Democrats renew push on elections bill that Republicans vows to block
WASHINGTON — Democrats are renewing their push to enact their marquee voting bill, pledging to make it the first order of business when the Senate returns in the fall even though they don’t have a clear strategy for overcoming steadfast Republican opposition. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced early Wednesday...
Senate nears OK of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget, despite GOP attacks
WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed their expansive $3.5 trillion framework for bolstering family services, health, and environment programs toward Senate passage early Wednesday, as Republicans unleashed an avalanche of amendments aimed at making their rivals pay a price in next year’s elections. Congressional approval of the budget resolution, which seems assured,...
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear orders masks in schools as covid surges
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Masking up in Kentucky schools was mandated by Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday as the fast-spreading delta variant causes waves of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The new executive action requiring indoor mask wearing applies to K-12 Kentucky schools, regardless of vaccination status for covid-19, the Democratic...
Ambulances wait outside Florida hospitals as covid infections spreadVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Covid-19 cases have filled so many Florida hospital beds that ambulance services and fire departments are straining to respond to emergencies. In St. Petersburg, some patients wait inside ambulances for up to an hour before hospitals can admit them — a process that usually takes about...
Rain batters Puerto Rico, USVI as storm warnings issued
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Heavy rain pelted the northern Caribbean on Tuesday as forecasters warned that a disturbance could soon become Tropical Storm Fred following a quiet month of no named storms in the region. Power outages were already reported in Puerto Rico, where Luma, the company in charge...
Pa. is trying county fairs, text messages and door-knocking to raise the vaccination rate. Success is slow coming.
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. Nicole Diehl attended the Wayne County Fair in northeastern Pennsylvania last weekend, not for the livestock exhibitions, carnival games, demolition derbies,...
Unvaccinated students will have to pay $750 at West Virginia Wesleyan
BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — West Virginia Wesleyan College says it will charge a $750 fee to students who aren’t vaccinated for covid-19 for the fall semester. The school in Buckhannon also said in its campus arrival guidance for the upcoming semester that students who come down with the virus and can’t...
Arrest made in crash that killed Utah bride in wedding dressVideo
SALT LAKE CITY — The driver of a pickup truck who Utah police say caused a vehicle crash last weekend that killed a newlywed bride who was still in her purple wedding dress has been arrested, a TV station reported. The bride, Angelica Jimenez Dhondup, 26, was on her way...
What’s inside the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan plan to rebuild roads and bridges, modernize public works systems and boost broadband internet, among other improvements to the nation’s infrastructure. The White House is projecting that the investments will add, on average, about 2 million jobs per year...
Census data spurred GOP’s largest partisan edge in decades
Fresh off sweeping electoral victories a decade ago, Republican politicians used census data to draw voting districts that gave them a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years, according to a new Associated Press analysis. That advantage, measured by a formula designed...
Prosecutor: Man admitted killing Chicago cop during traffic stopVideo
CHICAGO — A man charged with killing a Chicago police officer admitted to investigators that he pulled his handgun out of his waistband during a traffic stop and opened fire, a prosecutor told a judge Tuesday. At a bond hearing for Monty Morgan, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy...
Gov. Wolf mandates vaccination for new hires at state-run health care facilities, prisons
Pennsylvania will mandate covid-19 vaccination for all new hires at state-run health care and congregate care settings, and current employees at those facilities must either get vaccinated or test weekly for the virus, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday. The mandate will affect around 25,000 employees at state hospitals, state homes...
Pennsylvania county asks senator to stop seeking vote audit
HARRISBURG — A Republican-majority county board in rural northern Pennsylvania on Tuesday accused a state senator of creating “unnecessary chaos” in pushing for a detailed review of how the county collected and counted votes in former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat last year. The three Tioga County commissioners all read...
Missouri judge says Medicaid expansion must be allowed
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri judge on Tuesday ruled that Republican Gov. Mike Parson no longer can deny Medicaid health care to thousands more newly eligible adults. Cole County Judge Jon Beetem in his order said Parson’s administration must give Medicaid coverage to newly eligible adults, despite the governor’s resistance...
Thai police fire rubber bullets, tear gas at virus protest
BANGKOK — Thai police clashed for the second time in four days on Tuesday with protesters angry over the government’s handling of a coronavirus surge and a lack of progress in political reform. Lines of police, backed by trucks spraying jets from water cannons, fired tear gas and rubber bullets...
U.S. vows to isolate Taliban if they take power by force
KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. peace envoy brought a warning to the Taliban on Tuesday that any government that comes to power through force in Afghanistan won’t be recognized internationally after a series of cities fell to the insurgent group in stunningly quick succession. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy, traveled...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns over sexual harassment
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations Tuesday in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during the darkest days of covid-19. The three-term governor’s decision was announced as momentum built...
Big win for $1T infrastructure bill: Democrats, GOP come together
WASHINGTON — With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure plan for states coast to coast on Tuesday, as a rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans came together to overcome skeptics and deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda. “Today,...
Bear cub strolls aisles at Southern California supermarket
LOS ANGELES — Shoppers were startled last weekend to see a bear cub browsing the offerings at a Los Angeles supermarket. Video aired by CBS 2 shows the small bear strolling the aisles on Saturday at the Ralphs store in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley. After...
Tropical storm warnings for U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Islands in the northern Caribbean braced Tuesday for the storm that could be Fred. The National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm warnings for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where forecasters expected the potential cyclone to strengthen Tuesday into the sixth named storm of...
Report: Ex-U.K. leader Cameron made $10M from collapsed firm
LONDON — Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is reported to have made $10 million from a financial services company that he lobbied for before it collapsed earlier this year, according to a TV news program. The BBC reported Monday that Cameron appeared to have made $4.5 million after cashing...
Germany’s train drivers to go on nationwide strike
BERLIN — Germany’s train drivers plan to go on a nationwide strike starting Tuesday night, the head of the train driver’s union said after announcing that 95% of the union members had voted to back the move. Travelers were warned to expect disruptions. The head of the GDL union, Claus...
Jeffrey Epstein accuser sues Prince Andrew, citing sex assault at 17
NEW YORK — One of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accusers sued Prince Andrew on Monday, taking accusations that she has repeatedly publicly lodged against him, including that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, to a formal venue. Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, where...
Appeals court gives mixed ruling on North Carolina school’s dress code
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A federal appeals court on Monday tossed out a lower-court ruling that banned a North Carolina charter school from requiring girls to wear skirts. But the 2-1 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., also opens up a new legal avenue...
U.S. to review 9/11 records with eye toward making more public
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that it would work toward providing families of 9/11 victims with more information about the run-up to the attacks as part of a federal lawsuit that aims to hold the Saudi government accountable. The disclosure in a two-page letter filed in federal court...
