Associated Press stories, Page 1617
Alternate helmets returning to NFL in 2022 after 9-year pause
NEW YORK — The NFL is bringing back alternate helmets in 2022, ending a nine-year hiatus that started because of concerns about player safety. The league wrote to clubs in a memo dated Thursday that it must be notified of plans to use alternate helmets by July 31 even though...
Rick Carlisle takes over Pacers for 2nd time after leaving MavericksVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — When Kevin Pritchard hired a new coach in October, he took a calculated risk. This time, the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations went for the known commodity. Pritchard hired longtime Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on Thursday, reuniting the 61-year-old with the team that helped relaunch his...
Stocks add to weekly gains, helped by infrastructure dealVideo
Stocks closed higher Thursday on Wall Street as traders were encouraged to see a bipartisan deal on infrastructure spending as well as some positive reports on the economy. The S&P 500 marked another record high, beating the peak it set early last week. Stocks added to their gains in the...
Jersey boys: MLB to use unique uniforms for All-Star Game
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is getting rid of club uniforms and caps for the All-Star Game in favor of specially-designed league outfits. MLB released the looks Thursday that will be used for the July 13 game at Denver’s Coors Field. The host National League has white jerseys and...
Report: More than 600 bodies found at Indigenous school in CanadaVideo
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada said Thursday investigators have found more than 600 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children — a discovery that follows last month’s report of 215 bodies found at another school. The bodies were discovered...
Affidavit: FBI feared Pennsylvania would seize fabled gold
An FBI agent applied for a federal warrant in 2018 to seize a fabled cache of U.S. government gold he said was “stolen during the Civil War” and hidden in a Pennsylvania cave, saying the state might take the gold for itself if the feds asked for permission, according to...
Lawmakers OK letting Pa. students repeat year because of covid
HARRISBURG — Lawmakers made a final vote Thursday to approve a bill to let parents decide whether to have their children repeat a year of school, a measure designed to help children catch up after a year of schooling disrupted by the pandemic. The Senate voted 50-0 for the proposal,...
Pacific Northwest braces for record-breaking heat waveVideo
SPOKANE, Wash. — Record-high heat is forecast in the normally mild-weathered Pacific Northwest this weekend, raising concerns about wildfires and the health of people in a region where many people don’t have air conditioning. City officials in Seattle were opening libraries as cooling centers and crews were being sent to...
Explainer: What exactly is critical race theory?
RALEIGH, N.C. — Former President Donald Trump has railed against it. Republicans in the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution condemning any requirement for teachers to be trained in it. And several Republican-controlled states have invoked it in legislation restricting how race can be taught in public schools. The concept known...
‘We have deal’: Biden, bipartisan senators on infrastructure
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that “we have a deal,” signaling a bipartisan agreement on a $953 billion infrastructure plan that would achieve his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle. Biden made a surprise appearance in front of the cameras...
Biden administration extends eviction moratorium for a month
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to help tenants who are unable to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic, but it said this is expected to be the last time it does so. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers...
U.S. plans to evacuate thousands of Afghans who helped U.S.
The Biden administration plans to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who worked with U.S. forces during the war while their applications for U.S. entry are processed, according to officials familiar with the matter. A senior administration official said planning has accelerated in recent days to relocate...
Boom in Native American oil complicates Biden climate push
NEW TOWN, N.D. — On oil well pads carved from the wheat fields around Lake Sakakawea, hundreds of pump jacks slowly bob to extract 100 million barrels of crude annually from a reservation shared by three Native American tribes. About half their 16,000 members live on the Fort Berthold Indian...
120,000-year-old fossils in Israel link to human family tree
WASHINGTON — Bones found in an Israeli quarry are from a branch of the human evolutionary tree and are 120,000 to 140,000 years old, scientists reported Thursday. A team of anthropologists spent years analyzing the fragments of a skull, lower jaw bone and tooth that were uncovered in Nesher Ramla...
Microsoft debuts Windows 11, first major update in 6 years
Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its Windows software, called Windows 11, that has a new Start Menu and other features. The newest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system announced Thursday will be a successor to today’s Windows 10, which the company introduced in 2015. In a challenge to...
Nearly all covid deaths in U.S. are now among unvaccinated
Nearly all covid-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. An Associated...
Wimbledon 2021: Grand Slam tennis returns to England’s grass
Roger Federer recalls feeling “just shocked, more than anything.” Chris Evert found the news “devastating.” The tennis world was shaken when the All England Club announced April 1, 2020, that Wimbledon would be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — the first time since World War II it was called...
Expansion Seattle Kraken hire Dave Hakstol as first coach
SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken hired Dave Hakstol on Thursday as head coach of the expansion franchise that will begin play this fall. Hakstol will lead the first-year organization in his second head job in the NHL. He coached the Philadelphia Flyers for three-plus seasons from 2015-19 and spent the...
Pelosi creates panel to ‘seek the truth’ on Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it official Thursday that she is creating a special committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol, saying it is “imperative that we seek the truth.” The new committee comes after Republican senators blocked legislation that would have set up a bipartisan commission...
New York court suspends Rudy Giuliani’s law license
NEW YORK — An appeals court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York Thursday because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race. An attorney disciplinary committee had asked the court to suspend Giuliani’s license on the grounds...
BuzzFeed to become a publicly traded company
NEW YORK — Digital media company BuzzFeed is setting its sights on growth. It plans to become a publicly traded company with an implied value of $1.5 billion through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. BuzzFeed hopes the move will put it in a better position to capture...
Soccer game kept woman away from Miami condo wing that collapsed
SURFSIDE, Fla. — A soccer game may have saved Patricia Avilez’s life. Avilez’s brother-in-law lives in a condo located in the wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building that collapsed in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person. When the brother-in-law isn’t there, Avilez routinely stops...
‘A gaping hole of rubble:’ Thankful Miami condo collapse survivor recounts rescue
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Barry Cohen and his wife were sound asleep in their beachside condominium outside Miami when he heard what he thought was a crack of thunder early Thursday. They got up, opened the door leading to their hallway and faced a pile of rubble and billowing smoke. “I...
NFL highlights minority candidates at QB Coaching Summit
Troy Vincent wrapped up the NFL’s three-day General Manager Forum and Quarterback Coaching Summit with a passionate plea to anyone who still thinks there aren’t worthy Black candidates for head coaching positions. Vincent praised Houston Texans assistant coach Pep Hamilton, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks...
2021 Tour de France preview: Tadej Pogacar vs. Primoz Roglic rematch
Not so long ago, Tadej Pogacar was a just a promising outsider still learning the ropes of cycling’s biggest race. His rise to become the second-youngest winner of the Tour de France in September last year has changed everything: The 22-year-old returns to the three-week event as the odds-on favorite...
