Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate race: What we know so far
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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. One of Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senate seats is up for grabs in 2022 as two-term Republican incumbent Pat Toomey prepares to...
Trump opines on coup while rejecting fears about his actionsVideo
Former President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he wouldn’t have used the military to illegally seize control of the government after his election loss. But he suggested that if he had tried to carry out a coup, it wouldn’t have been with his top military adviser. In a lengthy statement,...
1st female sailor completes Navy special warfare training
WASHINGTON — For the first time, a female sailor has successfully completed the grueling 37-week training course to become a Naval Special Warfare combatant-craft crewman — the boat operators who transport Navy SEALs and conduct their own classified missions at sea. Navy officials said they would not identify the woman...
Miami security firm faces questions in Haiti assassination
MIAMI — For the owner of a small private security company with a history of avoiding paying debts and declaring bankruptcy, it looked like a good opportunity: Find people with military experience for a job in Haiti. Antonio “Tony” Intriago, owner of Miami-based CTU Security, seems to have jumped at...
Biden ends large-scale logging on huge Alaska rainforest
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday it is ending large-scale, old-growth timber sales on the nation’s largest national forest — the Tongass National Forest in Alaska — and will instead focus on forest restoration, recreation and other non-commercial uses. The announcement by the U.S. Forest Service reverses a Trump...
Critical race theory: What it is, what it isn’t, and what it means for education in Pennsylvania
Critical race theory is not being taught in Pennsylvania public schools, educators say. As with most national flashpoint topics, critical race theory is gaining traction in Pennsylvania. The hot-button issue is pitting progressively minded educators and lawmakers against conservative stakeholders — from parents, voters, to politicians — determined to keep...
Pa. Fish and Boat Commission warns of invasive mudsnails in Cumberland County waters
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Thursday reported on social media that the invasive New Zealand mudsnail has been found in several popular southcentral Pennsylvania trout streams, including those in Cumberland County. The commission said the mudsnails were found in Trindle Spring Run, Big Spring Creek and LeTort Spring...
EU likely to decide on Moderna covid shot for kids next week
AMSTERDAM — A top official at the European Medicines Agency said a decision on whether to recommend that Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine be authorized for children is expected late next week. If approved, it would be the first such license for the shot’s use in children globally. At a press briefing...
Rehabbed mama manatee and her calf set free in Florida river
ORANGE CITY, Fla. — A baby manatee and its injured mother are now swimming in Florida’s St. Johns River after undergoing four months of rehabilitation at Sea World Orlando. They were released Wednesday near Blue Springs State Park, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. It was a bit of good news...
Mexican adults are crossing the border again and again in attempts to reach U.S.
SAN DIEGO — Twenty-four hours a day, adults with scuffed shoes and dusted pant legs file out of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry — sometimes alone and sometimes in groups — into Tijuana’s streets. Many stop to charge their phones in the little plaza that receives southbound pedestrian traffic....
More than 20 dead, dozens missing in heavy Europe floods
BERLIN — More than 20 people have died and dozens of people were missing Thursday in Germany and neighboring Belgium after heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents, sweeping away cars and causing buildings to collapse. Storms across parts of western Europe in recent days caused rivers and...
$10 million rewards bolster White House anti-ransomware bid
BOSTON — The Biden administration will offer rewards up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of foreign state-sanctioned malicious cyber activity against critical U.S. infrastructure — including ransomware attacks — and the White House has launched a task force to coordinate efforts to stem the ransomware scourge....
Israel arrests dozens of Hamas-linked students in West Bank
JERUSALEM — Israel says it arrested “dozens” of Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank who are linked to the Hamas militant group. The military said late Wednesday that those arrested belong to a Hamas student group at Birzeit University and were “directly involved in terror activities, including money transfers,...
Child tax credit starts hitting families’ bank accountsVideo
WASHINGTON — The child tax credit had always been an empty gesture to millions of parents like Tamika Daniel. That changed Thursday when the first payment of $1,000 hit Daniel’s bank account — and dollars started flowing to the pockets of more than 35 million families around the country. Daniel,...
7-year-old Ohio boy dies in North Carolina home elevator accident
COROLLA, N.C. — A boy from Ohio died after he became trapped between an elevator car and the elevator shaft inside a vacation rental home on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, emergency workers said. Currituck Fire-EMS Chief Ralph Melton said emergency workers were sent Sunday evening to a home in Corolla...
Harrisburg is best place to live in Pennsylvania, says U.S. News
Harrisburg is one of the best places to live in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report, but you might be surprised at what major cities it bested. ” 150 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2021-2022 ″ is a list compiled each year by...
U.S. to begin evacuating Afghans who aided American militaryVideo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Wednesday that it is prepared to begin evacuation flights for Afghan interpreters and translators who aided the U.S. military effort in the nearly 20-year war. The Operation Allies Refuge flights out of Afghanistan during the last week of July will be available first for...
After bad hiccups, Brazilian President Bolsonaro may need intestinal surgery
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has suffered from a 10-day bout of unshakable hiccups, was admitted Wednesday to a hospital where he was being evaluated for possible emergency surgery to clear an intestinal obstruction, his office said. Bolsonaro, 66, was admitted to the Armed Forces Hospital...
Indigenous children’s remains turned over from Army cemetery
CARLISLE — The disinterred remains of nine Native American children who died more than a century ago while attending a government-run school in Pennsylvania were headed home Wednesday to Rosebud Sioux tribal lands in South Dakota after a ceremony returning them to relatives. The handoff at a graveyard on the...
Tioga County won’t offer up voting machines to election audit
HARRISBURG — One of three counties targeted by a Pennsylvania state lawmaker for an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election sought by former President Donald Trump will not allow third-party access to its voting machines. The three commissioners in rural Republican-controlled Tioga County announced the decision Tuesday,...
Report: Appalachian states face billions in mining cleanup
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The cleanup and reclaiming of coal mines in seven Appalachian states will cost billions, and Kentucky and West Virginia have the largest bills coming due, according to an environmental group’s new report. Total reclamation liability for the two states is between $4.1 and $5.8 billion, with less...
Ex-Tennessee health official: State backed off vaccine pushVideo
NASHVILLE — Tennessee health officials will not acknowledge that August is National Immunization Awareness Month per an order from the state’s health commissioner, emails show. The order, obtained by NewsChannel 5, was given to Tennessee’s former top vaccination chief earlier this month just days before she was fired amid Republican...
Wildfires in US West threaten parched Native American lands
BLY, Ore. — Fierce wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are threatening Native American lands that already are struggling to conserve water and preserve traditional hunting grounds amid a historic drought in the U.S. West. Blazes in Oregon and Washington state were among some 60 large, active wildfires that have destroyed...
That was fleeting: Twitter kills off ephemeral ‘fleets’
Twitter is disappearing its disappearing tweets, called fleets, after they didn’t catch on. The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. Fleets were designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal...
Going abroad? U.S. government says passport waits top 3 months
WASHINGTON — Americans hoping to travel abroad this summer may have to delay their plans if they need new or renewed passports. The State Department said Wednesday that the wait for a passport is now between 12 weeks and 18 weeks, even if you pay for expedited processing. That’s because...
