Teen on life support after deadly Iowa water ride accident
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A teenager injured in an accident on an Iowa amusement ride that killed his younger brother remained on life support Wednesday as he turned 16, his family pastor said. David Jaramillo has been in a medically induced coma at Blank Children’s Hospital since Saturday’s accident on...
Sheriff: Alligator attack suspected in Florida woman’s death
VALRICO, Fla. — An alligator apparently attacked a woman whose body was found in a retention pond near Tampa, sheriff’s officials said. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies found the woman’s body in a pond Sunday night, a news release said. The family of the 29-year-old woman told WFLA-TV that she was...
With delta variant spreading, how worried should fully vaccinated people be?
If you’re fully vaccinated, how worried should you be about the delta variant of the coronavirus? There is widespread scientific consensus that fully vaccinated people have an excellent chance of being protected from severe illness or death from any coronavirus strain, including delta. In Los Angeles County, 99.8% of people...
State Sen. Doug Mastriano opens Pennsylvania election audit plan
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump is launching a “forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election, demanding cooperation from counties and mimicking a widely criticized partisan effort in Arizona. Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, issued letters to three counties Wednesday, giving officials...
Virginia removes segregationist’s statue from Capitol Square
RICHMOND, Va. — Workers removed a statue of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a former Virginia governor, U.S. senator and staunch segregationist, from the state’s Capitol Square on Wednesday morning. A crane hoisted the larger-than-life statue off its pedestal and workers then strapped it to a truck to be hauled into...
Colby would be official Wisconsin cheese under bill
MADISON, Wis. — In cheese-obsessed Wisconsin, which proudly touts itself as America’s Dairyland, the dairy cow is the official domestic animal, milk is the official state beverage and cheese is the official dairy product. But believe it or not, in a state that produces more cheese than any other at...
Texas governor revives GOP’s thwarted new voting laws
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday revived the GOP’s thwarted efforts to pass new voting laws in America’s biggest red state after Democrats temporarily derailed a restrictive bill with a late-night walkout in the state Capitol in May. As expected, Abbott made new election laws one of...
Trump files suit against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump has filed suit against three of the country’s biggest tech companies, claiming he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored. Trump announced the action against Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube, along with the companies’ CEOs, at a press conference Wednesday in New Jersey. He...
Tropical Storm Elsa kills 1 in Florida, hurts 10 at Georgia base
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A weakened but resilient Tropical Storm Elsa killed at least one person in Florida on Wednesday and injured several others when a possible tornado struck a Navy base in southeast Georgia. The National Hurricane Center said Elsa still packed 45 mph winds more than six hours...
U.K. court allows U.S. to appeal denial of Assange’s extradition
LONDON — Britain’s High Court has granted the U.S. government permission to appeal a decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be sent to the United States to face espionage charges. The judicial office said Wednesday that the appeal had been granted and the case would be listed for a...
14 days after Florida condo collapse, no signs of survivors
SURFSIDE, Fla. — The search for victims of the collapse of a Miami-area high-rise condominium reached its 14th day on Wednesday, with the death toll at 46, scores still unaccounted for and authorities sounding more and more grim. Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah told family members in a private...
Haiti in upheaval: President Moïse assassinated at home
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in their home early Wednesday, inflicting more chaos on the Caribbean country that was already enduring gang violence, soaring inflation and protests by opposition supporters who accused the leader of increasing authoritarianism. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph,...
Eric Adams wins Democratic primary in New York City’s mayoral race
NEW YORK — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City after appealing to the political center and promising to strike the right balance between fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing. A former police captain, Adams would be the city’s...
Ex-ambassador, investment CEO Carla Sands seeks Pennsylvania Senate seatVideo
HARRISBURG — Carla Sands, former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, announced Tuesday that she will join the crowded Republican primary field for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat. She brings possibly significant personal wealth to the race, as well as ties to Trump in a race where such ties may...
Police: Georgia golf pro Eugene Siller slain because he came upon crimeVideo
KENNESAW, Ga. — Investigators believe a golf pro was shot to death on the course at his country club in the Atlanta suburbs because he witnessed a “crime in progress,” police said Tuesday. It does not appear that golf pro Eugene Siller was targeted, but rather was gunned down because...
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks says he can’t be sued for inciting Capitol riot because he is a federal employee
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, claims he can’t be sued over his fiery speech challenging the 2020 election results at a rally just before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot because he’s a federal employee. Brooks made the argument in a July 2 filing responding to a...
Regulator halts Iowa amusement ride after accident kills boyVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A regulator on Tuesday ordered an Iowa amusement park not to restart a popular boat ride pending an investigation into an accident that killed an 11-year-old boy and left his brother in critical condition. Iowa Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts signed an order barring Adventureland Park from...
Officials: Storm lashing Florida strengthens into hurricaneVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A storm that has lashed the Caribbean and the Florida Keys with pounding rain and gusty winds and complicated the search for survivors in a deadly condominium collapse has strengthened into a hurricane. The National Weather Service said Tuesday that Hurricane Elsa was packing winds as...
Ethics panel closes investigation into former Pa. Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm
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 — After a more than yearlong investigation, state ethics investigators have found that Pennsylvania’s former chief advocate for crime victims...
Chicago police: 100 shot, 18 homicides over holiday weekend
One hundred people — including two police officers — were shot in Chicago over the long Fourth of July weekend, including 18 homicides, the city’s police department said Tuesday. Among those injured were at least a dozen children. None of them had died as of Tuesday morning, but at least...
Union will defend teachers in ‘critical race theory’ fights
One of the nation’s largest teachers unions on Tuesday vowed to defend members who are punished for teaching an “honest history” of the United States, a measure that’s intended to counter the wave of states seeking to limit classroom discussion on race and discrimination. In prepared remarks obtained by the...
Wildlife, air quality at risk as Great Salt Lake nears low
The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years, though, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River has been shrinking. And a drought gripping the American West could...
Grizzly bear attacks, kills camper in western Montana
HELENA Mont. — A grizzly bear attacked and killed a person who was camping in western Montana early Tuesday, after previously wandering into the campsite, the Powell County sheriff said. The attack happened between 4 and 5 a.m. in the area of Ovando, a town of fewer than 100 people...
U.S. left Afghan airfield at night, didn’t tell new commander
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said. Afghanistan’s army showed...
Demon-obsessed teenager convicted of murdering U.K. women
LONDON — A 19-year-old British man was convicted Tuesday of murdering two sisters as they celebrated a birthday in a London park, a crime driven by the deluded belief that the killings would help him win a lottery jackpot. A jury at London’s Central Criminal Court deliberated for eight hours...
