Associated Press stories, Page 406
Quinn Ewers declares for NFL Draft; Arch Manning era begins at Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL Draft on Wednesday, ending a Longhorns career in which he led the program to a Big 12 championship and twice to the College Football Playoff but was not always embraced by a fan base eagerly waiting for Arch...
Urban Meyer joins Nick Saban in College Football HOF’s Class of 2025; former Steelers QB Terry Hanratty, WVU’s Steve Slaton also elected
Urban Meyer will join Nick Saban in the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class, and Michael Vick and Michael Strahan are among the former players who will be inducted. The National Football Foundation announced Saban’s selection last week and the rest of the 18-player, four-coach class on Wednesday. Saban...
March Madness will pay women’s teams under a new structure approved by NCAA
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention. The unanimous vote by NCAA membership was the final step toward a pay structure for...
Browns name Tommy Rees offensive coordinator
CLEVELAND — Tommy Rees went from being a ball boy for the Browns to running their offense. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski hired Rees as his offensive coordinator Wednesday, promoting him after firing Ken Dorsey following a season in which the Browns went 3-14 and averaged a league-low 15.2 points. Rees...
2 Philadelphia men plead guilty to killing SWAT officer in 2020 as police served murder warrant
PHILADELPHIA — Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and racketeering charges in the March 2020 shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer. Hassan Elliott, 26, and Khalif Sears, 23, admitted killing SWAT Cpl. James O’Connor IV, as police sought to arrest them in a 2019 homicide. As police climbed...
Pam Bondi claims she won’t play politics as attorney general but doesn’t rule out probes of Trump foesVideo
WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, sought to reassure Democratic senators Wednesday that her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political purposes but also refused to rule out the potential for investigations into adversaries of the Republican president-elect. Her often-testy confirmation hearing centered on concerns...
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, is interested in filling Vance’s old Senate seat
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed interest in the Ohio U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, a person with direct knowledge of the biotech entrepreneur’s wishes told The Associated Press. The 39-year-old from Cincinnati has assumed a leading role with billionaire Elon Musk...
U.S. government sues Southwest Airlines and fines Frontier for chronically delayed flights
The Transportation Department is stepping up enforcement of persistent flight delays with a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and a fine against Frontier Airlines. The agency said the U.S. District Court lawsuit it filed in California on Wednesday alleges that Southwest illegally operated chronically delayed flights and disrupted passengers’ travel plans....
Browns sued by city over possible move from Cleveland to proposed domed stadium in suburbs
CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s fight to keep the Browns from moving from downtown and into a proposed dome in the suburbs has taken yet another legal turn. The city has filed a lawsuit to stop the NFL team from leaving Cleveland’s lakefront when its stadium lease expires after the 2028 season....
Trump and Biden both claim credit for Gaza ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months. Trump wasted no time in asserting he was the...
Movie Review: ‘Wolf Man’ is a toothless reboot that’ll make you bark at the moonVideo
Blake Lovell thinks taking his wife and young daughter to rural Oregon to pack up his dead father’s belongings is a good idea. It’s a break from their urban life, might help repair his fraying marriage and reconnect them all with nature. “It would be good for us,” he argues....
2025 Grammys will proceed with wildfire relief changes. Here’s what to expect
NEW YORK — The 2025 Grammy Awards are right around the corner, which means it is time to get those viewing party plans in action. Allow us to help. The 67th annual Grammy Awards will still take place Feb. 2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles — though the...
U.S. appeals court hears oral arguments on Florida ban on transgender care for minors
MIAMI — Attorneys for the state of Florida argued before a federal appeals court Wednesday that a lower-court judge was wrong to block a law last year that bans gender-affirming care for minors and restricts similar care for adults, though a pending U.S. Supreme Court case creates uncertainty. Attorneys presented...
U.S. recovers $31 million in Social Security payments to dead people
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government clawed back more than $31 million in Social Security payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that one official said Wednesday was “just the tip of the iceberg.” The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave the...
Mediators tout a Gaza ceasefire deal and plan to free hostages. Israel says details still in flux
DOHA, Qatar — Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by militants in...
Tiger Woods makes indoor golf debut and finds humor in blowout loss, noting ‘how bad pros can be’
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tiger Woods was the sixth and final player to emerge from the tunnel and onto the field of play for his TGL debut on Tuesday night. No one announced his name. Wasn’t necessary. Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” blared and that was more than enough...
U.S. population projections shrink from last year because of declining birth rates, less immigration
The Congressional Budget Office has shrunk its projections for the U.S. population in 30 years to 372 million residents, a 2.8% drop from last year, citing declining birth rates and less expected immigration. The budget office last year projected 383 million people living in the United States in 30 years...
Hope and dread as Israelis and Palestinians await a Gaza truce that may not end their suffering
TEL AVIV, Israel — With a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas tantalizingly close, families of hostages in the Gaza Strip are afraid to get their hopes up and agonizing over the unknown. “These days are horrible for us,” Yafit Zailer said Wednesday, breaking down into sobs over the thought of...
FDA bans red dye No. 3 from foods
U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the...
Russian missile attack forces Ukraine to shut down power grid
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said. The Russian Defense Ministry said that it launched a strike on...
FDA floats plan to make cigarettes nonaddictive, but its fate rests with Trump
WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes far less addictive by capping their nicotine content, a goal long sought by antismoking advocates that is unlikely to go into effect anytime soon. The proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration comes in the final...
2 private lunar landers head toward the moon in a roundabout journey
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth’s dusty sidekick. The two landers rocketed away in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the latest in a stream...
Key takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s fiery confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, publicly faced senators for the first time after weeks of questions from Democrats — and praise from Republicans — about his “unconventional” resume. Hegseth, a former combat veteran and TV news host, says he will be a “change agent”...
Fire tornadoes are a risk under California’s extreme wildfire conditions
As if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California also could encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather. The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation”...
As Los Angeles burns, Hollywood’s Oscar season turns into a pledge drive
When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood’s awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after. But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has...
