Crowds gather to protest President Joe Biden’s Idaho visit
BOISE, Idaho — More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Boise, Idaho, on Monday morning during a visit by President Joe Biden to express their displeasure about his coronavirus plan, the election and other issues. Biden came to Boise as part of a swing through three Western states to promote his...
Pa. corrections secretary is leaving, Gov. Wolf names replacement
Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary John Wetzel, who has overseen the state’s prison system for a decade, is leaving the post for the private sector, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Monday. Wolf said he has tapped George Little to serve as acting corrections secretary. Little has served as executive deputy secretary of...
Forecast: Pennsylvania’s fall foliage expected to bring vibrant colors in 2021
Vibrant fall foliage — even overachieving colors — can be expected this year in Pennsylvania, although the peak of the leaf-peeping season could be a week later than normal, according to the annual fall forecast from Accuweather. In Pennsylvania, the northern mid-Atlantic, southern New England and the Ohio Valley, “rainfall...
Covid vaccine for ages 5-11 could be ready for fall, early winter: reports
The former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a Pfizer board member said Sunday that a covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 could be ready as soon as Halloween. Appearing on CBS News “Face the Nation,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, said that Pfizer expects to have...
Ex-federal prosecutor under Trump joins GOP Pa. governor primary
HARRISBURG — Bill McSwain, top federal prosecutor in Philadelphia under former President Donald Trump, will run for governor, he announced Monday, joining a crowded Republican field that may still yet get bigger. McSwain’s announcement was not a surprise. He had written to Trump in July, seeking the former president’s endorsement...
Sept. 11 monument is defaced by vandals in South Carolina
GREENVILLE, S.C. — A large granite monument honoring 9-11 victims was defaced by vandals who spray-painted “Taliban” on it in two places, authorities in South Carolina said. The granite statue is made of two towers, each weighing 4,000 pounds with a light beam outside a Greenville County business, WYFF-TV reported....
School starts for 1 million NYC kids amid new vaccine rules
NEW YORK — About a million New York City public school students went back to school Monday in the nation’s largest experiment of in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The start of the school year coincides with several milestones in the city’s pandemic recovery that hinge on vaccine mandates. Nearly...
Indonesia arrests key leader in al-Qaida linked group
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism squad has arrested a convicted militant and suspected leader of an al-Qaida-linked group that has been blamed for a string of past bombings in the country, Indonesia police said Monday. Abu Rusdan was seized late Friday in Bekasi near the capital of Jakarta, along...
5 dead, including multiple children in Akron, Ohio, house fire
AKRON, Ohio — Five people, including three children, died in an early morning fire Monday in northern Ohio, which left four others injured, authorities said. Two adults and three children were killed, the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Four people were taken to hospitals, the fire department said. Their...
Out West, Biden points to wildfires to push for big rebuild
MATHER, Calif. — President Joe Biden on Monday used his first Western swing in office to hold out the wildfires burning across the region as an argument for his $3.5 trillion rebuilding plans, calling year-round fires and other extreme weather a climate change reality the nation can no longer ignore....
Boris Johnson set to reveal U.K.’s road map to avoid more lockdowns
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce how his government plans to control the coronavirus during the fall and winter — hoping vaccinations, rather than restrictions, will keep covid-19 in check. At a news conference on Tuesday, Johnson is expected to say that mask-wearing, work-from-home advice...
House Democrats post record August fundraising ahead of 2022
WASHINGTON — The campaign organization aiming to maintain Democratic control of the House in the 2022 midterm races raised $10 million last month, its best August haul ever during a year without a national election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says that nearly 250,000 grassroots donors provided $6.6 million, accounting...
West Virginia sets 2 daily records for positive coronavirus cases
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia set two daily records in the past week for positive coronavirus cases as the pandemic continues to ravage the state. Thursday’s total of confirmed cases was a record 1,738, only to be broken by Saturday’s total of 1,821, according to state health data. The previous...
Tropical Storm Nicholas threatens Gulf Coast with heavy rainVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Nicholas headed toward the Texas coast Sunday night, threatening to bring heavy rain and floods to coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and storm-battered Louisiana. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said a hurricane watch was issued for the central portion of the Texas coast...
North Korea says it tested long-range cruise missiles
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday that it successfully tested newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, the first known testing activity in months, underscoring how the country continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States. The state-run Korean...
Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson: Federal mandates fuel resistance to vaccinations
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that that federal vaccination mandates announced by President Joe Biden last week hurt efforts to overcome the public’s resistance to taking the covid-19 vaccine. The Republican governor has been notable in working to persuade reluctant Arkansas residents to be vaccinated against...
W.Va. Sen. Joe Manchin favors trimming Biden budget plan by more than halfVideo
WASHINGTON — A Democratic senator vital to the fate of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan for social and environmental spending said Sunday he won’t support even half that amount or the ambitious timetable envisioned for passing it. The stand by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was described as unacceptable by...
California voters: Less Republican and white than in 2003
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s a familiar refrain among California’s recall watchers: 2021 is not 2003. Yes, the state again is in the middle of a recall election that could remove the Democratic governor from office. But today’s California electorate looks far different than it did 18 years ago: It’s less...
Internet funding rule could favor rural areas over cities
Cities and urban counties across the U.S. are raising concerns that a recent rule from President Joe Biden’s administration could preclude them from tapping into $350 billion of coronavirus relief aid to expand high-speed internet connections. Biden has set a goal of delivering fast, affordable internet to every American household....
Vulnerable Democrats push for local priorities in budget
DES MOINES, Iowa — U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa was slow to get behind a $1 trillion infrastructure bill after the Senate passed it last month. It wasn’t the price tag that tripped up the Democrat from a swing House district. It was that none of the money was...
FBI releases newly declassified record on Sept. 11 attacks
WASHINGTON — A declassified FBI document related to logistical support given to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attacks details contacts the men had with Saudi associates in the United States but does not provide proof that senior kingdom officials were complicit in the...
Pa. school mask lawsuit backed by group that challenged 2020 election results
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 — Just before the start of the holiday weekend, the top Republican in the state Senate sued Democratic Gov. Tom...
Senators call for transparency in nursing home staff vaccination reports
A pair of U.S. senators say the Biden administration must do more to provide families with easily accessible information on covid-19 vaccination rates among nursing home staff and residents. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senate Finance chair, and Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey, D-Scranton, who chairs the Senate Committee on Aging, want the...
Photos: Ceremony at Flight 93 National Memorial marks 20th anniversary of 9/11
“We can never move on, but we must continue to move forward,” said Gordon Felt, president of Families of Flight 93. Felt, who lost his brother, Edward, in the crash addressed about 650 fellow family members and invited guests at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversay of the terrorist attacks...
Ex-President Bush slams U.S. violent extremists as ‘children of the same foul spirit’ as 9/11 terrorists
Former President George W. Bush used the occasion of a 9/11 speech to take a thinly-veiled slam at the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and other U.S. political extremists. “We have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within,”...
