In unusual move, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis submits redistricting map
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has submitted a proposal to reshape the state’s congressional map and carve up districts held by Black Democrats, as the Republican takes the unusual step of inserting himself into the redistricting process. The proposed congressional map, submitted Sunday on the eve of Martin Luther...
Confusion, lawsuit follow Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin’s order on masksVideo
RICHMOND — Virginia’s new Republican governor was facing pushback from Democratic lawmakers, school districts and a group of parents who sued him Tuesday over an executive order that aims to create an opt-out for classroom mask mandates. The order issued Saturday and set to take effect Monday was among Glenn...
Rudy Giuliani among Trump allies subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump’s post-election legal team who filed multiple lawsuits claiming election fraud that were roundly rejected by the courts but gave rise to the lie that Trump did not really lose...
Michigan Attorney General Nessel: ‘Absolutely’ enough evidence to charge GOP electors
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she believes there’s “absolutely” enough evidence to bring criminal charges against 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely claiming to be the state’s presidential electors in December 2020. Nessel, a Democrat and the state’s top law enforcement official, made the comment...
Report: Trump’s bid to overturn Pa. election results foiled by GOP’s ‘hedged’ wording on ‘fake’ elector ballots
Former President Donald Trump’s GOP electors in Pennsylvania weren’t willing to go all the way in the January 2021 bid by the ex-president’s campaign to overturn election results in as many as seven so-called “swing states.” As Lancasteronline reports, the bid in the commonwealth hit a snag because the state’s...
3 officers charged in shooting death of 8-year-old girl outside Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Three police officers have been charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment after firing their weapons in the direction of a crowd of people exiting a high school football game outside of Philadelphia, killing an 8-year-old girl and injuring three people. A grand jury recommended the charges against the...
Former New York Post editor alleges harassment, retaliation
NEW YORK — A New York Post editor whose departure was announced Tuesday alleged she was fired two months after revealing to an executive that former editor Col Allan had sexually harassed her. The Post said any suggestion of wrongdoing related to Editor-in-Chief Keith Poole’s announcement of Michelle Gotthelf’s exit...
U.K. man admits exploiting worker kept in shed for 40 years
LONDON — A man in northwest England pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to exploiting a vulnerable victim who was found living in a garden shed that had been his home for 40 years. The victim was rescued in October 2018 when officers from the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority searched...
Parents near breaking point as covid-19 exacerbates child-care crisis
Parents are tired. Take nursing assistant Tammi Lewis, who missed weeks of work and $7,800 in wages when her toddler’s child-care classroom in Plymouth, Minn., suffered covid outbreaks. Or Kelsey and Christian Dahlager of St. Paul, Minn., who pay $3,000 a month for child care for their two children —...
Felony charges are 1st in a fatal crash involving Autopilot
California prosecutors have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019. The defendant appears to be the first person to be charged with a felony in the United States...
U.S. faces wave of omicron deaths in coming weeks, models say
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but covid-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March. The seven-day rolling average for daily new covid-19 deaths in the U.S. has...
White House soft-launches free covid test request website
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home covid-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially launch. The website, covidtests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to order up four at-home tests per residential address, to be delivered...
Rome villa with Caravaggio ceiling fails to sell, to be reauctioned
A villa in Rome containing the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio went on a court-ordered auction block Tuesday, thanks to an inheritance dispute pitting the heirs of one of Rome’s aristocratic families against their stepmother, a Texas-born princess. Princess Rita Jenrett Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly known as Rita Carpenter, woke...
Opera singer accepts insanity plea in Mar-a-Lago breach
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Connecticut opera singer who drew fire from law enforcement when she sped through a checkpoint outside then-President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida two years ago was found not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday. Florida prosecutors and Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer accepted Hannah Roemhild’s...
Big voting bill faces defeat as 2 Democrats won’t stop filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy appeared headed for defeat as the Senate churned into debate Tuesday, a devastating setback enabled by President Joe Biden’s own party as two holdout senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican...
Despite huge volcano blast, Tonga avoids widespread disaster
The blast from the volcano could be heard in Alaska, and the waves crossed the ocean to cause an oil spill and two drownings in Peru. The startling satellite images resembled a massive nuclear explosion. And yet, despite sitting almost on top of the volcano that erupted so violently on...
Why airlines fear 5G will upend travel this week
AT&T will postpone new wireless service near some airports planned for this week after the nation’s largest airlines said the service would interfere with aircraft technology and cause massive flight disruptions. The company said Tuesday it would delay turning on new cell towers around runways at some airports — it...
Fun in the snow: Readers share photos of sledding, shoveling, snowball fights
Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania saw its first major snowfall of the season and the people across the region got out and enjoyed it. Check our gallery of images submitted from readers of people having winter fun. Did you capture a fun photo in the snow Sunday or Monday? We’d love...
Hong Kong to kill 2,000 animals after hamsters get covid
HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected. The city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals,...
Decaying fixer-upper on ‘best block’ in San Francisco sells for $2M
OAKLAND, Calif. — A decaying, 122-year-old Victorian marketed as “the worst house on the best block” of San Francisco has sold for nearly $2 million — an eye-catching price that the realtor said was the outcome of overbidding in an auction. A developer’s $1.97 million cash offer for the 2,158-square-foot...
Blinken to visit Ukraine as U.S.-Russia tensions escalateVideo
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Ukraine this week and meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate over a possible Russian invasion of its neighbor, the State Department said Tuesday. Blinken will be in Kyiv on a hastily arranged trip to...
Biden year 1 takeaways: Grand ambitions, humbling defeats
Joe Biden’s long arc in public life has always had one final ambition: to sit behind the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office. He achieved it — albeit, at 78, as the oldest person to assume the presidency. After the turbulence and chaos of his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden was...
Suspended professor who made profanity-filled video threatens to sue if he’s not reinstated
DETROIT — A Michigan professor who was suspended after making a profanity-filled video for his students is threatening to file a lawsuit if Ferris State University doesn’t quickly lift the sanction. An attorney for Barry Mehler warned the school in a letter Tuesday, saying the history teacher is protected by...
Abortion clinics challenging Texas law dealt new setback
NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court on Monday steered a decision about Texas’ strict abortion law to the state’s Republican-majority Supreme Court, dealing opponents another defeat and raising their concerns that the near-total ban on abortions will remain intact for the foreseeable future. The Texas law that bans abortion...
Winter storm whipping northeast U.S. with snow, thunderstormsVideo
NEW YORK — A dangerous winter storm brought significant snowfall, strong thunderstorms and blustery wind to the northeastern United States on a holiday Monday. The storm system dropped a foot or more of snow in parts of New York state, Ohio and Pennsylvania Sunday night through Monday morning after pummeling...
