Explainer: Why it takes months to subdue some wildfires
BOISE, Idaho — At nearly every community meeting on firefighting efforts in the U.S. West, residents want to know why crews don’t simply put out the flames to save their homes and the valuable forests surrounding them. It’s not that simple, wildfire managers say, and the reasons are many, some...
Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north
Preparations for a storm grew more urgent Saturday as the newly upgraded Hurricane Henri closed in on the Northeast. The storm’s latest track put it on course to collide Sunday with a long stretch of coastline, with hurricane warnings extending from near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Mass.,...
Haitian quake victims rush aid sites, take food and supplies
LES CAYES, Haiti — Haitians left hungry and homeless by a devastating earthquake swarmed relief trucks and in some cases stole desperately needed goods Friday as leaders of the poor Caribbean nation struggled to coordinate aid and avoid a repeat of their chaotic response to a similar tragedy 11 years...
Infowars host Owen Shroyer charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
The host of a program for the right-wing website Infowars, Owen Shroyer, has been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents filed Friday. Shroyer, who hosts “The War Room With Owen Shroyer” for the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones,...
Gov. Tom Wolf reinstates mask mandate for Pa. state employees
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is reinstating a mask mandate for all state employees and contracted staff working under his jurisdiction regardless of their vaccination status, starting on Monday. State employees were notified on Friday about this change in policy that comes as cases of covid-19 infections are on the rise....
Senators question DOJ funding for AI-powered policing tech
CHICAGO — A Democratic senator said the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into whether the algorithm-powered police technologies it funds contribute to racial bias in law enforcement and lead to wrongful arrests. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, was responding to an investigation by The Associated Press published Thursday...
How many people in Pa. use cannabis for addiction? The Wolf admin won’t say
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 — In 2018, the Wolf administration endorsed cannabis as a treatment for opioid use disorder, despite an absence of research...
Florida mayor urges water limits because of covid-19 surge
ORLANDO, Fla. — The mayor of the Florida city of Orlando asked residents on Friday to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars for a least a week, saying water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of covid-19 hospitalizations. The Orlando Utility Commission treats...
U.S. imposes limited sanctions over Russian gas pipeline
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration imposed new sanctions Friday on three Russian ships and companies involved in constructing a controversial gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. The move comes as lawmakers from both parties criticize the administration for not doing enough to halt the Nord Stream 2 project. But it...
U.S. appeals court refuses to end CDC’s eviction moratorium
A federal appeals court on Friday said a pause on evictions designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus can remain in place for now, setting up a battle before the nation’s highest court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a...
Pennsylvania jobless rate down, payrolls up 29K in July
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to a new post-pandemic low and the labor force shrank in July as payrolls jumped by nearly 29,000, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 6.6% from June’s adjusted rate, the state Department of Labor...
Naval Academy expels 18 after online exam cheating probe
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Naval Academy has expelled 18 midshipmen and sanctioned 82 more after an investigation into cheating on an online physics exam in December, officials announced Friday. When 653 midshipmen took the final exam for General Physics I through a website in December, written and verbal instructions...
New England preps for 1st hurricane in 30 years with Henri
BOSTON — New Englanders bracing for their first direct hit by a hurricane in 30 years began hauling boats out of the water and taking other precautions Friday as Tropical Storm Henri barreled toward the southern New England coast. Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the...
Harris’ Asia trip carries new urgency after Afghan collapse
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has given new urgency to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tour of Southeast Asia, where she will attempt to reassure allies of American resolve following the chaotic end of a two-decade war. The trip, which begins Friday and has stops in Singapore and Vietnam, will provide...
Taliban took Afghanistan but face cash squeeze
WASHINGTON — The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money. Despite their dominant military blitz over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup....
Biden pledges to Americans in Kabul: ‘We will get you home’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pledging to Americans still trapped in Afghanistan: “We will get you home.” Biden also said Friday the United States is committed to evacuating all Afghans who assisted the war effort — a potentially vast expansion of the administration’s commitments on the airlift so far,...
Top Pa. GOP senator orders change in election integrity plan
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate said Friday that he is putting a different senator in charge of an “election integrity” undertaking and removing a senator who had aimed to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman...
Imagination, Skittles help boy, 5, conquer Appalachian Trail
Harvey Sutton, or “Little Man,” as he is known on the Appalachian Trail, won’t have long to bask in the glory of hiking its full length. After all, he starts kindergarten Friday. At 5 years old, Harvey is one of the youngest — and the latest of several youngsters in...
Poll: Covid anxiety rising amid delta surge
DENVER — Anxiety in the United States over covid-19 is at its highest level since winter, a new poll shows, as the delta variant rages, more states and school districts adopt mask and vaccination requirements and the nation’s hospitals once again fill to capacity. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC...
U.S. keeps ban on nonessential border crossings to slow covid
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Friday extended a ban on nonessential travel along the borders with Canada and Mexico to slow the spread of covid-19 despite increasing pressure to lift the restriction. U.S. border communities that are dependent on shoppers from Mexico and Canada and their political representatives have...
Do I need a booster if I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?
All the talk about covid-19 booster shots have centered on those who received the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. But what about those who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine? The short answer is: Probably at some point, but health officials still are collecting the data needed to decide....
Navalny marks year after poisoning with anti-corruption call
MOSCOW — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marked the anniversary of a poisoning attack against him by urging global leaders Friday to put more attention on combating corruption and to target tycoons close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an article published in three European newspapers, Navalny chided Western...
52 feared dead, 1 survivor, on migrant boat going to Spain
LISBON, Portugal — A woman who was the only person pulled from a sinking dinghy in the Atlantic Ocean told her rescuers that the boat had left Africa a week earlier carrying 53 migrants, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said Friday. A merchant ship spotted the inflatable dinghy on Thursday, 158...
Hurricane watch issued as TS Henri tracks toward New England
MIAMI — Forecasters issued a hurricane watch Friday morning for Tropical Storm Henri ahead of its projected track toward the southern New England coast. Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in advisory. Impacts could be felt in New England states...
Report: Taliban killed minorities, fueling Afghans’ fears
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters tortured and killed members of an ethnic minority in Afghanistan after recently overrunning their village, Amnesty International said, fueling fears that they will again impose a brutal rule, even as they urged imams to push a message of unity at the first gathering for Friday...
