Coronavirus surge worsens in Midwest as states expand boostersVideo
A surge in cases in the Upper Midwest has some Michigan schools keeping students at home ahead of Thanksgiving and the military sending medical teams to Minnesota to relieve hospital staffs overwhelmed by covid-19 patients. The worsening outlook in the Midwest comes as booster shots are being made available to...
Fresh look at earliest covid cases points to live-animal market as most likely source
Conspiracy theorists need little more than suspicion, some cherry-picked facts and vibrant imaginations to spin tales about the origins of the covid-19 pandemic. But for the scientists working to establish the facts, the path to the truth is much more plodding. Their search will take them through a trove of...
2 Iranians charged with threatening U.S. voters in 2020Video
WASHINGTON — Two suspected Iranian computer hackers have been charged in a broad campaign of election interference aimed at intimidating American voters during last year’s presidential race and undermining confidence that the results of the contest could be trusted. The activities, prosecutors say, exploited not only computer vulnerabilities but also...
Oklahoma governor grants clemency, spares Julius Jones’ lifeVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s governor spared the life of Julius Jones on Thursday, just hours before his scheduled execution that had drawn widespread outcry and protests over doubts about his guilt in the slaying of a businessman more than 20 years ago. Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the 41-year-old Jones’ death...
Ann Arbor becomes 1st U.S. city to require menstrual products in all public bathrooms
DETROIT — A new Ann Arbor ordinance requires all public bathrooms to provide sanitary products, including pads and tampons, to users at no cost — and it’s believed to be the first city in the United States to do so. The new ordinance, effective Jan. 1, 2022, applies to all...
Friendly fire kills guard struggling with inmate in Blair County court
ALTOONA — A jail guard was shot and killed at a Pennsylvania courthouse by what appears to be friendly fire during a struggle with an inmate who had grabbed her weapon, and authorities said Thursday they were investigating how it happened. The inmate had been taken from the Blair County...
Who investigates police killings in Pa., and why there are few checks and balances
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. In Pennsylvania, elected district attorneys determine whether or not to charge officers who kill or use force against civilians. There is...
Ligonier man worked for Coke, Disney, Steelers, Pitt, and drove limousines
Lelia Tosh can remember being in a grocery store, several thousand miles away from home on one of her family’s many motor home trips, and catching her father straightening up the store’s Coca-Cola display. “We’d say, ‘C’mon, Dad, we’re on vacation!’ ” Tosh said. “But he was just so proud.”...
GOP paints Biden’s choice for bank regulator as radical
President Joe Biden’s choice to run one of the agencies charged with overseeing the banking industry faced sharp questioning Thursday from Republican senators, who tried to label Saule Omarova as someone who would nationalize the U.S. banking system. Omarova, 55, was nominated in September to be the nation’s next comptroller...
German lawmakers shift in covid rules after dire warnings
German lawmakers approved new measures Thursday to rein in record coronavirus infections after the head of the country’s disease control agency warned Germany could face a “really terrible Christmas.” The measures passed in the Bundestag with votes from the center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats....
Arbery’s shooter admits he was not under any threat
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who killed Ahmaud Arbery testified Thursday that Arbery did not speak, show a weapon or threaten him in any way before he raised his shotgun and pointed it at him. Under cross-examination by the prosecution on his second day of testimony, Travis McMichael said he...
Top 2 Pennsylvania school pension system execs out of jobs
The top two executives at Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system will leave their jobs, under resolutions approved by the system’s board Thursday, amid two federal investigations and calls by board members for their resignations over lackluster investment returns. Under the resolutions, executive director Glen Grell and chief investment officer Jim...
Doubts over China tennis star’s email raise safety concerns
A Chinese professional tennis player not seen in public since she accused a former top government official of sexual assault purportedly sent an email claiming she was safe and that the allegation was false, a message that only amplified concerns about her safety and demands for information about her well-being...
New laws steer some teachers away from race-related topics
New measures that restrict how race is addressed in classrooms have spread confusion and anxiety among many educators, who in some cases have begun pulling books and canceling lessons for fear of being penalized. Education officials have nixed a contemporary issues class in a Tennessee district, removed Frederick Douglass’ autobiography...
Winds whip up volcanic ash from 1912 eruption in Alaska
Volcano scientists issued an alert Wednesday, warning that a cloud of ash — from an eruption more than century ago — was headed toward Alaska’s Kodiak Island. The ash is from the powerful 1912 eruption of Novarupta, a volcano on the Alaska Peninsula that dropped volcanic ash that is still...
Police search 4 Colorado locations in election security probe
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — An FBI-led law enforcement task force searched four western Colorado locations, including the home of an elections clerk, amid an investigation into allegations that the clerk was involved in a security breach of elections equipment earlier this year, a district attorney said. The FBI, the Colorado...
U.S. overdose deaths topped 100,000 in 1 year, officials say
An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the covid-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to new...
Florida GOP limits vaccine mandates, flouting White House
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules. Lawmakers in GOP-controlled statehouse expedited the measure, along with a package...
Vials labeled ‘Smallpox’ found in Pennsylvania lab freezer
PHILADELPHIA — Federal health authorities on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of some frozen vials labeled “Smallpox” in a freezer at a facility in Pennsylvania that conducts vaccine research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vials “were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker” who was cleaning out the...
Florida teacher who sued for ivermectin dies from covid
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla — A Florida teacher hospitalized with covid-19 has died after her husband unsuccessfully sued to force doctors to treat her with ivermectin, a drug popular among some skeptics of accepted coronavirus treatments despite a lack of studies proving its effectiveness. Tamara Drock died Friday, 12 weeks...
Rittenhouse lawyers ask judge to declare mistrial over videoVideo
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial even as the jury was deliberating Wednesday, saying the defense received an inferior copy of a potentially crucial video from prosecutors. Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the request, the second mistrial motion from the...
House censures Rep. Paul Gosar for violent video in rare rebukeVideo
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword, an extraordinary rebuke that highlighted the political strains testing Washington and the country. Calling the video a clear threat to...
Pennsylvania officials, lawmakers and judges get big pay raise in 2022
HARRISBURG — Inflation is driving up consumer prices and will drive a big salary increase for Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials in 2022. For many of these positions, it’s the biggest increase in three decades. Salaries across the board will rise 5.6%, a figure tied by...
2 men set to be cleared in the 1965 killing of Malcolm X
NEW YORK — Two of the three men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X are set to be cleared Thursday after insisting on their innocence since the 1965 killing of one of the United States’ most formidable fighters for civil rights, their lawyers and Manhattan’s top prosecutor said Wednesday....
Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with expelled student over memes deemed a threat
HARRISBURG — District administrators overreached when they permanently expelled a 17-year-old high school student for sending Snapchat messages after school hours that referred to another student as a potential school shooter, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The justices said such communications must be analyzed in context and the primary...
