Recovery effort at collapsed Miami building could end soon
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condo building are nearing an end. Miami-Dade police identified six more victims of last month’s Surfside condo collapse on Thursday, meaning that 92 of the 97 confirmed dead have been identified. County officials have accounted...
Pennsylvania jobless rate down slightly, payrolls up in June
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and labor force shrank slightly in June as payrolls crept up, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.9% from May’s adjusted rate, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. May’s initial rate had been...
Wolf admin sat on 2017 probe of unemployment error but denies ‘cover-up’
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 — Pennsylvania’s top labor official said Thursday there was never an attempt within her department to deliberately conceal an error...
Tennessee inmate found dead after execution date request
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee death row inmate Stephen Hugueley has died three days after the state filed a motion to set his execution date. Attorney Amy Harwell said she received a call just before 6 a.m. Friday from a Tennessee Department of Correction chaplain notifying her of Hugueley’s death. “He...
Pope reverses Benedict, reimposes restrictions on Latin Mass
ROME — Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin...
Officials now say no ban on animal sacrifice in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India — Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday said there is no ban on the sacrifice of animals during the upcoming Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday, a day after the government asked law enforcers to stop the sacrifice of cows, calves, camels and other animals. G.L. Sharma, a senior government...
Trump showerhead rule to increase water flow being dropped
WASHINGTON — So much for Donald Trump’s quest for “perfect” hair. President Joe Biden’s administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn’t getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads. Now, with a new president in office, the Energy Department is...
Russia: Afghan instability heightens with hasty U.S. retreat
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — America’s hasty retreat from Afghanistan has destabilized the region and worsened the terrorist threat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a conference of world powers and Afghanistan’s neighbors Friday as they sought a common path toward resolving the country’s escalating violence. Participants gathering in the Uzbek capital...
Fully vaccinated Americans may enter Canada as of mid-August
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada could start allowing fully vaccinated Americans into Canada as of mid-August for non-essential travel and should be in a position to welcome fully vaccinated travelers from all countries by early September. Trudeau spoke with leaders of Canada’s provinces and...
Arizona election auditors seek more records, voter canvassVideo
PHOENIX — Contractors hired by Arizona Senate Republicans to oversee a partisan review of the 2020 election said Thursday that they don’t have enough information to complete their report, and urged legislators to subpoena more records and survey voters at home. Leaders of the GOP audit described a wide variety...
Another Pa. county raises objection to lawmaker’s election audit
HARRISBURG — Another Pennsylvania county targeted for an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of the 2020 presidential election being pushed by former President Donald Trump is raising strong objections to a sweeping demand for access to its voting equipment and records. York County’s three commissioners — two Republican and one Democrat —...
Los Angeles County restores indoor mask mandate for all
LOS ANGELES — A rapid and sustained increase in covid-19 cases in the nation’s largest county requires restoring an indoor mask mandate even when people are vaccinated, Los Angeles County’s public health officer said Thursday. Dr. Muntu Davis said at a virtual press conference that a public health order requiring...
Rep. Joyce Beatty detained by Capitol police during voting rights demonstrationVideo
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio was arrested by Capitol police Thursday after she marched to a Senate office building to push for voting rights legislation aimed at curbing restrictions in Republican-controlled states. The Columbus Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus joined a coalition of Black women and...
Ex-Florida deputy gets 12 years for planting drugs in people’s cars
MARIANNA, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff’s deputy received a 12-year prison sentence for planting drugs inside drivers’ cars during traffic stops and then arresting them. Former Jackson County deputy Zachary Wester, 28, did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing. He was convicted in May on 19 of 67 counts, including...
Movie producer charged with operating prostitution service
NEW YORK— A movie producer was arrested Thursday in California on a New York indictment accusing him of using a movie production company to operate an international prostitution business. Dillon Jordan, 49, of Arrowhead Lake, California, was arrested in San Bernardino County, California, and awaited an initial court appearance in...
Cleveland State to require coronavirus vaccinations despite law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cleveland State University said Thursday it will continue to require that students living on campus be vaccinated against the coronavirus despite a new law prohibiting public schools and colleges in Ohio from mandating the vaccine. The school, the only public university in the state with such a...
Biden meets with Germany’s Merkel as her long dominance on Europe’s stage draws to an endVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House on Thursday for what will likely be the final visit of one of America’s foremost allies before she leaves the post she’s held for 16 years, through four U.S. presidencies. The two leaders, whose countries are...
More than 60 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeVideo
BERLIN — More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse. Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks,...
Covid-19 cases in Missouri reach highest level since JanuaryVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s health department on Thursday reported the highest daily count of new covid-19 cases since the dead of winter, and the association representing the state’s hospital is warning that the health care system is potentially on the brink of a crisis. The Missouri Department of Health...
Gunman found criminally responsible for killing 5 at Annapolis paper
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A jury on Thursday found the gunman who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper criminally responsible, rejecting defense attorneys’ mental illness arguments. The jury of eight men and four women found that Jarrod Ramos could understand the criminality of his actions and conform his conduct to...
Pennsylvania man in ‘double suicide’ at Gianni Versace’s former mansion, police say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Two men apparently killed themselves, police said, in a suite at the Miami Beach hotel that Gianni Versace turned into his mansion, nearly 24 years to the day after the fashion designer died on the building’s front steps. Their bodies were found by housekeeping on Wednesday, the...
‘I felt disrespected,’ Harrisburg woman who ran over and killed her boyfriend with her minivan tells jury
A Harrisburg woman testified Tuesday afternoon that she “felt disrespected” when she ran over and killed her boyfriend with her minivan at a busy city intersection nearly two years ago. “I was upset, frustrated. I felt disrespected and ignored,” Dolly Hendrickes said during the second day of her Dauphin County...
New Cal U interim president to steer consolidation
In their first move toward building a consolidated mega school comprising California, Clarion and Edinboro universities, the board of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has named Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson interim president of Cal U. Her appointment Wednesday places Pehrsson, who joined the State System as president of Clarion University...
Team USA gymnasts will wear leotards by Pa. company — one features 7,600 Swarovski crystals
A Pennsylvania company has made sportswear for U.S. Olympic athletes before. But this is the first time that GK Elite of Reading will be outfitting American Olympic gymnasts. “Although GK has been the manufacturer of previous Olympic Games garments, this will mark the first time that GK Elite’s branding will...
Colin Kaepernick picture book to come out in April
NEW YORK — Colin Kaepernick will release a series of books through the children’s publisher Scholastic, starting with a picture story scheduled for next year. “I Color Myself Different” will come out in April, according to an announcement Thursday by Scholastic and Kaepernick Publishing, which the former NFL quarterback founded...
