Associated Press stories, Page 2602
Notre Dame’s bees — yes, bees — survived the fire
PARIS — The 180,000 bees kept in hives in Notre Dame Cathedral that were thought to have perished in this week’s fire have been discovered alive. The monument’s beekeeper, Nicolas Geant, told the Associated Press on Friday: “I am so relieved. I saw satellite photos that showed the three hives...
Authorities use dating site to capture sex assault suspect
CINNAMINSON, N.J. — Authorities say a New Jersey man sexually assaulted a Philadelphia woman he met through an online dating site, but they then used the site to capture him. Cinnaminson police say Jerell Manson used the site to entice the woman to travel to southern Jersey on Monday. They...
Kremlin: No proof in Mueller’s report of Russian meddling
MOSCOW — The Kremlin argued on Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 400-page report has not offered any credible evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The redacted report presented on Thursday said that there was no collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and Russian officials but...
Storms again roar across South, killing 2 in Mississippi
LEARNED, Miss. — Strong storms again roared across the South on Thursday, killing two Mississippi drivers and leaving more than 100,000 people without power across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. National Weather Service forecasters said they believe multiple tornadoes hit southwest and central Mississippi, although they won’t be sure until...
Cancer-causing chemical taints water after California blaze
PARADISE, Calif. — The drinking water in Paradise, California, where 85 people died last year in the nation’s worst wildfire in a century, is contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical benzene, officials said. Officials said they believe the contamination happened after the November firestorm created a toxic combination of gases in...
Minister at secretive N Carolina church sentenced for fraud
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A minister at a secretive church in North Carolina has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and ordered to pay $466,960 in restitution for his role in an unemployment fraud scheme involving businesses owned by members of the congregation. Kent Covington, a minister at the Word...
Officer says partner fired before he could analyze threat
MINNEAPOLIS — The partner of a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman testified Thursday that he didn’t fire his own weapon because he hadn’t fully analyzed the possible threat, agreeing with a prosecutor’s characterization that it would have been “premature” to use deadly force. Officer Matthew Harrity...
Oregon sheriff known for standoff to resign over funds
PORTLAND, Ore. — A small-town sheriff who gained national attention for his leadership during a 41-day standoff with armed occupiers at a wildlife refuge in Oregon is resigning, citing chronic underfunding for his department and concerns about liability caused by an outdated and understaffed jail. Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward...
Chem professor on leave after Nazi gas chamber exam question
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — A chemistry professor whose exam question asked students to calculate the lethal dose of a poisonous gas used in Nazi gas chambers during the Holocaust has taken a leave of absence, Middlebury College said. The Vermont liberal arts college said that it’s investigating under the terms of...
Mueller report: ‘This is the end of my presidency,’ Trump said after special counsel appointment
WASHINGTON — Public at last, special counsel Robert Mueller’s report revealed to a waiting nation Thursday that President Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller’s removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. Trump was largely thwarted by those...
Police official: Short-circuit likely caused Notre Dame fire
PARIS — Paris police investigators think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, a police official said Thursday as France paid a daylong tribute to the firefighters who saved the world-renowned landmark. A French judicial police official told The Associated Press that investigators made an...
Rapper Kodak Black arrested at border in upstate New York
LEWISTON, N.Y. — Kodak Black was arrested on drug and weapons charges as the rapper tried to cross from Canada into the United States near Niagara Falls, law enforcement officials said Thursday. Bill Kapri, whose stage name is Kodak Black, was driving two other people in a Cadillac Escalade with...
‘A good day’: Trump claims victory with Mueller report out
WASHINGTON — Before the world glimpsed the redacted version of the special counsel’s report, President Donald Trump tried once more to frame the moment as a political victory. The 448-page report does include an account of how the president attempted to seize control of the investigation into Russian interference in...
Read the full report: Mueller includes Trump’s written responses
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report includes President Donald Trump’s written responses submitted in the Russia probe. Trump’s responses are being released by Attorney General William Barr without redactions and comprise 12 pages. Trump told Mueller he had no recollection of several key events in Mueller’s probe, including a...
With redacted Mueller report imminent, Trump celebrates with ‘Game of Thrones’ tweet
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is celebrating the upcoming release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s 2016 election interference. The report is due to be released on Thursday. In the hours before its publication, Attorney General William Barr outlined the findings of the report...
Watch live: Trump speaks to veterans after Barr report
WASHINGTON — After nearly two years of waiting, America is getting some Trump-Russia answers straight from Robert Mueller. But first: Another declaration of “no collusion” by President Donald Trump’s attorney general. Eager to get in a last word ahead of the public release of the special counsel’s report, Attorney General...
America about to see Mueller report; Barr gets in first word
WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly two years of waiting, America is getting some Trump-Russia answers straight from Robert Mueller. Eager to get in a first word ahead of the public release of the special counsel’s report, Attorney General William Barr on Thursday laid out in advance what he said was...
‘We don’t get over it’: Pain of mass shootings stretches on
PARKLAND, Fla. — Alex Rozenblat can still hear the cries of a wounded boy calling for help as she hid from the gunfire that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. Talking to therapists at the school in Parkland, Florida, didn’t help. Each session had a...
Network bosses pleased with NFL TV packages for this season
Howard Katz has the most unenviable task in the National Football League. As the league’s senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations, he is the point person for formulating the schedule and trying to make the executives of the league’s four broadcast partners happy. Before the public got a...
Wild bee species critical to pollination on the decline
CONCORD, N.H. — More than a dozen wild bee species critical to pollinizing everything from blueberries to apples in New England are on the decline, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of New Hampshire wanted to understand if the documented declines hitting honeybees and bumblebees were also...
Poll: Church membership in U.S. plummets over past 20 years
NEW YORK — The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50% last year, according to a new Gallup poll. Among major demographic groups, the biggest drops were recorded...
NYPD: Man with gas cans arrested at St. Patrick’s church
NEW YORK — Just days after flames ravaged the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, a New Jersey man was arrested Wednesday night after entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, according to the New York Police Department. The unidentified 37-year-old man had pulled...
Central Florida cities among fastest growing in US
ORLANDO, Fla. — When it came to population growth last year, cities in central Florida grew by stadiums. Metro Orlando grew by 60,000 residents last year, almost as large as the number of people who can fit into the city’s Camping World Stadium, where college football bowl teams face off...
Legionnaires’ disease found in adjacent California prisons
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Legionnaires’ disease bacteria that killed one inmate and sickened another is more widespread than expected in a California state prison, officials said Wednesday, citing new test results. Preliminary results found the bacteria in the water supply at a prison medical facility in Stockton and at two neighboring...
Florida House OKs bill requiring parental abortion consent
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Legislation that would require consent from a parent or guardian before a girl under 18 could obtain an abortion passed the Florida House on Wednesday night after a lengthy debate and amid questions about its constitutionality. The Republican-led House voted 69-44 largely along party lines for the...
