AP News Digest 6:20 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 4 months AGO
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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NEW/DEVELOPING
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Adds TRUMP-SLAVERY, ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-OPPOSITION, POSTAL-SERVICE-STATES-LAWSUIT, TROPICAL-WEATHER-ONE-RESCUE, SAME-SEX-COUPLES, 2020-CENSUS, FBN--VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHIEFS FANS, POLICE SHOOTING-SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT, SCI-JUPITER-PORTRAIT
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ONLY ON AP
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AP POLL-STATE OF THE COUNTRY — Less than seven weeks until Election Day, most Americans are deeply pessimistic about the direction of the country and skeptical of President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly 7 in 10 Americans think the nation is on the wrong track, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. By Julie Pace and Hannah Fingerhut. SENT: 900 words, photos, graphics.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-MASKS — The gulf between President Trump and public health experts over wearing masks keeps getting wider. Trump has gone back and forth on masks in the roughly six months since the coronavirus took root in the U.S., muddying the message from doctors and health officials who say masks are crucial to slowing the spread of the virus. By Darlene Superville and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Just two weeks after students started returning to Ball State University last month, the surrounding county had become Indiana’s coronavirus epicenter. Out of nearly 600 students tested for the virus, more than half have been positive. Dozens of infections have been blamed on off-campus parties, prompting university officials to admonish students. By Casey Smith, Irena Hwang and Collin Binkley. SENT: 1,340 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-FEDERAL ARRESTS — In a memo to U.S. attorneys obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department emphasizes that federal prosecutors should aggressively go after demonstrators who cause violence — and even sedition charges could potentially apply. By Michael Balsamo, Alanna Durkin Richer and Colleen Long. SENT: 1,300 words, photo, graphic. With RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND UNREST — The Justice Department explored whether it could pursue either criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Oregon. SENT: 400 words, photos.
TRUMP-SLAVERY — President Trump intensifies efforts to appeal to his core base of white voters by downplaying the historical legacy of slavery in the United States and blasting efforts to address systemic racism as divisive. By Aamer Madhani and Deb Riechmann. SENT: 560 words, photos, video. With ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — Trump aims to boost enthusiasm among rural and exurban voters in Wisconsin. SENT: 480 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from 9 p.m. event, 800 words by 10 p.m.; ELECTION 2020-MAIL VOTING-FACT CHECK — Trump again distorts the risks of mail-in voting. SENT: 930 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN — Joe Biden returns to Pennsylvania for a socially distanced town hall just outside his hometown, Scranton. The CNN town hall is his first time taking live, unscripted questions from average Americans since becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. By Lisa Mascaro and Bill Barrow. SENT: 650 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from 8 p.m. event, 890 words by 9 p.m. With ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-FACT CHECK — Biden wrongly suggests Trump branded the coronavirus a hoax. SENT: 450 words, photo.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
WESTERN WILDFIRES-HOW DID WE GET HERE — It began as a stunning light show on a mid-August weekend — lightning bolts crackling in the skies over Northern and Central California, touching down in grasslands and vineyards. The National Weather Service warned that the dry lightning striking a parched landscape “could lead to new wildfire.” It turned out to be a huge understatement. Thousands of bolts ignited hundreds of fires in California and at least one in Oregon, setting the stage for some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. By Andrew Selsky. SENT: 980 words, photos. With WESTERN-WILDFIRES-THE LATEST (sent)
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FBN--VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHIEFS FANS — Ten fans who attended the Kansas City Chiefs game last week have been told to quarantine after one fan tested positive for COVID-19, Kansas City health officials say. SENT: 180 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING HOMES — The Trump administration claims “resounding vindication” from a report on the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes, but some commission members say that’s a misreading of their work and much remains to be done. SENT: 760 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NYC SCHOOLS — Short of staff and supplies for opening New York City’s public school system for both remote and in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that in-school learning for most city students will be pushed back at least another week. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-POLL WORKERS-MASKS -- Poll workers signed up to work the November election in a county near St. Louis have been urged in an email to “act surprised” if voters ask why they aren’t wearing masks given the coronavirus threat. The St. Charles County Election Authority’s email Wednesday says workers will not be required to wear a mask but must keep one near them and put it on if a voter asks. SENT: 600 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-ASIAN AMERICANS — The House approves a Democratic resolution to condemn racism against Asian Americans; Republicans call it “woke culture on steroids.”
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHO QUARANTINE — The World Health Organization’s European director warned national governments against reducing the quarantine period for people potentially exposed to the coronavirus, even as he acknowledged that COVID-19 “fatigue” was setting in with growing public resistance to the measures needed to control the pandemic. SENT: 385 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-MARATHON NUN -- Sister Stephanie Baliga has run the Chicago Marathon for the past nine consecutive years. When the race was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, she decided to run a treadmill marathon in her convent’s basement to raise money for the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels food pantry in Chicago. In the end, she finished her “race” with a time of 3 hours and 33 minutes, which was submitted to Guinness World Records. So far, she has raised more than $130,000 for her mission. SENT: 590 words, photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-MASKS-IN-SCHOOLS — Whether students have to wear masks depends on where they go to school. SENT: 310 words, graphic.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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MASK PROTEST-TWISTED SISTER — Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider took to social media to condemn anti-maskers who ripped off their masks inside a Florida Target store while blaring the group’s hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” SENT: 485 words.
SAME-SEX-COUPLES — Five years after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages around the U.S., more than a half million households are made up of married same-sex couples, according to figures the U.S. Census Bureau released. SENT: 550 words, photo.,
POLICE SHOOTING-SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT — A Dallas school district is investigating a high school teacher who asked students to write about a modern-day hero and listed the 17-year-old accused of killing two people during Wisconsin protests as a possible option. SENT: 190 words.
SCI-JUPITER-PORTRAIT — Jupiter and its enticing moon Europa shine in a new photo by the Hubble Space Telescope. SENT: 170 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS/2020 ELECTION
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POSTAL-SERVICE-STATES-LAWSUIT — A U.S. judge blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them “a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service” before the November election. SENT: 760 words, photos.
CONGRESS-RUSSIA PROBE — Former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, appearing just a month before the presidential election as Republicans try to make the case that he worked against Donald Trump in 2016. SENT: 450 words, photo.
FBI-DOMESTIC EXTREMISM — FBI Director Chris Wray tells lawmakers that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, testimony that puts him at odds with President Trump, who has said he would designate it a terror group. By Eric Tucker and Ben Fox. SENT: 650 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-OPPOSITION — Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, joins the chorus of former Trump administration officials urging voters to deny President Trump a second term. SENT: 470 words, photo.
MELANIA TRUMP — First lady Melania Trump uses her first solo public trip outside Washington since before the start of the coronavirus pandemic to showcase a piece of her “Be Best” youth well-being initiative in a state her husband is hoping to win in November. By Patrick Whittle. SENT: 390 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-NOTEBOOK — Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer doesn’t seem overly concerned about election cases landing in his lap. Breyer, a member of the court that decided the Bush v. Gore case essentially settling the disputed 2000 presidential election, says, “I’ve learned over time, deal with the case when it comes up, don’t deal with it on the basis of what’s said in a newspaper.” SENT: 538 words, photos.
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TROPICAL WEATHER — Homeowners and businesses along the soggy Gulf Coast began cleaning up in the wake of Hurricane Sally, even as the region braced for a delayed, second round of flooding in the coming days from rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains. SENT: 980 words, photos, videos.
TROPICAL-WEATHER-ONE-RESCUE — The firetrucks and rescue vehicles kept passing her house even after Elaine Hulgan, 76, wrote “IN ATTIC HELP” on the front door. So Hulgan’s 84-year-old husband resorted to his best emergency signal: an ear-splitting whistle. The noise rose above the din, and a firefighter on a Jet Ski soon rescued the couple and their two dogs off the front stoop of their brick home. SENT: 520 words, photos.
2020-CENSUS — Ending the 2020 census at the end of September instead of the end of October, could cost Florida and Montana congressional seats. It could also result in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina losing $500 million annually in federal funding for healthcare for its neediest residents, according a report. SENT: 630 words, photos.
ACTRESS FATAL-ACCIDENT — Amy Locane, a former “Melrose Place” actress who has already served a prison sentence for a fatal 2010 drunken driving crash in New Jersey, is headed back behind bars after a judge agreed with prosecutors that her initial sentence was too lenient. SENT: 550 words, photo.
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RUSSIA GERMANY-NAVALNY — Colleagues of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say that a water bottle with a trace of the Novichok nerve agent was found in his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk after he fell ill on a flight from there to Moscow last month. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
GREECE-MIGRANT SHIP-BLAZE — More than 5,000 asylum seekers left homeless after Greece’s notoriously overcrowded Moria camp on the island of Lesbos burnt down have now been housed in a new facility, the country’s migration minister said Thursday afternoon. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000, still a historically high number of people that illustrates the broad economic damage still taking place nine months after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. The Labor Department said that U.S. jobless claims fell by 33,000 from the previous week and that 12.6 million are collecting traditional unemployment benefits, compared with just 1.7 million a year ago. By Economics Writer Paul Wiseman. SENT: 880 words, photos.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Another slide in technology companies helped pull stocks lower on Wall Street, extending losses from the day before. SENT: 880 words, photos.
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EMMYS — This weekend’s Emmy Awards have bragging rights: they’re the first big Hollywood ceremony to attempt a live — but socially distanced — broadcast amid the pandemic. Jimmy Kimmel will hold court at downtown LA’s Staples Center for Sunday’s broadcast on ABC. SENT: 820 words, photos.
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BKN-HEAT CELTICS — Miami looks to take a 2-0 lead on Boston in their Eastern Conference finals series, which resumes Thursday night. The Celtics haven’t gotten themselves into an 0-2 hole since the East finals in 2017. Game begins 7 p.m. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 10:30 p.m.
GLF-US OPEN - The U.S. Open begins at Winged Foot for the sixth time with a September date not seen for this championship since 1913. Dustin Johnson is among the favorites. Tiger Woods returns to the course where he missed the cut for the first time in a major. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 8 p.m.
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