Virginia Beach confronts inescapable costs of rising seas
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Voters in the sprawling coastal city of Virginia Beach will decide whether to approve one of the larger municipal bonds in the U.S. that would be used to protect against rising seas and intensifying hurricanes. If it passes Tuesday, the $568 million would fund anything from...
‘Everything is at stake’ as world gathers for climate talks
More than one world leader says humanity’s future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb climate change. Temperatures, tempers and hyperbole have all ratcheted up ahead of the United Nations summit. And the risk of failure looms large...
Despite transparency vows, much of Pa.’s redistricting still takes place behind closed doors
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. HARRISBURG — This year’s monumental redrawing of Pennsylvania’s political maps was preceded...
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr under investigation again for pandemic stock sales
WASHINGTON — North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and his brother-in-law are being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for potential insider trading, a case that stems from their abrupt sales of financial holdings during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, according to recent federal court filings. Burr, a...
U.S. cites ‘crisis’ as road deaths rise 18% in first-half 2021
DETROIT — The number of U.S. traffic deaths in the first six months of 2021 hit 20,160, the highest first-half total since 2006, the government reported Thursday, a sign of growing reckless driving during the coronavirus pandemic. The estimated number was 18.4% higher than the first half of last year,...
American Airlines plane diverted after passenger assaults flight attendantVideo
NEW YORK — An American Airlines flight from New York to California was diverted to Denver after a passenger assaulted a flight attendant, authorities said. Flight 976 was heading Wednesday from John F. Kennedy International Airport to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana when it landed at Denver International Airport...
East Texas ex-nurse gets death penalty for killing patients
TYLER, Texas — A jury sentenced a former Texas nurse to death for killing four patients by injecting air into their arteries after heart surgery. The Smith County jury deliberated about two hours before condemning William George Davis to death. The 37-year-old Hallsville man’s sentence will be automatically appealed. The...
Andrew Cuomo accused of forcible touching in criminal complaint
ALBANY, N.Y. — A criminal complaint filed by a police investigator with a court in Albany has accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of committing a misdemeanor sex crime, though there were reports Thursday that the document might have been submitted in error. The brief complaint, filed by an...
Wisconsin sheriff seeks investigation of nursing home voting
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin sheriff who supports former President Donald Trump accused the bipartisan state Elections Commission of breaking the law during last year’s election, taking the unusual step Thursday of detailing the allegations publicly even though no charges have been filed. Racine County Sheriff Charles Schamling called on...
Boston doctor fined $6,000 for missing surgery for sleeping in car during lunch
BOSTON, Mass. — Massachusetts’ medical board has reprimanded and fined the head of spine surgery at Boston Medical Center after he left an operating room to eat lunch in his car and then fell asleep and missed an emergency surgery in 2016. According to a consent order released Monday by...
Kentucky high school event included lap dances, Hooters costumesVideo
HAZARD, Ky. — Disciplinary action has been taken at a high school in eastern Kentucky for homecoming activities that included male students giving lap dances to staff and girls dressing like Hooters waitresses. Hazard High School said in a Facebook post that a “Man Pageant” and “Costume Day” were held...
In the middle of a crisis, Facebook Inc. renames itself MetaVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Like many companies in trouble before it, Facebook is changing its name and logo. Facebook Inc. is now called Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, to reflect what CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday is its commitment to developing the new surround-yourself technology known as the “...
Biden announces ‘historic’ deal — but still must win votes
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he and Democrats in Congress have reached a “historic” framework for his sweeping domestic policy package. But he still needs to lock down votes from key colleagues for what’s now a dramatically scaled-back bill. Eager to have a deal in hand before...
‘No one knows what to expect’: Kenosha wary as Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial looms
KENOSHA, Wis. — If you want to know how this city feels about the impending Kyle Rittenhouse trial, a conversation with Scott and Dee Seip is a good place to start. One mile northwest of their house is the still-vacant commercial strip that burned during protests over the police shooting...
$88 million settlement reached with families of victims in Charleston church mass shootingVideo
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre. The Justice Department will pay...
German on trial for castrating men on his kitchen table
BERLIN — A German electrician went on trial Thursday accused of murder in the death of one man, and mutilating several others by performing illegal operations on their genitals. The 66-year-old told a regional court in Munich that he performed the procedures at the men’s request. The defendant, whose name...
Merck agrees to let other drug makers make its covid pill
LONDON — Pharmaceutical company Merck agreed to allow other drug makers to produce its covid-19 pill, in a move aimed at helping millions of people in poorer countries get access to the potentially life-saving drug, a United Nations-backed public health organization said on Wednesday. The Medicines Patent Pool said in...
Jury selected for civil trial over Charlottesville rally
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A jury has been seated in a civil trial to determine whether white nationalists who planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., will be held responsible for the violence that erupted. The process of choosing a jury was completed Wednesday, the third day of...
Judge won’t block vaccine mandate for New York City cops, other workers
NEW YORK — A New York judge on Wednesday refused to pause a covid-19 vaccine mandate set to begin Friday for the city’s municipal workforce, denying a police union’s request for a temporary restraining order. Judge Lizette Colon said the mandate can take effect as scheduled while also ordering city...
Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early covid-19
A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with covid-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce inflammation and looked promising in smaller studies....
Report: At least 59,000 meat workers caught covid, 269 diedVideo
OMAHA, Neb. — At least 59,000 meatpacking workers caught covid-19 and 269 workers died when the virus tore through the industry last year, which is significantly more than previously thought, according to a new U.S. House report released Wednesday. The meatpacking industry was one of the early epicenters of the...
New York trooper charged with murder in pursuit that killed girl, 11
NEW YORK — A New York state trooper was charged with murder Wednesday in the death of an 11-year-old girl by ramming his patrol vehicle into her family’s vehicle in December, the state’s attorney general announced. Trooper Christopher Baldner was indicted on charges of murder, manslaughter and reckless endangerment in...
Sheriff: Texas children lived in dire conditions as body decomposedVideo
HOUSTON — The three abandoned brothers were thin, malnourished and hungry, living alone for months with no blankets to keep them warm inside an unfurnished Houston area apartment with soiled carpet, flies and roaches. The trio were barely surviving, abandoned and set adrift alongside the decomposing body of their 8-year-old...
Powerful special interests are pouring millions into Pa. Supreme Court race
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 — Labor unions, lawyers, and a political committee with ties to a billionaire advocate for school choice are underwriting the...
Josh Shapiro breaks with Gov. Wolf over strategy on climate changeVideo
HARRISBURG — Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, is breaking with Gov. Tom Wolf on the centerpiece of Wolf’s plan to fight climate change amid the strong and sustained pushback it has received from building trades unions that have long backed the party’s candidates for governor. Wolf — a...
