Supreme Court hears arguments in major gun rights case
WASHINGTON — Several Supreme Court justices appear concerned that a broad ruling in favor of gun rights could threaten restrictions on firearms in subways, bars, stadiums and other places where people gather. The court is hearing arguments Wednesday in its biggest guns case in more than a decade, a dispute...
Voters say ‘yes’ to early closing time for South Beach bars
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Last call could come three hours earlier in Miami Beach, where a majority of voters fed up with nighttime violence chose “Yes” to rolling back the 5 a.m. closing time for alcohol sales. The voter referendum was held Tuesday in response to increasingly raucous crowds and...
Democrats reach drug price deal, Biden upbeat on Manchin
WASHINGTON — Democrats reached agreement on a plan to lower prescription drug costs for most older people, capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs at $2,000 and reducing the price of insulin, salvaging a campaign promise as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on...
Youngkin’s Virginia win jolts Democrats, tight race in N.J.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia governor’s race early Wednesday, tapping into culture war fights over schools and race to unite former President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters with enough suburban voters to become the first Republican to win statewide office in a dozen years. The 54-year-old...
Minneapolis voters reject replacing police with new agency
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety, an idea that supporters had hoped would bring radical change to policing in the city where George Floyd’s death under an officer’s knee brought calls for racial justice....
Democrat Eric Adams wins New York City mayoral electionVideo
NEW YORK — Democrat Eric Adams has been elected New York City mayor, defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday in a contest far easier than his next task: steering a damaged city through its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Adams, a former New York City police captain, will become the...
Federal judge: No release for GOP donor accused of sex trafficking
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a prominent Minnesota GOP donor charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking to stay in jail as he prepares his defense, following accusations he threatened law enforcement and prosecutors. Anton Lazzaro allegedly told Minneapolis police officer Brandon Brugger after his arrest that...
CDC gives final clearance to covid-19 shots for children 5 to 11
U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size covid-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 5. The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 — doses just...
As Biden exits U.N. climate summit, pleas for bold action by world leaders go unheededVideo
GLASGOW, Scotland — With no global consensus reached on how to quickly curb rising temperatures, President Joe Biden sought other avenues of progress on his last day at the United Nations climate summit, forging narrower agreements to cut methane emissions and save the world’s forests. The patchwork of announcements generated...
Democrats announce deal for lower drug prices in Biden billVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats reached agreement Tuesday on a deal to lower prescription drug costs for older people, capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs at $2,000 and reducing the price of insulin, salvaging a campaign promise as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced...
Defense begins in trial of Philadelphia official, union boss
PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors put on sufficient trial evidence over four weeks to send corruption charges against a powerful Philadelphia labor leader and city council member to a jury, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The judge rejected a defense request to dismiss the case against union boss Johnny “Doc” Dougherty and...
China accuses U.S. of ‘lack of transparency’ over USS Connecticut accident
BEIJING — China on Tuesday accused the United States of a “lack of transparency and responsibility” regarding an accident in the South China Sea involving a Navy submarine last month. At a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the U.S. should provide full details of the incident that...
White House rolls out new plan to combat gun suicides in U.S.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is rolling out a new initiative aimed at reducing suicides by gun and combating the significant increases in suicides by members of the military and veterans. The White House is announcing the new plan on Tuesday, which officials say is an unprecedented focus by the...
Facebook to shut down face-recognition system, delete data
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology and its misuse by governments, police and others. “This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage...
U.S. says oil, gas sales damage climate — but won’t stop them
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration is planning to sell oil and gas leases on huge tracts of public land in the U.S. West, despite the Interior Department’s conclusion that doing so could cost society billions of dollars in climate change impacts. Administration officials announced last week that government regulators...
Judge releases names of jurors in Derek Chauvin’s trial
MINNEAPOLIS — The judge who presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin has made public the names of jurors who convicted the former Minneapolis police officer of murder in the death of George Floyd. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, in response to a request to release the names by...
Opening statements begin in Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial
KENOSHA, Wis. — Opening statements began Tuesday at the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, with a prosecutor detailing the young man’s shooting of three people who were out on the streets of Kenosha during a protest against racial injustice last year. Prosecutor Thomas Binger described what he said were “two...
Minneapolis voters weigh fate of police after George Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS — Voters in Minneapolis were deciding Tuesday whether to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety, more than a year after George Floyd’s death under the knee of a white police officer launched a movement to defund or abolish police across the country. Democratic...
Biden climate plan aims to reduce methane emissions
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday launched a wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, targeting a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and packs a stronger short-term punch than even carbon dioxide. The plan was announced as President Joe Biden wraps up a two-day appearance at...
Judge: DA can’t drop charge in handcuffed prisoner shooting
YORK — A Pennsylvania judge once again denied a county prosecutor’s request to drop a misdemeanor charge against a former police officer who shot a man in handcuffs outside a bank 2 1/2 years ago. York County President Judge Maria Musti Cook issued the ruling Monday in the case of...
Blast near Kabul hospital kills 3, wounds 16, medics say
KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion went off Tuesday at the entrance of a military hospital in Kabul, killing three people and wounding at least 16, health officials said. The blast went off at the entrance to the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan military hospital, the spokesman of the Taliban-run Interior Ministry,...
Pennsylvania state employees who get vaccinated to receive 5 paid days off
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration told more than 70,000 state employees on Monday that it is offering five days of paid leave for getting fully vaccinated against covid-19 by the end of the year, quickly drawing opposition from the state treasurer over the potential cost. The administration told employees...
Have you seen this vehicle? State College police ask for public’s help after armed robbery
STATE COLLEGE — State College police released a composite photo of a vehicle Monday in an attempt to find the gunman who reportedly robbed a bus terminal and assaulted a worker. Borough police did not release details about the vehicle, including the year, make or model. A man entered the...
Coal miner dies in southern W.Va.; 6th fatality of 2021
SHARPLES, W.Va. — A coal miner died in an accident Monday in southern West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice said. The accident occurred Monday afternoon at Mingo Logan Coal Co.’s Mountaineer II Mine in Sharples, the governor’s office said in a statement. The statement, which didn’t include details surrounding the death,...
Covid vaccine for younger children already being packed, shippedVideo
WASHINGTON — Anticipating a green light from vaccine advisers, the Biden administration is assembling and shipping millions of covid-19 shots for children ages 5-11, the White House said Monday. The first could go into kids’ arms by midweek. “We are not waiting on the operations and logistics,” said coronavirus coordinator...
