Archive By Section - Signal AP
Miss Universe not returning to Boston University
BOSTON (AP) - The 20-year-old Rhode Island woman who brought the Miss Universe crown back to the U.S. for the first time in 15 years will not be returning to Boston University.
Help at hand when elderly relative's health fails
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Marnie Schwartz was in California, a lawyer raising two toddlers. She was in no position to move across the country to care for her mother, who was living alone in New York and whose health was beginning to decline.
California prisons revamp isolation cells policy
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Prison officials tossed convicted killer Todd Ashker into California's notorious Security Housing Unit 25 years ago after "validating" him as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang.
Feds, shuttered NM peanut butter plant reach deal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A peanut butter plant shuttered by a widespread salmonella outbreak has been given the go ahead to start harvesting a bumper crop of prized eastern New Mexico Valencia peanuts next week under an agreement that ends a tense, monthslong standoff with federal regulators.
Heavy rain, snow in Northern California forecast
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heavy rain, pounding waves and plenty of snow in the mountains were all in the forecast as Northern Californians braced for a weekend of wintry weather and potential delays in holiday travel.
4.0-magnitude quake hits San Diego County desert
BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - A magnitude-4.0 earthquake has hit the San Diego County desert but there are no reports of damage or injuries.
Annual bird counts give scientists climate clues
MAD ISLAND, Texas (AP) - Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour Christmastime count of birds along the Texas Gulf Coast. Yellow rail. Barn owl. Bittern. Crested Cara-Cara. Kostecke rattled off the names and scribbled them in his notebook.
Boeing engineers use spuds to improve in-air Wi-Fi
CHICAGO (AP) - If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.
Calif. official says new payroll system in chaos
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A $371 million overhaul of California's government payroll system is in chaos and in danger of collapsing, the state controller's office warned in a letter demanding fixes from the contractor.
Urban advocates say new gun control talk overdue
For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control. Yet the guns blazed on. It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style assault rifle and 30-bullet magazines. Twenty young children and six adults ...
Raley's says union workers ratify new contract
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Officials at grocery chain Raley's say union workers have ratified a new labor contract.
Leagues poised to challenge NJ over sports betting
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal fight over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.
Conn. town in mourning inundated with gifts, money
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.
Naomi Watts shared 'Impossible' with family
LOS ANGELES (AP) - To play a mother torn from her husband and sons by the 2004 tsunami, Naomi Watts sure wasn't going Method.
Court blocks California law banning gay therapy
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law that bans therapy aimed at turning gay minors straight.
Articles by Section - Signal AP
Stocks keep sliding on weak data, Fed qualms
U.S. stocks continued a two-day slide Thursday on weak economic data and concern about the Federal Reserve's resolve to keep juicing the economy.
South Africa police replace top Pistorius investigator
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - Ahead of a judge's decision on whether to release Oscar Pistorius on bail, South African police on Thursday appointed a new chief detective in the murder case, replacing a veteran policeman who was himself charged with attempted murder.
Does Oscar crown await Affleck's 'Argo?'
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nominations morning last month revealed major surprises for the Academy Awards, promising one of the most wide-open campaigns ever for Hollywood's highest honors.
Freed Afghan Taliban fighters return to insurgency
ISLAMABAD (AP) - At least half the Afghan Taliban recently freed from Pakistani prisons have rejoined the insurgency, a Pakistani intelligence official says, throwing into question the value of such goodwill gestures that the Afghan government requested to restart a flagging peace process.
Police: Hotel altercation sparked Vegas shooting
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Las Vegas Strip became a scene of deadly violence early Thursday when someone in a black Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati at a stoplight, sending it crashing into a taxi that burst into flames, leaving three people dead and at least six injured.
Star Wars fans feel the force at lightsaber class
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A group of San Francisco Star Wars fans who want to travel to a galaxy not that far away have created a combat choreography class for Jedis-in-training with their weapon of choice: the lightsaber.
Obama considers weighing in on gay marriage case
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is quietly considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage, a step that would mark a political victory for advocates of same-sex unions and a deepening commitment by President Barack Obama to rights for gay couples.
BP civil settlement remains elusive as trial nears
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states affected by a massive oil spill nearly three years ago have indicated they would like to settle their environmental and economic claims with BP PLC ahead of a trial scheduled to start next week.
5 killed in Georgia plane crash
THOMSON, Ga. (AP) - Federal and local authorities were investigating Thursday after a small jet crashed off the end of a runway at a Georgia airport, killing five people and injuring two.
Officials probe death on L.A. hotel roof
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Canadian tourist Elisa Lam had been missing for about two weeks when officials at the historic Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles found her body in a water cistern on the hotel roof.
UPDATE: Snowstorm dumping on Midwest
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Much of the nation's heartland awoke Thursday to heavy snow, treacherous roads and a day off from work or school as a large, potentially dangerous winter storm pushed eastward out of the Rockies.
Official: Calif. gunman was loner, 'gamer'
TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) - The first of three people killed in a gunman's rampage was identified Wednesday as a 20-year-old woman but police did not know why she was in the home of the shooter, who lived with his parents and was described by authorities as a video game-playing loner.
Bolivia leader unable to visit Chavez at hospital
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday that he was unable to meet with his friend and ally Hugo Chavez when he came to the military hospital in Caracas where the Venezuelan president is undergoing unspecified cancer treatment.
