'Obamacare' enrollment rising as COVID-19 pandemic deepens

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sign-ups for “Obamacare” health insurance plans are trending more than 6% higher amid surging coronavirus cases and deepening economic misery, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the government.

Florida launches investigation into hacking of its servers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials acknowledged Friday that state servers appear to have been compromised by overseas hackers who gained entry by imbedding malicious code into networking software from a Texas-based software company, SolarWinds.

AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST

US awaits word on 2nd vaccine as COVID-19 outbreak worsens

House passes bill to avert government shutdown; Trump next

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress swiftly passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, trying to buy time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.

West preview: LeBron's Lakers load up for a run at a repeat

LeBron James barely had time to put down his latest trophy before having to start defending it.

Some San Diego restaurants reopen despite legal uncertainty

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eggs, waffles and burritos flew out of the kitchen Friday at The Old Townhouse, a 45-year-old institution in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood that immediately resumed indoor dining when a judge cleared the way for restaurants in the state's second-largest county to ignore Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home orders.

Hacked networks will need to be burned 'down to the ground'

It’s going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of the U.S. government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March in Washington’s worst cyberespionage failure on record.

AP News Digest 6:05 p.m.

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Pence, top congressional leaders get vaccines; Trump absent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence and the leaders of the House and Senate received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday as they tried to reassure the American public that the shot is safe. Pence, in a live-television event, celebrated the milestone as “a medical miracle” that could eventually put an end to a raging pandemic that has killed more than 310,000 people nationwide.

MLB Calendar

Jan. 15 — Salary arbitration figures exchanged. International amateur signing period opens.

Johnson leads Georgia St. past Carver College 122-57

ATLANTA (AP) — Evan Johnson had 20 points as Georgia State romped past Carver College 122-57 on Friday.

Successful season? College football played 500-plus games

Back in August, when there was still doubt about whether a college football would be played during the pandemic, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he would look at the season as a success if he could hand out a championship trophy in December.

US questions Maxwell's marriage in push to keep her jailed

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell told court officials at the time of

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Colorado receiving fewer COVID-19 vaccines than expected

DENVER (AP) — The federal government has told Colorado it will receive thousands fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in a second shipment than originally expected, although the state anticipates the numbers contained in future shipments will be standardized, Colorado's health department says.

Seahawks can clinch playoffs; Washington eyes 5th win in row

SEATTLE (9-4) at WASHINGTON (6-7)

No. 2 Baylor women 136-43 over NSU for 60th home win in row

WACO, Texas (AP) — Kim Mulkey knows No. 7 Baylor needs to play these early-season non-conference games, even though practices for the Lady Bears are often much more competitive.

US Forecast

US Forecast for Saturday, December 19, 2020

Mexico expects more migrants tor return from US in 2021

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials said Friday they expect even more migrants to come back to Mexico from the United States, both as a result of deportations and voluntary returns.