospital and stole nearly a half-million dollars’ worth of colonoscopy instruments. Authorities say the trio had access to a secured area of Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, which is about 8 miles west of Philadelphia. The people walked out...
Mother, son killed in tornado in northern Louisiana
A tornado killed two people as it tore through the northern Louisiana city of Ruston early Thursday, sending trees into houses, ripping roofs off buildings and causing a local public university to cancel classes, officials said. A mother and son in Lincoln Parish, which Ruston lies in, were killed when...
Veteran held on attempted murder counts after car hits crowd in California
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A former Army sharpshooter with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder plowed his car at high speed into a group of pedestrians in a Silicon Valley suburb, injuring eight people, and then told authorities that he intentionally hit them, police said. Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, gave no...
Kings, NBA begin sex-assault inquiry into coach Luke Walton
The Sacramento Kings and the NBA began a joint investigation Thursday into allegations that coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a woman. The Kings and the league said they will be looking into the accusations from a lawsuit filed earlier in this week in Los Angeles by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant....
Food poisoning remains persistent problem, U.S. report finds
NEW YORK — As recent illnesses tied to raw turkey , ground beef , cut melon and romaine lettuce suggest, U.S. food poisoning cases don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday that the frequency of several types...
South Carolina may use firing squad as death penalty workaround
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers are considering legislation that would add firing squads to the state’s existing execution methods. The House Criminal Laws subcommittee on Thursday approved a Senate proposal that also changes South Carolina’s default execution method to the electric chair. Lawmakers acted after prison officials told them...
Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier asks court to overturn conviction
SCRANTON — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier is asking a federal magistrate judge to overturn his conviction, less than a week before he is scheduled to start serving two months in jail. Spanier was in a Scranton, Pennsylvania, courthouse Thursday as his lawyers argued it violated the U.S. Constitution...
Ammonia leak sends 37 to hospitals in Chicago suburb
BEACH PARK, Ill. — Plumes of a toxic gas that leaked in a northern Chicago suburb Thursday morning sent at least 37 people to hospitals and prompted an order for residents to stay locked inside their homes with windows shut tight, officials said. Three law enforcement officers who responded to...
New Prince album featuring unreleased demos out in June
NEW YORK — A new Prince album featuring his versions of songs he wrote for other artists will be released in June. The 15-track “Originals” will include “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the No. 1 hit for Sinéad O’Connor; “The Glamorous Life,” Sheila E.’s signature song and Top 10 pop hit;...
Bruce Springsteen readies a Western-style album
NEW YORK — Fresh off his Broadway run, New Jersey’s Bruce Springsteen looked West for inspiration on a new album he’s planning to release on June 14. The 13-song disc is his first new studio album in five years. Titled “Western Stars,” Springsteen said Thursday the album draws some inspiration...
Democratic candidates: Guide to 20 potential presidents
With the entrance of former Vice President Joe Biden into the 2020 Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, the field is largely set, with all the big names included. The sprawling Democratic field features candidates ranging from 37 to 77 years old; liberals and moderates; senators, governors and mayors; and an...
Gunmen kill polio vaccine worker, wound another in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistani police say gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on female polio vaccination workers in the southwestern town of Chaman, killing one and wounding the other. Local police official Sami Agha says the assailants fled after Thursday’s attack, which was the third this week. In separate attacks...
Father of suspected Easter bombers arrested; Colombo on edge
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The father of two of the suspected Easter suicide bombers was arrested Thursday on suspicion of aiding his sons, Sri Lanka’s prime minister said, as businesses and religious leaders worried about a new attack four days after blasts killed more than 350 people. Across Colombo and...
Autopsy, court hearing set in case of missing Illinois boy
WOODSTOCK, Ill. — An Illinois couple is due in court on charges accusing them in the death of their 5-year-old son whose body was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave. McHenry County sheriff’s records show that 36-year-old JoAnn Cunningham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal...
U.S. durable goods orders up solid 2.7% in March
WASHINGTON — Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose 2.7% in March with a key category that tracks business investment decisions rising at the strongest pace in eight months. The increase in orders for durable goods followed a 1.1% drop in orders in February, the Commerce Department reported...
Bond 25 launches in Jamaica, Rami Malek to play villain
The 25th James Bond movie and Daniel Craig’s fifth and final installment as 007 is heading home to Jamaica. Craig, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and director Cary Fukunaga on Thursday launched the film from the Caribbean island nation where Ian Fleming wrote all of his Bond...
What the Heckboy: Theater near church avoids ‘Hellboy’ title
DICKSON, Tenn. — A Tennessee movie theater that sits across from a church and next to an elementary school is promoting the latest movie in the “Hellboy” franchise as “Heckboy.” The Tennessean reports the PG advertisement at the Dickson theater has caused a local buzz around the $50 million movie,...
Sen. Bob Casey endorses Biden in Democrats’ 2020 race for president
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is endorsing Joe Biden for president, just minutes after the former vice president entered the crowded 2020 race. In a statement Thursday, Casey touted Biden as a fighter for the middle class who can beat President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania if Biden...
Ex-Vice President Joe Biden officially launches 2020 presidential campaign
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden formally joined the crowded Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, betting that his working-class appeal and ties to Barack Obama’s presidency will help him overcome questions about his place in today’s increasingly liberal Democratic Party. He made his announcement in a video posted on...
