Associated Press stories, Page 2696
Man charged over fatal punch in dog walker dispute
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police have charged a 24-year-old man with throwing a punch to the head that led to the death of another dog walker. Matthew Oropeza surrendered to police Thursday. He’s charged with involuntary manslaughter, simple assault and reckless endangerment of another person. Police say 38-year-old Drew Justice and...
Court orders Amazon to end Wi-Fi button purchases in Germany
BERLIN — A German court has ordered Amazon to stop taking orders from customers using wireless-enabled buttons because they breach e-commerce rules. The Munich regional court ruled Thursday that Amazon’s Dash buttons fail to provide customers with necessary information, such as the price of the product they are purchasing. Amazon...
Oregon begins killing sea lions after relocation fails
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon wildlife officials have started killing sea lions that threaten a fragile run of winter steelhead in the Willamette River. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife obtained a federal permit in November to kill up to 93 California sea lions annually below Willamette Falls south of...
Sure, robots walk and talk, but now they can pour beer
LAS VEGAS — Robots that walk, talk, pour beer and play pingpong have taken over the CES gadget show in Las Vegas again. Just don’t expect to find one in your home any time soon. Most home robot ventures have failed, in part because they’re so difficult and expensive to...
Freeway closed after human waste spills from truck
ERIE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A freeway in southeastern Michigan just north of the state line with Ohio has been closed after a truck hauling human waste rolled over and spilled its contents along the roadway. The crash happened about 9:40 a.m. Thursday on northbound Interstate 75 near Monroe County’s Erie...
Trump threatens emergency declaration ahead of border visit
MCALLEN, Texas — President Trump threatened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he can’t reach a deal with Democrats to fund his promised border wall. He spent most of the day in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border to draw further attention to his case after...
Louisiana police officer fatally shot while leaving for work
SHREVEPORT, La. — A recently graduated Louisiana police officer has been fatally shot as she was leaving for work on the night shift. Shreveport Police Chief Ben Raymond says Officer Chateri Payne had graduated from the police academy Nov. 16, and was shot outside a home Wednesday night. He couldn’t...
3 school employees charged with abuse of autistic student
STANFORD, Ky. — Court documents show that three Kentucky school employees have been charged with criminal abuse involving a special-needs student. News outlets report the incident occurred Jan. 3 at Lincoln County High School in a special education class. A criminal summons for teacher Rebecca Spurlock said teacher’s aide Janie...
Norovirus outbreak sickens 277 on Oasis of the Seas
MIAMI — Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas is returning to a Florida port a day early and giving passengers full refunds of their fare after 277 guests and crew members were hit with an outbreak of Norovirus as it sailed to Jamaica. Cruise line spokesman Owen Torres told The...
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman breaks elbow in fall on stairs
BOSTON — Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman says she is recovering from a broken elbow suffered in a fall on the stairs. Raisman in a Twitter post says “I survived two Olympic Games and 19 years of gymnastics without ever breaking a bone … the stairs got me … I fell...
West Virginia lawmaker to resign, focus on run for president
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A retired Army paratrooper and West Virginia lawmaker who formalized his campaign for the presidency on Veterans Day is stepping down from the state Senate. Democrat Richard Ojeda told news outlets that he’s resigning as of next week because he doesn’t want his seat to sit...
Cops: Burglar who ate officer’s chicken dinner in closed police substation left own ID
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — To identify the burglary suspect who broke into a closed Florida police substation and ate an officer’s chicken dinner, detectives didn’t need to lift fingerprints or get DNA from the discarded meal. The ID cards authorities say the suspect left behind did the trick. Boynton Beach...
As Trump visits border, Texas landowners prepare wall fight
HIDALGO, Texas — As President Donald Trump travels to the border in Texas to make the case for his $5.7 billion wall , landowner Eloisa Cavazos says she knows firsthand how the project will play out if the White House gets its way. The federal government has started surveying land...
Lawyer: Pa. woman’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off breath test
BERWICK, Pa. — An attorney for a Pennsylvania woman charged with drunken driving hinted his client’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off the results of her breath test. The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports the argument came during a hearing Tuesday for 47-year-old Jana Moschgat. An officer who pulled Moschgat over testified she...
Lady Gaga apologizes for R. Kelly collaboration
NEW YORK — Lady Gaga is sorry for her 2013 duet with R. Kelly in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against the singer, and she intends to remove the song from streaming services. Posting on Twitter Wednesday, Gaga wrote she had collaborated with Kelly on “Do What U Want...
Pa. school board votes to postpone policy to arm teachers
TAMAQUA, Pa. — School board members in Pennsylvania have voted to postpone a policy allowing teachers to carry guns in school. In a 2-1 vote Tuesday evening, the Tamaqua school board’s Security Committee says it will suspend the implementation of the policy pending a court hearing on its validity. Both...
Russia says WADA has started copying doping data
MOSCOW — Russia says World Anti-Doping Agency experts have started copying data from a Moscow laboratory which could implicate numerous Russian athletes in past drug cases. Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov says in televised comments that “work has started with the equipment, setting the equipment up and copying the database.” He...
Much pared down, Penn State frat death case plods ahead
HARRISBURG — A string of guilty pleas has left just five defendants still fighting charges in the hazing-related death of a pledge at a Penn State fraternity two years ago. The case centers on what occurred at the Beta Theta Pi house in February 2017, when 19-year-old Tim Piazza of...
Jaguar Land Rover cutting 4,500 jobs
LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover said Thursday it will cut 4,500 jobs as the carmaker addresses slowing demand in China and growing uncertainty about the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. The luxury carmaker, owned by India’s Tata conglomerate, said the cuts will be in addition to 1,500 people who...
Rebel drone bombs Yemen military parade, kills at least 6
SANAA, Yemen — A bomb-laden drone launched by Yemen’s Shiite rebels exploded over a military parade for the Saudi-led coalition and its allies on Thursday near the southern port city of Aden, killing at least six people in a brazen attack that threatened U.N.-brokered peace efforts to end the yearslong...
Liberal lawmakers challenge Trump with drug cost legislation
WASHINGTON — Challenging the Trump administration on a high-profile consumer issue, leading congressional liberals plan to unveil a package of bills Thursday designed to radically reduce what Americans pay for prescription drugs by linking prices to lower costs in other countries. The legislation has little chance of becoming law under...
Scientists seek ways to finally take a real measure of pain
WASHINGTON — Is the pain stabbing or burning? On a scale from 1 to 10, is it a 6 or an 8? Over and over, 17-year-old Sarah Taylor struggled to make doctors understand her sometimes debilitating levels of pain, first from joint-damaging childhood arthritis and then from fibromyalgia. “It’s really...
Trump threatens emergency declaration ahead of border visit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he can’t reach a deal with Democrats to fund his promised border wall. He headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to draw further attention to his case after negotiations with lawmakers blew up. The...
Police: Ohio man doing doughnuts crashes new carVideo
RIVERSIDE, Ohio — Police say a man doing doughnuts in a just-purchased car struck a power pole in Ohio, sending him and his two children to the hospital. Authorities tell the Dayton Daily News the man was doing the stunt in a Pontiac G8 in a snowy parking lot in...
Naked driver arrested after police chase through Del., Pa.
PHILADELPHIA — Police used spike strips to help apprehend a naked motorist who led officers on a chase through Delaware and Pennsylvania. Delaware State Police began pursuing the vehicle after it was spotted traveling south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 on Wednesday evening. The vehicle switched direction several...
