Ex-probation officer convicted in real estate agent killing
MINNEAPOLIS — A former probation officer has been found guilty for her role in the kidnapping and killing of a Minneapolis real estate agent. Jurors in Hennepin County on Monday found 29-year-old Elsa Segura guilty of luring Monique Baugh to a bogus home showing in Maple Grove on Dec. 31,...
2 die when man jumps off building in New York, lands on another man
YONKERS, N.Y. — A distraught man jumped off the roof of a New York apartment building and landed on another man 12 stories below, killing both of them, police said. A 25-year-old man jumped from an apartment building in Yonkers on Monday evening, Yonkers police said. He landed on the...
Johnson & Johnson: Booster dose of its covid shot prompts strong response
LONDON — Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose. J&J said in statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a...
Sudanese officials say coup attempt failed, army in control
Sudanese authorities reported a coup attempt on Tuesday by a group of soldiers but said the attempt failed and that the country’s ruling council and military remain in control. The development underscored the fragility of Sudan’s path to democracy, more than two years after the military’s overthrow of longtime autocrat...
Perry County man charged with felony, jailed on $50k cash bond for 43-cent ‘theft’
Joseph Sobolewski stopped at a convenience store in Perry County last month where he saw a sign for 20-ounce Mountain Dew bottles: 2 for $3. He grabbed a bottle, slapped $2 on the counter and walked out. What he didn’t know was a single bottle was $2.29, not $1.50. So...
West Virginia virus cases drop for first time in months; deaths way up
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Active coronavirus cases in West Virginia have fallen dramatically in recent days, bringing a hope that the latest surge is at or past its peak but prompting warnings that deaths and record hospitalizations will continue to swell before dropping, too, officials said Monday. The number of current...
Politico pardoned by Trump accused of illegal campaign scam
WASHINGTON — A Republican political operative pardoned by President Donald Trump after his conviction in a 2012 bribery plot has been charged again with campaign-related crimes, this time involving a 2016 illegal campaign contribution scheme and a Russian national. Jesse Benton, 43, of Louisville, Ky., was accused in an indictment...
Gabby Petito’s boyfriend sought in Florida nature preserveVideo
NORTH PORT, Fla. — Authorities were once again searching a swampy preserve area Tuesday near the home of the boyfriend wanted for questioning in the death of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, whose body was discovered at a Wyoming national park months after the pair set out on a cross-country road trip....
Texas doctor who defied the state’s abortion ban is suedVideo
DALLAS — A San Antonio doctor who said he performed an abortion in defiance of a new Texas law has been sued by two people seeking to test the legality of the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. Former attorneys in Arkansas and Illinois filed lawsuits Monday against Dr. Alan...
Debt limit linked to vital spending bill in risky political move
WASHINGTON — House Democrats will include a suspension of the U.S. debt ceiling in a must-pass spending bill needed to keep the government open past the end of this month, a risky move that ensures a potentially damaging showdown with Republicans. The debt ceiling would be suspended through December 2022,...
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan contracts covid-19 despite vaccination
COLUMBUS, Ohio — U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio tested positive Monday for covid-19 despite being vaccinated against the virus. In a statement, Ryan said he was experiencing mild symptoms from his breakthrough case and will continue to quarantine from his northeast Ohio home. “While I’m currently experiencing mild symptoms,...
Lou Barletta signs anti-tax pledge in GOP campaign for governor
HARRISBURG — Lou Barletta, the former congressman seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania, has signed a pledge from a conservative anti-tax Washington-based group that commits him to oppose tax increases. The pledge, sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, commits the signer to the state’s taxpayers to “oppose and...
Lawyer of Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg says he suspects more indictments on way
NEW YORK — A lawyer for Donald Trump’s indicted corporate finance chief told a judge Monday he has “strong reason to believe” more indictments are coming in an ongoing New York investigation into the former president’s real estate empire. Lawyer Bryan Scarlatos made the remark during Trump Organization CFO Allen...
Powerball jackpot at $490 million; winning ticket sold for Mega Millions $432 million jackpot
Lottery players throughout the United States will still have a chance this week at another massive jackpot after one was claimed Tuesday night. A winning ticket was sold at a New York City pizzeria for Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot, which had hit $432 million, with a cash option of $312.8...
Supreme Court sets arguments in big abortion case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 1 in Mississippi’s bid to have the landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion overturned. The court issued its arguments calendar for late November and early December on Monday. Mississippi is asking the high court to...
Federal officer arrested at Capitol rally won’t be charged
WASHINGTON — A federal law enforcement officer was arrested carrying a gun at Saturday’s rally at the U.S. Capitol billed to support the suspects charged in January’s insurrection but will not be prosecuted. The 27-year-old New Jersey man is an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He was arrested...
Police: 2 people wounded in shooting at Virginia high school
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Two students were wounded Monday afternoon in a shooting at a Virginia high school, police said. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the face at Heritage High School and a 17-year-old girl was shot in the leg, Newport News police Chief Steve Drew said at a...
Prosecutors wrap up as R. Kelly trial moves into next stage
NEW YORK — Prosecutors at the R. Kelly sex trafficking trial ended their case Monday after calling dozens of witnesses over the past month who detailed the government’s sweeping allegations against the singer in lurid detail. Several women and two men who were in Kelly’s celebrity orbit testified about how...
Canadians vote in pandemic election that could cost Trudeau
TORONTO — Canadians voted Monday in a tight pandemic election that threatens to knock Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from power. Trudeau gambled on an early election in a bid to win a majority of seats in Parliament. But the opposition has been relentless in accusing Trudeau of calling an unnecessary...
Covid has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu
Covid-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000. The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the covid-19 crisis is...
Church bus crash in central Pa. sends 30 to hospitals, some critically hurt
DONALDSON, Pa. — A bus carrying high school students and leaders returning from a church retreat crashed Sunday in Pennsylvania, injuring more than two dozen people, at least three critically, authorities said. State police in Schuylkill County said the bus was heading south on Interstate 81 in Frailey Township shortly...
U.S. easing foreign travel restrictions; vaccinations required
In a major easing of pandemic travel restrictions, the U.S. said Monday it will allow foreigners to fly into the country this fall if they have vaccination proof and a negative covid-19 test — changes replacing a hodgepodge of rules that had kept out many non-citizens and irritated allies in...
Pittsburgh man charged in Johnstown assault, chase
JOHNSTOWN — A Pittsburgh man is accused of assaulting a woman during a robbery late Saturday and then leading police on a nearly 8-mile chase. Johnstown police said Denzel Kendrick, 25, and another man followed the woman with their vehicle through a Solomon Homes parking lot — at one point...
4 famous giant trees unharmed by Sequoia National Park fire
Four famous giant sequoias were not harmed by a wildfire that reached the edge of Giant Forest in California’s Sequoia National Park, authorities said. The Four Guardsmen, a group of trees that form a natural entryway on the road to the forest, were successfully protected from the KNP Complex fire...
Shooting at Russian university leaves 6 dead, 28 hurt
A student opened fire Monday at a university in Russia, leaving six people dead and 28 hurt, before being shot by police and detained, officials said. Beyond saying that he was a student, authorities offered no further information on his identity or possible motive. During the attack, students and staff...