Prosecutor: Bank CEO sought ‘power’ with $16M Paul Manafort loans
NEW YORK — A Chicago bank owner traded $16 million in loans to ex-President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign manager in a bid for a prestigious position in Trump’s administration, a prosecutor told jurors in an opening statement Wednesday before a defense attorney assured them that the banker committed no crimes. “This...
Pennsylvania Senate launches voter ID constitutional amendment process
HARRISBURG — A divided Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment to require identification for voters each time they cast a ballot, starting the lengthy amendment process that usually takes years to complete. All Republicans and a single Democrat voted as the proposal passed 30-20. Constitutional amendments require passage...
Senators to pitch bipartisan infrastructure plan to Biden
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators is seeking President Joe Biden’s support for a $953 billion infrastructure plan, raising hopes for a breakthrough agreement after arduous negotiations on his top legislative priority. Biden has invited members of the group of 21 senators, Republicans and Democrats, to the White House...
Florida Gov. DeSantis: Universities ‘intellectually repressive,’ survey on beliefs is needed
TALLAHASSEE — Civics education will be expanded in Florida, including instruction about communist and totalitarian governments, and state universities will be prevented from quashing conservative ideology under bills Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this week. DeSantis signed three bills at a Lee County middle school, two of which dealt...
Probation for ex-VA hospital doc who admitted fondling women in West Virginia
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A former physician at a West Virginia’s veterans hospital was sentenced to probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to touching two female staffer’s breasts without permission. The sentencing of Dr. Kenneth C. Ramdat, 65, of Silver Spring, Md., comes a month after a former nursing assistant at the...
Pennsylvania House votes against ‘vaccine passports,’ for limits on health secretary powers
HARRISBURG — Republicans in the Pennsylvania House on Wednesday voted to ban the use of so-called covid-19 “vaccine passports” by colleges, universities or governmental entities and to put new restrictions on the health secretary’s powers during a health emergency. Representatives voted 112-89, on party lines, to approve the measure that...
Pentagon leaders reject accusations that U.S. military is ‘woke’Video
WASHINGTON — The top uniformed officer hit back at allegations that the U.S. military is being indoctrinated with so-called critical race theory and seminars about white anger after two Florida Republicans argued that anti-extremism and anti-racist teachings could be detrimental to the troops. “I personally find it offensive that we...
Border Patrol chief, who supported wall, is leaving job
CALEXICO, Calif. — The chief of the Border Patrol said Wednesday he was leaving his job after less than two years in a position that lies in the crosshairs of polarizing political debate. Rodney Scott wrote to agents that he will be reassigned. “I will continue working hard to support...
Missouri special session on Medicaid funding begins
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri senators on Wednesday returned to the Capitol to work out a deal on a critical piece of Medicaid funding that’s entangled in a fight over family planning services. Republican Gov. Mike Parson called the last-minute special session after threatening to cut $722 million from the...
Antivirus pioneer John McAfee found dead in Spanish prison
MADRID — John McAfee, the creator of McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide Wednesday, hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said. The eccentric cryptocurrency...
Mitch McConnell killed election reform in Senate. Democrats will now take it to the people
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell held his entire Republican caucus together to effectively kill the Democrats’ highest legislative priority of the year, a transformative 888-page bill intended to make it easier to vote, rein in the wealthy’s impact on elections, and outlaw the gerrymandering process that constructs partisan congressional districts. But...
Jim Bakker, his church settle lawsuit over covid-19 claims
O’FALLON, Mo. — Jim Bakker and his southwestern Missouri church will pay restitution of $156,000 to settle a lawsuit that accuses the TV pastor of falsely claiming a health supplement could cure the coronavirus. Missouri court records show that a settlement agreement was filed Tuesday. It calls for refunds to...
Jury selection begins in Capital Gazette newspaper shooting case
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland judge carefully focused on asking potential jurors Wednesday whether they believed they could be fair and impartial in weighing the plea of guilty but not criminally responsible by a man who killed five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper nearly three years ago. Judge Michael...
No jail time in 1st Capitol riot sentence; Oath Keeper pleads guilty
An Indiana woman on Wednesday became the first defendant to be sentenced in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and avoided time behind bars, while a member of the Oath Keepers extremist group pleaded guilty in a conspiracy case and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a major...
Big U.S. banks to employees: Return to the office vaccinated
New York-based Morgan Stanley said this week that all employees will be required to attest to their vaccination status. Those who are not vaccinated will be required to work remotely, which could potentially put their jobs at risk, since the bank’s top executives have said they want everyone back in...
Kamala Harris to visit U.S.-Mexico border area regarding migrationVideo
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first visit on Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, following criticism from members of both parties for failing to go earlier despite her role leading the Biden administration’s response to a steep increase in migration. Harris will visit the...
Michigan Senate GOP probe: No systemic fraud in election
LANSING, Mich. — State Senate Republicans who investigated Michigan’s 2020 presidential election for months concluded there was no widespread or systemic fraud and urged the state attorney general to consider probing people who have made baseless allegations about the results in Antrim County to raise money or publicity “for their...
Injuries, arrests mar 5-day ‘Redneck Rave’ at Kentucky park
MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky. — Dozens of people face criminal charges or suffered injuries during a five-day party in south central Kentucky billed as a “Redneck Rave.” Blue Holler Offroad Park in Edmonson County hosted the event last week that organizers said would feature “mud, music and mayhem,” the Lexington Herald-Leader...
Can ET see us? Study finds many stars with prime Earth view
Feeling like you are being watched? It could be from a lot farther away than you think. Astronomers took a technique used to look for life on other planets and flipped it around — so instead of looking to see what’s out there, they tried to see what places could...
Senate OKs local police using radar for speed enforcement
HARRISBURG — Local police would be able to use radar to enforce speed limits under a bill that passed the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday. Senators voted 49-1 for the legislation that would limit revenue from speeding tickets to 10% of a municipality’s budget. Local jurisdictions would have to pass an...
‘Super-hero’ in Spider-Man outfit meets pope at Vatican
VATICAN CITY — While Pope Francis is usually the star at Vatican gatherings, Spider-Man, or at least an Italian who dresses up like the character, was the attention-grabber among the public lined up in rows during the pontiff’s weekly Wednesday audience. Matteo Villardita, 28, dons the comic-book and movie super-hero...
Covid cases, hospitalizations drop in Pennsylvania, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties; vaccine rates inch up
Covid cases in Pennsylvania, as well as Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, have slowed to a trickle this month. June started with an average of more than 700 cases a day in the state and has fallen to averaging less than 200 a day as of Wednesday. In Allegheny County, cases...
Unvaccinated Missourians fuel covid: ‘We will be the canary’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the U.S. emerges from the covid-19 crisis, Missouri is becoming a cautionary tale for the rest of the country: It is seeing an alarming rise in cases because of a combination of the fast-spreading delta variant and stubborn resistance among many people to getting vaccinated....
Supreme Court limits when police can enter home without warrant
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday put limits on when police officers pursuing a fleeing suspect can enter a home without a warrant. The high court ruled that when officers are pursuing someone suspected of a misdemeanor, a less serious crime, they cannot always enter a home without a...
Justices rule for cursing Pennsylvania cheerleader over Snapchat postVideo
WASHINGTON — In the case of the cursing cheerleader in Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court notched a victory for the free speech rights of students Wednesday, siding with a high school student whose vulgar social media post got her kicked off the junior varsity squad. The court voted 8-1 in favor...
