LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coronavirus cases have surged to record levels in the Los Angeles area, putting the nation’s largest county in “an alarming and dangerous phase” that if not reversed could...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney warned residents he will end the city's annual Mummers Parade if organizers don't curtail participants' inappropriate behavior, including...
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (AP) — The day after the Minnesota Wild were officially awarded the NHL's next Winter Classic, they fittingly had practice scheduled for one of the area's many outdoor...
The mayor of Philadelphia sharply criticized two men who wore blackface while marching in the city's annual — and often racially troubling — New Year's Day Mummers Parade, calling their actions...
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — After a flyover by a B-2 stealth bomber, marching bands and floral floats took to the streets under mostly sunny California skies as the 131st Rose Parade drew hundreds of...
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Actresses Rita Moreno and Gina Torres and Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez have been named grand marshals of the 2020 Rose Parade.
PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — At first glance, the New Year's Day tradition a group of regional water-skiers has adopted may seem a bit, well, nuts.
But the Kentucky Lake Ski Nuts have proven their annual ritual has staying power: Members have braved occasional below-freezing temperatures and lakes encrusted with ice every Jan. 1 for 41 consecutive years.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Luck spent last January just like the previous two — watching playoff games from afar and hoping for a chance to return.
This weekend he's officially back.
After a coaching change, a major roster overhaul and nearly two years removed from shoulder surgery, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback celebrated New Year's Day by prepping for Saturday's wild-card game in his hometown of Houston.
Hundreds at Coney Island Polar Bear plunge

NEW YORK (AP) — By the standards of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, it was practically a day at the beach for participants in the annual New Year's Day dip in the ocean off New York City.
Hundreds of people took the plunge Tuesday afternoon, when the unseasonably warm temperature was in the high 50s (13 to 15 Celsius).
It was quite a departure from last year, when the temperature was just 17 degrees, (minus 8 Celsius).
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — If Chaka Khan were a flower, she'd be a perennial.
"Because I go dormant and then I..." Khan stops and gracefully lifts her arms together, then slowly brings her hands apart, like a tulip emerging in spring.
"I've done it many, many times," explained the singer, perhaps best known for her multimillion selling 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel For You."
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Thousands of marchers have braved bone-chilling temperatures and wind chills to take part in Philadelphia's annual Mummers Parade, the oldest continuous folk parade in the country.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — With a nod of thanks to military veterans, marching bands and floral floats took to the streets under sunny California skies as the 129th Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year's Day and millions more watched on TV.
Among the fanciful floats was an award-winning entry from China Airlines featuring a scuba diver floating above fish and a coral reef.
NEW YORK (AP) — The sky was sunny and the water was freezing at Coney Island, where several hundred people, cheered on by hundreds more, ran into the ocean Monday to mark the start of 2018.
While some dressed in dinosaur or penguin outfits, others wore nothing but underwear or bathing suits at the annual Coney Island New Year's Day Polar Plunge, a New York tradition since 1903.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday recommended jettisoning life's "useless baggage" in 2018, including what he called "empty chatter" and banal consumerism, and focusing instead on building a peaceful and welcoming world, particularly for refugees and migrants.
Francis offered his reflections on paring down non-essentials as he celebrated New Year's Day Mass Monday in St. Peter's Basilica and later greeted some 40,000 people in St. Peter's Square.
People around the world are welcoming 2018 with fireworks displays, partying and an array of local traditions.
One of the first countries to welcome the new year was Australia, where fireworks exploded over the iconic Sydney Opera House as people watched from boats in the harbor nearby.
Hundreds of couples took part in a mass wedding ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia, on New Year's Eve designed to help the poor who were unable to afford a proper wedding.
Dress in layers, lay off the booze and bring some hand warmers. Those are some of the tips offered for the huge crowd of revelers expected in Times Square for what could be one of the coldest New Year's Eve ball drops on record.
Brutal weather has iced plans for scores of events in the Northeast from New Year's Eve through New Year's Day, but not in New York City, where people will start gathering in Times Square up to nine hours before the famous ball drop.
BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on a deep freeze across the country. (all times local):
6:30 a.m.
Brutally cold weather has iced plans for scores of events in the Northeast from New Year's Eve through New Year's Day, but the show will go on in New York City, where people will start gathering in Times Square up to nine hours before the famous ball drop.