Associated Press stories, Page 349
Transfer portal got you down? One college AD suggests an ‘acquisition fee’ could fix some problems
NASHVILLE — The athletic director at a mid-sized school that’s making a splash this season has a modest proposal for taming what many say is a transfer-portal system run amok in college sports. Sean Frazier, the AD at Northern Illinois — remember, the team that beat national finalist Notre Dame...
Ohio State freshman star and former No. 1 recruit Jeremiah Smith lands in national championship gameVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Ohio State faced Texas in the Cotton Bowl, Jeremiah Smith was expected to shine. After all, he had piled up 290 yards receiving in two postseason wins and was looking like the star to stop for the rest of the College Football Playoff field. Instead, he...
Ravens history is filled with big road victories in the playoffs. Now they need anotherVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey approaches cold weather with a defensive back’s mindset. “I’ve always wanted to play in like 3 feet of snow, to where all they can do is run the ball,” he said this week while preparing for Sunday night’s playoff game at Buffalo....
Kicker Zane Gonzalez educates about OCD after viral momentVideo
ASHBURN, Va. — A national television audience watched Zane Gonzalez adjust his socks on the sideline and fix his hair multiple times before putting his helmet on and taking the field to kick the winning field goal in an NFL playoff game Sunday night. Those watching did not see Gonzalez...
Notre Dame, Ohio State mostly built rosters old-fashioned way
Ohio State and Notre Dame have reached the same destination with rosters built much the same way. The teams set to play in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night in Atlanta sign elite high school recruiting classes year after year. That has been and continues to be their...
Trump’s EPA nominee stays vague on plans as senators press him on climate viewsVideo
Lee Zeldin said Americans deserve a clean environment “without suffocating the economy” during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a department likely to play a central role in President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to slash federal regulations and promote oil and gas development. “The American people...
Rudy Giuliani settles legal fight with former Georgia election workers, agrees to stop defaming them
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani settled with two former Georgia election workers on Thursday in a deal that will let him keep his homes and personal belongings in return for compensation and a promise to never defame them again, lawyers and the women said. The trial was supposed to decide...
LIV Golf finally gets network TV partner in deal with Fox SportsVideo
LIV Golf finally has a network TV partner as the Saudi-funded league enters its fourth season, announcing a multi-year deal with Fox Sports to broadcast all three rounds across its channels and streaming app. Terms of the deal were not announced, and it was not clear if Fox was paying...
American accused of assaulting Pennsylvania student is extradited from France to the U.S.
PHILADELPHIA — An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” was extradited Thursday from France to the United States. Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, arrived in the U.S. and was being flown...
Georgia senator arrested after he tried to defy ban on entering House chamberVideo
A Georgia state senator who was previously banned from the state House chamber was arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the chamber for the governor’s state of the state speech and got into a shoving match with House employees. State Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, is among...
Standoff in South Africa ends with 87 miners dead and anger over police’s ‘smoke them out’ tactics
STILFONTEIN, South Africa — The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help...
David Lynch, visionary filmmaker behind ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Mulholland Drive,’ dies at 78
David Lynch, the filmmaker celebrated for his uniquely dark and dreamlike vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the TV series “Twin Peaks,” has died just days before his 79th birthday. His family announced the death in a Facebook post on Thursday. “There’s a big hole...
JD Vance’s Ohio hometown struggles with how to recognize the incoming vice president
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — It was a month after her son’s election as vice president of the United States and JD Vance ‘s mother wondered why the city of his birth had yet to recognize him. “I just think it would be really nice if we could acknowledge that this is...
‘Mr. Baseball’ Bob Uecker, Brewers announcer, dies at 90
MILWAUKEE — Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker “Mr. Baseball” and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 90. The team announced Uecker died Thursday morning, calling it “one of the most difficult days in...
Centuries of fusion predate the marriage of ingredients in this Japanese Italian Wedding Soup
When Sonoko Sakai’s mother snuck a little miso into her lasagna, she wasn’t thinking of the kind of Japanese fusion that became an American dining craze in the 1980s. Rather, she was doing what Japanese cooks had been doing for centuries, adapting to outside influences. Many dishes now thought of...
Insurers balk at $19.7M claim on fake Basquiat paintings seized by FBI
ORLANDO, Fla. — Two insurance companies have asked a court to block a $19.7 million claim by owners of more than two dozen forged Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings that were seized during an FBI raid at the Orlando Museum of Art in 2022. The insurers say that the owners should have...
More Americans file for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain historically low
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, but layoffs remain historically low and the job market broadly healthy. Applications for jobless benefits rose by 14,000 for the week ending January 11, the Labor Department said Thursday, up from the previous week’s 203,000. The previous week’s figure...
U.S. retail sales rose modestly last month amid solid holiday shopping, boosting economy
Americans stepped up their spending at retail stores and restaurants last month in a clear sign that consumers are still able and willing to shop. Retail sales rose 0.4% in December from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Thursday, though down from November’s upwardly revised 0.8% gain. The figures...
NASA’s stuck astronaut steps out on a spacewalk after 7 months in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — One of NASA’s two stuck astronauts got a much welcomed change of scenery Thursday, stepping out on her first spacewalk since arriving at the International Space Station more than seven months ago. Suni Williams, the station’s commander, had to tackle some overdue outdoor repair work alongside...
Netanyahu says deal to release Hamas-held hostages has been reachedVideo
TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu said he would convene...
Democrats’ crisis of the future: the biggest states that back them are shrinking
With America’s population shifting to the South, political influence is seeping from reliably Democratic states to areas controlled by Republicans. Coming out of a presidential election where they lost all seven swing states, Democrats are facing a demographic challenge that could reduce their path to winning the U.S. House of...
Trump’s outsider Cabinet picks are rapidly gaining support for confirmation
WASHINGTON — One by one, all the president-elect’s men, and women, are falling into place in his Cabinet. While Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s nomination was teetering toward collapse just weeks ago, he now appears on track for confirmation after a fiery Senate hearing that focused on his drinking, views...
How much is TikTok worth and who could buy it?
NEW YORK — The supremely popular TikTok could be banned on Jan. 19 under a federal law that forces the video sharing platform to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its U.S. operations. Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform, but ByteDance has...
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on 1st test flight and reaches orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth. Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida, soaring from the same pad...
Roberts scores 22 points to lead No. 10 Houston to 70-54 win over West VirginiaVideo
HOUSTON — J’Wan Roberts scored a season-high 22 points, L.J. Cryer added 18 and No. 10 Houston beat West Virginia, 70-54, on Wednesday night for its ninth straight win. Roberts had 17 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting. Emanuel Sharp, who finished with 14 points, added 12 as...
