House passes $3.5T Biden blueprint after deal with moderates
WASHINGTON — Striking a deal with moderates, House Democratic leaders muscled President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint over a key hurdle Tuesday, ending a risky standoff and putting the party’s domestic infrastructure agenda back on track. The 220-212 vote was a first step toward drafting Biden’s $3.5 billion rebuilding plan...
Pennsylvania settles lawsuit against IBM over jobless claims
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Tuesday that it settled a lawsuit against IBM after suing the company four years ago and accusing it of failing to deliver on a contract for an updated system of processing unemployment compensation claims. In a brief statement, the Department of Labor and...
Missouri attorney general sues to stop school mask mandates
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to stop school districts from enforcing mask mandates, requirements aimed at slowing the spread of covid-19. The lawsuit names Columbia Public Schools along with the district’s Board of Education and board members, but is a class action lawsuit that...
Crews scour debris for more victims after Tennessee floodsVideo
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Crews with chainsaws and heavy equipment cleared their way through trees densely matted with vegetation, garbage and building debris Tuesday as searchers scoured a normally shallow creek for more flooding victims in rural Tennessee. Even cars and sheds were woven into the tangle of debris lining Trace...
Law named for dead Penn State student boosts hazing penalty
BRANCHBURG, N.J. — Hazing in New Jersey will be met with harsher penalties under a new law named after Tim Piazza, a state native and Penn State student who died in 2017. Gov. Phil Murphy signed Timothy J. Piazza’s Law on Tuesday at Raritan Valley Community College, not far from...
Earlier diabetes tests recommended for overweight U.S. adults
Overweight and obese Americans should start getting screened for diabetes earlier, at age 35 instead of 40, according to updated national guidelines published Tuesday. The new advice stems from rising rates of both obesity and Type 2 diabetes, and research showing health benefits of prevention methods and early treatment. Three...
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts dies at age 80
Charlie Watts, the self-effacing and unshakeable Rolling Stones drummer who helped anchor one of rock’s greatest rhythms sections and used his “day job” to support his enduring love of jazz, has died, according to his publicist. He was 80. Bernard Doherty said Tuesday that Watts “passed away peacefully in a...
Harris rebukes China in speech on Indo-Pacific vision
HANOI — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances. “We know that Beijing continues...
Worker support grows for harsher vaccine stances from employers
As U.S. regulatory approval of Pfizer’s covid-19 shot paves the way for companies to get more aggressive with inoculations, American workers are increasingly supportive of punitive measures for unvaccinated colleagues. A survey released Tuesday by human-resources consultant Eagle Hill showed that 41% of workers polled agreed that non-vaccinated employees should...
A Bronze Star recipient watches the fall of Afghanistan from Congress — and wants answers
WASHINGTON — Jimmy Panetta can’t stop thinking about the narrow streets leading to Kabul’s airport. The former Navy intelligence officer remembers how the snarls of traffic, poor roads and crowds of pedestrians made airport access such a challenge during his tour of duty in 2007 and 2008, and again on...
Disney reaches vaccination agreement with union workers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s Walt Disney World will now require union employees as well as non-union and salaried workers to be fully vaccinated against covid-19 to keep their jobs at the theme park. The company also said Wednesday it would soon require vaccines for its cruise passengers ages 12...
Pa. redistricting panel to count inmates in hometowns
HARRISBURG — Inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons will be counted in their home districts and not where their prisons are located after a divided vote Tuesday by the five-member panel redrawing legislative district maps this year. The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 3-2 for the policy change that was introduced...
CIA head meets Taliban leader as fears for Afghanistan grow
The director of the CIA met with the Taliban’s top political leader in Kabul, an official said Tuesday, as more reports emerged of abuses in areas held by the fighters, fueling concerns about Afghanistan’s future and the fate of those racing to leave the country before the looming U.S. withdrawal....
Biden tells G-7 allies he aims to stick to Afghanistan withdrawal deadlineVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appeared unwilling to bend to pressure, including from European allies, to continue a massive evacuation effort from Afghanistan, planning — for now — to stick to his Aug. 31 deadline for troop withdrawal. On a chaotic day at the White House, Biden delayed scheduled remarks...
Fossil leaves may reveal climate in last era of dinosaurs
WASHINGTON — Richard Barclay opens a metal drawer in archives of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum containing fossils that are nearly 100 million years old. Despite their age, these rocks aren’t fragile. The geologist and botanist handles them with casual ease, placing one in his palm for closer examination. Embedded...
9 women now serving as governors in U.S., tying recordVideo
Taking over on short notice for a scandal-plagued predecessor in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her tenure Tuesday with more than enough challenges for a new administration. She also began with an historic opportunity: Hochul is the first woman to hold one of...
Giuliani associate Igor Fruman to change plea in campaign finance case
NEW YORK — A man who helped Rudy Giuliani try to unearth damaging information about President Joe Biden in Ukraine is expected to plead guilty in a case alleging illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians, according to a court filing. Igor Fruman was charged in 2019 with arranging hundreds of...
Taliban warn of ‘consequences’ if U.S. extends evacuation past AugustVideo
KABUL — In the eight days since tens of thousands converged on Kabul’s airport to flee an Afghanistan under Taliban rule, critics and allies alike have blasted President Joe Biden’s insistence on the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal, urging him to delay so as to complete...
Cyber Ninjas staff reportedly have covid, Arizona election report delayed again
PHOENIX — The delivery of a report on the 2020 vote count to Arizona state Senate Republicans was delayed yet again Monday after the Donald Trump supporter hired to lead the effort and several others involved contracted covid-19 “and are quite sick,” the Senate GOP leader said. Republican Senate President...
Crews search for missing in Tennessee deluge that killed 22Video
WAVERLY, Tenn. — Search crews worked through shattered homes and tangled debris on Monday, looking for about a dozen people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through rural Tennessee, killing at least 22 people. Saturday’s flooding took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving people uncertain about...
Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader who burned BLM flag, gets 5 months in jail
The leader of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced to more than five months in jail on Monday for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into the nation’s capital days shortly...
Hearings in Pennsylvania election ‘investigation’ to begin, senator says
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s Senate said Monday that hearings will begin this week as he committed to carrying out a “full forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he has communicated with former President Donald Trump, whose baseless...
West Virginia’s largest private employer issues worker vaccine mandate
CHARLESTON — The West Virginia University Health System, the state’s largest private employer, announced Monday that it will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Oct. 31 as covid-19 cases continue to grow exponentially statewide. The mandate applies to workers at all of the WVU Health...
Rev. Jesse Jackson and wife remain hospitalized for covid-19
CHICAGO — Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, remained hospitalized Monday after testing positive for covid-19, family members said. Both were admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Saturday, with their age as a factor, according to their son Jonathan Jackson. Jesse Jackson is 79 and...
Igor Vovkovinskiy, tallest man in U.S., dies in Minnesota
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota. He was 38. His family said the Ukrainian-born Vovkovinskiy died of heart disease on Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at Mayo, initially posted about his...
