Biden faces growing pressure from the left over voting bill
WASHINGTON — When New York Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones was at the White House for the signing of the proclamation making Juneteenth a national holiday last week, he told President Joe Biden their party needed him more involved in passing voting legislation on the Hill. In response? Biden “just sort...
Russia says warning shots deter U.K. warship; London denies it
MOSCOW — The Russian military said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs Wednesday to force a British destroyer away from an area in the Black Sea near Crimea that Moscow claims as its territorial waters, but Britain denied that account and insisted its ship...
Warren Buffett resigns from Gates Foundation
NEW YORK — Warren Buffett resigned Wednesday as trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which says it will announce plans in July to answer questions raised about its leadership structure as it deals with the divorce of its two founders. The announcement from Buffett comes weeks after Bill...
Panel agrees to put guardrails on how Pa. lawmakers draw congressional maps, but not their own
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — A key state Senate committee agreed Tuesday to put guardrails...
Voting ends, wait for results begins in New York City mayoral primaryVideo
NEW YORK — The votes are in. The polls are closed. But the top contenders may have a long, anxious wait ahead of them for accurate results in New York City’s mayoral primary, the first citywide election to use ranked choice voting. Several candidates in the race to succeed Mayor...
GOP voting law bill clears state House amid Wolf veto threat
HARRISBURG — A Republican rewrite of Pennsylvania election law that would mandate voter IDs, alter registration and ballot counting deadlines and give conservatives auditing procedures they have clamored for passed the state House on Tuesday despite the Democratic governor’s veto threat. The lengthy and complex bill, crafted after 10 committee...
Delta variant represents 20% of U.S. infections
WASHINGTON — The so-called covid-19 delta variant which was first detected in India now represents more than 20% of coronavirus infections in the U.S. in the last two weeks, or double what it was when the Centers for Disease Control last reported on the variant’s prevalence. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the...
Houston hospital workers fired, resign over covid-19 vaccine
HOUSTON — More than 150 employees at a Houston hospital system who refused to get a covid-19 vaccine have been fired or resigned after a judge dismissed an employee lawsuit over the vaccine requirement. A spokesperson for Houston Methodist Hospital system said 153 employees either resigned in the two-week suspension...
House will form new committee to investigate Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic colleagues on Tuesday that she is creating a new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, according to a person familiar with her remarks. Pelosi made the announcement at a private leadership meeting and did not give additional details....
GOP filibuster halts Democrats’ signature voting billVideo
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ sweeping attempt to rewrite U.S. election and voting law stalled Tuesday in the Senate, blocked by a wall of Republican opposition to what would have been the largest overhaul of the electoral system in a generation. The bill, known as the For the People Act, would...
U.S. gives more asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico another shot
SAN DIEGO — Thousands of asylum-seekers whose claims were dismissed or denied under a Trump administration policy that forced them to wait in Mexico for their court hearings will be allowed to return for another chance at humanitarian protection, the Homeland Security Department said Tuesday. Registration begins Wednesday for asylum-seekers...
Ohio business groups speak out against GOP vaccination bill
COLUMBUS — Two major Ohio business groups on Tuesday came out in opposition to pending GOP legislation in the Ohio House that would prohibit employers, either public or private, from requiring employees to receive vaccinations. The bill also would prevent workers from being fired as a result of refusing to...
St. Louis shooting kills 3 people, leaves 4 others wounded
ST. LOUIS — A shooting in St. Louis left three people dead and four others wounded, authorities said. Police were called about 7:30 p.m. Monday to the city’s Greater Ville neighborhood in north St. Louis. Two men were found dead outside a convenience store, police Chief John Hayden said. A...
Nearly 900 Secret Service employees were infected with covidVideo
WASHINGTON — Roughly 900 U.S. Secret Service employees tested positive for the coronavirus, according to government records obtained by a government watchdog group. Secret Service records show that 881 people on the agency payroll were diagnosed with covid-19 between March 1, 2020 and March 9, 2021, according to documents obtained...
Virginia hopes to remove time capsule along with Lee statue
RICHMOND, Va. — If a court clears the way, the state of Virginia expects to remove not just a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue but also a little-known piece of history tucked inside the massive sculpture’s base: a 134-year-old time capsule. Historical...
Background checks blocked a record high 300,000 gun sales
SALT LAKE CITY — The number of people stopped from buying guns through the U.S. background check system hit an all-time high of more than 300,000 last year amid a surge of firearm sales, according to new records obtained by the group Everytown for Gun Safety. The FBI numbers provided...
Biden pushes shots for young adults as variant concern grows
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to get younger Americans vaccinated for covid-19 as concerns grow about the spread of a new variant that threatens to set the country back in the months ahead. The push is underway as the Delta variant, first identified in India, has...
How Big Tech created a data ‘treasure trove’ for police
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When U.S. law enforcement officials need to cast a wide net for information, they’re increasingly turning to the vast digital ponds of personal data created by Big Tech companies via the devices and online services that have hooked billions of people around the world. Data compiled by...
Weather Service: Suburban Chicago tornado had 140 mph winds
CHICAGO — A tornado that swept through Chicago’s western suburbs, damaging more than 100 homes and injuring several people, was packing 140 mph winds when it hit the heavily populated area, the National Weather Service said. A weather service team that surveyed the aftermath of Sunday night’s tornado found that,...
‘Serious racial disparities’ in Pennsylvania juvenile court
Pennsylvania locks up far too many first-time and low-level youth offenders, with Black youth in particular disproportionately yanked from their homes and prosecuted as adults, according to a task force that made recommendations to reform the state’s juvenile justice system. “Serious racial disparities pervade Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system,” the bipartisan...
As passengers return to air travel, bad behavior skyrockets
Air travel can be difficult in the best of times, with cramped planes, screaming babies, flight delays and short tempers. Throw in a pandemic, and the anxiety level can rise quickly. That has led to confrontations with flight attendants and other unruly behavior, including occasional fights that get captured and...
Taliban besiege key Afghan city with U.S. set to exit
Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants fight for control of a crucial northern city and make deeper territorial inroads with the U.S. set to withdraw all troops by September. The insurgents are battling to take control of strategic cities in...
Watchdog: Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic
WASHINGTON — Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of covid-19 among its most vulnerable victims. The report from the inspector general of the...
NASA sends squid from Hawaii into space for research
HONOLULU — Dozens of baby squid from Hawaii are in space for study. The baby Hawaiian bobtail squid were raised at the University of Hawaii’s Kewalo Marine Laboratory and were blasted into space earlier this month on a SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station. Researcher Jamie Foster, who...
How a Pennsylvania lawmaker billed taxpayers $1.8 million in expenses
Over the next year, The Caucus and Spotlight PA will examine and make public specific areas of spending by the legislature as part of their ongoing efforts to follow the money and track taxpayer dollars. HARRISBURG — The legislature was on break. Policymaking in the Capitol had ground to a...
