Crises forge Beshear's role as Kentucky's consoler in chief
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's first term in office has been dominated by one deadly crisis after another: the global COVID-19 pandemic, tornadoes that killed scores of people in western Kentucky and floodwaters in Appalachia that left dozens more Kentuckians dead.
NCAA puts Auburn hoops on 4 years probation, suspends Pearl
The NCAA has placed the Auburn menโs basketball program on four years probation for unethical conduct involving former associate head coach Chuck Person and imposed a two-game suspension on coach Bruce Pearl for failing to monitor his assistant and adequately promote compliance.
New this week: Will Smith, 'Tick, Tick... Boom!' and Adele
This weekโs new entertainment releases include a much-anticipated album from Adele, a documentary about Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show and Will Smith playing father and tennis guru to Venus and Serena Williams.
Error mars vote count in NYC mayoral primary
The Democratic primary for mayor of New York City was thrown into a state of confusion Tuesday when election officials abruptly retracted their latest report on the vote count after realizing it had been corrupted by test data never cleared from a computer system.
Man's Ebola relapse spawned dozens of new cases in Africa
(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)A man in Africa who developed Ebola despite receiving a vaccine recovered but suffered a relapse nearly six months later that led to 91 new cases before he died. This is the first one clearly shown to have spawned a large cluster of new cases. In June 2019, he developed symptoms and was diagnosed with the disease. In late November, he again developed symptoms and sought care at a health center and from a traditional healer. Giving them to Ebola patients is thought to boost the immune system, and studies suggest they improve survival.
No execution: Courts side with inmate wanting pastor present
The lethal injection of Willie B. Smith III was called off Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, when the U.S. Supreme Court maintained an injunction. The state prison system said the execution would not proceed given the ruling. โAlabama has not carried its burden of showing that the exclusion of all clergy members from the execution chamber is necessary to ensure prison security. Smith had sought to allow his spiritual adviser, Pastor Robert Wiley, in the execution chamber, something the state does not allow. In the past, Alabama routinely put a Christian prison chaplain, who was employed by the state, in the execution chamber to pray with an inmate if requested.
AP All-Big 12: Iowa State players and coach win top awards
Campbell, in his fifth season at Iowa State, got all 20 votes as coach of the year. Iowa State had four first-team selections for the AP All-Big 12 team, matching Oklahoma and Texas Tech for the most in league. RB โ u-Breece Hall, Iowa State, 6-1, 215, So., Wichita, Kansas. G โ Derek Schweiger, Iowa State, 6-3, 311, Jr., Plymouth, Wisconsin. WR โ Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State, 6-3, 207, Jr., Jacksonville, Florida.
Play 'Thoughts of a Colored Man' to get a Broadway run
NEW YORK โ Playwright Keenan Scott II's play โThoughts of a Colored Man,โ a work about the outer and inner lives of Black men, is heading to the bright lights of Broadway. The play will be given a Shubert theater and will open whenever Broadway restarts. The play made its world premiere last year at Syracuse Stage and also was produced at Baltimore Center Stage. While discussions of transferring โThoughts of a Colored Manโ to Broadway predated the protests, Moreland said the show's championing of diversity and inclusion fits perfectly in an era of Black Lives Matter and outcries over young Black deaths. Several theater companies โ including The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater โ have appointed or elevated theater artists of color.
Court won't revive state fraud charges against Manafort
NEW YORK โ A New York court on Thursday upheld a decision dismissing state mortgage fraud charges against Paul Manafort on double jeopardy grounds, affirming a lower court finding that they mirrored the federal charges that landed President Donald Trumpโs former campaign chairman behind bars. A four-judge panel in the state's intermediate appeals court ruled that Manhattan prosecutors failed to show that the state charges they brought against Manafort last year warranted an exception to state double jeopardy protections. Manhattan Judge Maxwell Wiley reached the same conclusion in December, explaining at the time that "the law of double jeopardy in New York state provides a very narrow window for prosecution." Prosecutors contended that the state charges qualified for an exception because they were meant to prevent โvery different kindsโ of harm than the federal charges that landed Manafort behind bars and that Wiley had taken an โexceedingly broad viewโ in reaching his decision. In their appeal, Manhattan prosecutors acknowledged their case involved some of the same issues as the federal case.
Online fall Broadway play revivals attract starry casts
NEW YORK โ Broadway theaters may be dark, but there will be plenty of new online productions of some of classic plays this fall with some starry self-isolating actors, including Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Patti LuPone, Laura Linney and David Alan Grier. Producer Jeffrey Richards on Wednesday unveiled a weekly play run of livestreamed works to benefit The Actors Fund. They will stream on Broadwayโs Best Shows and ticket buyers can access the events through TodayTix starting at $5. David Mametโs โRace" is up on Oct. 29, starring David Alan Grier and Ed OโNeill. Mametโs โBoston Marriageโ is slated for Nov. 12 with Patti LuPone and Rebecca Pidgeon.
White House lawyer in running for seat on the Supreme Court
Kate Comerford Todd is a deputy White House counsel, helping navigate Trump's White House through a thicket of legal issues. Her experience is otherwise diverse: she's twice counseled the White House, worked at a prestigious law firm and represented the interests of a leading business advocacy group. โShe is absolutely brilliant,โ said Helgi Walker, a partner at the Gibson Dunn law firm who also served as a Thomas law clerk and as an associate White House counsel to Bush. Amy Coney Barrett is emerging as the early favorite to be the nominee after he met with her Monday before leaving the White House to campaign in Ohio. At the White House, for instance, she has helped vet federal judges but much of her work has taken place outside of public view and outside the headlines.
He set out to mobilize Latino voters. Then the virus hit.
The virus and the economic fallout it triggered is crashing down on Latinos just as they hit an electoral milestone. But if states such as California, Florida and Nevada were the proving grounds in elections past, North Carolina represents the future. โIโm my sisterโs voice, my brotherโs voice, my parentsโ voice.โTrump won North Carolina by less than 4 percentage points. After they married, Hurtado and Garcia settled in Alamance County in one of the commuter suburbs outside of Chapel Hill. In Alamance County, where Latinos are 13% of the population, they account for 62% of the countyโs 2,500 COVID cases.
He set out to mobilize Latino voters. Then the virus hit.
The virus and the economic fallout it triggered is crashing down on Latinos just as they hit an electoral milestone. But if states such as California, Florida and Nevada were the proving grounds in elections past, North Carolina represents the future. Im my sisters voice, my brothers voice, my parents voice.Trump won North Carolina by less than 4 percentage points. After they married, Hurtado and Garcia settled in Alamance County in one of the commuter suburbs outside of Chapel Hill. In Alamance County, where Latinos are 13% of the population, they account for 62% of the countys 2,500 COVID cases.
Twitter faces backlash over handling of anti-Semitic posts
LONDON Some Twitter users are staging a 48-hour boycott of the platform over its handling of a stream of anti-Semitic comments that were posted on British rapper Wileys social media accounts. The boycott, under the hashtag #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate, followed complaints that Twitter was too slow to remove offensive material. U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel has written to the social media companies demanding an explanation as to the speed of their response. Some of Wileys posts were visible for more than 12 hours before being removed. Twitter banned the grime artist for seven days after posts Friday and Saturday.
Reality shows shortfalls of Trump's claim to 'best testing'
Trump's persistent salesmanship about the prowess of testing in the United States is colliding with a far different reality for those affected by the explosion in coronavirus cases. We have the best testing in the world, the president insisted Tuesday. 'Whoever is responsible for testing shortfalls, the result is working against Trump's own goals to move beyond the virus and get the economy moving. In Pennsylvanias Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents, health officials are trying to triage the demand for tests. This week U.S. health officials announced they would begin shipping rapid testing machines and kits to nursing homes in COVID-19 hot spots.
Reality shows shortfalls of Trump's claim to 'best testing'
Trump's persistent salesmanship about the prowess of testing in the United States is colliding with a far different reality for those affected by the explosion in coronavirus cases. We have the best testing in the world, the president insisted Tuesday. 'Whoever is responsible for testing shortfalls, the result is working against Trump's own goals to move beyond the virus and get the economy moving. In Pennsylvanias Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents, health officials are trying to triage the demand for tests. This week U.S. health officials announced they would begin shipping rapid testing machines and kits to nursing homes in COVID-19 hot spots.
20-year-old woman dies after darting in front of car, troopers say
MARION COUNTY, Fla. โ A woman is dead after troopers said she darted in front of an SUV Saturday morning. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 20-year-old Madison Wiley, of Orlando, was standing on the shoulder of CR-484 in Marion County around 4:30 a.m. when she darted into the path of a Nissa Murano. Troopers said Wiley was wearing dark clothes with little ambient lighting in the area, and she was not within a crosswalk or intersection. The driver of the SUV struck Wiley, throwing her onto the grass shoulder, according to the crash report. Wiley was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, troopers said.