Associated Press stories, Page 2323
Chicago flights halted; plane slides off Kansas City taxiway
CHICAGO — The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for hours Friday night due to a sprawling winter storm, which forced the closure of schools, universities and government offices as it moved across large sections of the Midwest. The FAA lifted the stop...
With governor’s reprieve, man released after murder-for-hire
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man who was serving a life sentence in a 1994 murder-for-hire plot in Tennessee is out of prison and on parole after the former governor granted him a reprieve. Jeremy Ingram was released from Morgan County Correctional Complex on Friday, according Tennessee Department of Correction records....
Appeals court rules against convict over gender pronouns
NEW ORLEANS — A transgender convict has lost a federal appeal to have her name changed in court records — and to have the appeals court refer to her with feminine pronouns. The case of Norman Varner — now Katherine Nicole Jett — divided a three-judge panel of the 5th...
Virginia’s highest court upholds weapons ban at gun rally
RICHMOND, Va. —Virginia’s highest court on Friday upheld a ban on firearms at an upcoming pro-gun rally in the state’s capital, an event that authorities feared could erupt in violence at the hands of armed extremists. The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision came a day after gun-rights groups sued to overturn...
Winfrey details her decision to withdraw from Simmons film
NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey said Friday that Russell Simmons attempted to pressure her about her involvement with a documentary in which several women detail sexual abuse allegations against the rap mogul, but his efforts were not what prompted her to leave the project. “He did reach out multiple times...
California teachers sue after jetliner dumps fuel on schools
LOS ANGELES — Four teachers from a Los Angeles-area school sued Delta Air Lines on Friday, saying they were exposed to jet fuel when a plane with engine trouble dumped its fuel over a densely populated area, including several schools, while making an emergency return to the airport. At a...
Avalanche at Lake Tahoe resort kills 1 skier, injures 1
TAHOE CITY, Calif. — A man killed in an avalanche at a Lake Tahoe ski resort on Friday was remembered as an avid skier familiar with the picturesque mountains along the northern California and Nevada border. Cole Comstock, 34, of Blairsden, California, was caught in the avalanche that seriously injured...
Titans’ Greg Joseph OK kicking extra points instead of field goalsVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans have found a way to fix the NFL’s worst field-goal unit: Ignore the kicker and just score touchdowns. The Titans went a measly 8 of 18 on field-goal attempts during the regular season, easily the league’s worst, making only 44.4%. Greg Joseph, their fifth...
Aaron Rodgers-Richard Sherman matchup highlights NFC championship gameVideo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Nine years into his career and a little more than two years removed from a debilitating torn Achilles injury, Richard Sherman still is tormenting quarterbacks on a weekly basis. Just ask Kirk Cousins. Sherman had his third career playoff interception last week in a victory over...
Ex-U.S. Rep. Chris Collins gets over 2 years in insider trading case
NEW YORK — A former congressman who was one of President Donald Trump’s first supporters was sentenced Friday to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a...
Groom accused of sexual assault at reception gets probation
DOYLESTOWN — A man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage waitress at his wedding reception has been sentenced to probation. Matthew Aimers, 32, of Willingboro, N.J., pleaded guilty on Thursday to indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and simple assault. Under terms of a plea agreement, a judge in Pennsylvania sentenced Aimers...
Trump’s black voter outreach looks in part to church pews
PHILADELPHIA — In the eight years since he became a pastor at First Immanuel Baptist Church, Todd Johnson says he’s seen his congregation’s politics make a subtle shift. The Philadelphia church, which recently hosted a Donald Trump campaign event reaching out to black voters, has “more people now who are...
Cruise line: Grandpa leaned out window before girl’s fall
MIAMI — An Indiana man charged with negligent homicide in his young granddaughter’s fatal fall from a cruise ship’s open window in Puerto Rico leaned out of that window for several seconds before he lifted the child up to it and she fell, the cruise operator alleges in a court...
U.S. to screen airline passengers from China for new illness
NEW YORK — Three U.S. airports will screen passengers arriving from central China for a new virus that has sickened dozens, killed two and prompted worries about an international outbreak, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say they will begin taking temperatures and asking about...
U.S. agency examining Tesla unintended acceleration complaint
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is looking into allegations that all three of Tesla’s electric vehicle models can suddenly accelerate on their own. An unidentified person petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for an investigation into the problem. An agency document shows 127 owner complaints...
Pompeo breaks silence on alleged threats to envoy in Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In...
Analysis: Baseball has become a prisoner of technology
NEW YORK — Technology unleashed baseball’s Analytics Era, and now it’s holding the sport prisoner. AJ Hinch, Alex Cora and Carlos Beltrán are casualties, a triple play of hubris. At the cutting edge with the Houston Astros, now they have been cut. Their sign-stealing system exposed, all three managers were...
Steve Martin, Martin Short to star in Hulu comedy series
PASADENA, Calif. — Steve Martin and Martin Short are taking their touring act to television with a new Hulu comedy. The untitled show about three strangers who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one was announced Friday at a TV critics meeting. Martin...
Jury selected for Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial
NEW YORK — Jury selection in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial concluded Friday after an arduous two-week process, setting the stage for testimony to begin in the next week. The lawyers and judge halted the selection process after 12 jurors and three alternates had been seated. Of the total, eight were...
2 dead, 1 gravely hurt in Mexico fireworks explosion
MEXICO CITY — An explosion of a fireworks cache killed two people and critically injured another in a town on the northern outskirts of Mexico City. The government of Mexico State, which surrounds the capital, reported on its online information portal that a male victim died at the scene of...
South Carolina woman pleads guilty to poisoning husband with eye drops
YORK, S.C. — A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband by putting eye drops into his water for days. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lana Sue Clayton, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with a food or drug, news outlets...
Eminem drops surprise album, advocates changes to gun laws
Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing “Music to Be Murdered By” on Friday — along with a video that calls for changes to gun laws. The follow-up to 2018’s “Kamikaze” — also released without warning — was announced on Twitter just after midnight. The Detroit rapper’s new...
Denver officials won’t hand over information sought by ICE
WASHINGTON — Denver officials on Thursday said they would not hand over information requested by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement on four men wanted for deportation. ICE, the Homeland Security agency tasked with arresting and deporting people in the U.S. illegally, sent four administrative subpoenas earlier this week to law...
Andrew Yang’s wife details alleged sexual assault by OB-GYN
WASHINGTON — The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says she was sexually assaulted by her OB-GYN while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Evelyn Yang said in an interview televised Thursday by CNN that the assault happened in 2012, and she was initially afraid to tell...
Giants make Alyssa Nakken first female major league coachVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach on a major league staff in baseball history Thursday when she was named an assistant under new Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Major League Baseball confirmed Nakken is the first woman coach in the majors. Nakken is a former softball standout...
