Michigan school shooting suspect detailed plans to kill in videos and journal, authorities sayVideo
OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The 15-year-old charged in the killings of four of his Oxford High School classmates recorded videos on his cellphone the night before the shootings and wrote in a journal recovered in his backpack of plans to shoot and kill students, authorities said Wednesday. School officials spoke...
Faculty retirements at Pa. state universities are double the number of a typical year
Nearly half of the 165 faculty members who signed up for its most recent incentive to retire by next summer work at a Pennsylvania state university slated for consolidation in the 2022-23 school year. Figures provided by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education show 50 of those faculty members who...
Ex-Trump aide Mark Meadows cooperating with House Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, is cooperating with a House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, putting off for now the panel’s threat to hold him in contempt, the committee’s chairman said Tuesday. The panel “will continue to assess his degree of compliance,” Mississippi...
Texas woman sentenced in death of 2 Kansas carnival vendors
GREAT BEND, Kan. — A Texas woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for her role in the deaths of a Kansas couple who were killed on the orders of a carnival worker as part of a fictitious “carnival mafia” initiation. Kimberley Stacey Younger, 55, of Aransas...
Appeals court weighs Trump arguments to withhold records
WASHINGTON — A panel of judges on Tuesday questioned whether they had the authority to grant former President Donald Trump’s demands and stop the White House from allowing the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 insurrection led by Trump’s supporters. But the judges also noted that there may...
Pa. court reinstates school face mask mandate — for now
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Tuesday reinstated the Gov. Tom Wolf administration mandate requiring students, teachers and staff to wear face masks. The action is temporary, with the court scheduled to hear arguments on the matter on Dec. 8. The court noted it has taken no position on the...
Sources: Dr. Oz plans to run for Senate seat in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of TV’s Dr. Oz Show after rocketing to fame on Oprah Winfrey’s show, is planning to run for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat as a Republican, according to three people familiar with his plans. Should...
New York City OKs safe sites for drug use, aiming to curb overdoses
NEW YORK — The first officially authorized safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics have been cleared to open in New York City in hopes of curbing deadly overdoses, the mayor and health commissioner said Tuesday. The “overdose prevention centers” — commonly known as supervised injection sites...
U.S. lifts terror designation for Colombia’s ex-guerrilla army
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration formally revoked the terrorist designation of Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla army on Tuesday, but newly imposed the designation on commanders and offshoots of the group who have refused to lay down their arms. Lifting of the terrorist designation for FARC — the commonly used Spanish...
Man sentenced in deadly crash involving West Virginia newlyweds
PRINCETON, W.Va. — A Virginia man has been sentenced to a term of five to 25 years in prison on charges stemming from a fatal crash in West Virginia involving a newlywed couple. Ricky Lynn Olivo Jr., 41, of Woodstock appeared Monday in Mercer County for sentencing in the 2020...
German court convicts ex-IS member in Yazidi girl’s death
BERLIN — A former member of the Islamic State group was convicted by a German court on Tuesday of genocide and committing a war crime over the death of a 5-year-old Yazidi girl he had purchased as a slave and then chained up in the hot sun to die. The...
Space junk forces spacewalk delay, too risky for astronauts
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA called off a spacewalk Tuesday because of menacing space junk that could puncture an astronaut’s suit or damage the International Space Station. Two U.S. astronauts were set to replace a bad antenna outside of the space station. But late Monday night, Mission Control learned that...
Greece to mandate covid-19 vaccination for those 60 and over
ATHENS, Greece — Residents in Greece over age 60 will be fined 100 euros (more than $110) a month if they fail to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, under the first general covid-19 mandate announced by the country’s government. The measure was announced in response to a surge in cases...
Pa. Latinos work to turn huge population gains into political muscle, but still face barriers
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. LEHIGH VALLEY — Over the past five years, Victor Martinez has noticed...
Oklahoma bid for National Guard exception to vaccine mandate denied
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday rejected a request by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt that his state’s National Guard be exempt from a Pentagon requirement that all military members be vaccinated against covid-19. Stitt, a Republican, had asked Austin in early November to suspend the mandate for members...
Facing omicron threat, CDC says all adults should get covid-19 booster vaccineVideo
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strengthened its recommendations on who should get boosters. In a statement, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that all vaccinated adults should get a booster as long as they received their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna shot at least...
Rep. Lauren Boebert in call refuses to apologize for anti-Muslim remarks
WASHINGTON — Days after firebrand conservative Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was harshly criticized for making anti-Muslim comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat whom she likened to a bomb-carrying terrorist, the two spoke by phone Monday. By both lawmakers’ accounts, it did not go well. The conversation, which...
Biden vaccine rule for health workers blocked in 10 statesVideo
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A federal judge on Monday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states that had brought the first legal challenge against the requirement. The court order said that the federal Centers for Medicare &...
Prosecutor: Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein were ‘partners in crime’
NEW YORK — Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were “partners in crime” in the sexual abuse of teenage girls, a prosecutor said Monday, while Maxwell’s lawyers said she was being made a scapegoat for a man’s bad behavior as the British socialite’s sex trafficking trial got underway in New York....
New details on CNN’s Chris Cuomo’s role advising brother Andrew
NEW YORK — Transcripts released Monday shed new light on CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s behind-the-scenes role advising his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the face of sexual harassment allegations that forced him from office. Chris Cuomo told investigators he spoke regularly with his brother, exchanged text messages...
Bill Cosby prosecutors ask U.S. Supreme Court to review case
PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling that overturned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, arguing in a petition Monday that a dangerous precedent could be set if press releases are treated as immunity agreements. Cosby’s lawyers have long argued that he relied on a promise...
Jan. 6 panel sets contempt vote for former DOJ official Jeffrey ClarkVideo
WASHINGTON — A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection will vote Wednesday to hold a former Justice Department official in contempt, seeking criminal charges against a defiant witness for a second time after holding former White House aide Steve Bannon in contempt last month. The committee on Monday...
WHO warns that new coronavirus variant poses ‘very high’ risk
GENEVA — The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the omicron variant is “very high” based on the early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with “severe consequences.” The assessment from the U.N. health agency, contained in a technical paper issued to member...
Lee Elder, 1st Black golfer to play Masters, dies at age 87
Lee Elder, who broke down racial barriers as the first Black golfer to play in the Masters and paved the way for Tiger Woods and others to follow, has died at the age of 87. The PGA Tour announced Elder’s death, which was first reported Monday by Debert Cook of...
Pa. House GOP leader diagnosed with breakthrough case of covid
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, is quarantining at home after being diagnosed with a breakthrough case of covid-19. Benninghoff, 59, who was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus earlier in the year, developed mild symptoms prior to the Thanksgiving holiday and got tested. On Monday, he received his...
