Associated Press stories, Page 645
Zach Hicks has 6 threes, 20 points to lead Penn State over Michigan in first round of Big Ten Tournament
MINNEAPOLIS — Zach Hicks posted season highs with six 3-pointers and 20 points and 11th-seeded Penn State defeated 14-seed Michigan 66-57 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions (16-16) will play sixth-seeded Indiana in Thursday’s second round. Ace Baldwin Jr. added 17 points...
Kirk Cousins looks to build his postseason legacy with the FalconsVideo
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Kirk Cousins has a single playoff victory in his long career. Even so, the Atlanta Falcons are betting at least $100 million that he is the quarterback who can lead this star-crossed franchise to its first Super Bowl championship. Cousins was introduced Wednesday evening by the...
NFL teams scramble to catch Chiefs as free agency begins
Calvin Ridley is heading to the Tennessee Titans, the highlight of the official start of free agency Wednesday when teams began reshaping their rosters in a quest to unseat the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Ridley — who had been expected to re-sign with the Jaguars — and the...
Georgia governor signs law reviving prosecutor sanctions panel. Democrats fear it’s aimed at Fani Willis
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law Wednesday that lets a state commission begin operating with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, potentially disrupting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ prosecution of former President Donald Trump. “This legislation will help us ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held...
Death of nonbinary teen Nex Benedict after school fight is ruled a suicide, medical examiner says
OKLAHOMA CITY — The death of a nonbinary high school student the day after a fight inside an Oklahoma high school restroom has been ruled a suicide, the state medical examiner’s office said Wednesday. “From the beginning of this investigation, Owasso Police observed many indications that this death was the...
Former Pitt, Central Valley star Jordan Whitehead returning to Bucs on 2-year deal
TAMPA, Fla. — Safety Jordan Whitehead and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed on a two-year, $9 million contract worth up to $10.5 million, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Whitehead, 27, returns to Tampa Bay after spending the past two seasons with the New...
Reports: WR Calvin Ridley agrees to 4-year, $92M deal with Titans
Wide receiver Calvin Ridley and the Tennessee Titans have agreed on a four-year, $92 million contract, a person with knowledge of the terms told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized, said Ridley gets $50 million guaranteed. He...
Rats are high on marijuana evidence at an infested police building, New Orleans chief says
NEW ORLEANS — Rats have gotten into confiscated pot at New Orleans’ aging police headquarters, munching the evidence as the building is taken over by mold and cockroaches, said the city’s police chief. “The rats eating our marijuana, they’re all high,” Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told New Orleans City Council...
3 men charged with federal firearms counts after Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting
Three Missouri men have been charged with federal firearms counts after a shooting at last month’s Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and rally left one person dead and roughly two dozen others injured, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The charges were filed Monday and unsealed Wednesday, after the men were...
A Massachusetts town spent $600k on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days laterVideo
BOSTON — A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure. The project, which brought 14,000 tons of sand into Salisbury over several weeks, was completed just three days before Sunday’s storm clobbered...
Chiefs restructure Patrick Mahomes’ contract for salary cap relief, AP source saysVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have restructured quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press on Wednesday, giving the Super Bowl champions some much-needed salary cap space. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the financial details...
Scheffler is chasing history in The Players Championship. No one has ever repeated as championVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods never did it. Neither did Jack Nicklaus, even before The Players Championship found its home in a former swamp now known as the TPC Sawgrass. This is the 50th edition of the PGA Tour’s premier championship, and no one has defended his title....
Last suspect sought in deadly bus shooting in Philadelphia, police say
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old youth who they say is the last of four suspects sought in the shooting that wounded eight Philadelphia high school students at a bus stop last week. The U.S. Marshals Service, while offering details Tuesday night on the arrest...
Texas man who used an iron long for decades after contracting polio as a child dies at 78Video
DALLAS — A Texas man who spent most of his 78 years using an iron lung chamber and built a large following on social media, recounting his life from contracting polio in the 1940s to earning a law degree, has died. Paul Alexander died Monday at a Dallas hospital, said...
Dollar Tree to close nearly 1,000 stores, posts surprise 4th quarter loss
Dollar Tree swung to a surprise fourth-quarter loss and will close nearly 1,000 stores after the discount retailer slashed the value of a rival chain it acquired almost a decade ago. Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and 370...
What to know about the bill that could ban TikTok
WASHINGTON — TikTok once again finds itself in a precarious position as lawmakers in Washington move forward with a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on the platform. The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would ban TikTok if its China-based owner ByteDance doesn’t sell its stakes in...
Author Mitch Albom, 9 others evacuated by helicopter from violence-torn Port-au-Prince
DETROIT — Author and Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and nine others have been rescued by helicopter from Haiti after becoming stranded in the poverty-stricken and violence-torn Caribbean nation while visiting an orphanage. The group was forced to shelter inside the Have Faith Haiti Mission & Orphanage in Port-au-Prince,...
Massachusetts governor to pardon those convicted of cannabis possession
BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday said she would issue pardons for tens of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana charges going back decades in the latest example of a state ambitiously seeking to forgive low-level drug offenders. If approved, the pardons will apply to all adult...
Landslide destroys Los Angeles home and threatens at least 2 others
LOS ANGELES — A landslide destroyed a hillside home and imperiled at least two others in Los Angeles early Wednesday. The slide occurred just before 3 a.m. in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles northwest of downtown. An initial search found no victims, but several people...
Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case
ATLANTA — The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts in the indictment, including three...
Shapiro unveils plan to cut greenhouse gases, boost renewables in big energy producer
SCRANTON — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled a plan Wednesday to fight climate change, saying he will back legislation to make power plant owners in the nation’s third-biggest energy-producing state pay for their greenhouse gas emissions and require utilities to buy more electricity from renewable sources. Such legislation would make...
Penn State’s James Franklin expects a veteran reserve safety to take a big step forward this spring
Safety will be a team strength for Penn State in 2024. The presence of returning starters Kevin Winston and Jaylen Reed is a major reason why. The 6-2, 206-pound Winston, a third-year junior, led the Nittany Lions in tackles a year ago with 61 and he added five pass breakups....
Haiti is preparing itself for new leadership. Gangs want a seat at the table
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Politicians across Haiti are scrambling for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created. But elbowing their way into the race are powerful gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital and demand a say in the...
50 years later, Tommy John surgery remains a game-changer
GLENDALE, Ariz. — There is a bridge that runs from Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974, all the way to Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander and Bryce Harper. A thread that connects an increasing number of baseball’s biggest stars. Mostly on the mound, but at the plate, too. An...
New AI tools can record your medical appointment or draft a message from your doctor
Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT....
