Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opposes masks in schools as covid cases riseVideo
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose re-election campaign is selling koozies quoting him saying, “How the hell am I going to drink a beer with a mask on?” held a private meeting this week with doctors to oppose mask mandates in public schools. DeSantis said he fears that the...
Audit: Military personnel unprotected from toxic chemicals
The Defense Department has dragged its feet on protecting service personnel from “forever chemicals” at military installations and isn’t doing enough to track health effects from exposure to the toxic compounds, according to an internal audit. Officials have taken steps to find and clean groundwater contaminated with firefighting foam containing...
Another Pennsylvania man charged in Jan. 6 Capitol breach
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania man who boasted of macing police at the breach of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection is facing federal charges. Agents detained Samuel Lazar, 37, Monday in Ephrata, on charges of assaulting police and obstruction of law enforcement, according to court filings unsealed Tuesday....
Ex-airman sentenced to 45 months for leaking drone information
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former Air Force intelligence analyst who once helped find targets for deadly U.S. drone strikes was sentenced to 45 months in prison for leaking top-secret details about the program. Daniel Hale, 33, told a federal judge he felt compelled to leak information to a journalist out...
Man pleads guilty to 4 Asian spa killings, sentenced to life
CANTON, Ga. — A man accused of killing eight people, most of them women of Asian descent, at Atlanta-area massage businesses pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in four of the killings and was handed four sentences of life without parole. Robert Aaron Long, 22, still faces the death penalty in...
South Carolina man convicted of killing Uber rider in 2019Video
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man was convicted Tuesday of the 2019 abduction and murder of a 21-year-old college student who mistook his car for her Uber ride. The jury took a little more than an hour to find Nathaniel Rowland guilty of the charges in the death of...
Pennsylvania transportation funding report could propel years of debate
HARRISBURG — A transportation funding commission is preparing to recommend how to raise billions more dollars in Pennsylvania for a 21st-century highway system, a report that will land at a politically touchy time and is expected to kick off a debate that could last years. The report, expected this week...
Man honors 9/11 crews with Boston-New York drink cart push
A former flight attendant who lost several colleagues when United Flight 175 was flown into the World Trade Center’s south tower in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, is honoring his friends on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks by pushing an airline beverage cart from Boston to ground...
At least 14 interested in statues removed in Charlottesville
At least 13 organizations and one municipality have expressed interest in acquiring two statues of Confederate generals removed from downtown Charlottesville parks, including one monument that was the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017, according to city documents. Museums, battlefields and historical sites in Virginia and beyond...
Pennsylvania officials warn of uptick in hard-to-spot ticks as summer wears on
The state Department of Environmental Protection has collected twice as many small, immature ticks in Pennsylvania this year compared to last year, prompting warnings for residents to check themselves thoroughly after outdoor activities. Blacklegged tick nymphs, or ticks that are not fully grown, pose an even greater risk when it...
Biden mileage rule to exceed Obama climate goal
WASHINGTON — In a major step against climate change, President Joe Biden is proposing a return to aggressive Obama-era vehicle mileage standards over five years. He’s then aiming for even tougher anti-pollution rules after that to forcefully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nudge 40% of U.S. drivers into electric vehicles...
A police killing in Philadelphia could change Pa. use-of-force cases forever
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 — Philadelphia’s district attorney is challenging Pennsylvania’s use-of-force law ahead of a former police officer’s landmark murder trial, and the...
CDC reverses course on indoor masks in some parts of U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed course Tuesday on some masking guidelines, recommending that even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant of the coronavirus is fueling infection surges. Citing new information about the variant’s ability to spread among...
Georgia man gets life sentence in 4 of 8 Asian spa killings
CANTON, Ga. — A Georgia man accused of killing eight people at three Asian massage businesses was sentenced Tuesday to life without parole after a prosecutor said investigators saw no evidence of racial bias. Robert Aaron Long was given four life sentences after pleading guilty to all charges in the...
Tokyo reports record virus cases days after Olympics begin
TOKYO — Japan’s capital, Tokyo, reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, days after the Olympics began. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged people to avoid non-essential outings but said there was no need to consider a suspension of the Games. Tokyo reported 2,848 new covid-19 cases, exceeding...
‘This is how I’m going to die’: Officers tell Jan. 6 stories
WASHINGTON — “This is how I’m going to die, defending this entrance.” Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell told House investigators Tuesday he could feel himself losing oxygen as he was crushed by rioters — supporters of then-President Donald Trump — as he was defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6...
As Jan. 6 probe begins, Democrat Bennie Thompson vows: ‘We have to get it right’
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, didn’t realize the severity of the Jan. 6 insurrection until his wife called him. He was inside the Capitol, sitting in the upper gallery of the House, hoping for what he called a “bird’s-eye view of the process”...
Florida mayor: ‘We are in crisis mode,’ as coronavirus cases surgeVideo
ORLANDO — The mayor of the county that hosts Florida’s theme park mecca said Monday that “we are now in crisis mode” when it comes to dealing with soaring numbers of covid-19 infections. Florida accounted for a fifth of the nation’s new infections last week, more than any other state,...
Family: Last victim ID’d in Florida condo building collapseVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The final victim of the condo building collapse in Florida has been identified, a relative said Monday, more than a month after the middle-of-the-night catastrophe that ultimately claimed 98 lives and became the largest non-hurricane related emergency response in state history. Estelle Hedaya, an outgoing 54-year-old...
Injuries reported after house explosion in Blair County
TYRONE — Injuries have been reported following a house explosion in central Pennsylvania, authorities said. Emergency dispatchers in Blair County said the blast in Tyrone was reported shortly after 1 p.m. Monday and flames spread to two other houses. Officials said burn patients were transported to Altoona Hospital and to...
Police: 5 dead, one hospitalized after crash on Long Island
QUOGUE, N.Y. — Five people were dead and another person was in critical condition after a head-on collision on Long Island, according to police. The accident occurred at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday on Montauk Highway in Quogue. A Nissan Maxima traveling west with one person aboard left its lane and...
Trump inaugural chair Tom Barrack: I’m ‘100% innocent’ in lobbying caseVideo
NEW YORK — The chair of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee pleaded not guilty Monday and said he was “100% innocent” of charges that he secretly lobbied the U.S. on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. Tom Barrack, 74, wearing a black mask to protect against coronavirus, appeared...
Pa. law enforcement, lawyers, legislators try to raise awareness of human trafficking
A 22-year-old man from Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. A 46-year-old Chinese national from Mt. Pleasant. A 26-year-old man from Buffalo, N.Y. All three face charges of human trafficking in cases connected to the greater Pittsburgh area. And, on Monday, state police announced charges against three people accused of running a human...
Moderna expands child vaccine trial to get more safety data
Moderna Inc. said it would expand an ongoing trial of its coronavirus vaccine in children under 12 years old to gather more safety data amid worries that messenger RNA shots may trigger rare heart side effects. “The objective is to enroll a larger safety database which increases the likelihood of...
Mississippi sees big jump in covid-19 positive test resultsVideo
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi health officials reported Monday that the state is seeing its highest number of new covid-19 cases in months as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread. The state is also experiencing a sharp increase in the percentage of positive tests. “COVID-19 testing...
