Bonus pay for essential workers varied widely across states
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For putting their health on the line during the coronavirus pandemic, prison guards in Missouri got an extra $250 per paycheck. Teachers in Georgia received $1,000 bonuses. And in Vermont, nurses, janitors, retail workers and many others got as much as $2,000. Over the past year,...
Search in Florida collapse to take weeks; deaths reach 90
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida said Sunday they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 90 deaths have now been confirmed...
Department of Labor admits it overcharged unemployed Pennsylvanians millions of dollars
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 — Just one day after Spotlight PA contacted the Department of Labor and Industry with a list of questions about...
Officials across Florida rethink condo inspection polices
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Across Florida, people living in the thousands of condominiums rising above the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline wonder if the building collapse in Surfside could happen to their home as state and local officials discuss what they can do to make sure it doesn’t. Although building collapses...
Police arrest Bangladesh factory owners after fire kills 52
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Police in Bangladesh arrested eight people Saturday on murder charges in connection with a factory fire that killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door, a senior police official said. The blaze began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem...
Tears, politics and money: School boards become battle zones
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Local school boards around the country are increasingly becoming cauldrons of anger and political division, boiling with disputes over such issues as covid-19 mask rules, the treatment of transgender students and how to teach the history of racism and slavery in America. Meetings that were once...
Death toll reaches 86 in Florida collapse; site to be cleared ‘sooner than expected’
MIAMI — First responders continuing the search and recovery mission in the debris of the collapsed Surfside condo tower on Saturday morning worked through a thunderstorm that brought heavy downpours and strong wind gusts at times. The recovery effort — which overnight uncovered seven more bodies from the rubble of...
Robert E. Lee statue removed in Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was hoisted away from its place of prominence in Charlottesville on Saturday and carted off to storage, years after its threatened removal became a rallying point for white supremacists and inspired their violent 2017 rally that left a woman...
Biden fires Trump-appointed head of Social Security agency
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has fired the commissioner of Social Security after the official refused to resign, and Biden accepted the deputy commissioner’s resignation, the White House said. Biden asked commissioner Andrew Saul to resign, and his employment was terminated Friday after he refused the Democratic president’s request, a...
Haiti’s interim PM confirms request for U.S. troops to country
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s interim government said Friday that it asked the U.S. to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure as it tries to stabilize the country and prepare the way for elections in the aftermath of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. “We definitely need assistance and we’ve asked...
Grizzly bear is fatally shot after killing California woman
HELENA Mont. — A grizzly bear that pulled a California woman from her tent and killed her this week was fatally shot early Friday by wildlife officials using night-vision goggles to stake out a chicken coop that the animal raided near the small Montana town where the woman was attacked....
Report: Drugmakers’ spending on stock, dividends and executive pay exceeds research
The largest drug companies are far more interested in enriching themselves and investors than in developing new drugs, according to a House committee report that argues the industry can afford to charge Medicare less for prescriptions. The report, released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says that contrary...
Who’s in the running to be Pennsylvania’s senator in 2023?
With Democrats narrowly in control of Congress, political observers are watching as races emerge in the 2022 midterm elections. Historically, the party out of power makes inroads in these races, leaving Republicans hopeful they’ll be able to limit President Joe Biden’s agenda in the years ahead. A key race will...
Mysterious bird illness continues to kill wild birds in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Poultry farmers in Ohio are being warned by the state Department of Agriculture to implement strict biosecurity measures to protect wild birds dying from a mysterious illness. Ohio officials are concerned the illness could potentially spread to chickens. “Biosecurity refers to everything that owners do to keep...
Survivors of Capital Gazette newspaper attack testify at gunman’s trial
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Survivors of a mass shooting at a Maryland newspaper described the terror of hiding for their lives under desks in their newsroom during testimony Friday at the gunman’s trial to determine whether he is criminally responsible due to insanity. The sight of a shot colleague, the near...
Wyoming rancher pinned by ATV survives on beer, water 2 days
GILLETTE, Wyo. — A Wyoming rancher who was pinned by an all-terrain vehicle survived on beer and bottled water for two days. Frank Reynolds, 53, was trying to round up a cow and calf on a neighbor’s pasture outside Gillette when the vehicle tipped over on him Sunday, Reynolds told...
Charlottesville set to remove Lee statue that sparked rally
A Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville will be taken down this week, the city announced Friday. Charlottesville said in a news release that the equestrian statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as well as a nearby one of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall”...
Biden tells Putin that Russia must crack down on cybercriminals
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Friday phone call that he must “take action” against cybercriminals acting in his country and that the U.S. reserves the right to “defend its people and its critical infrastructure,” the White House said. The conversation came less than...
FDA head calls for probe into Alzheimer’s drug review
WASHINGTON — The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for a government investigation into highly unusual contacts between some of her agency’s drug reviewers and the maker of a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. Dr. Janet Woodcock announced the extraordinary step via Twitter. It’s the latest...
Eye-popping 3,000 pairs of false lashes seized at New Orleans airport
NEW ORLEANS — Three thousand pairs of false eyelashes have been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents after officials determined they were illegally imported from China to New Orleans. The four boxes of long lashes seized Tuesday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were destined for a...
Michigan court won’t extend voting redistricting deadline
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday denied a request to extend the deadline for drawing new legislative and congressional maps despite a delay in census redistricting data. The Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, whose members have been meeting since September 2020, asked the court in April to allow...
Marilyn Manson turns himself in for spitting incident in New Hampshire
Marilyn Manson turned himself in to police in Los Angeles Friday to answer his outstanding warrant for alleged assault in New Hampshire, officials confirmed Thursday. The shock rocker, whose legal name is Brian H. Warner, was wanted by police in the quaint New England town of Gilford for allegedly spitting...
Paris police release rapper Lil Baby, hand him drug fine
PARIS — Paris police released rapper Lil Baby from custody on Friday after fining him for having cannabis in his car, according to the city prosecutor’s office. He was stopped along with NBA star James Harden, who was frisked but not detained. Lil Baby’s arrest on Thursday along one of...
Mayor: Death toll in Florida condo collapse now 78
SURFSIDE, Fla. — The death toll in the collapse of a Miami-area condo building rose to 78 on Friday, a number the mayor called “heartbreaking” as recovery workers toiled for a 16th day to find victims in the rubble. Another 62 people remain unaccounted for. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava...
Wisconsin bishop takes rare step of removing defiant priest
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin bishop has taken the unusual step of removing a priest from the ministry after he made a series of divisive remarks about politics and the pandemic. The Diocese of La Crosse said in a statement Friday that Bishop William Patrick Callahan has issued a decree...
