As tourism brightens, Times Square hopes to regain luster
NEW YORK — David Cohen has been yearning for a return to the days when business boomed at his family’s souvenir shop in Times Square. While tourists have begun returning, foot traffic into Grand Slam souvenirs is still not what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, when hordes of global...
Poll: More American adults say they don’t expect to have a child
A growing share of U.S. adults who aren’t already parents say they probably won’t have children, citing reasons such as apathy, financial instability or the lack of a partner. A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that 44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it’s not too...
Kyle Rittenhouse lawyers’ trial playbook: Don’t ‘crusade,’ defend
Soon after a Wisconsin jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges against him, defense attorney Mark Richards took a swipe at his predecessors, telling reporters that their tactics — leaning into Rittenhouse’s portrayal as a rallying point for the right to carry weapons and defend oneself — were not his....
2 top executives quit giant Pa. pension fund amid FBI, SEC probes
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 — Following months of controversy and amid an ongoing federal investigation, Pennsylvania’s biggest pension fund on Thursday announced that its...
Penn State student dies after falling 11 stories down trash chute
STATE COLLEGE — A 19-year-old Penn State student who had been reported missing probably died after falling 11 stories down a trash chute in her campus apartment building, authorities said Friday. Justine Gross, a sophomore from New Jersey, was reported missing Nov. 11 after not returning to her room the...
Senate GOP hires firm to review Pennsylvania’s 2020 election
HARRISBURG — Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate said Friday they will pay up to $270,000 over the next six months to have an Iowa consulting firm examine the 2020 election with an eye toward developing changes to state election law. The “forensic investigation” is being launched in response to pressure...
Afghans seeking humanitarian relief anxious over long delays
LOWELL, Mass. — More than 28,000 Afghans have applied for temporary admission into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons since shortly before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan and sparked a chaotic U.S. withdrawal, but only about 100 of them have been approved, according to federal officials. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has...
Denver suburb to pay $15M to settle Elijah McClain lawsuit
DENVER — The Denver suburb of Aurora has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the parents of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after suburban Denver police stopped him on the street and put him in a neck hold two years ago, the city...
Mistrial declared in case of man charged in 18 Texas deaths
DALLAS — A Texas judge declared a mistrial Friday in the first murder case against a man charged with killing 18 older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span, but prosecutors vowed to continue to pursue convictions. Judge Raquel Jones issued the ruling when a jury deadlocked after...
Jury finds Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty in Kenosha shootings
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after asserting self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S. Rittenhouse, 18, began to choke up, fell forward toward the defense table and then hugged...
Facing surge, Austria will mandate covid-19 shots, lock down
Austria announced a national lockdown and a plan to mandate vaccinations as coronavirus infections hit a record high Friday, forcing the government to walk back promises that strict shutdowns were a thing of the past. While the scope of the proposed mandate was unclear, a blanket requirement would be a...
FBI investigating old New Jersey landfill for Jimmy Hoffa’s remains
The decades-long odyssey to find the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa apparently has turned to a former New Jersey landfill that sits below an elevated highway. The FBI obtained a search warrant to “conduct a site survey underneath the Pulaski Skyway,” said Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the...
What’s inside Biden’s $1.85T social and climate measure
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion plan to boost social and education programs as well as protect against global warming has passed the House, pushing it one step closer to law. The 2,135-page bill includes universal preschool, funding to limit child care costs, expanded health care programs and a...
AAA predicts more than 53 million people will travel for Thanksgiving
AAA Travel is predicting that 53.4 million Americans will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, an increase of 13% from 2020. According to AAA Travel’s latest data, the combination of 6.4 million more people traveling for the holiday this year and the reopening of the U.S. borders to fully vaccinated international...
Biden undergoes routine colonoscopy, Harris briefly in power
BETHESDA, Md. — President Joe Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday while he underwent a routine colonoscopy, setting up a history-making moment as Harris became the first woman to hold that authority during the short time she stepped in as acting president. Biden transferred power...
Democrats’ sweeping social, climate bill passes divided House
Democrats brushed aside months-long divisions and pushed their expansive social and environment bill through a sharply divided House on Friday, as President Joe Biden and his party moved closer to capitalizing on their control of government by funneling its resources toward their top domestic priorities. The House approved the legislation...
Rare 1st printing of U.S. Constitution sells for record $43M
A rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $43.2 million, a record price for a document or book sold at auction. The anonymous winning bidder at Thursday night’s sale outbid a group of 17,000 cryptocurrency enthusiasts from around the world who crowdfunded to...
Scientists mystified, wary as Africa avoids covid disaster
HARARE, Zimbabwe — At a busy market in a poor township outside Harare this week, Nyasha Ndou kept his mask in his pocket, as hundreds of other people, mostly unmasked, jostled to buy and sell fruit and vegetables displayed on wooden tables and plastic sheets. As in much of Zimbabwe,...
U.K. says it will make Hamas a banned terrorist organization
LONDON — The British government said Friday that it intends to ban the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a terrorist organization. The military wing of Hamas has been outlawed in the U.K. since 2001 but the organization as a whole is not proscribed. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is in...
White supremacist prison guards work with impunity in Fla.
In June, three Florida prison guards who boasted of being white supremacists beat, pepper sprayed and used a stun gun on an inmate who screamed “I can’t breathe!” at a prison near the Alabama border, according to a fellow inmate who reported it to the state. The next day, the...
U.S. opens covid boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Friday opened covid-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays. Until now, Americans...
‘Tiger Lady’ identified as Pennsylvania teen 30 years later
BELVIDERE, N.J. — Authorities used DNA to finally identify the body of a 1991 homicide victim in New Jersey known by her tattoo as “Tiger Lady.” However, her death and killer remain unknown. Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer on Friday announced the victim is Wendy Louise Baker of Coatesville, Pennsylvania....
Car found with 4 dead inside during hunt for former Maryland police officerVideo
COCKEYSVILLE, Md. — Four people were found dead Thursday inside a car which matched the description of a vehicle connected to a former Maryland police officer accused of taking off with his daughters in Pennsylvania, authorities say. Elena Russo, spokeswoman for Maryland State Police, told a news conference that Pennsylvania...
Penn State student’s death ‘an isolated incident,’ Centre County coroner says
Autopsy results for the Penn State student found dead last week are expected to be completed in about six weeks, the Centre County Coroner’s Office wrote this week. Justine Gross’ death was “an isolated incident,” county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote. State College police investigators believe her death was accidental, the...
House moves toward OK of Democrats’ sweeping social, climate billVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats brushed aside months-long divisions and approached House passage of their expansive social and environment bill Friday, as President Joe Biden and his party neared a defining win in their drive to use their control of government to funnel its resources toward their domestic priorities. Final passage, which...
