A flame, a look, one of the Olympics' most powerful moments
FILE - In this July 19, 1996, file photo, American swimmer Janet Evans passes the Olympic flame to Muhammad Ali during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)ATLANTA EDITORS With the Tokyo Olympics postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press is looking back at the history of Summer Games. Here are some of the highlights of the 1996 Atlanta Games, where Muhammad Ali provided the greatest moment before the competition even began. ___Less than 24 hours before the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics, at a secretive midnight practice run, Janet Evans finally got the word. As the last host city to rely mainly on private funding, Atlanta faced griping that its commercial backers made the event look more like a tacky county fair than the Summer Olympics.
Assault near Wisconsin protests investigated as hate crime
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)MADISON, Wis. An assault on a biracial woman in Madison was being investigated Thursday as a hate crime after the woman told police she was burned by lighter fluid thrown at her and ignited by a white man, just a few blocks from violent protests at the state Capitol. Althea Bernstein told police she was driving near the Capitol about 1 a.m. Wednesday and had stopped at a red light with her driver's side window down. Bernstein, 18, told police she heard someone yell out a racial epithet, looked around and saw four white men. One sprayed liquid on her face and neck and threw a flaming lighter at her, she told police. On Wednesday night, about 40 people gathered peacefully outside the county jail where the man was being held, calling for his release.