Former New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, died on Monday. He was 75. The Baseball Hall of Fame and ESPN reported that his death was due to Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 complications. “We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and […]

Former New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, died on Monday. He was 75. The Baseball Hall of Fame and ESPN reported that his death was due to Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 complications. “We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and […]

W. Russell Barry, former president of 20th Century Fox Television and chairman of Turner Program Services, died on Aug. 26 at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., after a battle with terminal pulmonary fibrosis, Variety has learned. He was 84. The business executive’s first Los Angeles job came in 1972, when he served as the […]

W. Russell Barry, former president of 20th Century Fox Television and chairman of Turner Program Services, died on Aug. 26 at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., after a battle with terminal pulmonary fibrosis, Variety has learned. He was 84. The business executive’s first Los Angeles job came in 1972, when he served as the […]

Ian Mitchell, bassist for the Bay City Rollers, has died at the age of 62, according to a post on the group's Facebook page. With hits including "Saturday Night" and "Bye Bye Baby," the tartan-clad Scottish group were a pre-punk 1970s phenomenon in the U.K. and enjoyed several hits in the U.S. "We are deeply […]

Ian Mitchell, bassist for the Bay City Rollers, has died at the age of 62, according to a post on the group's Facebook page. With hits including "Saturday Night" and "Bye Bye Baby," the tartan-clad Scottish group were a pre-punk 1970s phenomenon in the U.K. and enjoyed several hits in the U.S. "We are deeply […]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm. Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepes he was making and was whisked away by bus to a testing site. "We didn't even know they were testing," said Schmutz, who is 18 and from Omaha, Nebraska. "It all really happened fast." Schmutz was one of about 300 students quarantined to their rooms last week, but not because of sickness reports or positive tests. Instead, the warning bells came from the sewage. Colleges across the nation - from New Mexico to Tennessee, Michigan to New York - are turning tests of waste into a public health tool. The work comes as institutions hunt for ways to keep campuses open despite vulnerabilities like students' close living arrangements and drive to socialize. The virus has already left its mark with outbreaks that have forced changes to remote learning at colleges around the country. The tests work by detecting genetic material from the virus, which can be recovered from the stools of about half of people with COVID-19, studies indicate. The concept has also been used to look for outbreaks of the polio virus. Sewage testing is especially valuable because it can evaluate people even if they aren't feeling sick and can detect a few cases out of thousands of people, experts say. Another wastewater-flagged quarantine of around 300 students at the University of Arizona, for example, turned up two cases. Both were students who were asymptomatic, but they could potentially still have spread the virus. "That's just tremendously valuable information when we think about the setting of a college dorm, and how quickly this disease can spread through that...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm. Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepes he was making and was whisked away by bus to a testing site. "We didn't even know they were testing," said Schmutz, who is 18 and from Omaha, Nebraska. "It all really happened fast." Schmutz was one of about 300 students quarantined to their rooms last week, but not because of sickness reports or positive tests. Instead, the warning bells came from the sewage. Colleges across the nation - from New Mexico to Tennessee, Michigan to New York - are turning tests of waste into a public health tool. The work comes as institutions hunt for ways to keep campuses open despite vulnerabilities like students' close living arrangements and drive to socialize. The virus has already left its mark with outbreaks that have forced changes to remote learning at colleges around the country. The tests work by detecting genetic material from the virus, which can be recovered from the stools of about half of people with COVID-19, studies indicate. The concept has also been used to look for outbreaks of the polio virus. Sewage testing is especially valuable because it can evaluate people even if they aren't feeling sick and can detect a few cases out of thousands of people, experts say. Another wastewater-flagged quarantine of around 300 students at the University of Arizona, for example, turned up two cases. Both were students who were asymptomatic, but they could potentially still have spread the virus. "That's just tremendously valuable information when we think about the setting of a college dorm, and how quickly this disease can spread through that...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Governors from 22 Western states and Pacific territories want a bigger say in how the Trump administration defines habitat for wildlife protected under the Endangered Species Act. The new definition could have implications for how states manage imperiled animals and plants, the Western Governors Association said in a letter Thursday to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The governors insist they are "co-sovereigns with the federal government" and need an equal role in the decision. The Trump administration is seeking to restrict what land and waterways can be protected as habitat for wildlife facing extinction, one of the latest ways it's sought to roll back environmental safeguards. The government is trying to redefine what habitat means for the purposes of enforcing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that has dictated wildlife protections in the U.S. since 1973. It released a proposed rule in early August. Governors said they're having to express their views through a public comment process on the proposed rule, saying that isn't enough input and they want the federal government to consult with states. "It is important for federal agencies and state wildlife managers to maintain a close working relationship to ensure that any new interpretation or application of the term does not result in unintended consequences for state management of species," according to the letter signed by Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, chairwoman of Western Governors Association, and Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who's vice chairman. Once an imperiled species is listed under the act, federal officials designate critical habitat that it needs to survive. That can include where a species lives and areas where they don't live but are deemed...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Governors from 22 Western states and Pacific territories want a bigger say in how the Trump administration defines habitat for wildlife protected under the Endangered Species Act. The new definition could have implications for how states manage imperiled animals and plants, the Western Governors Association said in a letter Thursday to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The governors insist they are "co-sovereigns with the federal government" and need an equal role in the decision. The Trump administration is seeking to restrict what land and waterways can be protected as habitat for wildlife facing extinction, one of the latest ways it's sought to roll back environmental safeguards. The government is trying to redefine what habitat means for the purposes of enforcing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that has dictated wildlife protections in the U.S. since 1973. It released a proposed rule in early August. Governors said they're having to express their views through a public comment process on the proposed rule, saying that isn't enough input and they want the federal government to consult with states. "It is important for federal agencies and state wildlife managers to maintain a close working relationship to ensure that any new interpretation or application of the term does not result in unintended consequences for state management of species," according to the letter signed by Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, chairwoman of Western Governors Association, and Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who's vice chairman. Once an imperiled species is listed under the act, federal officials designate critical habitat that it needs to survive. That can include where a species lives and areas where they don't live but are deemed...