Home Blog Page 12608

AP Sportlight

By
The Associated Press
-

May 28

1901 — Parader, ridden by Fred Landry, overcomes a bad start to win the Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Sadie S.

1904 — Bryn Mawr, ridden by Eugene Hildebrand, wins the Preakness Stakes by one length over Wotan.

1946 — The Washington Senators beat New York 2-1 in the first night game at Yankee Stadium.

1956 — Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a home run in his eighth consecutive game for a major league record. Long connects off Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine at Forbes Field.

1978 — Al Unser wins his third Indianapolis 500, the fifth driver to do so, edging Tom Sneva by 8.19 seconds.

1985 — The San Diego Sockers beat the Baltimore Blast 5-3 to win the MISL title in five games.

1995 — Jacques Villeneuve overcomes one penalty and wins by another in the Indianapolis 500. Villeneuve drives to victory after fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear is penalized for passing the pace car on the final restart.

2000 — Dutch swimming star Inge de Bruijn sets her third world record in three days, adding the 100 freestyle mark to the 50 and 100 butterfly marks she set previously at the Sheffield Super Grand Prix. De Bruijn becomes the first swimmer to finish under 54.00 in the 100 freestyle at 53.80 seconds.

2006 — Sam Hornish Jr. overcomes a disastrous mistake in the pits and a pair of Andrettis — Marco and father Michael — to win the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever, by .0635 seconds.

2006 — Barry Bonds hits his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in behind Hank Aaron and his long-standing record of 755.

2007 — Duke has an almost unfathomable comeback fall short in a 12-11 loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA lacrosse championship game. The Blue Devils never finished their 2006 season, and then make it all the way back to the title game.

2011 — Novak Djokovic extends his perfect start to the season at the French Open, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 40th straight victory this year. Djokovic’s 40-0 start to 2011 is the second-best opening streak in the Open era, which started in 1968.

2020 — The Boston Marathon canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. The race had originally been scheduled for April 20 before being postponed for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

AP Sportlight

By
The Associated Press
-

May 28

1901 — Parader, ridden by Fred Landry, overcomes a bad start to win the Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Sadie S.

1904 — Bryn Mawr, ridden by Eugene Hildebrand, wins the Preakness Stakes by one length over Wotan.

1946 — The Washington Senators beat New York 2-1 in the first night game at Yankee Stadium.

1956 — Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a home run in his eighth consecutive game for a major league record. Long connects off Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine at Forbes Field.

1978 — Al Unser wins his third Indianapolis 500, the fifth driver to do so, edging Tom Sneva by 8.19 seconds.

1985 — The San Diego Sockers beat the Baltimore Blast 5-3 to win the MISL title in five games.

1995 — Jacques Villeneuve overcomes one penalty and wins by another in the Indianapolis 500. Villeneuve drives to victory after fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear is penalized for passing the pace car on the final restart.

2000 — Dutch swimming star Inge de Bruijn sets her third world record in three days, adding the 100 freestyle mark to the 50 and 100 butterfly marks she set previously at the Sheffield Super Grand Prix. De Bruijn becomes the first swimmer to finish under 54.00 in the 100 freestyle at 53.80 seconds.

2006 — Sam Hornish Jr. overcomes a disastrous mistake in the pits and a pair of Andrettis — Marco and father Michael — to win the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever, by .0635 seconds.

2006 — Barry Bonds hits his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in behind Hank Aaron and his long-standing record of 755.

2007 — Duke has an almost unfathomable comeback fall short in a 12-11 loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA lacrosse championship game. The Blue Devils never finished their 2006 season, and then make it all the way back to the title game.

2011 — Novak Djokovic extends his perfect start to the season at the French Open, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 40th straight victory this year. Djokovic’s 40-0 start to 2011 is the second-best opening streak in the Open era, which started in 1968.

2020 — The Boston Marathon canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. The race had originally been scheduled for April 20 before being postponed for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

May 29

1922 — The Supreme Court rules organized baseball is primarily a sport and not a business and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations.

1946 — Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta become the first thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They’re flown from New York to Inglewood, Calif., by the American Air Express Corp., a 2,446-mile trip that lasts 20 hours due to bad weather.

1971 — Al Unser wins his second straight Indianapolis 500 with a record mark of 157.735 mph and finishes 22 seconds ahead of Peter Revson. The pace car, ridden by Eldon Palmer, crashes into the portable bleachers and injures 20 people.

1977 — A.J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win four Indianapolis 500s and Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman in the race. Guthrie is forced to drop out after 27 laps with mechanical problems.

1983 — After three second-place finishes, Tom Sneva wins the Indianapolis 500 by 11 seconds over three-time champion Al Unser.

1988 — Rick Mears overcomes an early one-lap deficit, then overpowers the rest of the field on the way to his third Indianapolis 500 victory. Mears gives team-owner Roger Penske an unprecedented seventh victory and fourth in five years.

1990 — Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the top two seeds, are bounced in the first round of the French Open by two European teenagers, the first time the top two men’s seeds are eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Edberg is swept easily in straight sets by 19-year-old Sergi Bruguera of Spain, and Becker loses to 18-year-old Yugoslav Goran Ivanisevic.

1993 — Wayne Gretzky’s overtime goal gives the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference finals. The Kings become the first NHL team to play the full 21 games in the first three rounds.

1998 — Eighteen-year-old Marat Safin, ranked 116th in the world and playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, beats defending champion Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open.

2002 — Roger Clemens records the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Only Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) have more games with 10 or more strikeouts.

2005 — Dan Wheldon wins the Indianapolis 500 when Danica Patrick’s electrifying run falls short. Patrick is the first woman to lead at Indy, getting out front three separate times for a total of 19 laps. But Wheldon passes her with seven of the 200 laps to go and easily holds on.

2006 — Rafael Nadal passes Guillermo Vilas as the King of the clay courts and begins his pursuit of a second successive French Open trophy. Nadal earns his 54th consecutive win on clay, breaking the Open era record he shared with Vilas by beating Robin Soderling in straight sets in the first round at Roland Garros.

2010 — Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay pitches the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. Halladay strikes out 11 and goes to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.

2011 — JR Hildebrand, one turn from winning the Indianapolis 500, skids high into the wall on the final turn and Dan Wheldon drives past to claim an improbable second Indy 500 win in his first race of the year.

2011 — Roger Federer sets another record by reaching the French Open quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic closes in on a pair of his own. Federer extends his quarterfinal streak at major tournaments to 28 with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic maintains his perfect season to 41-0 and stretches his overall winning streak to 43 matches by beating Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

2012 — Serena Williams loses in the first round of a major tournament for the first time, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the French Open. Williams enters the day with a 46-0 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

May 30

1903 — Flocarline becomes the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes.

1908 — Jockey Joe Notter misjudges the finish of the Belmont Stakes and eases up on his mount, Colin, whose career record to that point was 13-for-13. Notter recovers from his mistake and holds off Fair Play, who came within a head of defeating Colin. When he retired, Colin’s record stood at 15 wins in as many starts.

1911 — Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds with an average speed of 74.59 mph.

1912 — Joe Dawson wins the second Indianapolis 500 in 6:21:06. Ralph Mulford is told he has to complete the race for 10th place money. It takes him 8 hours and 53 minutes as he makes several stops for fried chicken. The finishing rule is changed the next year.

1951 — Lee Wallard wins the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first driver to break the 4-hour mark with a time of 3:57:38.05.

1952 — At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500.

1955 — Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500. Bill Vukovich, seeking his third consecutive victory, is killed in a four-car crash on the 56th lap.

1985 — The Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year with an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5.

1993 — Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500, by 2.8 seconds. Fittipaldi takes the lead on lap 185 and holds on, outfoxing Formula One champion Nigel Mansell and runner-up Arie Luyendyk.

2004 — In Cooper City, Fla., Canada easily beats the United States in a three-day cricket match, the first competition on American soil sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.

2005 — Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years, beating Duke 9-8 to complete an undefeated season.

2009 — Travis Tucker hits an RBI single with one out in the top of the 25th inning to give Texas a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the longest baseball game in NCAA history.

2010 — Dario Franchitti gets a huge break from a spectacular crash on the last lap to climb back on top of the open-wheel world to win the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti’s second Brickyard victory in four years helps his boss, Chip Ganassi, become the first owner to win Indy and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in the same year.

2011 — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.

2012 — Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins by beating Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the second round of the French Open. Federer, who owns a record 16 major championships, is 234-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments. Connors was 233-49. The Open era began in 1968.

May 31

1927 — Detroit first baseman Johnny Neun records an unassisted triple play in the ninth inning to end the 1-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. Neun grabs a Homer Summa line drive, tags Charlie Jamieson at first and outruns Glenn Myatt to tag second.

1938 — Henry Armstrong beats Barney Ross for the world welterweight title.

1942 — Sam Snead wins the PGA Championship, beating Jim Turnesa in the final round 2 and 1.

1949 — Sam Snead wins the PGA Championship, defeating Johnny Palmer in the final round 3 and 2.

1965 — Jim Clark becomes the first non-U.S. driver in 49 years to win the Indianapolis 500.

1983 — The Philadelphia 76ers win the NBA championship with a 115-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a four-game sweep.

1987 — The Edmonton Oilers win their third Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in Game 7.

1992 — Ayrton Senna wins his fourth consecutive Monaco Grand Prix to end Nigel Mansell’s season-opening winning streak at five races.

1997 — Ila Borders becomes the first woman to pitch in a regular-season professional baseball game, in the sixth inning of the St. Paul Saints’ Northern League game against Sioux Falls. She struggles, giving up three earned runs without getting an out.

2001 — Pat Day becomes the third jockey to reach 8,000 wins by guiding Camden Park to a one-length victory on the turf in the sixth race at Churchill Downs. The 47-year-old Day trails only Laffit Pincay Jr. (9,147) and Bill Shoemaker (8,833).

2002 — Jason Kidd becomes the first player in 35 years to record three triple-doubles in an NBA playoff series, and the New Jersey Nets finish off the Boston Celtics with a 96-88 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. He joins Oscar Robertson (1963) and Wilt Chamberlain (1967) as the only players with three triple-doubles in a series.

2007 — LeBron James scores a career playoff-high 48 points to lead Cleveland to a 109-107, Game 5 win over Detroit in two overtimes. James is the first player to score 25 straight points for a team in the postseason while scoring 29 of the Cavaliers’ final 30 points.

2008 — Usain Bolt sets the world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. Bolt is .02 seconds faster than the old record held by fellow Jamaican, Asafa Powell.

2009 — Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten run at the French Open ends when the four-time defending champion loses to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the fourth round. Nadal’s record winning streak at Roland Garros ends at 31 matches.

2009 — Stephen Cardullo sets a tournament record with seven hits, including three of Florida State’s NCAA-record 15 doubles, as the Seminoles routs Ohio State 37-6 to advance to the super regionals.

2011 — Austrian player Daniel Koellerer is been banned for life by a tennis anti-corruption unit for attempting to fix matches. Koellerer, who was ranked No. 55 in 2009, is found guilty of three violations of the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program between October 2009 and July 2010.

2012 — Kevin Durant scores 22 points, Thabo Sefolosha sets playoff career-bests with 19 points and six steals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snap San Antonio’s 20-game winning streak by beating the Spurs 102-82 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

June 1

1925 — Lou Gehrig bats for Pee Wee Wanninger in the eighth inning and replaces Wally Pipp at first base to start his streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

1946 — Assault, ridden by Warren Merhtens, wins the Belmont Stakes to become the seventh horse to capture the Triple Crown.

1968 — Stage Door Johnny, ridden by Heliodoro Gustines, wins the Belmont Stakes in a record time of 2:27 1-5 and spoils the Triple Crown bid of Forward Pass, who finishes 1 1/4 lengths behind.

1975 — Nolan Ryan of the California Angels pitches his fourth no-hitter to tie Sandy Koufax’s record, beating the Baltimore Orioles 1-0.

1975 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA tournament by one stroke over Sandra Haynie.

1986 — Pat Bradley wins the LPGA tournament and becomes the first to win all four major women’s tournaments, beating Patty Sheehan by one stroke.

1992 — The Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 for a four-game sweep.

1996 — The LSU women win their 10th consecutive NCAA track team title with 81 points, the longest victory string in women’s college sports.

2002 — Detroit advances to the Stanley Cup finals for the fourth time in eight years with a 7-0 win over Colorado in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Colorado becomes the first NHL team to play in four consecutive Game 7s. Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek sets an NHL record by recording his fifth shutout of the playoffs.

2004 — Detroit and Indiana combine for just 60 first-half points in the Pistons’ 69-65 victory, breaking the NBA playoff record of 62 set by the Pistons and Nets during the second round.

2008 — Hillary Will is the 11th woman in NHRA history to win a national event when she takes the Top Fuel event at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals. Will drives her dragster to a 4.744-second run at a top speed of 304.53 mph, beating No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon for her first career win in Top Fuel.

2010 — French Open upset specialist Robin Soderling strikes again, rallying past defending champion Roger Federer in a rainy quarterfinal, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. The loss ends Federer’s record streak of reaching the semifinals in 23 consecutive major events.

2012 — Jonathan Crawford pitches the seventh no-hitter in NCAA tournament history, shutting down Bethune-Cookman in a 4-0 victory in the opener of the Gainesville Regional.

2012 — Alex Miklos hits a go-ahead RBI triple in the 21st inning as Kent State outlasts Kentucky 7-6 in the second-longest game in NCAA tournament history.

June 2

1896 — Hastings, ridden by H. Griffin, edges Handspring by a neck to capture the Belmont Stakes.

1908 — Royal Tourist, ridden by Eddie Dugan, posts a four-length victory over Live Wire in the Preakness Stakes.

1909 — Joe Madden, ridden by Eddie Dugan, wins the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths over Wise Mason.

1935 — Babe Ruth, 40, announces his retirement as a player.

1947 — After a six-year layoff, 13-year-old Honey Cloud wins the second race at Aqueduct. His jockey, Clarence Minner, takes his first ride in 10 years.

1985 — Nancy Lopez beats Alice Miller by eight strokes to win the LPGA championship.

1991 — Andrettis finish 1-2-3 in the Miller 200 at Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway in Milwaukee. Mario Andretti finishes third, his son Michael wins the race and his nephew John finished second.

1996 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 4-under 66 to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open. Sorenstam’s 8-under 272 is the best ever in the Open.

2002 — Annika Sorenstam matches the LPGA record for margin of victory in a 54-hole event while winning the inaugural Kellogg-Keebler Classic. Sorenstam finishes at 21-under 195 to win by 11 strokes.

2005 — Jockey Russell Baze records his 9,000th career victory aboard Queen of the Hunt in the eighth race at Golden Gate Fields.

2007 — Daniel Gibson scores a career-high 31 points as Cleveland beats Detroit 98-82 to advance to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are the third team to come back from an 0-2 deficit in a conference finals, joining the 1971 Baltimore Bullets and 1993 Chicago Bulls.

2008 — Pittsburgh outlasts Detroit 4-3 in three overtimes of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Petr Sykora scores at 9:57 of the third overtime ending the fifth-longest finals game in NHL history.

2010 — Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers loses his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on a call that first base umpire Jim Joyce later admits he blew. First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fields Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and makes an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball is there in time, and all of Comerica Park is ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signals safe.

2011 — Dirk Nowitzki makes the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Dallas Mavericks roar back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece. The Mavs outscore the Heat 22-5 down the stretch and pull off the biggest comeback win in an NBA finals since 1992.

June 3

1932 — Lou Gehrig becomes the first major league player to hit four consecutive home runs in a game, giving the New York Yankees a 20-13 win over the Philadelphia A’s. Gehrig’s feat, however, is overshadowed by the resignation of John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants for 30 years.

1944 — Bounding Home, ridden by G.L. Smith, wins the Belmont Stakes by one-half length over Pensive, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

1961 — Sherluck, ridden by Braulio Baeza, wins the Belmont Stakes. Carry Beck, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, finishes seventh.

1984 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by a record 10 strokes over Beth Daniel and Pat Bradley.

1991 — Thomas Hearns becomes a world champion for the sixth time, capturing the World Boxing Association’s light-heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Virgil Hill.

1992 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan scores a record 35 points, including a record six 3-pointers, in the first half as the Bulls beat Portland 122-89 in the opening game of the NBA Finals. Jordan finishes with 39 points and Chicago is only two points shy of the largest victory margin in the finals.

1995 — Pedro Martinez of Montreal pitches nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos’ 1-0 win.

1999 — Four days after her first LPGA Tour victory, Kelli Kuehne ties the Women’s U.S. Open record with an 8-under 64 in the first round to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster.

2001 — Karrie Webb wins the U.S. Women’s Open in a runaway for the second year in a row. Webb shoots a 1-under 69 for an eight-stroke victory, the largest margin at a Women’s Open in 21 years.

2004 — Calgary ties an NHL record with its 10th road win of the playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa Bay in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. The New Jersey Devils also won 10 road playoff games during their championship seasons of 1995 and 2000.

2006 — Jeff Burton has the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch race, overcoming a 36th-place starting position in the Dover 200 for his second victory of the season.

2006 — Russia’s Nikolai Valuev retains his WBA heavyweight title in Hanover, Germany, stopping Jamaican challenger Owen Beck with a right uppercut in the third round.

2011 — Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic’s perfect season and 43-match winning streak, beating him 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the French Open semifinals. Federer advances to the title match against five-time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal reaches his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros by defeating Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Granholm sells stock in electric bus maker that Biden touted

By
The Associated Press
-

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has sold her ownership interest in an electric bus maker that President Joe Biden touted during a “virtual visit” last month.

A spokesman said Granholm sold her holdings in California-based Proterra this week, clearing a net gain of $1.6 million. The sale fulfills Granholm’s obligations under an ethics agreement three months before an August deadline, the Energy Department said.

“Secretary Granholm has acted in full accordance with the comprehensive ethical standards set by the Biden administration and has completed her divestment well ahead of the time required by her ethics agreement,” spokesman Kevin Liao said in an email.

Details of the sale will be released by the Office of Government Ethics, although the timing is not certain.

Republicans had criticized Granholm’s holdings in the company, noting the Biden administration’s focus on electric vehicles as part of its push to address climate change. Criticism grew louder after Biden’s online visit to a Proterra manufacturing facility in South Carolina to highlight U.S. electric vehicle makers.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, asked the Energy Department’s inspector general to investigate whether Granholm’s ownership in the company represented a conflict of interest. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the House Oversight Committee, also pressed Granholm for details on her relationship to Proterra.

Granholm, a former Proterra board member, pledged during her confirmation hearing to recuse herself from any matters with “a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of Proterra” until she completed sale of her interest in the company.

Granholm and the White House said she had nothing to do with the planning of Biden’s online visit.

Granholm, a former Michigan governor, is a longtime proponent of electric vehicles and has promoted their use as energy secretary, calling them a key part of Biden’s climate strategy.

The Energy Department said Granholm’s stock sale came 89 days after she was sworn in as energy secretary, less than half the 180 days required by her ethics agreement.

Execution date set for inmate suing SC over firing squad law

By
The Associated Press
-

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday set an execution date for one of two death row prisoners suing the state over a new law forcing inmates to choose between dying by firing squad or electric chair.

Brad Sigmon’s execution is scheduled for June 18, according to court documents.

Sigmon and another man on death row, Freddie Owens, both sued the state earlier this month, arguing that they can’t be electrocuted or shot since they were sentenced under a prior law that made lethal injection the default execution method.

Their attorneys are seeking to block upcoming executions as the lawsuit works its way through the courts.

The state Corrections Department has said the electric chair is ready to use, but no firing squad has yet been established, with officials researching how other states carry out executions with firing squads.

South Carolina is one of only nine states to still use the electric chair and the fourth to allow a firing squad. The other three states that allow a firing squad are Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The execution notice comes less than two weeks after Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law a bill aimed at restarting executions after an involuntary 10-year pause, when the state ran out of lethal injection drugs. That law would require inmates to pick either death by gunshot or electrocution if lethal injection is not an available option.

The court last scheduled Sigmon to die on Feb. 12. He declined to choose between lethal injection and electrocution at the time, and the execution was later stayed due to the lack of lethal injection drugs.

Sigmon, 63, was convicted in 2002 for the double murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents in Greenville County. He is among 37 inmates, all men, currently on South Carolina’s death row.

South Carolina’s last execution took place in May 2011, and its batch of lethal injection drugs expired in 2013.

Liu is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Man rescued from Colorado pass hours after women disappeared

By
The Associated Press
-

DENVER — On a snowy, frigid night in 1982, a man used his pickup truck headlights to signal SOS to a passing passenger plane overhead and was rescued from the snowdrift where he got stuck on a Colorado mountain pass.

Down the mountain in a ski resort town about 50 miles away earlier that night, two women disappeared whose bodies were later found. For nearly 40 years the case went cold and the incidents seemed to be unrelated. But modern forensic genealogy techniques unveiled a different answer, leading to the arrest earlier this year of the man who had been rescued.

When Alan Phillips made his SOS signal, the sheriff from Jefferson County near Denver, Harold Bray, was on the plane and happened to see it. He notified the pilot, who in turn notified authorities, leading to a search, according to a UPI article at the time.

Dave Montoya, the fire chief in Clear Creek County at the time, found Phillips.

“Sure as heck, there he was in his little pickup, and he saw me and said, ‘Oh, God, I’m saved,’ ” Montoya told KUSA-TV. “He said he got drunk and decided to drive home. And I said, ‘You came up over the pass? And he said, well, it seemed like a good idea.’ I thought, how in the heck did this guy get so lucky, for all the stuff to fall into place?”

He had seen Phillips before at the mine where they both worked. But he did not see him again for nearly 40 years when he saw Phillips’ booking photo on television following his arrest in connection with the deaths of Annette Schnee, 21, and Barbara “Bobbi Jo” Oberholtzer, 29.

“We ended up picking up the guy straight out of hell,” Montoya said.

Phillips is represented by a public defender, who do not comment to the media on cases.

Schnee and Oberholtzer both went missing from Breckenridge separately on Jan. 6, 1982. It’s believed both were hitchhiking. Oberholtzer’s body was found the next day. Schnee’s body was found six months later.

Charlie McCormick, a retired Denver homicide detective who moved to Breckenridge in 1976 after being burned out on investigating murders, remembered reading and hearing about Allen’s rescue at the time. McCormick, now 81, was eventually drawn to investigate the women’s deaths and has worked on the case nearly every day for the past 32 years.

“We had the leads of two or three serial killers in Montana and Idaho, so we spent a lot of time researching and going there,” said McCormick, who first worked as an investigator for Schnee’s family for $1 a year and then as a volunteer for the district attorney’s office.

The investigation went overseas at one point, he said.

However, the man who became the suspect never left Colorado. When he was arrested, Allen was living in Dumont along Interstate 70, about 20 miles down the road from Guanella Pass.

Investigators eventually turned to genetic genealogy, which combines DNA testing with family history research. They spent about a year looking at hundreds of family trees until McCormick said he got a long-awaited call from the team’s lead genetics researcher earlier this year.

“And she said, ‘We got him.’ It was phenomenal, something I thought I would never see,” he said.

Boy, 14, charged as adult in 13-year-old girl’s death

By
The Associated Press
-

ST. JOHNS, Fla. — A 14-year-old boy is being charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old cheerleader whose body was found in the northeast Florida woods earlier this month.

The State Attorney’s Office in St. Johns County filed a notice Thursday to transfer Aiden Fucci’s case from juvenile to adult court after a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge, according to court records. He faces a possible life sentence.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza said during a news conference that charging Fucci as an adult wasn’t only appropriate but the only choice his office could make. An autopsy discovered at least 114 stab wounds on Tristyn Bailey.

“Every time that arm went back and every time that arm went down, that was premeditation,” Larizza said.

Investigators said that Fucci had also told several friends that he planned to kill someone, though it wasn’t clear whether Bailey was his intended target from the beginning, Larizza said.

Bailey was last seen early May 9 at the community center in the Durbin Crossing community south of Jacksonville. Bailey and Fucci attended nearby Patriot Oaks Academy, where Bailey was a cheerleader.

Bailey’s parents reported her missing later that morning, and a neighbor found her body in a heavily wooded area that evening, the St. Johns County Sheriff Office said. Fucci was arrested the next day on a second-degree murder charge.

According to an arrest report, video surveillance from the community center showed the girl walking with Fucci shortly after 1 a.m. May 9. Another video from a nearby home showed the pair walking along a road about 1:45 a.m. The same video showed only Fucci walking in the areas at 3:27 a.m., the report said.

The videos led the detectives to talk to Fucci. The girl’s body was found close to the boy’s home, the report said. Detectives reported finding evidence related to the clothing seen in the surveillance videos in the boy’s bedroom. And some of the items had a presumptive positive result for the presence of blood, the report said. A dive team found a knife in a nearby pond that investigators believe was the murder weapon.

Wayne Gretzky rookie card sells for more than $3.7 million

By
The Associated Press
-

A Wayne Gretzky rookie card has sold for a record $3.75 million at auction.

Heritage Auctions of Dallas said Thursday the 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky card was in “gem mint” condition and went to an anonymous buyer. The card features the hockey great in his Edmonton Oilers uniform during the team’s final WHA season before the franchise joined the NHL.

The sale topped the online company’s previous high for a hockey card. In December, Heritage sold a Gretzky card from Professional Sports Authenticator for $1.29 million, the first hockey card to exceed $1 million.

The known record for a sports card sale came this year when a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball rookie card sold for $5.2 million through PWCC Marketplace.

A four-time Stanley Cup winner, Gretzky retired from the NHL in 1999 with a record 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points. He left his job as an Oilers executive this week to become a hockey television analyst for Turner Sports.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Giants load up offense with playmakers for QB Jones

By
The Associated Press
-

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants used free agency and the draft to add playmakers for quarterback Daniel Jones, and he is looking forward to meeting the challenge.

Entering his third season and second under Joe Judge, Jones downplayed feeling any extra pressure with the additions of free agent wideout Kenny Golladay, first-round receiver Kadarius Toney and veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph.

Add those players with receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton, tight end Evan Engram and a group of running backs that hopefully will include a healthy Saquon Barkley and the Giants (6-10) should be able to score a lot more points.

“It’s exciting for all of us to have an opportunity to bring in a couple new guys, build on what we already have,” Jones said after the voluntary minicamp workout. “We have a lot of good playmakers in the building. You add a few pieces, it’s exciting. Looking forward to getting out on the field.”

Jones, who turned 24 on Thursday, downplayed the thought there would be more pressure on him. He said the offense will produce if all 11 players do their jobs.

“Certainly, the quarterback plays a role in that, some communication, getting everyone on the same page,” he said. “I have a lot of responsibility in that, but it’s on each of us.”

With Aaron Rodgers seemingly having issues with the Green Bay Packers, Judge shot down any notion the team was interested in acquiring him, saying Jones is the Giants’ quarterback.

“He just has to be the best he is every day, that’s what we ask of all our players,” Judge said. “It’s not going to be perfect all the time, but we need to be the best version you can be of yourself and as coaches we can put you in the best position to play to your strengths.”

Golladay and Toney didn’t attend Thursday’s workout along with most of the secondary and several key players on the defensive line.

Jones is certain all of his teammates are working whether they are at the minicamp or home.

Barkley was at the camp, but he continued to rehab the knee injury that caused him to miss the final 14 regular-season games.

DRAFT PICK SIGNS

Cornerback Aaron Robinson has signed his rookie contract. The third-round pick is the fifth member of the team’s six-man draft class to do so, joining outside linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Elerson Smith and the two sixth-round choices, running back Gary Brightwell and cornerback Rodarius Williams.

Toney, the top pick, is the only unsigned player.

Robinson played in 29 games with 19 starts at Central Florida after beginning his collegiate career with one season at Alabama. He had 104 tackles, 21 passes defensed, three interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in three seasons at Central Florida.

SHEP NUMBER

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard has changed his number this season from 87 to 3. The NFL changed its rule regarding numbers and receivers can now wear a single digit.

“That means a lot to me,” Shepard said. “It’s been a number that I’ve been since I was a little kid, after my father passed. He wore No. 3 in college. That’s something that meant a lot to me, a lot to his teammates. I wanted to carry that on,” said Shepard who attended Oklahoma like his father, Derrick.

More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Bradley’s hit in 10th gives Brewers 6-5 victory over Padres

By
The Associated Press
-

MILWAUKEE — Jackie Bradley Jr.’s two-out hit off the right-field wall brought home Omar Narváez in the 10th inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

Willy Adames hit a three-run homer with four hits and four RBIs to help the Brewers earn a four-game split. The shortstop, acquired from Tampa Bay last week, also threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the eighth inning.

Eric Hosmer had a two-run homer for the Padres, who lost for just the second time in 13 games. San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. went 2 of 2 with two runs and two RBIs, though he the shortstop committed two errors on one play.

After Keston Hiura led off the 10th with a sacrifice that advanced Narváez, the automatic runner who started on second under pandemic rules. Luis Urías hit a fly to right that wasn’t deep enough to score the runner. Bradley responded with a hit off Miguel Diaz (2-1).

Brent Suter (4-3) held the Padres scoreless in the 10th, thanks in part to a couple of nice plays from Urías at third base.

After Adames’ homer off Craig Stammen put the Brewers ahead 5-3 in the seventh, the Padres tied the game and nearly took the lead in the eighth against Devin Williams.

Jurickson Profar led off the eighth a walk, stole second and scored on Tatis.’ bloop hit to left. Tatis advanced to third when Hosmer singled.

That brought up pinch-hitter Manny Machado, who lined a double to right-center that brought home Tatis with the tying run. Hosmer also tried to score on the play but was thrown out by Adames.

Milwaukee had appeared to take control of the game in the seventh when Adames hit his sixth homer of the season, and first since the Brewers acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays.

That came after Hosmer had put San Diego ahead with a homer in the sixth that capped a three-run outburst against Trevor Richards, who also came over from Tampa Bay in that Adames trade.

Each team broke through against the other’s bullpen after the two starters – Milwaukee’s Adrian Houser and San Diego’s Ryan Weathers – allowed one hit apiece in relatively short outings.

Weathers struck out five and walked two but left after throwing 78 pitches in four innings. Weathers has gone longer than four innings in just one of his six starts.

Houser struck out four and issued just one walk in five innings but was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: Machado remained out of the starting lineup for a seventh straight game. Machado has made pinch-hitting appearances each of the last two days after missing five games with right shoulder tightness.

Brewers: Utilityman Daniel Robertson opened the game at third base but departed in the seventh inning with a left calf cramp.

UP NEXT

The Padres open a three-game series at Houston on Friday. RHP Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 1.64 ERA) starts for San Diego and LHP Framber Valdéz makes his 2021 debut for Houston.

The Brewers begin a three-game set at Washington on Friday. The matchup of left-handers includes Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.34) for Milwaukee and Jon Lester (0-2, 5.33) for the Nationals.

___

Follow Steve Megargee at https://twitter.com/stevemegargee

More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

135K fans: Indy 500 will be largest sports event of pandemic

By
The Associated Press
-

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis 500 is set to become the largest sporting event since the pandemic hit in early 2020 with a reduced-capacity sellout crowd of 135,000 expected to attend Sunday’s race.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway worked with the Marion County Public Health Department to determine that 40% of venue capacity will be allowed. The speedway is the largest sporting facility in the world with more than 250,000 grandstand seats and the ability to host close to 400,000 on race day throughout the entire property.

Other large sporting events have included more than 73,000 fans at the bout earlier this month in Arlington, Texas, between Canelo Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders and 78,000 for a cricket match last month in Melbourne, Australia. But the Indy 500 will dwarf those totals this weekend.

The track also decided to lift the local broadcast blackout and allow Central Indiana fans the chance to watch beginning at 11 a.m. EDT on NBC.

NBC averaged 3.67 million viewers and a 2.3 rating for last year’s Indy 500, won by Takuma Sato in August when the race was moved away from Memorial Day weekend because of the pandemic and held without spectators for the first time in its 104 runnings. IMS also lifted its usual local blackout last year because spectators were not permitted.

The infield’s raucous “Snake Pit” will be closed and all the traditional pre-race concerts will not be held, including on Friday’s Carb Day. There will be suite seating and the Pagoda will be open to those with tickets, but the midway will be closed.

__

More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

1...12,60712,60812,609...22,146Page 12,608 of 22,146