EPA bans pesticide linked to health problems in children
The Biden administration said Wednesday it was banning use of chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide long targeted by environmentalists, on food crops because it poses risks to children and farm workers. The Environmental Protection Agency acted after a federal appeals court ordered the government in April to determine quickly whether...
Big bird on water is mystery, but town calls it just ducky
BELFAST, Maine — The sudden appearance of a giant rubber duck in a Maine harbor is a whimsical whodunit that’s defied sleuths so far. The yellow waterfowl emblazoned with the word “joy” appeared in Belfast Harbor over the weekend, and it’s a mystery who put it there. Harbor Master Katherine...
Pennsylvania may use taxpayer dollars for major golf events
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania officials have held out the potential for taxpayer-paid subsidies to help entice the U.S. Golf Association to bring more Opens and elite amateur events to two courses in the state, a news organization reported. The USGA last week announced that it will bring nine more Opens for...
Kushner pal Ken Kurson hit with state charges months after Trump pardon
NEW YORK — A newspaper editor friend of former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was hit Wednesday with state cyberstalking charges in New York, seven months after Trump pardoned him in a similar federal case just before leaving office. Manhattan prosecutors accused Ken Kurson, the New York Observer’s editor...
Bucks County police chief hit by shotgun blast; in good condition
YARDLEY — Authorities say a suburban Philadelphia borough police chief was shot while assisting parole officers on a visit to a condominium unit, but he was reported in good condition. Lower Makefield Police Chief Ken Coluzzi told reporters Wednesday that Chief Joseph Kelly III of the Yardley police department was...
Georgia board to review Fulton County election problems, takeover possible
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a bipartisan, three-person review panel to investigate the...
Federal government to require vaccines for nursing home staff
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will require that nursing home staff be vaccinated against covid-19 as a condition for those facilities to continue receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. President Biden will announce the move Wednesday afternoon in a White House address as the administration continues to look for ways...
Pennsylvania teachers union: Schools should require masks
Pennsylvania’s largest teachers union on Wednesday urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, a measure that state officials are encouraging but not mandating. The Pennsylvania State Education Association cited the threat of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, which is spiking infections and hospitalizations across the...
U.S. health officials call for booster shots against covid-19Video
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to dispense covid-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is slipping. The plan, as outlined by the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Georgia board to review Fulton elections, takeover possible
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday took a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county under a process outlined in the state’s sweeping new voting law that critics argue could open elections up to political interference. The board voted unanimously Wednesday...
Woman comes face-to-face with snake in Australia supermarket
CANBERRA, Australia — Helaina Alati was browsing the spice aisle of an Australian supermarket when she came face-to-face with a huge snake. The head of the 10-foot-long non-venomous diamond python emerged through a space in a shelf above the spice jars in the Sydney store. “I was in the spice...
Official: 1 killed, 6 wounded as Taliban break up protest
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan health official says at least one person was killed and six were wounded Wednesday when the Taliban violently dispersed a protest in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Dozens of people raised the national flag Wednesday and lowered the Taliban’s own flag the day before Afghanistan’s...
Belgium: Teenager seeks to break women’s solo flight record
KORTRIJK, Belgium — A Belgian-British teenager took to the skies Wednesday in her quest to become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo. With her parents looking on, 19-year-old Zara Rutherford took off from an airstrip in Kortrijk, western Belgium in gusty, overcast conditions. Rutherford is aiming to...
EU holds migrant talks, accuses Belarus of ‘hybrid warfare’
BRUSSELS — European Union ministers are holding emergency talks on Wednesday in response to allegations that Belarus is deliberately sending migrants to Lithuania as part of a “hybrid warfare” campaign to destabilize the Baltic EU member country. The ministers are holding a videoconference in a so-called “integrated political crisis response”...
R. Kelly due back in court for opening of sex abuse trial
NEW YORK — R&B star R. Kelly will be back in a criminal court on Wednesday, this time for opening statements in his long-anticipated federal trial arising from years of allegations that he sexually abused women and girls while pursuing fame and fortune. More than a decade has passed since...
Mustang roundups fuel deepening debate as drought grips West
TOOELE, Utah — The sound of the helicopter propeller thundered across the horizon as it dipped down toward mustangs dotting the golden brown plain. The horses burst into a gallop at the machine’s approach, their high-pitched whinnies rising into the dry air. That helicopter roundup in the mountains of western...
Judge rules that Christopher Columbus statue can stay in South Philly
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday ruled that the controversial Christopher Columbus statue at Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia can remain there, reversing a decision by city officials to have it removed. In a seven-page decision, Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick said the decision last year to remove the statue...
Heir: Sackler family won’t settle unless freed from opioid suits
Members of the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma won’t contribute billions of dollars to a legal settlement unless they get off the hook for all current and future lawsuits over the company’s activities, one of them told a court Tuesday in a rare public appearance. David Sackler, grandson...
Florida’s DeSantis top donor invests in covid drug governor promotes
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a covid-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was...
TSA extends mask rule to January for airline passengers
Federal officials are extending into January a requirement that people on airline flights and public transportation wear face masks, a rule intended to limit the spread of covid-19. The Transportation Security Administration was scheduled to enforce the rule until Sept. 13. An agency spokesman said Tuesday that the mandate will...
‘Tainted’ blood: Covid skeptics request blood transfusions from unvaccinated donors
The nation’s roiling tensions over vaccination against covid-19 have spilled into an unexpected arena: lifesaving blood transfusions. With nearly 60% of the eligible U.S. population fully vaccinated, most of the nation’s blood supply is now coming from donors who have been inoculated, experts said. That’s led some patients who are...
West Virginia University requiring masks in classes, labs
CHARLESTON — West Virginia University said Tuesday that it is requiring masks to be worn in classrooms and labs for the next 30 days, citing several factors, including that not enough students and employees have submitted proof that they have been vaccinated against covid-19. The university announced the change effective...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for covid-19, in ‘good health’
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, according to his office, who said the Republican is in good health and experiencing no symptoms. Abbott, who was vaccinated in December and has refused calls to reinstate mask mandates as the highly contagious delta variant surges in...
U.S. appeals court revives lawsuit over Western Pa. gun club restrictions
HARRISBURG — A federal judge should not have thrown out a legal challenge to township zoning rules that restricted operations at a gun range in Western Pennsylvania and limited “sportsman’s clubs” to nonprofit entities, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case and...
George Bush watches Afghan pullout with ‘deep sadness’ after warning of ‘unbelievably bad’ consequences
WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, who ordered the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to dislodge the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaida terrorists behind the Sept. 11 attacks, has watched the religious fundamentalists’ abrupt return to power with “deep sadness.” And with the Taliban back in control, he wistfully lauded a generation...
