NEW YORK (AP) — New York police say the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon inflation viewing will end two hours earlier this year and anyone attending must be screened. Tens of thousands of people are expected to head to Central Park on Wednesday to watch the giant balloons take shape. This year, the public must … Continue reading
Author Archives: dempseygriffin
Trump promises Americans ‘huge tax cut’ for Christmas
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday promised a tax overhaul by Christmas, a day after the White House signaled its willingness to strike a health care provision from Senate tax legislation if it’s an impediment to passing the tax bill. Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, Trump said: “We’re going to give the American … Continue reading
‘The Wire’ star makes documentary ‘Baltimore Rising’
NEW YORK (AP) — Sonja Sohn has gone from being in front of the camera to behind it. The actress, who played a Baltimore detective on “The Wire,” has become a documentary filmmaker and her debut offering is a powerful look at her beloved adopted city. “Baltimore Rising,” which was to debut Monday on HBO, … Continue reading
Trump says he should have left UCLA players in Chinese jail
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he should have left three UCLA basketball players accused of shoplifting in China in jail. Trump’s tweet Sunday comes after the father of player LiAngelo Ball minimized Trump’s involvement in winning the players’ release in comments to ESPN. “Who?” LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about … Continue reading
10 African Americans named Rhodes scholars, most ever
The latest group of U.S. Rhodes scholars includes 10 African Americans — the most ever in a single Rhodes class — as well as a transgender man and four students from colleges that had never had received the honor before. The Rhodes Trust on Sunday announced the 32 men and women chosen for post-graduate studies … Continue reading
Model accuses Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Model Keri Claussen Khalighi has come forward to accuse Def Jam Records mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct in 1991 when she was 17 years old. In a report Sunday in the Los Angeles Times, Khalighi says that Simmons coerced her to perform a sex act and later penetrated her without … Continue reading
Both candidates claim momentum in Virginia governor’s race
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam both claim momentum is on their side with one day to go before Election Day in Virginia’s high-stakes, closely watched race for governor. The candidates are racing across the state Monday after a weekend spent trying to trying to rally supporters ahead of … Continue reading
Washington shows its resolve by toppling Seahawks on road
SEATTLE (AP) — Jay Gruden did what coaches rarely do in the regular season and acknowledged this Washington victory had more significance. “This is pretty high, to be honest with you. Especially with where we are as a team,” Gruden said. “We were 3-4, it’s hard if we jump down to 3-5. We have to … Continue reading
‘Defenseless people’: Gunman kills 26 at South Texas church
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (AP) — A gunman dressed in black tactical-style gear and armed with an assault rifle opened fire inside a small South Texas church, killing 26 people in an attack that claimed tight-knit neighbors and multiple family members ranging in age from 5 to 72 years old. Once the shooting started Sunday at … Continue reading
Former Trump adviser’s guilty plea could rattle White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump dismissed George Papadopoulos as a “liar” and a mere campaign volunteer, but newly unsealed court papers outline the former adviser’s frequent contacts with senior officials and with foreign nationals who promised access to the highest levels of the Russian government. They also hint at more headaches for the White … Continue reading
Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Fallon set for Thanksgiving Parade
NEW YORK (AP) — Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Common and Andra Day will be among the stars celebrating at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Macy’s said Wednesday that Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr., 98 Degrees, Flo Rida, Wyclef Jean and Miss America Cara Mund also will participate in the 91st … Continue reading
Dodgers beat Astros 3-1, force World Series to Game 7
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson sliced a drive over the left-field wall, pounded his chest and danced around the bases , taking as many twists and turns as this World Series itself. Of course, the Los Angeles Dodgers forced the Houston Astros to Game 7. Chris Taylor hit a tying double off Justin Verlander … Continue reading
In Virginia’s Trump country, low enthusiasm for Republican
POUND, Va. (AP) — People in Virginia’s coal country still love President Donald Trump, but not his pick to be their next governor. Ed Gillespie is a Washington insider and Trump’s choice as Virginians prepare to go to the polls. The president promised southwest Virginia voters in a tweet, “Ed Gillespie will never let you … Continue reading
No joke: TV host Letterman honored with Mark Twain Prize
WASHINGTON (AP) — David Letterman was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Sunday night for his record run on late-night TV, innovative comedy routines and for helping the nation start to heal by reassuring that it was OK to laugh again after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Fellow entertainers gathered to honor Letterman where … Continue reading
Deflated Ball: Blake gets 29 in Clips’ 108-92 rout of Lakers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patrick Beverley crowded chest-to-chest with Lonzo Ball before an inbounds pass in the first quarter while they were 94 feet from the basket. Moments later at midcourt, Beverley emphatically fouled the Lakers’ rookie point guard and watched him fall. Ball still might turn out to be Los Angeles’ basketball star of … Continue reading
Hotel guard describes getting shot before Las Vegas massacre
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The gunman who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history first wounded an unsuspecting hotel security guard in a hallway who promptly radioed for help, according to a TV interview broadcast Wednesday with the guard and a hotel building engineer whose life he is credited with saving. In his … Continue reading
‘You are my slave:’ School’s Civil War Day sparks mom’s ire
KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — A new battle line has formed in the national debate over Civil War flags and symbols — this time at a Georgia school not far from a mountaintop where Confederate soldiers fired their cannons at Union troops more than a century ago. The school near Kennesaw Mountain last month invited fifth-graders … Continue reading
White House: $4,000 more for families with business tax cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — By slashing corporate tax rates, the Trump administration said Monday, the average U.S. household will get an estimated $4,000 more a year. This stunning 5 percent increase is likely to be met with skepticism from tax experts and Democratic lawmakers. Spread across every U.S. household, the White House analysis claims it would … Continue reading
Al Michaels sorry for ‘Sunday Night Football’ Weinstein joke
DENVER (AP) — NBC play-by-play man Al Michaels has quickly apologized after making a joke about Harvey Weinstein during “Sunday Night Football.” Michaels mused in the middle of the third quarter of the game between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos that the Giants were “coming off a worse week than Harvey Weinstein.” His … Continue reading
A cigarette, a car backfire: Small sparks can make big fires
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A carelessly discarded cigarette, a downed power line, a car’s backfire or a chainsaw’s pull. Just about anything could have started any one of the wildfires now tearing through Northern California, authorities said. “Every spark is going to ignite a fire,” said Ken Pimlott, the state’s top firefighter. He said the … Continue reading
Gov. McAuliffe to donate Weinstein’s campaign contributions
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he will donate funds given to his campaign by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to a nonprofit that aids victims of sexual and domestic violence. Crystal Carson, spokeswoman for McAuliffe’s Common Good VA political action committee, said in a statement Tuesday evening that the governor “is deeply … Continue reading
Review: In ‘Marshall,’ a young Thurgood in Connecticut
Thurgood Marshall, a titan of 20th-century law and a civil rights pioneer, has until now largely eluded Hollywood’s notice. Despite its title, “Marshall,” too, is wary of taking on the Supreme Court justice in full, sticking to a minor case from Marshall’s early career as counsel for the NAACP. That makes, for better and worse, … Continue reading
Debates, protests increase over universities’ slavery ties
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The national debate over removing Confederate symbols from U.S. college campuses is spurring wider questions about university benefactors whose ties to slavery or white supremacy flew under the radar in decades past. Students and alumni are no longer simply opposing overt Confederate memorials, but also lesser-known founders and donors with … Continue reading
US Gulf Coast braces for fast-approaching Hurricane Nate
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rainfall from fast-moving Hurricane Nate lashed southeast Louisiana on Saturday afternoon as the storm headed for an evening landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast and residents in vulnerable, low-lying areas fled. “It’s coming,” Larry Bertron said as he and his wife Kimberlee prepared to leave their home in the Braithwaite community … Continue reading
Rapper Nelly arrested on rape accusation
SEATTLE (AP) — Police arrested rapper Nelly early Saturday after a woman said he raped her on his tour bus in a town outside Seattle, an accusation the Grammy winner’s attorney staunchly denied. Auburn police spokesman Commander Steve Stocker said Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., was in jail Saturday after being … Continue reading