Associated Press stories, Page 398
American consumers feeling much more confident as Election Day nears
WASHINGTON — American consumers are feeling quite a bit more confident this month as Election Day approaches, a business research group says. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped to 108.7 in October from 99.2 in September. It was the biggest monthly gain since March of...
As Halloween approaches, tourists visit a home with a gruesome past and tunnels said to be haunted
FALL RIVER, Mass. — “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41.” That rhyme has been passed down through the generations to describe the horror that took place at the Borden household in 1892. While...
Vinyl thrives at United Record Pressing as nation’s oldest record maker plays a familiar tune
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — During the six decades since United Record Pressing stamped out the Beatles’ first U.S. single, the country’s oldest vinyl record maker has survived 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, Napster, iPods and streaming services. Now, the Nashville-based company has rebounded so dramatically that some of its equipment and technology has...
Oregon State and Washington State hoops cozy up to WCC for now ahead of Pac-12 rebuild
The Pac-12 Conference will never be what it once was even after the efforts to rebuild it. “I never thought I’d see the Pac-12 fall apart,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “I mean, what a freakin’ shame that is, but we are where we are.” That could be taken...
50 years after Ali fought Foreman in Congo, the ‘jungle’ hasn’t stopped rumbling
KINSHASA, Congo — Alfred Mamba remembers the frenzy that gripped the main soccer stadium in Zaire, now known as Congo, as the fierce heavyweight title bout unfolded through eight rounds between the underdog Muhammad Ali and the seemingly invincible George Foreman. “It was a big party,” Mamba said as he...
Israeli strikes in northern Gaza kill at least 88, officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed at least 88 people, including dozens of women and children, health officials said, and the director of a hospital said life-threatening injuries were going untreated because a weekend raid by Israeli forces led to...
Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit important Iran Revolutionary Guard missile base
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel’s attack on Iran likely damaged a base run by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that builds ballistic missiles and launches rockets as part of its own space program, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Tuesday showed. The damage at the base in Shahroud...
Ballot drop box fires rekindle concerns that election conspiracy theories are making them a target
ATLANTA — Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in Vancouver, Washington. At the other, in neighboring Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system worked to contain...
Newspaper non-endorsements at Washington Post, LA Times fit a trend, but their readers aren’t happy
The number of newspapers endorsing a candidate for president has dwindled with the industry’s financial troubles the past two decades, in part because owners reason that it makes no sense to alienate some subscribers by taking a clear stand in a politically polarizing time. Yet in the past week, The...
Election threats persist 4 years after far-right extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON — After the 2020 presidential election, thousands of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters heeded his call to join a “wild” protest of his defeat. Following Trump’s lies about a stolen election, hundreds of them stormed the U.S. Capitol under the banners of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other...
The first presidential election since the Jan. 6 attack will test new guardrails from Congress
WASHINGTON — This presidential election, the first since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, will be a stress test of the new systems and guardrails that Congress put in place to ensure America’s long tradition of the peaceful transfer of presidential power. As Republican Donald Trump and Democrat...
The owners of a New Zealand volcano that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, appeal their conviction
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The owners of an island volcano in New Zealand that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, launched an appeal on Tuesday against their criminal conviction for violating safety laws, arguing that tour operators — rather than their company — were responsible for the safety of visitors...
Steve Bannon spends his first day out of prison on the airwaves stumping for Trump
NEW YORK — Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was released from federal prison early Tuesday and immediately resumed his full-throated support for the former president, urging Republicans to turn out in large numbers next week to defeat Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. Bannon served a four-month sentence for...
McDonald’s value meals turn around U.S. sales in 3rd quarter with customers hungry for deals
Value meals helped turn around McDonald’s U.S. sales in the third quarter with customers smarting from higher prices all over, but that recovery could be dented in the final months of the year by an E. coli outbreak tied to the company’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. U.S. same-store sales — or...
Tram derails and plows into a shop in the Norwegian capital, but only 4 are lightly injured
OSLO, Norway — A tram derailed in downtown Oslo and plowed into an iPhone and computer shop on Tuesday, Norwegian police said, but the accident miraculously only left four people lightly injured. There were about 20 people on the commuter train when it derailed off the tracks at an intersection...
Freeman and Buehler lead Dodgers past slumping Yankees for 3-0 advantage in World SeriesVideo
NEW YORK — Freddie Freeman homered for the third straight game and Walker Buehler pitched another World Series gem as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night for a 3-0 lead in the Fall Classic. With superstar Shohei Ohtani playing despite a partially dislocated...
Connor McDavid injured in the Oilers’ game at the Blue JacketsVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Connor McDavid left the Edmonton Oilers’ game at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night after getting injured on the first shift. McDavid was chasing the puck past the Blue Jackets blue line when he tripped over Zach Werenski’s extended stick and slid into the boards left...
Democrats go after Jill Stein, Cornel West in digital ads aimed at young voters
PHOENIX — Democrats are spending about $500,000 for a last-minute push to persuade voters in battleground states to reject third-party candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West, warning a vote for them will help Republican Donald Trump. The Democratic National Committee said Monday that the digital ads will run on Instagram...
Owner Jeff Bezos defends Washington Post’s decision not to endorse as the right, ‘principled’ one
NEW YORK — Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate as “right” and “principled” and pushed back against any notion that he ordered it up to protect his business interests. That decision, announced Friday, has reportedly led to tens...
Nevada high court decides mail ballots with smudged or missing postmarks can be counted
LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots with smudged, indecipherable or missing postmarks can be counted for up to three days after polls close on Election Day. The state’s highest court rejected a bid by state and national Republicans, former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign...
Republicans ask U.S. Supreme Court to block counting of some provisional ballots in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON — Republicans on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order in Pennsylvania that could result in thousands of votes not being counted in this year’s election in the battleground state. Just over a week before the election, the court is being asked to step into a...
‘Bob’s Burgers’ actor sentenced to 1 year in prison for role in Capitol riotVideo
WASHINGTON — An actor known for his roles in the television comedies “Bob’s Burgers” and “Arrested Development” was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison for his part in a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago. Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters...
Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk’s America PAC over its $1 million giveaway
The district attorney of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit Monday to halt Elon Musk ‘s $1 million giveaways as part of his political organization’s effort boosting Donald Trump ‘s presidential campaign. The suit by Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner is the first legal action to be brought over the America PAC’s...
Florida works to bring back tourism to its Gulf Coast following hurricanes Helene and Milton
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tourism officials on Florida’s Gulf Coast say one of the ways concerned people can help the area recover is to visit as tourists, even though some beaches are still closed to the public and debris is still piled next to streets from recent hurricanes Helene and...
Fires set in drop boxes destroy hundreds of ballots in Washington and damage 3 in Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. — Incendiary devices were set off Monday at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — destroying hundreds of ballots in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy” about a week before a heated Election Day. The early morning...
