Associated Press stories, Page 2297
Guilty plea in Louisiana to federal charges in black church burnings
LAFAYETTE, La. — The aspiring ‘black metal’ musician who was arrested in a series of fires set at African American churches in Louisiana last spring pleaded guilty Monday to federal and state criminal charges. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Holden Matthews pleaded guilty to three...
Lawsuit: Scranton school district knew about lead, asbestos contaminationVideo
SCRANTON — Current and former employees of a Pennsylvania school district claimed in a lawsuit filed Monday that officials knew for years that unsafe levels of lead and asbestos posed potential health risks for students and staff but never disclosed the information to them or the public. The plaintiffs are...
Pennsylvania sues Juul over marketing e-cigarettes to teens
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office sued electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. on Monday over how its products are marketed and sold to teenagers. The agency is seeking an injunction from Philadelphia courts to halt Juul’s e-cigarette sales in Pennsylvania or force it to dramatically change business practices....
Ex-Blue Jays reliever sues Astros in sign-stealing scandalVideo
LOS ANGELES — Former major league pitcher Mike Bolsinger sued the Houston Astros on Monday, claiming their sign-stealing scheme contributed to a poor relief appearance in August 2017 that essentially ended his big league career. Bolsinger’s suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks unspecified damages for interfering with and...
AP Source: Browns star Myles Garrett meets with NFL about return
CLEVELAND — Suspended Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett met Monday with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his possible reinstatement, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press. Garrett, who was banned indefinitely for ripping off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and hitting him over the...
William Barr: Justice Department has process to take Ukraine info from Rudy GiulianiVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr said Monday the Justice Department is taking information that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine about the president’s Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son. But Barr cautioned that federal officials have “to be very careful” with information coming...
Amazon wants to question Trump over losing $10B contract bidVideo
Amazon wants President Donald Trump to submit to questioning over the tech company’s losing bid for a $10 billion military contract. The Pentagon awarded the cloud computing project to Microsoft in October. Amazon later sued, arguing that Trump’s interference and bias against the company harmed Amazon’s chances. Amazon was considered...
Trump budget targets loan program that could help Lordstown
DETROIT — The Trump administration’s budget proposal scraps a loan program that could help an upstart electric vehicle company’s plans to reuse the now-closed General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio. In a summary of the budget for the coming fiscal year, the administration said Monday it wants to eliminate the...
Florida man who drove van at GOP voter sign-up worked as stagehandVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man charged with driving a van into a tent where local Republicans were registering voters worked as a stagehand and had lived in northeast Florida for two years, according to jail records and an arrest report. Gregory Timm, 27, had been referred work through the local...
Drugs fail to slow decline in inherited Alzheimer’s disease
Two experimental drugs failed to prevent or slow mental decline in a study of people who are virtually destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease at a relatively young age because they inherited rare gene flaws. The results announced Monday are another disappointment for the approach that scientists have focused on for...
Chargers QB Philip Rivers will enter free agency after 16 seasons
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Philip Rivers’ 16-year career with the Chargers has come to an end. The franchise announced Monday that Rivers will enter free agency and not return for the upcoming season. General manager Tom Telesco said in a statement that as they talked through various scenarios with Rivers,...
Police: 3 people shot at Walmart in eastern Arkansas
FORREST CITY, Ark. — At least three people were shot Monday morning at a Walmart in eastern Arkansas, police said. The shooting was reported mid-morning in Forrest City, a dispatcher with the Forrest City Police Department told the Associated Press. Forrest City Police dispatcher Chastity Boyd told the Associated Press...
U.K. looks at building bridge linking Scotland, Northern Ireland
LONDON — The British government said Monday it is seriously studying the feasibility of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, an audacious idea that has been floated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, said the proposal was being taken seriously and “a range of officials” were...
Lawsuit: TSA agent purposely groped woman at N.C. airport
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A woman says in a lawsuit that a security screener at a North Carolina airport intentionally groped her. The lawsuit was filed Feb. 4 in federal court against the U.S. government as well as the female Transportation Security Administration agent. The lawsuit says the passenger was screened...
Retailers try clothing rental, but will it be a good fit?
Renting clothes could be the future of fashion — or it could just be a fad. But traditional retailers can no longer afford to wait on the sidelines to find out. That’s why a growing number are now offering customers the option to rent clothes for a monthly fee instead...
Michigan police fatally shoot man who stabbed police dog
SAGINAW, Mich. — Police officers fatally shot a man who stabbed a police dog in the head during a hostage situation at a home in a mid-Michigan city, law enforcement officials said. Officers in Saginaw were responding to a reported domestic disturbance that became a hostage situation at the house...
South Sudan’s leader wins dubious ‘spoiler of peace’ awardVideo
KAMPALA, Uganda — South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Monday was named the top “spoiler of peace” in a new award that seeks to shame him and others into taking serious steps to end bloody conflict in the world’s youngest country. Kiir and rival leader Riek Machar are under growing...
Chinese military stole masses of Americans’ data, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history to target...
Russia: Youth group members found guilty of plotting attacks
MOSCOW — A Russian military court convicted seven members of a left-wing youth group of terrorism charges Monday and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from six to 18 years, in a case that human rights groups called fabricated. A three-judge panel of the court in Penza in western Russia...
Schick owner retreats from $1.37B buyout of Harry’s
SHELTON, Conn. — The company that owns Schick has terminated its attempt to buy the upstart shaving company Harry’s for $1.37 billion, just days after the United States sued to block the acquisition. Edgewell Personal Care Co. said Monday that it will move forward as a standalone company. It also...
Oh deer!: Man gets trampled in North Carolina parking lotVideo
LOCUST, N.C. — A suspect escaped from a hit and run in a North Carolina McDonald’s parking lot last month. But police aren’t looking for who’s responsible. Ken Worthy was leaving the restaurant in Locust with his wife and a Diet Coke in hand, when he saw something approaching him,...
2nd big mall deal in as many weeks; Simon buys Taubman
The Simon Property Group will buy mall operator Taubman Realty in a deal valued at around $3.6 billion as those properties continue to struggle along with their retail tenants. Simon Property Group Inc. is the nation’s largest mall operator. It said Monday that its operating partnership, Simon Property Group, LP,...
5 Turkish troops killed in clashes with Syrian armyVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey said it hit back at Syrian government forces on Monday, after “intense” Syrian shelling killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syria’s northern Idlib province. The fighting in Idlib led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire that was brokered by Turkey and...
More than 450 civilians killed in central Mali last year
DAKAR, Senegal — Islamic militants and ethnic-based militias killed more than 450 civilians in central Mali last year, making it the deadliest year in the region since the country’s crisis began in 2012, Human Rights Watch said in a new report Monday. Militants have even begun pulling men off of...
Drugs fail to slow decline in inherited Alzheimer’s disease
Two experimental drugs failed to prevent or slow mental decline in a study of people who are virtually destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease at a relatively young age because of rare gene flaws. The results announced Monday are another disappointment for the approach that scientists have focused on for years...

