Associated Press stories, Page 330
Aircraft down near Washington’s Reagan Airport, and takeoffs and landings are halted
ARLINGTON, Va. — An aircraft went down on Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan National Airport, and all takeoffs and landings have been halted, according to the airport and law enforcement. Multiple helicopters, including those from the U.S. Park Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. military, were flying...
Cryer scores 17 to lead No. 6 Houston past West Virginia 63-49 for 13th straight winVideo
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — L.J. Cryer scored 17 points and No. 6 Houston never trailed in beating West Virginia, 63-49, on Wednesday night for the Cougars’ 13th straight win. Joseph Tugler added 12 points and Milos Uzan scored 10 for Houston (17-3, 9-0 Big 12). The Cougars’ 18-game league winning streak...
Dave Matthews won’t perform at FireAid or a MusiCares benefit, citing a critical family illness
LOS ANGELES — Dave Matthews will no longer perform at FireAid, a star-studded benefit concert organized for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief, or the MusiCares Person of the Year benefit gala this week. According to a post shared to the official Dave Matthews Band Instagram account, “due to a critical illness...
PGA Tour contemplates announcing fines as part of study into slow playVideo
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The PGA Tour is taking a hard look at whether to allow rangefinders and publicize violations as part of a comprehensive study on pace of play and other enhancements to the game that have come out of a survey of 50,000 golf fans. Tour officials were...
Fact focus: No evidence that $50 million was designated by the U.S. to buy condoms for Hamas
During a signing ceremony Wednesday for the Laken Riley Act, President Donald Trump claimed that his administration had “identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, made a similar claim on Tuesday during her debut press briefing,...
Pebble Beach with its beauty and loaded field gives the PGA Tour a chance to shineVideo
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — For a sport needing a jolt of energy, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is as good a test as any. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy make their PGA Tour season debuts, and Jordan Spieth returns after having wrist surgery last summer. The field is stacked. The...
Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle lawsuit from Trump after Jan. 6 suspension
WASHINGTON — Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to three people familiar with the matter. It’s the latest instance of a large...
West Virginia couple convicted of forced labor, human trafficking of adopted kids
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia jury has convicted a couple who were accused of neglect and forced labor involving their adopted children, including locking some of them in a shed, forcing them to sleep on the floor and use buckets as toilets. The jury deliberated for eight hours before...
Utah Hockey Club narrows choice of a permanent name to 3 finalists. It won’t be the Yeti
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Hockey Club has chosen three finalists for the permanent team name it will adopt beginning with the 2025-26 NHL season. The franchise will use a final round of fan voting to decide among the Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch. Team officials...
St. Louis Blues move to mutually terminate the remainder of Brandon Saad’s contractVideo
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues and Brandon Saad agreed to mutually terminate the remainder of his contract, which would make him a free agent and able to sign with any team in the NHL. The Blues announced they are putting the veteran forward on unconditional waivers Thursday. Saad...
Pentagon agency pauses celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month and more
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s intelligence agency has paused observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other cultural or historical annual events in response to President Donald Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal workplace. The instructions were published...
Senate confirms Lee Zeldin to lead Environmental Protection Agency as Trump vows to cut climate rules
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a key role to help President Donald Trump fulfill his pledge to roll back major environmental regulations, including those aimed at slowing climate change and encouraging use of electric vehicles. The vote was 56-42...
Ohio State quality control coach on administrative leave amid university investigation
COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive quality control coach Joe Lyberger has been on paid administrative leave for the last month while the university investigates him. Ohio State’s human resources department sent Lyberger a letter on Dec. 27 that noted he would be placed on leave immediately. The investigation is being...
Temple student hurt while celebrating Philadelphia Eagles win dies from his injuries
PHILADELPHIA — A college student who was hurt when he climbed a street pole and fell while Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated the team’s victory in Sunday’s NFC championship game has died from his injuries. Temple University announced the death of Tyler Sabapathy, 18, in a statement posted Tuesday night on...
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in prison for taking bribes and acting as agent of Egypt
NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in...
Things to know about the Trump administration order on car and pickup fuel economy
DETROIT — Hours after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy took aim at the main way the federal government regulates miles per gallon for cars and pickup trucks — also a principal way that it regulates air pollution and addresses climate change. Duffy ordered...
Movie Review: Bloody and witty, ‘Companion’ explores what humanity means in an AI-powered worldVideo
“Iris, wake up!” Early in “Companion,” lovely Iris and her nerdy-nice boyfriend Josh are driving to a secluded lake house for a stay with friends. Iris wakes from a nap and lovingly tells Josh she was dreaming about him. They reminisce about how they first met at the supermarket. All...
MLB average salary rose 2.9% to record $4.66 million last year
NEW YORK — The rate of increase for Major League Baseball’s average salary slowed to 2.9% last year to a record $4.66 million, according to the annual report of the players’ association. The average of $4,655,366 was up from $4,525,719 in 2023, which marked a 7% increase from 2022. After...
‘Remarkably poor judgment’: Wall Street Journal takes a critical eye to start of Trump’s 2nd term
Amid all of the enthusiasm in conservative media for President Donald Trump’s first week back in office, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has notably applied some brakes. The Journal has editorialized against Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, called presidential appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “dangerous to public health,”...
While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he’ll send ‘worst’ criminal migrants to Guantanamo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a...
Trump’s orders take aim at critical race theory and antisemitism on college campuses
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money. A separate plan announced Wednesday calls for aggressive action to fight antisemitism on college campuses, promising to...
What is the Office of Personnel Management? Trump is relying on this agency to reshape government
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new tool for reshaping the federal government is a relatively obscure agency, the Office of Personnel Management. The agency has offered millions of federal workers eight months of salary if they voluntarily choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6. The unconventional plan shows both...
Trump White House rescinds memo freezing federal grants after widespread confusion
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country. The Monday evening memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial...
Ailing Harvey Weinstein begs to have #MeToo retrial sooner after judge sets April 15 date
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein begged a judge Wednesday to hold his #MeToo retrial as soon as possible, telling him “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on” with cancer, heart issues and harsh conditions at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. The disgraced movie mogul objected...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggles to answer questions on Medicare, Medicaid at confirmation hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — In a contentious confirmation hearing to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about Medicare and Medicaid, programs that affect tens of millions of Americans, or to provide details about how he would work to drive down health care costs. Kennedy...

