Associated Press stories, Page 2607
Pennsylvania man says emotional support alligator is ‘just like a dog’
YORK HAVEN —A Pennsylvania man says his emotional support alligator helps him deal with his depression. Joie Henney, 65, said his registered emotional support animal named Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 5-foot-long alligator. The York Haven man said he received approval from his doctor to...
4 Nevada killings spook neighbors who don’t know motive
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nervous neighbors were shining floodlights on their property at night in a northern Nevada community where Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken were killed this month in slayings that authorities blame on a 19-year-old from El Salvador said to be in the U.S. illegally. Residents also were...
New novel coming in April from ‘Fifty Shades’ author
NEW YORK — E L James is working up some new thrills. The author of the blockbuster “Fifty Shades” trilogy has an “erotic love story” coming out April 16, Vintage Books announced Thursday. It’s called “The Mister” and, according to Vintage, will again be a story of sex, wealth and...
‘The milkman model’: Big brand names try reusable containers
A new shopping platform announced Thursday at the World Economic Forum aims to change the way we buy many brand-name products. Loop, as the platform is called, would do away with disposable containers for things like shampoo and laundry detergent from some of the world’s biggest manufacturers. Instead, those goods...
Chefs and truck drivers beware: Robots coming for your jobs
Robots aren’t replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of existing work, according to a new Brookings Institution report. The report, published Thursday, says roughly 36 million Americans hold jobs with “high exposure” to automation — meaning at least...
Trump’s shutdown gift to Pelosi: a unified Democratic caucus
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has done something remarkable in the government shutdown: He’s unified the diverse new House Democratic majority firmly behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It’s not even about the wall at this point. Democrats are sticking together with an unusual amount of unity as a way to strengthen...
Trump, GOP embrace amid political fallout from shutdown
SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. — As President Donald Trump’s approval rating falls, the Republican Party is grasping him ever tighter. Gathering in New Mexico, the Republican National Committee’s governing body will take the unusual step Friday of voting to declare the party’s “undivided support” for Trump and his “effective presidency.”...
Europe court orders Italy to pay damages to Amanda Knox
MILAN — Europe’s human rights court on Thursday ordered Italy to pay Amanda Knox financial damages for police failure to provide legal assistance and a translator during a long night of questioning following the Nov. 1, 2007 murder of her British roommate. But the court said there was insufficient evidence...
Q&A: How new law, shutdown can impact tax season
Tax season is almost here, and this one could be tricky. It’s the first year that taxpayers will be filing under the massive tax law overhaul pushed through by the Trump administration. And a monthlong partial shutdown of the federal government threatens to complicate things further for some. Tax filing...
Commerce chief asks why furloughed workers using food banks
NEW YORK (AP) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of the richest people in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, questioned Thursday why furloughed federal workers were using food banks instead of taking out loans to get through the monthlong partial government shutdown. Ross was asked on CNBC to comment on reports...
Trump postpones State of Union address until after shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he is postponing his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, yielding after a weeklong showdown with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Following a high-stakes game of dare and double-dare, Trump conceded Wednesday night that “no venue that can compete with...
When drones get near airports: Answers to common questions
The ability of drones to interfere with airliners — and inconvenience their passengers — has been demonstrated on two continents, and the problem is likely to get worse as the number of small, unmanned devices multiply. Law enforcement authorities are trying to figure out who flew a drone so high...
Ken Starr urges trust in system for investigating presidents
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who spearheaded the 1990s investigation into President Bill Clinton, urged public trust in the checks and balances established for holding presidential administrations accountable, saying Wednesday that the system remains widely underappreciated. Starr’s comments came ahead of a public lecture he delivered at...
Ford Motor Co. posts 1st quarterly loss in 2 years
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co., which has struggled overseas and saw U.S. sales fall last year, reported its first quarterly net loss in two years Wednesday. The Dearborn, Mich., company said it lost $116 million, or 3 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a $2.52 billion...
Patriots defense back on track heading into Super Bowl
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It took an entire regular season and some tough losses, but the Patriots defense finally likes where it is at heading into its Super Bowl matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. It hasn’t been perfect, but after a slow start to 2018 and fighting to find an...
BlocBoy JB latest to sue Fortnite developer Epic Games
LOS ANGELES — Rapper BlocBoy JB has become the latest to sue Fortnite, saying the popular video game is using his “Shoot” dance without permission or compensation. The Memphis, Tenn.-based rapper, real name James Baker, filed a lawsuit against Fortnite maker Epic Games in federal court Wednesday. Baker says the...
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ director Bryan Singer accused of sexual assault of minors
NEW YORK — Bryan Singer, the director of the Oscar-nominated “Bohemian Rhapsody,” has been accused of sexually assaulting minors in an expose published by the Atlantic. The Atlantic on Wednesday published a lengthy article based on a 12-month investigation. It details the stories of four alleged victims who said they...
Amazon testing delivery by self-driving robots
NEW YORK — Amazon is bringing delivery robots to the streets of a Seattle suburb. The online shopping giant says it started to test self-driving robots that can bring Amazon packages to shoppers’ doorsteps Wednesday in Snohomish County, Washington. The robots are light blue, are about the size of a...
‘Greatest Show on Turf’ ushered in today’s era of high-flying offenses
The head-spinning offenses NFL fans are enamored of and will watch in the Super Bowl in Atlanta share their explosiveness with the previous team to win the big game in Atlanta. The Greatest Show On Turf. Yes, at the turn of the century, there was a group that shared so...
Verizon cutting about 800 jobs in troubled media business
NEW YORK — Verizon is cutting about 800 jobs, or 7 percent of its media and advertising employees, as it reorganizes the troubled division. The wireless company had hoped to create an ad business that could compete with Google and Facebook. It spent about $10 billion buying up internet pioneers...
Police: 5 fatally shot inside Florida bank, suspect arrested
SEBRING, Fla. — A gunman opened fire Wednesday inside a Florida bank, killing five people before surrendering to a SWAT team, police said. The shooter called police to report that he had fired shots inside the bank in Sebring, about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. Negotiations failed to persuade the...
Stocks end day with meager gains
U.S. stock indexes spent Wednesday drifting and finished with small gains. While big companies continue to report strong profit growth, investors aren’t sure how much longer it will last. The S&P 500 index rallied 0.8 percent in the morning after fourth-quarter earnings reports from major companies including IBM, consumer products...
Police: Mother of dead baby denied knowing she was pregnant
PHOENIX — Police say a worker accused of putting her newborn in a bathroom trash can at an Amazon distribution center in Phoenix, where the child was found dead, told investigators she didn’t know she was pregnant. Samantha Vivier of Tonopah, Ariz., was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of unlawful disposal...
Nancy Pelosi denies Trump access to House for State of the Union
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday derailed President Trump’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, forcing the president to put his views before the nation another way. She said he can’t have access to the House chamber for the speech until the government...
Transgender woman sues over ‘false personation’ arrest
NEW YORK — New York City police officers charged a transgender woman with “false personation” and used pink handcuffs to mock her after they arrested her for walking through a park after hours, a lawsuit charges. Linda Dominguez says in her lawsuit filed Tuesday that she was hit with the...
