Associated Press stories, Page 144
Mudslide along West Virginia highway strands thousands for more than 8 hours
Thousands of motorists were stranded for more than eight hours along a section of rural interstate highway in southern West Virginia early Friday after a mudslide caused by heavy rains blocked a storm drain the previous night, flooding the northbound lanes. Traffic backed up for 12 miles along the West...
NASCAR’s Cup Series to debut In-Season Challenge as $1 million backdrop to points race for title
HAMPTON, Ga. — The debut of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge in Saturday night’s Cup Series race in Atlanta generated differing opinions and expectations from drivers. After all, there’s a points race to attend to. Every team’s top priority is qualifying for the playoffs and trying to win the championship. Some drivers...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox News over alleged defamation in story about call with Trump
SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday over alleged defamation, saying the network knowingly aired false information about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump about the time the National Guard was sent Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleges Fox News anchor Jesse Watters...
Angels manager Ron Washington to miss rest of season with unspecified medical issue
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington will miss the rest of the season because of an unspecified medical issue, the team said Friday. Washington, the oldest manager in the major leagues at 73, has been sidelined for the past week. He experienced shortness of breath and appeared...
Playoff MVP Sam Bennett agrees on 8-year, $64 million contract to stay with Florida Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett walked to the front of the stage at the Florida Panthers’ latest Stanley Cup championship parade, and before he could even speak the crowd began serenading him with their request. “Eight more years! Eight more years!” they chanted, over and over. They got their wish....
Big banks all pass Federal Reserve’s stress tests, but tests were less vigorous
NEW YORK — All the major banks passed the Federal Reserve’s annual “stress tests” of the financial system, the central bank said Friday, but the test conducted by the central bank was notably less vigorous than it had been in previous years. All 22 banks tested this year would have...
Trail Blazers see 7-1 Chinese center Yang Hansen as unique, versatile talent
PORTLAND, Ore. — Yang Hansen is going to fit into American culture just fine. The Trail Blazers’ 7-foot-1 Chinese center was introduced to Portland on Friday and was asked about his interests. Turns out, he’s already a gamer. “Sometimes I sleep. All the time, sleep. I like to play PS5....
Maple Leafs re-sign John Tavares for 4 years and the Oilers keep Trent Frederic around long term
John Tavares is staying with the Toronto Maple Leafs for four more years at a significantly discounted price. Tavares re-signed Friday for $17.55 million, and he will count $4.39 million against the salary cap through the 2028-29 season on a very team-friendly contract. He was making $11 million annually on...
Griffin Canning placed on injured list by Mets after surgery to repair ruptured Achilles
PITTSBURGH — New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning had surgery Friday to repair a ruptured left Achilles and will miss the remainder of the season and possibly part of the 2026 season. Canning was injured during Thursday night’s 4-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in New York. Signed to a...
Cooper Flagg looks comfortable in new home as No. 1 pick gets introduced in Dallas
DALLAS — Cooper Flagg didn’t wait for Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison to break the silence with an opening statement as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft was introduced to a packed Dallas news conference. “Hello,” Flagg said about the time the clock struck noon Friday. The 18-year-old...
Trump administration ends legal protections for half-million Haitians who now face deportations
MIAMI — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential deportation. DHS said conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the temporary legal protections. The termination of temporary protected...
For Eastern U.S., temperatures swing high, then low. They’ll soon go back up
After days of blistering heat, the nation’s sweaty East Coast got to open windows, step outside and get temporary relief Friday as temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees and humidity dropped. At least 68 record highs were set and more than 20 places logged triple-digit heat from Sunday through...
California court rules state insurance policy on smoke damage is unlawful
A California judge has ruled the state’s bare-bones home insurance program’s handling of smoke damage claims is unlawful, a decision that could have wide-ranging implications as insurers increasingly deal with the aftermath of wildfires. Home insurance broadly covers fire damage, but there is a growing dispute over what damage must...
NHL, players agree to CBA extension with 84-game season, playoff salary cap
An 84-game season is coming to the NHL as part of an extension of the collective bargaining agreement that has been tentatively agreed to by the league and the Players’ Association. They announced a memorandum of understanding Friday in Los Angeles before the first round of the draft. It still...
Trump emboldened to accelerate his agenda after nationwide injunction ruling
After a divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, President Donald Trump told reporters he’d “promptly file” to advance policies blocked by judges, including birthright citizenship restrictions. “We can now promptly file to proceed with these numerous policies,” he said. The...
Conor Lamb steps up as Democrats try to figure out what to do about John Fetterman
ENOLA — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania isn’t even up for reelection until 2028, but already a one-time primary foe, former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, is crisscrossing Pennsylvania and social media, looking and sounding like he’s preparing to challenge Fetterman again. At town hall after town hall across Pennsylvania,...
Environmental groups sue to block migrant detention center rising in Florida Everglades
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday to block a migrant detention center being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades. The lawsuit seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal law. There is also...
Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 bodies to be sentenced for fraud
DENVER — A Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and sending grieving families fake ashes is set to be sentenced Friday in federal court for cheating customers and defrauding the government out of nearly $900,000 in covid-19 aid. Jon Hallford, owner...
Supreme Court upholds Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing pornography online
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law aimed at blocking children under 18 from seeing online pornography. Nearly half of all states have passed similar age verification laws as smartphones and other devices make it easier to access online porn, including hardcore obscene material. The ruling...
Supreme Court says Maryland parents can pull their kids from public school lessons using LGBTQ books
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Maryland parents who have religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ storybooks. The justices reversed lower-court rulings in favor of the Montgomery County school system in suburban Washington. The high court ruled that the schools likely...
Supreme Court OKs fee that subsidizes phone, internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the fee that is added to phone bills to provide billions of dollars a year in subsidized phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas. The justices, by a 6-3 vote, reversed an appeals court ruling that had struck down...
Supreme Court preserves key part of Obamacare coverage requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court preserved a key part of the Affordable Care Act’s preventive health care coverage requirements on Friday, rejecting a challenge from Christian employers to the provision that affects some 150 million Americans. The 6-3 ruling comes in a lawsuit over how the government decides which health...
A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer headline list of top lottery candidates for 2026 NBA draft
The NBA has had Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg as obvious No. 1 overall draft picks in recent years. AJ Dybantsa has been headed toward that status for 2026. The BYU signee has been a favorite to sit atop draft boards next summer and ranks as the nation’s top recruit...
Supreme Court limits nationwide injunctions, but fate of Trump birthright citizenship order unclear
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision left unclear the fate of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship. The outcome was a victory for the Republican president, who has complained about individual judges throwing...
Family sues over U.S. detention in what may be 1st challenge to courthouse arrests involving kids
A mother and her two young kids are fighting for their release from a Texas immigration detention center in what is believed to be the first lawsuit involving children challenging the Trump administration’s policy on immigrant arrests at courthouses. The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that the family’s arrests after fleeing...
