Covid surge: Pennsylvania hospital chain runs out of beds
One of Pennsylvania’s largest health systems has run out of beds because of the latest covid-19 surge, with doctors and nurses practicing “waiting room medicine” on patients who are forced to endure 10- to 20-hour delays in the emergency department, officials said Wednesday. Geisinger is running at 110% capacity across...
Father, son arrested in wildfire that threatened Lake Tahoe
SACRAMENTO — A father and son were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year, authorities said. David Scott Smith, 66, and his son, Travis Shane Smith, 32, are...
Mark Meadows sues as Jan. 6 panel proceeds with contempt caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday sued the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection as the chairman of the panel pledged to move forward with contempt charges now that Meadows is no longer complying with a subpoena. The dueling actions laid...
Coast Guard diver pulls body from car above Niagara FallsVideo
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — A Coast Guard diver lowed from the sky Wednesday braved frigid rapids to get to a car submerged in water near the brink of Niagara Falls, only to find it was too late to rescue the driver trapped inside. The diver was lowered from a hovering...
Big donor in Pennsylvania high court race eyeing candidates for governor
HARRISBURG — The biggest single campaign donor in this year’s race for a seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is now aiming to endorse a candidate for governor and, with $20 million in a bank account, it could be a transformative endorsement. Members of the double-digits-deep field of Republican candidates say...
Covid cases spike even as U.S. hits 200M vaccine milestone
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The number of Americans fully vaccinated against covid-19 reached 200 million Wednesday amid a dispiriting holiday-season spike in cases and hospitalizations that has hit even New England, one of the most highly inoculated corners of the country. New cases in the United States climbed from an average...
House GOP chooses citizen map for proposed new Pa. congressional districts
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 — The long-awaited redistricting process in Pennsylvania kicked into high gear...
Tennessee medical board takes coronavirus misinformation policy offline
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s medical licensing board has voted to remove from its website its recently adopted policy against the spread of coronavirus misinformation by doctors, acting under pressure from a GOP state lawmaker and a new law imposing sprawling virus-related restrictions. The exchange spurring the vote Tuesday by the Tennessee...
Bob Nutting to sell Seven Springs, 2 other ski resorts to Vail Resorts
Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting is selling his three ski resorts in the Laurel Highlands — Seven Springs Mountain Resort near Champion, Hidden Valley Resort near Bakersville and Laurel Mountain Ski Area in Ligonier Township — for $125 million to Vail Resorts Inc. of Colorado. Nutting, CEO of Seven Springs...
Scott Peterson resentenced to life term in wife’s 2002 death
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly 17 years after being sentenced to die, Scott Peterson was resentenced to life without parole Wednesday during an emotional hearing in which family members of his slain pregnant wife, Laci, called him out for the killing in 2002 and his apparent lack of remorse. “I still...
Biden order would make U.S. government carbon neutral by 2050
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order to make the federal government carbon-neutral by 2050, aiming for a 65% reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of car and trucks five years later. The White House said the order shows how...
Car plunges into river just above brink of Niagara Falls
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — A car entered the Niagara River and became stuck in the rapids just yards from the brink of Niagara Falls on Wednesday, the fate of any occupants of the vehicle unknown. It was not immediately clear how or where the gray car entered the frigid, rushing...
Investigators in Alabama find car, bones in 1976 cold case
LAGRANGE, Ga. — Investigators have discovered the 1974 Pinto a 22-year-old student was driving on his way back to Auburn University from Georgia when he disappeared more than 45 years ago, sheriff’s officials announced Wednesday. Kyle Wade Clinkscales’ car was pulled from a creek around Cusseta, Ala., on Tuesday after...
California plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe overturned
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a “sanctuary” for those seeking reproductive care, including...
Biden has new brand for infrastructure deal he’s promoting
WASHINGTON — Move over, BIF and BBB. Now there’s BBA. President Joe Biden, trying to rebound from sagging poll numbers, is rebranding his bipartisan infrastructure package as “Building a Better America” ahead of a Wednesday trip to Kansas City, Mo., to promote the deal. The economy has roared back during...
U.S. journalist freed in Lebanon after call by rights groups
BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities freed Wednesday a freelance American journalist who was detained in Beirut last month. The release came just hours after two international human rights groups called her detention arbitrary and demanded that she be set free. Nada Homsi, the journalist, said after her release that her arrest...
Student denied emergency relief in Nevada vaccination suit
RENO, Nev. — A college student who argues he’s immune from covid-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while he presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the University of Nevada, Reno’s...
Prosecutor: ‘Overwhelming’ evidence Smollett faked attack
CHICAGO — A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that there is “overwhelming evidence” that former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in downtown Chicago for publicity, then lied to police about it. Special prosecutor Dan Webb said during his closing argument that what Smollett did in...
Giant Christmas tree outside Fox News headquarters set afireVideo
NEW YORK — A man was charged with arson and other crimes Wednesday for setting fire to a 50-foot Christmas tree in front of Fox News headquarters in midtown Manhattan, police said. The artificial tree outside of the News Corp. building that houses Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and...
Judge declares mistrial after Florida juror denies verdict
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A South Florida judge declared a mistrial in a murder case on Wednesday after the jury delivered a verdict of manslaughter, only to have its decision collapse when a juror told the court she didn’t agree. The jurors were told to keep trying for a fifth...
1 wounded when man opens fire inside Texas shopping mall
KILLEEN, Texas — Police in Texas searched Wednesday for a man who opened fire inside a shopping mall, wounding one person, authorities said. Officers responded to the Killeen Mall at about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday after shots were fired, Killeen Police Chief Charles Kimble said. One person was shot multiple times...
India’s military chief, 12 others killed in helicopter crash
NEW DELHI — India’s military chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, and 12 others were killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash in southern Tamil Nadu state, the air force said. It said in a tweet that the helicopter “met with a tragic accident.” The dead included Rawat’s wife. The air force said...
USSR’s death blow was struck 30 years ago in a hunting lodge
MOSCOW — When the leaders of the Soviet Union’s three Slavic republics met at a secluded hunting lodge on Dec. 8, 1991, the fate of the vast country hung in the balance. With a stroke of their pens, they delivered a death blow to the USSR, triggering shockwaves that are...
Court to decide if Pennsylvania schools’ mask order is legal
HARRISBURG — A lawyer for Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary on Wednesday defended the validity of the secretary’s order requiring masks inside K-12 schools to fight covid-19, asking state Supreme Court justices to focus on a single regulation. “If this court finds that the masking order falls outside of that, then...
Joining drag queens on TV show costs Indiana pastor his job
NEW YORK — The Rev. Craig Duke has been a Methodist minister for three decades, building a reputation as a staunch advocate of LGBTQ inclusion. His pastoral duties have now been terminated — the result of a bitter rift surfacing in his Indiana church after he sought to demonstrate solidarity...
