Associated Press stories, Page 2621
After Wisconsin girl’s safe return, question is: Why?
BARRON, Wis. — The grandfather of a northwestern Wisconsin girl who was abducted during a home invasion that left her parents dead said Saturday that the family has no connection to the suspect and doesn’t understand why he targeted her, deepening a mystery that has captivated the state for months....
Kemp prepares to lead Georgia after rough, partisan campaign
ATLANTA — Georgia’s new governor campaigned as a self-described “politically incorrect conservative” who sealed support among fellow Republicans with an endorsement from President Donald Trump and eked out a close November victory after lobbing a last-minute accusation that the state Democratic Party tried to hack the election. Now the question...
Guy, No. 4 Virginia stay perfect with 63-43 win over Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kyle Guy had 13 points, De’Andre Hunter scored 12 and No. 4 Virginia improved to 15-0 with a 63-43 victory over Clemson on Saturday. Clemson started the day with a national championship football parade and celebration just a few steps away at Death Valley. The basketball Tigers...
Jake Guentzel’s hat trick helps Penguins storm past Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jake Guentzel scored three times, Phil Kessel got the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from an early three-goal deficit for a 7-4 victory over the Ducks on Friday night, sending Anaheim to its 10th consecutive loss. Tanner Pearson scored the...
Lawyer: R. Kelly denies all sexual misconduct allegations
CHICAGO — An attorney for R. Kelly said Friday that the R&B star denies all allegations of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls, including those made in a recent documentary, although he says neither he nor Kelly has watched the entire movie. Attorney Steve Greenberg offered his most full-throated...
US starts withdrawing supplies, but not troops, from Syria
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Friday it has started pulling equipment, but not troops, out of Syria as a first step in meeting President Trump’s demand for a complete military withdrawal. The announcement fueled concern about how quickly the United States will abandon its Kurdish allies, amid contradictory statements...
Trump says changes coming in U.S. handling of high-tech visas
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday promised changes in the way the United States handles temporary visas that allow American companies to bring high-tech and other skilled workers into the country In a tweet, Trump said those who hold the temporary H1-B visas can “rest assured” because changes were coming...
Priest who abused boys, made 1 confess, sentenced to prison
BROOKVILLE, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and making one of them say confession after the assaults was sentenced Friday to 2½ to 14 years in prison. David Lee Poulson was sentenced in Jefferson County after pleading guilty in October to...
Previewing Saturday’s NFL playoff games
Former local college football standouts Aaron Donald and Tavon Austin take center stage Saturday in the NFL playoffs. Donald’s Los Angeles Rams face Austin’s Dallas Cowboys in the NFC divisional round. The winner faces the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles-New Orleans Saints game, which will be played Sunday. A look...
Rams, Cowboys seek long-awaited postseason breakthroughsVideo
LOS ANGELES — As if the pressure of playing for the Los Angeles Rams’ first playoff victory in 14 years wasn’t enough, Todd Gurley carries an extra imperative into the Coliseum on Saturday night. “Basically, everybody I know hates the Cowboys,” the Rams’ All-Pro running back said. “They’ve been hitting...
Colts hope history repeats vs. Chiefs; K.C. hopes to reverse fortunes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Given the postseason history involving Indianapolis and Kansas City over the years, Andrew Luck and the Colts have every reason to feel confident heading to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday. The Chiefs have every reason to believe they are due. Four times the teams have met in...
Judge: Women could lose birth control coverage under new Trump rules
OAKLAND, Calif. — A U.S. judge said Friday that a “substantial number” of women would lose free birth control coverage under new rules by the Trump administration that allow more employers to opt out of providing the benefit on religious and moral grounds. Judge Haywood Gilliam made the comment at...
Flyers puzzled by fall from playoff team to bottom-dweller
PHILADELPHIA — The vendor at the Flyers merchandise kiosk on the main concourse scrolled through his phone as disinterested fans breezed by the $70 Stadium Series sweatshirts and $250 jerseys that suddenly seem as unwanted as a face value ticket. Shortly before faceoff, customers! A Flyers fan stops by and...
NHL tests puck and player tracking in regular-season games
LAS VEGAS — The NHL for the first time has tested real-time puck and player tracking in regular-season games and intends to have it in place across the league next season. Microchips were added to players’ shoulder pads and fitted inside specially designed pucks for two Vegas Golden Knights home...
U.S. flu season appears milder, one year after brutal one
NEW YORK — It’s early, but the current flu season is shaping up to be gentler than last winter’s unusually brutal one, U.S. health officials said. In most parts of the country, most illnesses right now are being caused by a flu strain that leads to fewer hospitalizations and deaths...
Florida pardons 4 black men accused of 1949 rape
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Cabinet granted posthumous pardons Friday to four African-American men accused of raping a white woman nearly 70 years ago in a case now seen as a racial injustice. The unanimous vote came minutes after alleged victim pleaded with DeSantis and the...
Trump says changes coming on high-tech visas
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says changes are coming in the way that the U.S. handles temporary H1-B visas, which allow American companies to bring high-tech and other skilled workers into the U.S. from abroad. Trump tweeted Friday that those who hold the temporary H1-B visas can “rest assured” because...
Video shows Waffle House workers put food on unconscious man
LITHONIA, Ga. — A video shows two Waffle House employees putting salt, a slice of cheese and ketchup on an unconscious man’s head and now the company says the workers at the Atlanta area location have been fired. News outlets report the video on Instagram also shows the employees playing...
GM raises 2018 forecast, predicts stronger 2019 earnings
DETROIT — General Motors strengthened its pretax profit estimate for 2018 and predicted even stronger performance for this year as it executives made a presentation to investors on Friday. Shares jumped 7 percent at the opening bell. CEO Mary Barra also says the company doesn’t foresee any further job cuts...
Death toll in Mexico border shootings rises to 29
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said Friday that five attackers have died in a clash with soldiers the northern border state of Tamaulipas, bringing the state’s death toll in two days of presumed gang-related violence to 29. A group of armed assailants attacked a military patrol Thursday on a highway...
Cheaper gas sends U.S. consumer prices down 0.1 percent
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices slipped 0.1 percent last month, pulled down by sharply lower gas prices and cheaper air fares, used cars, and mobile phone plans. The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose just 1.9 percent in December from a year earlier, the first time it has fallen...
China broadcasts spacecraft pictures from moon’s far side
BEIJING — China on Friday broadcast pictures taken by its rover and lander on the moon’s far side, in what its space program hailed as another triumph for the groundbreaking mission to the less-understood sector of the lunar surface. The pictures on state broadcaster CCTV showed the Jade Rabbit 2...
Verna Bloom, dean’s wife in ‘Animal House,’ dead at 80
BAR HARBOR, Maine — Verna Bloom, the actress who portrayed the wife of the dean in the movie “Animal House,” has died. She was 80. Family spokesman Mike Kaplan tells The Hollywood Reporter that Bloom died Wednesday in Bar Harbor, Maine, of complications from dementia. In the 1978 John Landis...
Rare penny sells for more than $200K at auction
BOSTON — A rare copper penny that a Massachusetts man found in his lunch money more than 70 years ago has been sold at an auction for more than $200,000. The 1943 penny is one of 20 that were accidentally minted when the federal government was trying to conserve copper...
U.S. official says troop withdrawal from Syria has started
BAGHDAD — After days of back and forth over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pullout American troops from Syria, a U.S. military official said Friday the process of withdrawal has begun, declining to comment on specific timetables or movements. Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the...
