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California power regulators are stepping up their oversight of Pacific Gas & Electric after finding that the utility has neglected the maintenance of an electrical grid that has ignited a series of deadly wildfires in Northern California and forced periodic blackouts affecting millions of people. The reprimand delivered Thursday to PG&E served as official notice that it hasn’t been doing enough to reduce the risks posed by a combination of crumbling equipment and overgrown trees near its power lines. It marks the first step in a process that could eventually lead to regulators revoking PG&E’s utility license. PG&E says it's made improvements to its tree-trimming program and will continue as part of its wildfire prevention efforts this summer.

Cameron Smith birdied the difficult 17th and 18th holes at Harbour Town to shoot a 9-under 62 and take a one-stroke lead over Stewart Cink at the RBC Heritage. Smith followed up his second top-10 finish at the Masters in five months by matching the lowest opening round at the Heritage. The 47-year-old Cink is a two-time champion at Harbour Town who's enjoying a resurgence this season. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa and Matt Wallace were three shots back. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson opened with a 70. He played with Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris, who shot 68.

Max Kepler’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Minnesota a 4-3 victory over Boston, stopping a five-game losing streak for the Twins and breaking a nine-game winning string for the Red Sox. The Red Sox tied it in the eighth on Alex Verdugo’s three-run double. They were on their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2018, the season they won the World Series. The Twins avoided matching their longest losing streak in three years under manager Rocco Baldelli, a six-game slide from July 31-Aug. 5, 2020. Kepler singled with the bases loaded off Adam Ottavino.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Tepera was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball, which concluded he intentionally threw at Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff this week. Tepera appealed the penalty handed down by MLB senior vice president for on-field operations Michael Hill. Tepera, who also was fined, will not have to serve any discipline while the appeal is pending before MLB special adviser John McHale Jr. Cubs manager David Ross was suspended for one game and fined because of Tepera’s actions. Managers immediately serve discipline, and Ross will sit out the Cubs’ series opener against Atlanta on Friday.

Nine lives notwithstanding, killing a cat in a hit-and-run soon could become illegal in New Hampshire.  State law already requires drivers who injure or kill dogs to notify police or the animals’ owners, or else face a $1,000 fine. It is unclear why cats and other pets were left out of the initial law, but the state Legislature is currently considering an expansion that would give cats equal footing to canines. Republican Rep. Daryl Abbas sponsored the bill after the death of his 5-year-old cat, Arrow. The Animal League Defense Fund says there has been a trend of similar state laws that recognize the bond between animals and their human companions.

The top House Republican says Rep. Matt Gaetz is innocent until proven guilty. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says that means he doesn't plan to punish the Florida Republican unless charges are filed against him. Gaetz has been under federal investigation for sex trafficking allegations, but he's denied the accusations and no charges have yet been filed. McCarthy tells reporters that Gaetz privately told him he's innocent. McCarthy says he told Gaetz that the party would act against him if legal action began against him. Internal House GOP rules require that lawmakers charged with serious felonies lose their membership in committees. 

The NBA says the rate of players needing to miss games because of injuries is down from last season and within the normal range for what the league has seen over the last five seasons. League data shows the player injury rate this season is down about 6%. That's hardly abnormal even after several marquee players— including LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, James Harden and most recently Jamal Murray — have dealt with injuries in recent weeks. NBA teams are playing 3.6 games per week, up 5% from last year. This year's schedule compressed 72 games into 146 days, as opposed to the usual 82 games into 177 days.

The flag-draped casket of U.S. Capitol Police Officer William Evans was carried into a Massachusetts church by his fellow Capitol officers as dozens of state police troopers stood in the street in a steady downpour and saluted. The private funeral Mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams was followed early Thursday afternoon by a procession to Bellevue Cemetery where Evans was to be laid to rest beside his father, Howard. The 41-year-old was killed this month when a driver struck him and another officer at a barricade outside the Senate. He was raised in North Adams and Clarksburg. He had served with the U.S. Capitol Police since 2003.

The United States is opening more distance between itself and much of the rest of the world in the race against the coronavirus. The U.S. has administered almost 200 million vaccine doses, even as other countries, rich and poor, struggle with stubbornly high infection rates and deaths. Nearly half of American adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 30% of adults in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated. But the picture is still relentlessly grim in parts of Europe and Asia as variants of the virus fuel an increase in new cases and the worldwide death toll closes in on 3 million.

Major League Soccer embarks on the 2021 season with a new labor agreement in hand, the return of two big stars, a new team in Austin and lessons learned from an eventful 2020. There still won’t be full crowds in the stands in most places but there are reasons to be optimistic for the league’s 26th season as more Americans get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The season kicks off Friday night with San Jose at Houston and Minnesota at Seattle. Austin will play its inaugural game Saturday against LAFC.

Kenneth Gainwell had every intention of playing football with the Memphis Tigers, working throughout fall practice. The running back changed his mind six days before the season opener. The funeral for an uncle as the fourth member of his family to die of COVID-19 made opting out of the season the only decision for Gainwell in trying to keep his family safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Gainwell says it was a tough decision with how much he loves football but he had to do what was best for his family. Now he's rated the fourth-best running back by some for the upcoming NFL draft. 

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of Berliners took to the streets, many banging pots and pans, to protest a ruling Thursday by Germany's highest court that a cap on rent prices implemented last year by Berlin's state government is unconstitutional and…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to add four seats to the Supreme Court, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential…

The NCAA has hit the Southern California men's basketball program with two years’ probation because of a former assistant who violated NCAA ethical conduct rules when he accepted a bribe to steer players to a business management company. The Division I Committee on Infractions announced the penalties, which include a $5,000 fine and a 1% loss of the school’s basketball budget. Tony Bland, the former associate head coach under coach Andy Enfield, was fired in January 2018. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and received two years' probation.