Associated Press stories, Page 959
SpaceX giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off Thursday on it first test flight and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near...
Daffodils bloom as symbol of Warsaw ghetto uprising memory
WARSAW, Poland — Yellow daffodils are everywhere in Warsaw this week, a symbol of remembrance for the 1943 uprising by Jews in the city’s ghetto against Nazi German occupiers. There are the real daffodils that residents and visitors to the Polish capital place on memorials to honor Holocaust victims, and...
House passes trans athlete ban for girls and women’s teams
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would bar federally supported schools and colleges from allowing transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male to compete on girls or women’s sports teams. The legislation approved by a 219-203 vote is unlikely to advance further because...
Oakland A’s purchase land for new stadium in Las Vegas
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a new retractable roof ballpark in Las Vegas after being unable to build a new venue in the Bay Area. Team president Dave Kaval said Wednesday night the team finalized a deal last week to...
U.S. invests in alternative solar tech, more solar for renters
The Biden administration announced more than $80 million in funding Thursday in a push to produce more solar panels in the U.S., make solar energy available to more people, and pursue superior alternatives to the ubiquitous sparkly panels made with silicon. The Department of Energy announced the investments in the...
Charge to be dropped in Alec Baldwin movie set shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. — Prosecutors in New Mexico plan to drop an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film “ Rust,” Baldwin’s attorneys said Thursday. “We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against...
New Mexico St. players file lawsuit alleging sexual assault
Two former New Mexico State basketball players filed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging they were sexually assaulted by teammates and that the coaching staff and other administrators did nothing when they reported the assaults. The lawsuit was filed by Deuce Benjamin and another player who said three teammates forced them to...
Book invites kids to turn native gardens into national park
Doug Tallamy, the wildlife ecologist and entomologist who urges home gardeners to join forces and create a pollinator-friendly “Homegrown National Park,” is now bringing kids into the effort. Tallamy has become a leading evangelist for the return of native plants and trees that can support birds, bees and other essential...
U.S. unemployment claims tick up to 245,000, but still low
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remains low by historic standards. U.S. jobless claims rose by 5,000 to 245,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 500 to 239,750....
K-pop star Moon Bin found dead at homeVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — Moon Bin, a singer from South Korean boyband Astro, was found dead at his home in Seoul, his management agency said Thursday. The 25-year-old was reportedly found by his manager who went to the singer’s home Wednesday evening because he wasn’t responding to contacts. Police are...
An end to the reading wars? More U.S. schools embrace phonics
Move over “Dick and Jane.” A different approach to teaching kids how to read is on the rise. For decades, two schools of thought have clashed on how to best teach children to read, with passionate backers on each side of the so-called reading wars. The battle has reached into...
‘Too much to learn’: Schools race to catch up kids’ reading
ATLANTA — Michael Crowder stands nervously at the front of his third grade classroom, his mustard-yellow polo shirt buttoned to the top. “Give us some vowels,” says his teacher, La’Neeka Gilbert-Jackson. His eyes search a chart that lists vowels, consonant pairs and word endings, but he doesn’t land on an...
More say Trump broke law in Ga. case than NY’s: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump has emerged largely unscathed politically from his New York indictment. But a new poll suggests that investigations in Georgia and Washington could prove more problematic. Only 4 in 10 U.S. adults believe Trump acted illegally in New York, where he has been charged in...
$252.6 million winning Powerball ticket sold in Ohio
MACEDONIA, Ohio — Someone in Ohio went to bed $252.6 million richer, before taxes, after hitting the Powerball jackpot. The winning ticket for Wednesday night’s drawing was sold at Get Go #3279 in Macedonia and is Ohio’s fourth Powerball jackpot winner since joining the game in 2010. The retailer will...
Florida expands ‘Don’t Say Gay’; House OKs anti-LGBTQ bills
TALLAHASSEE — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis added more wins to his agenda targeting the LGBTQ+ community as a state board approved an expansion of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law Wednesday, and the House passed bills on gender-transition treatments, bathroom use and keeping children out of drag...
Mets’ Max Scherzer ejected for sticky substance after umpire checkVideo
LOS ANGELES — Max Scherzer swore on his children’s lives he put nothing but sweat and rosin on his hands at Dodger Stadium. The umpires still ejected him Wednesday, telling the Mets ace his hand was too sticky to possibly be legal. The three-time Cy Young Award winner loudly proclaimed...
California boy dies when stabbing suspect’s car hits group of teens
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The driver of a car that crashed into a group of Southern California high school students, killing one and injuring three, was arrested for investigation of murder and other crimes, including an earlier stabbing, authorities said Wednesday. The students were struck while on a sidewalk Tuesday...
Watchdog warns U.S. money could be flowing to TalibanVideo
WASHINGTON — The watchdog for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan warned lawmakers Wednesday that American aid to the country could be diverted to the Taliban as he accused the Biden administration of stonewalling his efforts to investigate. “Unfortunately, as I sit here today I cannot assure this committee or the American...
New York woman shot after wrong turn had hopes, dreams, father saysVideo
FORT EDWARD, N.Y. — The father whose 20-year-old daughter was fatally shot after she and her friends got lost and drove to the wrong house in rural town upstate New York raged Wednesday at the man who pulled the trigger. “For this man to sit on his porch and fire...
Semi-automatic rifle ban passes Washington state Legislature
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles cleared the Washington state Legislature on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The high-powered firearms — once banned nationwide — are now the weapon of choice among young men responsible for most of the country’s...
Oklahoma official who discussed killing reporters resigns
OKLAHOMA CITY — A county commissioner in far southeast Oklahoma who was identified by a local newspaper as one of several officials caught on tape discussing killing reporters and lynching Black people has resigned from office, Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office confirmed Wednesday. Stitt spokesperson Carly Atchison said the office received...
Former Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster dies at 91
HARRISBURG — Former U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, an influential Republican lawmaker who strongly backed transportation projects but ran afoul of ethics guidelines, has died. He was 91. Shuster died peacefully at his farm Wednesday in Everett, Bedford County, surrounded by his family, including his son, Bill Shuster, who succeeded his...
Fulton County sanctioned over copying 2020 voting machine data
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania Republican-majority county government where two commissioners secretly allowed a third party to copy voting-machine data last year to help former President Donald Trump overturn his 2020 reelection defeat received contempt sanctions Wednesday from the state’s highest court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against Fulton County commissioners...
Texas cheerleaders shot after one says she entered wrong carVideo
ELGIN, Texas — A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own — the latest in a string of recent U.S. shootings apparently sparked by someone showing up at the...
Bengals’ Joe Mixon pleads not guilty to menacing charge
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing over allegations that he threatened and pointed a gun at a woman in Cincinnati earlier this year. Mixon made his initial court appearance in Hamilton County Municipal Court, where bond was...
