AP-National

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani revealed at his introductory press conference with the Dodgers that the dog who joined him for last month’s MVP awards show is named Dekopin or Decopin. He suggests Americans call him Decoy. The pup’s name had become a source of speculation among baseball

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The former president of a Turkish soccer team who punched a referee on the field moments after a game has been permanently banned by the Turkish Football Federation. It says that it banned Faruk Koca, who has resigned as president of MKE Ankaragucu, for punching referee Halil Umut Meler on Monday

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New oil and natural gas leasing will be prohibited on New Mexico state land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park for the next 20 years. State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order Wednesday extending a temporary moratorium she put in place when

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — California-based Rocket Lab has launched a Japanese satellite from the space company’s complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to forecast strong winds until Friday. The Electron rocket carried the TSUKUYOMI-I satellite into orbit on behalf of Japanese startup Institute

ATLANTA (AP) — The apology letters that Donald Trump-allied lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro were required to write as a condition of their plea deals in the Georgia election interference case are just one sentence long. The handwritten letters were obtained Thursday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request and posted online.

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press A former communications director for the Michigan GOP says that he believes an attorney for then-President Donald Trump’s campaign “took advantage” of some of the 15 Republicans who face charges including forgery for allegedly serving as false electors. Anthony Zammit testified Thursday during a preliminary hearing in Lansing, Michigan. Investigators

By DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by a Virginia high school teacher who was fired after he refused to use a transgender student’s pronouns has been reinstated by the state Supreme Court. Peter Vlaming was a French teacher at West Point High School when he was fired in 2018.

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The court system in Kansas has started bringing its computer system for managing cases back online. That’s happening two months after a foreign cyberattack forced officials to shut it down, along with public access to documents and other systems. The judicial branch announced Thursday that the

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A man who accosted Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin at a campaign stop in upstate New York last year received three years probation. Prosecutors say David Jakubonis approached Zeldin while carrying a keychain with two sharp points at a campaign rally near Rochester, New York, in July 2022. The two men

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Faith and education leaders are denouncing plans for an After School Satan Club at a Tennessee elementary school. But say they would follow the law and allow the organization hosting the club to meet. The Commercial Appeal reports that around 40 members of the faith community in Memphis stood united with

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has appointed a new judge to preside over the case of another judge who has been indicted on charges of coercion of a witness and harassment in Memphis. Court records show Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was indicted Tuesday and booked Wednesday on the charges.

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say the man charged with setting a small fire at the New York courthouse hosting former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial burned papers bearing complaints about the criminal justice system. The 38-year-old man was arraigned Thursday on attempted arson and reckless endangerment charges.

By JOHN RABY AP Sports Writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — College basketball programs with athletes who have transferred two or more times previously are consulting their legal teams about whether to let them play. A federal judge’s temporary restraining order against the NCAA says athletes who previously were denied the chance to play immediately can

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A former FBI counterintelligence official has been ordered to spend over four years in prison for violating sanctions on Russia by going to work for a Russian oligarch seeking dirt on a wealthy rival. Charles McGonigal was sentenced Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Judge Jennifer H.

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — They began as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, then shortened their name in 2007 to simply Tampa Bay Rays. Now, as plans for a new ballpark take shape, some officials in the team’s home city are talking about changing the name again to

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A third North Carolina Democratic member of Congress isn’t seeking reelection this year due to redistricting that’s likely to shift North Carolina’s delegation to the right. U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel of Cary confirmed his decision Thursday. But he also said he would now look at

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Xcel Energy has been fined $14,000 related to leaks of radioactive tritium from its nuclear power plant at Monticello. Minnesota regulators say the relatively small fine was not for the leaks themselves, but because Xcel started pumping contaminated groundwater into a temporary storage tank before it had

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, a celebrated winemaker who helped establish Napa Valley as one of the world’s premier wine-making regions, has died. He was 100. Grgich died in his sleep Wednesday morning at his home in Calistoga, California, according to his winery, Grgich Hills Estate. Grgich was born on April

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A doctor and his wife who appeared on the Bravo reality series “Below Deck” have been arraigned on drug charges in New York for allegedly filling out bogus opioid prescriptions using the names of cast members from the show. Urologist Francis Martinis and his wife, Jessica

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A 10-year-old Black child who urinated in a parking lot must serve three months’ probation and write a two-page book report on the late NBA star Kobe Bryant, a Mississippi judge has ordered. Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow handed down the sentence