Family criticizes investigation into disappearance of Florida teen who was later found dead
ORLANDO, Fla. — The family of Miya Marcano accused the Orange County Sheriff’s Office of failing to initially take her disappearance seriously in a statement released Wednesday along with new video from an encounter with her suspected killer in the hours after she went missing. After Marcano, 19, missed a...
Ban on negotiating Medicare drug prices under pressure
WASHINGTON — Donna Weiner looks at Medicare’s prescription drug program from two different points of view. As a participant, she wants to pay less for her medicines, which cost her about $6,000 a year. As a retired accountant who spent 50 years handling the books for companies, she sees a...
Los Angeles approves one of strictest U.S. vaccination mandates
Los Angeles leaders on Wednesday approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game. The City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of...
Student taken into custody hours after Texas school shootingVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — An 18-year-old student opened fire during a fight at his Dallas-area high school on Wednesday, injuring four people and then fleeing before being taken into custody hours later, authorities said. Timothy George Simpkins was taken into custody without incident, the Arlington Police Department tweeted. He was booked...
McConnell offers Democrats short-term debt fix amid standoff
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday told Democrats he would allow an emergency debt limit extension into December, edging back from a perilous standoff by offering a potential path to avoid a federal default. A procedural vote on legislation that would suspend the debt limit for two...
Can $1 trillion coin fix debt limit? Quirky law says maybe
WASHINGTON — Some politicians think they’ve found a silver bullet for the impasse over the debt limit, except the bullet is made of platinum: Mint a $1 trillion coin, token of all tokens, and use it to flood the treasury with cash and drive Republicans crazy. Even its serious proponents...
Troubled student loan forgiveness program gets an overhaul
The Biden administration is temporarily relaxing the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements — a change that could offer debt relief to thousands of teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants. The Education Department said Wednesday it will...
Man charged with killing hospital co-worker, wounding Philadelphia policeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A man faced murder and other charges Tuesday in the shooting death of a colleague at the Philadelphia hospital where they both worked and the subsequent wounding of two officers in an exchange of gunfire near a school. Stacey Hayes, 55, was charged with murder, attempted criminal homicide,...
FBI raids offices of New York City police sergeants union
NEW YORK — Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City police union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island home of its bombastic leader, who has clashed with city officials over his incendiary tweets and hard-line tactics. FBI spokesperson Martin Feely said agents were “carrying...
California pipeline may have been hooked by ship’s anchorVideo
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The pipeline that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the water off Southern California was split open and apparently dragged more than 100 feet along the ocean floor, possibly by a ship’s anchor, officials said Tuesday. The segment of the pipe that was...
New Hampshire governor seeks removal of panel chair over false covid claims
CONCORD, N.H. — Gov. Chris Sununu is calling for the removal of a state representative, a fellow Republican, from his position as head of the legislative fiscal committee, saying the lawmaker is continuing to spread covid-19 misinformation. Last month, Rep. Ken Weyler, of Kingston, told state Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette...
Covid spike pushes Alaska’s health care system to brink
TANACROSS, Alaska — One Alaska Native village knew what to do to keep out covid-19. They put up a gate on the only road into town and guarded it round the clock. It was the same idea used a century ago in some isolated Indigenous villages to protect people from...
Lawyers urge California bar to probe key adviser’s role in Trump bid to overturn 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — A group of prominent lawyers, including former governors and judges, urged the California bar to launch an investigation into John C. Eastman’s role in advising President Trump on how he could overturn his election defeat, including by having his vice president refuse to count the electoral votes in...
Crematorium owner charged with improper disposal of bodies
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. — A suburban Detroit crematorium owner who had already lost his mortuary science and mortuary science establishment licenses has been charged with improper disposal of bodies. O’Neil Swanson was arraigned Monday in Washtenaw County district court, the Michigan Attorney General’s office said Tuesday. A cease and desist...
French report: 330,000 children victims of church sex abuse
PARIS — Victims of abuse within France’s Catholic Church welcomed a historic turning point Tuesday after a new report estimated that 330,000 children in France were sexually abused over the past 70 years, providing the country’s first accounting of the worldwide phenomenon. The figure includes abuses committed by some 3,000...
Arizona can’t use covid money for anti-mask grants, feds say
The Biden administration on Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to stop using the state’s federal pandemic funding on a pair of new education grants that can only be directed to schools without mask mandates. In a letter to Ducey, the Treasury Department said the grant programs are “not a...
Gaetz friend asks for more time to cooperate with feds
Joel Greenberg, the friend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sex trafficking, asked a judge on Tuesday to postpone his sentencing until next year so he can continue cooperating with federal authorities. Greenberg asked the federal judge in a court filing to move his...
Vaccines are here. School’s open. Some parents still agonize.
Eight days into the school year, all five of Amber Cessac’s daughters, ages 4 to 10, had tested positive for COVID-19. Having them all sick at once and worrying about long-term repercussions as other parents at their school, and even her own mother, downplayed the virus, “broke something inside of...
Ex-Facebook manager criticizes company, urges more oversightVideo
WASHINGTON — While accusing the giant social network of pursuing profits over safety, a former Facebook data scientist told Congress Tuesday she believes stricter government oversight could alleviate the dangers the company poses, from harming children to inciting political violence to fueling misinformation. Frances Haugen, testifying to the Senate Commerce...
Biden: Senate filibuster change on debt a ‘real possibility’
WASHINGTON — To get around Republican obstruction, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Democrats are considering a change to the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to quickly approve lifting the nation’s debt limit and avoid what would be a devastating credit default. The president’s surprise remarks come as the Senate...
$699.8M Powerball jackpot won, ticket sold in California
DES MOINES, Iowa — After 40 drawings without a big Powerball winner, a single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers and was the lucky winner of the nearly $700 million jackpot prize, officials said. The winning numbers drawn Monday night were 12, 22, 54, 66 and 69. The...
Biden eager to get out of D.C., push benefits of spending plan
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is shifting strategy to sell his ambitious social spending plans by traveling outside Washington and courting Democrats who have complained they felt left out of the process. With his agenda in jeopardy on Capitol Hill, Biden on Tuesday will visit the Michigan district of a...
J&J seeks U.S. clearance for covid-19 vaccine booster doses
WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to allow extra shots of its covid-19 vaccine as the U.S. government moves toward expanding its booster campaign to millions more vaccinated Americans. J&J said it filed a request with the FDA to authorize boosters for people...
Police: Head-on crash between SUV, pickup kills 3 in Crawford County
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — The Pennsylvania State Police identified three people who died Sunday in a head-on collision in Crawford County. The victims were identified as Kenneth Anderson, 54, of Titusville, who was driving an SUV; Joshua Hanes, 21, of Springboro, who was driving a pickup truck; and Katrina Wiler, 21,...
DEA agent, gunman killed in Amtrak train shooting in Arizona
A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent was killed Monday when a passenger, who also died, opened fire as officers were doing a routine inspection for illegal contraband on an Amtrak train in Tucson, Ariz., authorities said. A second agent and a Tucson police officer were wounded. “It’s very horrific and...
