Associated Press stories, Page 964
Avalanche trade for Ross Colton from the Lightning. They’re expected to lose J.T. Compher
The Colorado Avalanche acquired forward Ross Colton in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, hours before the start of the NHL draft. Colorado sent the 37th pick in the draft to Tampa Bay for the player who scored the Lightning’s Stanley Cup-clinching goal in 2021. The move...
Fresh off playoff appearance, New Jersey Devils re-sign forward Timo Meier to 8-year, $70M contract
NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils secured another piece from last year’s team, re-signing forward Timo Meier to an eight-year, $70.4 million contract through the 2030-31 NHL season. General manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the signing of the restricted free agent Wednesday, hours before the start of the league’s draft...
Justin Thomas enters Rocket Mortgage Classic, hoping to boost postseason positioning
DETROIT — Justin Thomas may have skipped the Rocket Mortgage Classic once again if this was just another usual year in his career. It hasn’t been. The 2022 PGA Championship winner, who has 15 PGA Tour titles, has fallen out of the top 10 in the world ranking for the...
Lloyd Howell to take over as executive director of NFL Players Association
Lloyd Howell will succeed DeMaurice Smith as the NFL Players Association’s executive director. The NFLPA’s board of player representatives announced Wednesday that Howell was elected as the next executive director. The NFLPA had announced in the fall of 2021 that Smith planned to depart after serving one more term with...
A jury found Trump responsible for sexual abuse. Now he’s suing his accuser for saying she was raped
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump is trying to turn the tables on the advice columnist who won a $5 million jury award against him in a sexual abuse lawsuit, saying in a countersuit that she owes him money and a retraction for continuing to insist she was raped...
Madonna postpones upcoming Celebration tour due to ‘serious bacterial infection’
LOS ANGELES — Madonna has postponed her career-spanning Celebration tour due to what her manager called a “serious bacterial infection” and her ongoing recovery. Manager Guy Oseary wrote Wednesday on Instagram that the singer had spent several days in an intensive care unit after becoming ill on Saturday. He said...
What to Watch: Pennsylvania budget talks near deadline, and get contentious
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to wrap up his first budget by the start of the new fiscal year, as he works to balance Pennsylvania’s politically divided Legislature in perhaps the biggest test yet of his political skills under the Capitol dome. The last few days have...
Delta passengers exit flight using jet slide after plane lands without front gear extended
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Passengers aboard a Delta flight disembarked using the jet slide Wednesday after the plane’s front landing gear failed to deploy as it landed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The flight landed safely and no injuries were reported, according to officials. Photos from the scene show wheels on...
Tennessee State will become the first HBCU to add ice hockey
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee State University announced Wednesday it will become the first historically Black college and university to introduce ice hockey. The school plans to have a men’s team playing at the club level in 2024, with a goal of fielding Division I men’s and women’s teams “in the...
Pa. man convicted of driving into fundraiser crowd, then killing mother gets 2 life terms
BLOOMSBURG — A man convicted of driving into a fundraiser crowd in Pennsylvania last summer, killing one and injuring 19 others, then going home and bludgeoning his mother to death has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. President Judge Gary Norton told Adrian Oswaldo Sura...
Alex Killorn, J.T. Compher and Ivan Barbashev are among the NHL free agents to watch
Stanley Cup rings have a handful of players set up for big paydays when NHL free agency opens Saturday. Recent champions Alex Killorn, J.T. Compher and Ivan Barbashev, as well as three-time winner Patrick Kane, are among the players available in the free agent market. It includes a handful of...
Coast Guard says ‘presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titan submersible
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Coast Guard says it has likely recovered human remains from the wreckage of the Titan submersible and is bringing the evidence back to the United States. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. The vessel was on a voyage see the...
Couples ditch traditional wedding dress codes in favor of out-there themes
NEW YORK — “Space Disco Cowboy.” “Yacht Shabbat.” “Burning Man Formal”? More couples are tossing tradition when it comes to what wedding guests should wear, to some befuddlement among invitees. Maggie Long, 34, recently attended the nuptials of a close friend in a low-key Denver lounge. The suggested dress? “Dive...
Gymnastics star Simone Biles returning to competition in August in 1st meet since 2020 Olympics
Simone Biles is back. The gymnastics superstar plans to return to competition at the U.S. Classic outside Chicago in early August, her first event since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. USA Gymnastics announced Wednesday that Biles, a seven-time Olympic medalist and the 2016 Olympic champion, is part of the women’s field...
Ex-Philadelphia police officer is charged with dozens more sex crimes in 19 new cases
PHILADELPHIA — A retired Philadelphia police officer already in custody on child sex assault charges is now charged with dozens more sex crimes that stem from his time on duty. Former patrol officer Patrick Heron was previously charged with posing as an officer after he retired in 2019 to lure...
Who wants to be a game show host? These days, you already have to be famous
NEW YORK — When producers of “Wheel of Fortune” named Ryan Seacrest — probably the most ubiquitous man on entertainment television — as its next host this week, it surprised virtually no one. The idea that Sony Pictures Television would appoint someone relatively unknown as the figurehead of one of...
Airline delays and cancellations are bad ahead of the holiday weekend and getting worse
Travelers are getting hit with delays at U.S. airports again early Wednesday, an ominous sign heading into the long July 4 holiday weekend, which is shaping up as the biggest test yet for airlines that are struggling to keep up with surging numbers of passengers. As of early morning, nearly...
Families worry over the future of Medicaid caregiver payments that were expanded during the pandemic
Nathan Hill started receiving $12.75 an hour from a state Medicaid program to help care for his severely disabled son during the pandemic, money he said allowed his family to stop using food stamps. The program was designed to provide a continuation of care and ease a home health worker...
Your DoorDash driver? He’s the company’s co-founder
SAN FRANCISCO — On a recent afternoon in San Francisco, a DoorDash driver was circling the neighborhood — first in his car, then on foot — trying to find the restaurant where he needed to pick up two orders. Finally, he Googled the location and realized DoorDash’s app sent him...
Daniel Penny pleads not guilty to revised charges in chokehold death of Jordan Neely on NYC subway
NEW YORK — A U.S. Marine veteran who placed a homeless man in a fatal chokehold aboard a New York City subway train last month pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to revised charges. Daniel Penny, 24, pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 1...
Recruitment of children by armed groups in Syria is on the rise, even as fighting subsides
QAMISHLI, Syria — A 13-year-old Kurdish girl went missing on her way home from a school exam last month, after being approached by a man from an armed group. Her parents immediately feared the worst — that she had been persuaded to join the group and was taken to one...
Ukraine accuses local man of directing missile strike that killed 10 at popular pizza restaurant
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities arrested Wednesday a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 10 people, including three children, at a popular pizza restaurant in a city in east Ukraine. The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded another 61 people, Ukraine’s National...
A blistering heat wave is turning up the pressure on Texas’ power gridVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — On another 100-degree day in Texas, Sean Whitaker lingered outside a Dallas cafe after polishing off an iced coffee, having switched off the power to everything back home except his refrigerator. “That’s the reason I’m out,” said Whitaker, 52, finding shade at a patio table. As an...
Adam Fantilli not worried about being overshadowed at NHL DraftVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a different year, this NHL Draft might have been considered the chase for Adam Fantilli as the top pick rather than the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. Fantilli’s got the size at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds as well as a proven ability to put the puck in the...
Sharks acquire goalie Mackenzie Blackwood from Devils, working to trade Erik KarlssonVideo
While the San Jose Sharks have acquired a goaltender, they’re still looking to trade their best player. The Sharks acquired goalie Mackenzie Blackwood from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. They’re still looking to deal Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson to a contender. “He would like the chance to have...
