Lawyer: Artist didn’t know Michigan parents stayed in studio
A Detroit-area artist whose studio was where the parents of the Oxford High School student charged in a deadly shooting were found by police is cooperating with authorities and didn’t know the couple had stayed overnight, his attorney said Sunday. James and Jennifer Crumbley, who face involuntary manslaughter counts, were...
Cruise ship with covid-19 infections arrives in New OrleansVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew members infected with covid-19 docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness. Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the...
Chris Cuomo was accused of harassment days before CNN firing
NEW YORK — A new allegation of sexual harassment against Chris Cuomo emerged just days before CNN announced it was firing the anchor amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from similar harassment allegations. Attorney Debra Katz said Sunday her client was the victim of “serious sexual...
Fauci says early reports encouraging about omicron variant
U.S. health officials said Sunday that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalizations. President Joe Biden’s chief medial adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s “State of...
Both sides planning for new state-by-state abortion fight
WASHINGTON — As the Supreme Court court weighs the future of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a resurgent anti-abortion movement is looking to press its advantage in state-by-state battles while abortion-rights supporters prepare to play defense. Both sides seem to be operating on the assumption that a court...
Senate leader, presidential candidate Bob Dole dies at 98
TOPEKA, Kan. — Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, has died. He was 98. His wife, Elizabeth Dole, posted the announcement Sunday...
Reach Cyber partners with carpenters’ union to offer online carpentry programVideo
In recent years, school districts have made a stronger push to gauge student interest in trade careers, extolling the virtues of the region’s technical schools and the wide-open job market for skilled laborers. In Pennsylvania, one cyber charter school is looking to add some of those elements to its curriculum....
CNN fires Chris Cuomo for helping with brother’s scandal
NEW YORK — CNN has fired anchor Chris Cuomo after details emerged about how he assisted his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as the politician faced sexual harassment allegations earlier this year. The network suspended Chris Cuomo earlier in the week to investigate his involvement with his brother’s...
Hawaii mountains to see snow after rare blizzard warning
HONOLULU — The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for mountains on Hawaii’s Big Island, saying wind gusts of above 100 mph and 12 inches or more of snow were possible. The warning in effect through Sunday morning for Big Island summits said “travel should be restricted to...
Epstein’s world: Maxwell jurors immersed in extreme wealth, sex
NEW YORK — One week into Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial, the jury has already been on board Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet and inside his Palm Beach mansion. But they’ve also seen the stained table on which he demanded three massages a day. The deep immersion into luxurious, lascivious world of...
Plumber’s find possibly tied to 2014 Texas megachurch theft
HOUSTON — For more than seven years, no one has known what happened to $600,000 in checks and cash that was stolen from a safe at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, which has one of the largest congregations in the country. Now, there’s a possible plot twist in the case:...
U.S. drugstores squeezed by vaccine demand, staff shortages
A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of covid-19 shots and giving...
Bond set at combined $1M after Michigan parents enter pleas
PONTIAC, Mich. — A judge imposed a combined $1 million bond Saturday for the parents of the Michigan teen charged with killing four students at Oxford High School, hours after police said they were caught hiding in a Detroit commercial building. James and Jennifer Crumbley entered not guilty pleas to...
Mark Cuban just bought the entire town of Mustang south of Dallas
Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Mavericks, a successful entertainment firm and a string of start-up companies — including a new drug company he hopes will lower prescription costs. And now the Dallas billionaire also owns an entire Texas town. Cuban, a native of Mt. Lebanon, just purchased the Navarro County...
Scientist says omicron variant was a group find
JOHANNESBURG — The Botswana scientist who may well have discovered the omicron variant of the coronavirus says he has been on a “rollercoaster of emotions,” with the pride of accomplishment followed by dismay over the travel bans immediately slapped on southern African countries. “Is that how you reward science? By...
Explainer: How unusual to charge parents in school shooting?
Guns used in U.S. school shootings have often come from the homes of young perpetrators, but parents are rarely charged for the violence that occurs, experts say. That’s what makes the case against Ethan Crumbley’s parents uncommon, following the fatal shooting of four students at Oxford High School in southeastern...
1st confirmed omicron case reported in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA — Health officials reported the first confirmed case of the omicron variant in Pennsylvania on Friday, a man in his 30s from Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced the case in a news release. No other details were immediately available, including whether the man was vaccinated against...
NSO Group spyware used to hack State Department employees
The phones of 11 U.S. State Department employees were hacked using technology from Israel’s NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire company, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. The employees were all located in Uganda and included some foreign service officers, said the person, who was not authorized...
Vaunted Pennsylvania Society weekend loses luster among politicos
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — For years, Pennsylvania Society has been the marquee event for the state’s politicians and the well-heeled special interests that...
Famously soggy Seattle sees its wettest fall on record
Seattle, a city known for soggy weather, has seen its wettest fall on record. The National Weather Service says 19.04 inches of rain fell between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, breaking a record set in 2006. A series of wet storms caused by so-called “atmospheric rivers” pounded the Pacific Northwest,...
Virginia GOP completes sweep of elections with House win
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A three-judge panel overseeing a recount in a close Virginia Beach state House race upheld the Republican candidate’s victory on Friday, a decision that also reaffirms the GOP’s takeover of the chamber and completes the party’s sweep of last month’s elections. Republicans also claimed the statewide...
Iowa teens charged with killing teacher remain jailed
DES MOINES, Iowa — Two Iowa teenagers charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of their high school Spanish teacher will remain in jail after a judge opted to keep their bail bond at $1 million cash only in a decision released Friday. Attorneys for...
Belarus mother imprisoned for ‘unsanctioned mass gatherings’
A Belarus court on Friday sentenced a neighborhood activist to four years in prison for creating an “extremist group” on the messaging app Telegram, the country’s top rights group, Viasna, reported. Volha Zalatar, a 38-year old mother of five children, has been held in custody since March. She was arrested...
Vatican takes in 12 migrants as pope denounces indifference
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Pope Francis on Friday denounced the “culture of indifference” that the West shows migrants as the Vatican confirmed that at least a dozen asylum-seekers would be transferred from Cyprus to Italy in a gesture of solidarity with European countries that have received a disproportionate share of would-be...
Judge won’t dismiss 25 murder counts against Ohio doctor
A judge Friday refused to dismiss the 25-count murder indictment against an Ohio doctor accused of ordering excessive painkillers for hospital patients, meaning one of the biggest cases of its kind ever brought against a U.S. health care professional will proceed toward trial. William Husel, 46, has pleaded not guilty....
