Family issues
FILE - Kai Owens, center, celebrates after finishing first in the finals, between Hannah Soar, left, who finished second, and Tess Johnson, who placed third, in the World Cup women's dual moguls skiing competition Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Deer Valley, Utah. As an infant, she was abandoned at a town square in a province of China. Taken to an orphanage, she was adopted by a couple from Colorado at 16 months. Now 17, U.S. freestyle skier Kai Owens is on the verge of earning a spot in moguls for the Winter Games in Beijing. It's a return to China she's long thought about. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Adopted US moguls skier eyes return to China as Olympian

By Pat Graham Dec. 20, 2021 01:47 PM EST

FILE - Kayla Harrison is shown during a PFL (Professional Fighters League) bout against Larissa Pacheco at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., in this Thursday, May 9, 2019, file photo. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison tries for another $1 million prize when she fights Taylor Guardado in the main event of the 2021 PFL Championships this week in Florida. (AP Photo/Greg Payan, File)
Harrison, now a mother of 2, fights for $1M PFL championship

By Dan Gelston Oct. 25, 2021 10:36 AM EDT

FILE - Alexander Zverev, of Germany, serves to Andrey Rublev, of Russia, during the men's single final of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio, in this Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, file photo. Zverev is seeded for the U.S. Open, the year's last Grand Slam tennis tournament. Play in the main draw begins in New York on Monday, Aug. 30. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster, File)
Zverev denies allegations, backs ATP domestic violence rules

By Brian Mahoney Aug. 27, 2021 05:43 PM EDT

Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, poses after winning the gold medal after the floor exercise during the artistic gymnastics men's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Olympian Dolgopyat arrives home to hero's welcome in Israel

By Laurie Kellman Aug. 03, 2021 07:31 AM EDT

Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, left, celebrates after winning the gold medal on the floor exercise during the artistic gymnastics men's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Israel's Olympic gold victory raises Jewish identity debate

By Ilan Ben Zion Aug. 02, 2021 02:52 PM EDT

Maria Belen Perez Maurice of Argentina, left, and Anna Marton of Hungary compete in the women's individual round of 32 Sabre competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Olympic fencing loss parried by love and marriage proposal

Jul. 26, 2021 08:13 AM EDT

In this photo provided by USA Softball, Jake and Janie Reed pose for a photo in Clearwater, Fla., in February 2020. Getting ready to reach the height of softball and make her Olympic debut for the United States, Janie Reed was on a training field at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, in Western Japan. Across the Pacific Ocean, 7,452 miles away, another important family first was unfolding in Miami: husband Jake Reed was about to walk onto a major league mound for the first time. (Jade Hewitt/Courtesy of USA Softball)
Games people play: A marriage of majors and the Olympics

By Ronald Blum Jul. 24, 2021 09:07 AM EDT

South Carolina getting $17M to help Head Start programs

Jun. 26, 2021 11:27 AM EDT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is getting more than $17 million in federal money to help programs that promote school readiness for young children from...

Rescue Plan funds to support child care programs, workers

Jun. 23, 2021 10:13 AM EDT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act are going to support child care programs and workers in New Hampshire, the state...

FILE - Sen. Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, the Senate vice chairman of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee, speaks following a meeting at the Connecticut Department of Transportation offices on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, in Newington, Conn. Connecticut state Sen. Kasser, the first Democrat elected by her Fairfield County district since 1930, announced Tuesday, June 22, 2021, she is resigning from office. She cited her high-profile and contentious divorce, saying she's no longer able to adequately do her job. (AP Photo/Susan Haigh, File)
Connecticut lawmaker resigns state Senate, citing divorce

By Susan Haigh Jun. 22, 2021 02:45 PM EDT

From left, Silvia Sinani, 24, Dijana Ferhatovic, 18, Zivka Ferhatovic, 20, Elma Dalipi, 14, Selma Dalipi, 14, and Zlata Ristic, 27, members of the Pretty Loud band, walk along a street in their neighborhood in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. A female Roma, or Gypsy, band in Serbia has used music to preach women's empowerment within their community. Formed in 2014, “Pretty Loud” symbolically seeks to give a louder voice to Roma girls, encourage education and steer them away from the widespread custom of early marriage. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Serbian Roma girl band sings for women's empowerment

By Jovana Gec Jun. 22, 2021 02:51 AM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2018, photo, Ammon Bundy poses for a photo in Emmett, Idaho. On Saturday, June 19, 2021, anti-government activist Bundy came out with his first video announcing his campaign to become governor of Idaho. (Kelsey Grey/Idaho Statesman via AP)
Anti-government activist Bundy issues Idaho campaign videos

By The Associated Press Jun. 19, 2021 10:23 PM EDT

FILE - This June 8, 2021 file photo shows the Supreme Court building in Washington. A Thursday, June 17, 2021 Supreme Court ruling that favored Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia was far from the constitutional gale wind that would have reshaped how courts interpret religious liberty under the First Amendment. Governmental entities are now on notice that if they want to ban discrimination against LGBTQ persons or anyone else, they had better not allow for any exceptions – or else religious groups will have the right to ask for them, and they'll have a strong case for getting them. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Catholic foster care agency wins Supreme Court verdict

By Jessica Gresko Jun. 17, 2021 03:20 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: Ohio

By The Associated Press Jun. 14, 2021 09:00 AM EDT
Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 12, 2021. Editorial: Why are the Indians withholding their top name-change options? The...

FILE - In this March 15, 2021, file photo, demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana State Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Helena, Mont. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Friday, May 7, 2021, banning transgender athletes from participating in school and university sports according to the gender with which they identify, making Montana one of several Republican-controlled states to approve such measures in 2021. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)=MTHEL
In US, Pride Month festivities muted by political setbacks

By David Crary Jun. 11, 2021 10:05 AM EDT

Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey speaks with a young person while visiting the Tobin Community Center, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Boston. The chair of the Boston School Committee, Alexandra Oliver-Dávila, resigned amid criticism of racially charged texts she shared with another member of the committee disparaging families of students, city officials announced Tuesday, June 8. Janey said in a written statement Tuesday that the texts were "unfortunate and unfairly disparaged members of the Boston Public Schools community." (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston leadership tangled in series of scandals

By Steve Leblanc Jun. 09, 2021 04:10 PM EDT

Leroy Pascubillo smiles as he looks at his daughter, who was born addicted to heroin and placed with a foster family at birth, and talks about his journey regaining custody, May 10, 2021, in Seattle. Pascubillo, who had used drugs for the better part of four decades, was in a court-ordered in-patient drug rehab program when the pandemic first hit. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
AP analysis: COVID prolonged foster care stays for thousands

By Sally Ho And Camille Fassett Jun. 08, 2021 07:19 AM EDT

W.Va. lawmakers approve using federal aid, spending on roads

By Cuneyt Dil Jun. 07, 2021 06:34 PM EDT
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia lawmakers Monday poured federal funds and extra state cash into road repairs, health care, and education programs such...

Senate budget plan would end Ohio day care quality mandate

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins Jun. 04, 2021 01:27 PM EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio agencies providing publicly funded day care would no longer have to achieve a quality of care rating to be listed in the state...

Extra federal jobless benefit would end in NC in House bill

Jun. 02, 2021 07:24 PM EDT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's unemployed would no longer receive the pandemic-related $300-a-week federal unemployment supplement under legislation...