Associated Press stories, Page 2639
Senate rejects Trump border emergency as Republicans defect
WASHINGTON — The Republican-run Senate rejected President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southwest border on Thursday, setting up a veto fight and dealing him a conspicuous rebuke as he tested how boldly he could ignore Congress in pursuit of his highest-profile goal. The Senate voted 59-41...
Tribeca Film Festival to host ‘Say Anything…’ reunion
NEW YORK — The Tribeca Film Festival has added a “Say Anything…” reunion screening to its upcoming festival, as well as the premiere of a documentary on Phish lead singer and guitarist Trey Anastasio. Tribeca announced Thursday that writer-director Cameron Crowe and the cast of “Say Anything…” led by John...
1 killed when 2 small planes collide on Los Angeles-area runway
COMPTON, Calif. — A small plane ran into another aircraft on a Los Angeles-area runaway in a fiery crash that killed one person and injured another. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says a Cessna with two people aboard landed Wednesday night at Compton/Woodley Airport. A North American T-28 then...
Squirrels are damaging some maple syrup operations
DANVILLE, Vt. — Maple syrup producers are contending with a late start to the season in the Northeast and an abundant squirrel population with the critters chomping on plastic sap tubing and spouts. Damage from wildlife — deer, bear woodpeckers, and squirrels — is not unusual for maple operations, but...
Ohio judge grants transgender teen’s name change
LEBANON, Ohio — An Ohio judge has reversed his earlier denial of a transgender 15-year-old’s legal name change and is allowing that change. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Warren County Probate Judge Joseph Kirby ruled Tuesday that the name change “is in the best interest of the child.” Kirby previously said...
U.K. lawmakers reject having new Brexit referendum
LONDON — Britain’s Parliament has voted against holding a new Brexit referendum, at least for now. Lawmakers defeated by a decisive 334-85 vote a motion that called for another public vote on whether to stay in the European Union or leave. Campaigners for a new referendum are divided over whether...
$878 million South Carolina lottery winner sharing with charities
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina woman who won $878 million in the biggest jackpot payout to one winner in U.S. history wants to share her windfall with the city and state where her good fortune happened. The winner still wishes to remain anonymous because she wants to “live a...
Whoopi Goldberg cheered on her return to ‘The View’
NEW YORK — Whoopi Goldberg received a standing ovation from the audience and hugs from her castmates as she returned to “The View.” Goldberg surprised everyone as she appeared on the ABC program Thursday, less than a week after she said in a video that she nearly died of pneumonia....
MLB players, owners to start labor talks 2 years early
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball and its players’ union reached an unprecedented agreement to discuss renegotiating their labor contract that has three seasons remaining, part of a deal that includes modest rule changes for 2020 and drops pitch clocks until 2022 at the earliest. Players have been furious at...
Grand Canyon National Park’s 1st female leader is resigning
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The first female superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park is resigning after less than three years at the helm of one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Christine Lehnertz is the park’s first openly gay, female superintendent and the second consecutive Grand Canyon chief to leave...
IS militants, families surrender after offensive in Syria
BAGHOUZ, Syria — U.S.-backed Syrian fighters said Thursday a “large number” of Islamic State militants and their families are surrendering a day after intense fighting in the last speck of land the extremists still hold in eastern Syria. At the edge of Baghouz, the village where the militants are still...
Court rules gun maker Remington can be sued over Newtown shooting
HARTFORD, Conn. — A divided Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled gun maker Remington can be sued over how it marketed the Bushmaster rifle used to kill 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Justices issued a 4-3 ruling that reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit and...
Deportation looms for convicted ‘Real Housewives’ husband
NEWARK, N.J. — The husband of one of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality TV stars has been released from federal prison and is waiting to see if he’ll be deported back to Italy. An attorney for Joe Giudice says he’s been sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson abandons plan for studio near Maine home
BRYANT POND, Maine (AP) — Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he’s scuttling plans for a TV studio near his vacation home in rural Maine because of publicity. Carlson planned to buy an old town garage and transform it into a studio under a deal that called for him to...
Teenage climate activist nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Three Norwegian lawmakers have nominated Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, who has become a prominent voice in campaigns against climate change, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Freddy Andre Oevstegaard and two other members of the Socialist Left Party said they believe “the massive movement Greta has set...
‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty
CHICAGO — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has pleaded not guilty to the charges accusing him of lying to police about being attacked in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago. The 36-year-old actor’s lawyer, Tina Glandian, entered the plea Thursday on Smollett’s behalf after Judge Steven Watkins was assigned to oversee...
Pennsylvania drug gang blamed for homicides; 8 indicted
READING — Prosecutors have announced the federal indictment of eight alleged members of a violent drug organization blamed for as many as eight homicides in one Pennsylvania community. U.S. Attorney William McSwain says a drug gang called “Trinidad DTG” distributed methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in the Reading area. McSwain...
Hate crimes unit investigates Ginsburg poster graffiti
NEW YORK — New York Police Department’s hate crimes unit is investigating after a poster of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was defaced with a swastika and an anti-Semitic insult. WNBC says a straphanger tweeted a photo of the defaced poster on a Brooklyn subway platform to the Metropolitan...
U.S. moves to lift remaining gray wolf protections
BILLINGS, Mont. — Gray wolves in the U.S. would be stripped of federal protection and subjected to hunting and trapping in more states under a proposal released Thursday that declares the predators recovered following a decades-long restoration effort. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to revoke the wolves’ endangered...
Charity used in fraudulent college donations, feds say
The mastermind of a wide-ranging college admissions scandal set up a charity that wove a deep web of deception and fraud to mask bribes and payoffs, funneling millions of dollars through the tax-exempt organization under the nose of U.S. officials, according to prosecutors and tax documents reviewed by The Associated...
GOP senators appear ready to block Trump border declaration
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led Senate is set to deal President Donald Trump a rebuke on his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border, with the only remaining question how many GOP senators will join Democrats in defying him. Republicans are predicting that Thursday’s showdown vote will result in...
Colorado’s ‘bomb cyclone’ storm barrels toward Midwest
LONGMONT, Colo. — National Guard troops were using specialized vehicles with tank-like treads to rescue stranded drivers in Colorado in the wake of a massive late-winter storm that was expected to unleash heavy rain and snow on the Midwest plains on Thursday. Wednesday’s blizzard caused widespread power outages, forced the...
U.S. immigration agents find ways around ‘sanctuary’ policies
PHOENIX — Two years after New Mexico’s largest county barred local law enforcement from cooperating with immigration authorities, its leaders learned that the policy was being subverted from within. Staff members at the Bernalillo County jail in Albuquerque were still granting immigration authorities access to its database and, in some...
West Virginia beats Oklahoma in Big 12 Tournament on overturned call
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — West Virginia held on to beat Oklahoma, 72-71, in the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night when the Sooners’ Christian James, who appeared to knock down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime, was ruled to have had his foot on the line. The officials overturned their...
Singer Pink adopts pup named Nash while on tour in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The pop star Pink added another member to her family this week when she adopted a puppy while in Tennessee on her “Beautiful Trauma” tour. The Tennessean reports the pup has been named Nash, which the star says is short for Nashville. Pink posted a photo on...
