Associated Press stories, Page 368
Commanders who went through ‘darkness’ savor playoffs
ASHBURN, Va. — Tress Way does not like using the word “darkness” to describe the losing he has endured over the past decade as Washington’s longest-tenured player because of the fun he has had along the way. The two-time Pro Bowl punter even got to take part in a couple...
Sony Open starts race for fewer PGA Tour players to keep jobs
HONOLULU — The royal palms on a Waialae course that runs along the Pacific Ocean give a peaceful ambiance to the Sony Open, the ideal place for the full PGA Tour membership to start the year. But a new season has brought a small degree of stress in paradise. The...
Oil, gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge again receives no bids
JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said no bids were submitted for this week’s oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a sale the state has challenged as too restrictive and at odds with a 2017 law aimed at opening the refuge’s...
Feds’ suit claims Pennsylvania city’s ‘at-large’ election system is biased against Hispanic voters
The U.S. Justice Department wants a judge to declare that a Pennsylvania city’s method of electing council members citywide instead of by districts has illegally diluted the political power of its growing Hispanic population, arguing in a lawsuit that Hazleton is violating the federal Voting Rights Act. A complaint filed...
Ex-police officer and Proud Boys member gets 14 months in prison for joining Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — A former police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol with fellow members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 months in prison for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, court records show. Nathaniel Tuck and...
West Virginia care facility staff members charged in death of patient left in scalding hot bathtub
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two staff members at a northern West Virginia long-term care facility have been charged in the death of a patient who was left in a scalding hot bathtub a year ago, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday. Registered nurse Delilah Clyburn-Hill and certified nursing assistant Kylah Beard...
Russian missile attack in southern Ukraine kills at least 13 civilians, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine — A daytime Russian missile attack on the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 civilians and injured about 30 others Wednesday, officials said. Footage posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel showed civilians lying in a city street littered with debris. They were being...
Body of Israeli hostage found in Gaza, possibly alongside his son’s remains, army says
JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son. The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni’s body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering...
NHL will have outdoor games in Miami and Tampa next season
MIAMI — Hockey. Outdoors. In Florida. Next season, the NHL is making it happen — twice. The NHL announced Wednesday that the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will play host to the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami — home of baseball’s Marlins — on Jan. 2, 2026,...
NHL postpones L.A. Kings’ home game against Calgary due to wildfires, while NFL monitors situation
LOS ANGELES — The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires still burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers...
Trip to CFP title game on the line when Notre Dame, Penn State meet in Orange Bowl
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — It’s been a long time since Notre Dame or Penn State reached college football’s mountaintop as national champion. It was 1988 for the Fighting Irish, 1986 for the Nittany Lions. There’s been good seasons and bad seasons in the three-plus decades that have followed, coaching changes...
Penn State coach James Franklin calls for college football to have uniformity
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The SEC and the ACC are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played a seven-game league slate. Notre Dame doesn’t have a league. Enough, Penn State coach James Franklin...
A plot twist from what college football has become: A player who stayedVideo
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — When Penn State moved a different linebacker into what had been Tyler Elsdon’s starting spot, Elsdon made a choice that doesn’t really fit into the storyline college football has been selling these days. He stayed right where he was. In an era in which NIL money,...
Big kicks, big misses and big returns: special teams creating game-changing moments in the CFP
AUSTIN, Texas — Missed kicks and makes. Big returns. Shaky nerves. Special teams have produced some nerve-wracking, game-changing and game-clinching moments so far in the College Football Playoff. The potential for more blink-of-an-eye touchdowns and knee-knocking pressure on late game field goals gets even bigger heading into the semifinals with...
West Virginia’s Javon Small leads the Big 12 in scoring to fuel West Virginia’s return to the Top 25
Javon Small was the best player on mediocre teams during his first three college seasons. Now he’s the Big 12’s leading scorer and a major reason why short-handed West Virginia is relevant again. No. 21 West Virginia was picked to finish 13th in the 16-team Big 12 under first-year coach...
Former Baltimore Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz dies at 37
BALTIMORE — Brian Matusz, the left-handed pitcher who spent eight seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles as they returned to prominence a decade ago, has died. He was 37. The Orioles and the University of San Diego announced Matusz’s death Tuesday night, with USD saying it...
Egypt unveils ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts in Luxor
CAIRO — Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years. They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank, according to a statement released by...
Justice Department says it plans to release only part of special counsel’s Trump report for now
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect’s hoarding of classified documents at...
Trump wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Can he do that?
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.” It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada...
U.S. applications for jobless claims fall to 201,000, lowest level in nearly a year
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly a year last week, pointing to a still healthy labor market with historically low layoffs. The Labor Department on Wednesday said that applications for jobless benefits fell to 201,000 for the week ending Jan. 4, down from the...
JetBlue passenger suddenly opens exit door as flight is taxiing for takeoff at Boston airport
BOSTON — A person on board a plane at Boston Logan International Airport that was taxiing for takeoff suddenly opened an exit door and was quickly restrained by other passengers, authorities said. The JetBlue passenger was expected to face charges and be arraigned Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk...
Why Greenland? Remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Remote, icy and mostly pristine, Greenland plays an outsized role in the daily weather experienced by billions of people and in the climate changes taking shape all over the planet. Greenland is where climate change, scarce resources, tense geopolitics and new trade patterns all intersect, said Ohio University security and...
Pope Francis names 1st woman to head major Vatican office, choosing Italian nun
ROME — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more...
Affordable Care Act insurance coverage hits record enrollment but an uncertain future awaits under Trump
WASHINGTON — A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s landmark health legislation, as the program awaits an uncertain future under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress. Never have so many people enrolled in health care coverage through...
U.S. Justice Department accuses 6 major landlords of scheming to keep rents high
DENVER — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits. The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a...
