Associated Press stories, Page 1553
Pa. redistricting panel to count inmates in hometowns
HARRISBURG — Inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons will be counted in their home districts and not where their prisons are located after a divided vote Tuesday by the five-member panel redrawing legislative district maps this year. The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 3-2 for the policy change that was introduced...
CIA head meets Taliban leader as fears for Afghanistan grow
The director of the CIA met with the Taliban’s top political leader in Kabul, an official said Tuesday, as more reports emerged of abuses in areas held by the fighters, fueling concerns about Afghanistan’s future and the fate of those racing to leave the country before the looming U.S. withdrawal....
Paralympics open in empty stadium — just like Olympics
TOKYO — The Paralympics began Tuesday in the same empty National Stadium — during the same pandemic — as the opening and closing ceremonies of the recently completed Tokyo Olympics. Japanese Emperor Naruhito got it all started again, this time under the theme “We Have Wings.” Among the few on...
Fossil leaves may reveal climate in last era of dinosaurs
WASHINGTON — Richard Barclay opens a metal drawer in archives of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum containing fossils that are nearly 100 million years old. Despite their age, these rocks aren’t fragile. The geologist and botanist handles them with casual ease, placing one in his palm for closer examination. Embedded...
9 women now serving as governors in U.S., tying recordVideo
Taking over on short notice for a scandal-plagued predecessor in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her tenure Tuesday with more than enough challenges for a new administration. She also began with an historic opportunity: Hochul is the first woman to hold one of...
Waymo expanding autonomous ride service to San Francisco
Waymo, the Google self-driving vehicle spinoff, is expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service to San Francisco. Selected “trusted tester” customers in the city by the bay will be able to hail a ride in self-driving Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles, the company said. For now the vehicles will have human backup drivers...
Giuliani associate Igor Fruman to change plea in campaign finance case
NEW YORK — A man who helped Rudy Giuliani try to unearth damaging information about President Joe Biden in Ukraine is expected to plead guilty in a case alleging illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians, according to a court filing. Igor Fruman was charged in 2019 with arranging hundreds of...
Tony Finau ends 5-year drought and wins Northern TrustVideo
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Tony Finau ended more than five years and 142 tournaments without winning with a dynamic charge on the back nine and big miss from Cameron Smith to capture the rain-delayed Northern Trust in a playoff Monday. Finau was three shots out of the lead when he...
Cyber Ninjas staff reportedly have covid, Arizona election report delayed again
PHOENIX — The delivery of a report on the 2020 vote count to Arizona state Senate Republicans was delayed yet again Monday after the Donald Trump supporter hired to lead the effort and several others involved contracted covid-19 “and are quite sick,” the Senate GOP leader said. Republican Senate President...
Stocks rise broadly; Pfizer gains after FDA approves vaccine
Stocks notched gains Monday on Wall Street, pushing the Nasdaq composite to an all-time high and helping the S&P 500 more than make up for its losses last week. The S&P 500 rose 0.9%, after spending much of the day within striking distance of notching its own record high. The...
Jimmy Hayes, 31, Boston College star who played 7 seasons in NHL, dies
MILTON, Mass. — Jimmy Hayes, who won a national hockey championship at Boston College and played seven seasons in the NHL, has died. He was 31. A law enforcement official said medics on Monday were called to the Hayes home in the Boston suburbs, where he was pronounced dead. No...
Crews search for missing in Tennessee deluge that killed 22Video
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Search crews worked through shattered homes and tangled debris on Monday, looking for about a dozen people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through rural Tennessee, killing at least 22 people. Saturday’s flooding took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving people uncertain about...
Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader who burned BLM flag, gets 5 months in jail
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than five months in jail on Monday for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation’s capital days shortly...
Hearings in Pennsylvania election ‘investigation’ to begin, senator says
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s Senate said Monday that hearings will begin this week as he committed to carrying out a “full forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he has communicated with former President Donald Trump, whose baseless...
West Virginia’s largest private employer issues worker vaccine mandate
CHARLESTON — The West Virginia University Health System, the state’s largest private employer, announced Monday that it will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Oct. 31 as covid-19 cases continue to grow exponentially statewide. The mandate applies to workers at all of the WVU Health...
Resurgent Votto pounding homers again, keeping Reds in race
CINCINNATI — In the midst of a sensational, homer-crashing career resurgence, Joey Votto talked recently about getting his 2,000th hit. The 37-year-old Reds first baseman recalled how he had the ball from his first major league hit in 2007 but a few years later gave it to his dog Maris...
Rev. Jesse Jackson and wife remain hospitalized for covid-19
CHICAGO — Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, remained hospitalized Monday after testing positive for covid-19, family members said. Both were admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Saturday, with their age as a factor, according to their son Jonathan Jackson. Jesse Jackson is 79 and...
Igor Vovkovinskiy, tallest man in U.S., dies in Minnesota
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota. He was 38. His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at Mayo, initially posted about his...
Internal probe clears officer in Capitol riot shooting
WASHINGTON — An officer who shot and killed a woman during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as she began to climb through the broken part of a door leading into an area known as the Speaker’s Lobby acted lawfully and in line with police department policy, the...
Diner leaves $10,000 tip for workers at Florida restaurant
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A diner at a north Florida restaurant gathered the staff of 10 together to thank them for their hard work before leaving them a $10,000 tip to share. It happened last Tuesday night as the man, his wife and son finished their dinner at the Wahoo Seafood...
Big Ten teams forfeit if unable to play because of covid-19
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten is the latest Power Five conference to announce that a team must forfeit if it doesn’t have enough players available for a league game because of covid-19. The Big Ten said Monday the team that forfeits will be assessed a loss in the conference...
U.S. Open champs get lowest payout since 2012; total prizes up
The two singles champions at this year’s U.S. Open will earn 35% less than in 2019, the last time the Grand Slam tennis tournament allowed spectators, while prize money for qualifying and the first three rounds of the main draw will rise as part of an overall increase. A year...
Iowa State, Notre Dame highlight AP preseason All-Americans
Notre Dame and Iowa State each had three players selected to The Associated Press preseason All-America team, led by Fighting Irish defensive back Kyle Hamilton and Cyclones running back Breece Hall. The preseason All-America team was released Monday, five days before the first games of the season kickoff. Penn State...
Pentagon to mandate covid-19 vaccine, as Pfizer is approved
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it will require service members to receive the covid-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the...
WHO head calls for 2-month vaccine booster moratorium
BUDAPEST, Hungary — The head of the World Health Organization on Monday called for a two-month moratorium on administering booster shots of covid-19 vaccines as a means of reducing global vaccine inequality and preventing the emergence of new coronavirus variants. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Hungary’s capital,...
