Diner leaves $10,000 tip for workers at Florida restaurant
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A diner at a north Florida restaurant gathered the staff of 10 together to thank them for their hard work before leaving them a $10,000 tip to share. It happened last Tuesday night as the man, his wife and son finished their dinner at the Wahoo Seafood...
Pentagon to mandate covid-19 vaccine, as Pfizer is approved
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it will require service members to receive the covid-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the...
WHO head calls for 2-month vaccine booster moratorium
BUDAPEST, Hungary — The head of the World Health Organization on Monday called for a two-month moratorium on administering booster shots of covid-19 vaccines as a means of reducing global vaccine inequality and preventing the emergence of new coronavirus variants. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Hungary’s capital,...
U.S. regulators give full approval to Pfizer covid-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the...
Gunfire at Kabul airport kills 1 amid chaotic evacuations
KABUL, Afghanistan — A firefight just outside Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country. The airport shooting came as the Taliban sent fighters north of the...
Henri’s lazy remnants hinder cleanup, threaten inland floods
The slow and sprawling storm system named Henri drenched much of the inland Northeast with rain Monday, hampering cleanup efforts and threatening further flooding in areas with ground already saturated from a wet summer. Rains from the storm, which spared coastal areas of New York and New England major damage...
As Cuomo exits, Hochul to take office minus ‘distractions’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo neared the end of his decade as New York’s governor Monday, as he prepared to relinquish his tight grip on government to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in a midnight power transfer that will break another glass ceiling for women in state politics. Cuomo, a Democrat,...
Missing 2-year-old girl’s body recovered in Allegheny River in Warren County
WARREN — Pennsylvania State Police troopers are continuing their investigation into the death of a 2-year-old girl whose body was recovered from the Allegheny River on Sunday after she had wandered away from her Warren County home on Saturday morning. The child, whose name was not released, was reported missing...
Poll: School mask, vaccine mandates supported in U.S.
As covid-19 cases surge around the country, a majority of Americans say they support mask mandates for students and teachers in K-12 schools, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along political lines. About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to...
Thousands of household wells go dry amid California drought
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. — Fourteen years ago, Heriberto Sevilla came across a ranch on the outskirts of Madera set among fields of stalk grass and bright wildflowers. Pepper trees dotted the meadow, and children played in the natural lakes created by heavy rains. It was the perfect place to raise...
Pa. to hire 100 covid contact tracers to replace 1,000 — experts say it’s not enough
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. The Wolf administration will hire at least 100 contact tracers as it rebuilds its depleted team, a dramatic workforce reduction compared...
What’s wrong with Arizona’s 2020 audit? A lot, experts sayVideo
PHOENIX — A cybersecurity firm plucked from relative obscurity to conduct an unprecedented review of ballots in Arizona’s largest county is readying to present its findings to Republican lawmakers. Experts say there should be little anticipation about the revelations from the Maricopa County audit — and whatever those revelations are,...
FDA issues ‘You are not a cow’ warning after livestock drug use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a strong and unusual warning this week: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” On Friday, Mississippi’s health department issued a warning that more than 70% of recent calls to the state’s poison center came after...
Florida’s peak of the delta wave could be days away, university models showVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is rapidly approaching the peak of new infections of the delta wave, when the highest single-day counts could come, according to two models created by researchers at Florida universities. One model created by University of South Florida researchers predicts the state will hit the most daily...
Tennessee radio host who regretted vaccine skepticism dies of covid
NASHVILLE — A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from covid-19 has died. He was 61. Nashville radio station SuperTalk 99.7 WTN confirmed Phil Valentine’s death in a tweet Saturday. Valentine had been a skeptic of coronavirus vaccines. But after...
4 takeaways from new Pa. census data and what it means for redistricting
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 — Pennsylvania became less white and more concentrated in and near...
How to get involved in Pa.’s pivotal redistricting process
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. It’s an event that comes just once every ten years. No, not...
22 dead, many missing after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee
McEWEN, Tenn. — At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee. Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving...
Veterans are prized recruits as congressional candidates
NORFOLK, Va. — With midterm election season rapidly approaching, Republicans and Democrats have something in common when it comes to recruiting candidates they hope will deliver majorities in Congress: a preference for military veterans. Both parties anticipate a significant number of races where veterans will be opposing each other, using...
Biden says U.S.-led evacuation from Kabul is accelerating
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport accelerated this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group. One week after the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan by capturing Kabul, Biden...
Moving inland, Tropical Storm Henri drenches Northeast
WESTERLY, R.I. — Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with heavy wind and rain as it made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island, knocking out power to over 100,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and left many people stranded in their vehicles. The storm...
China allows couples 3rd child amid demographic crisis
BEIJING — China will now allow couples to legally have a third child as it seeks to hold off a demographic crisis that could threaten its hopes of increased prosperity and global influence. The ceremonial legislature on Friday amended the Population and Family Planning Law as part of a decades-long...
Biden sees dip in support amid new covid cases: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is facing a summer slump, with Americans taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his job approval rating ticking down. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 54% of Americans approve...
Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover
HANGEDIGI, Turkey — From above, the new border wall separating Turkey from Iran looks like a white snake winding through the barren hills. So far it only covers a third of the 335-mile border, leaving plenty of gaps for migrants to slip across in the dead of night. Traffic on...
IS threat forces U.S. changes to evacuations at Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country...
