California fully reopens after being 1st to shut during pandemicVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — California, the first state in America to put in place a coronavirus lockdown, has turned a page on the pandemic. The nation’s most populated state lifted most of its restrictions Tuesday, meaning no more state rules on social distancing or capacity limits at restaurants, bars, supermarkets, gyms,...
Military defends Jan. 6 response as House steps up investigations
WASHINGTON — A top Army leader defended the Pentagon’s response to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, telling a House panel Tuesday that the National Guard was delayed for hours because it had to properly prepare for the deployment and that senior military leaders had determined beforehand that...
Pittsburgh programs among MacKenzie Scott’s $2.7 billion charity donations
MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist known for her impromptu multi-billion dollar donations to charities and racial equity causes, announced Tuesday that she has given $2.7 billion to 286 organizations. It is the third round of no-strings-attached, major philanthropic gifts Scott has made, which together rival the charitable contributions made by...
Wolf, Pa. Democrats again push for passage of LGBTQ discrimination protections
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 — As people around the country celebrate Pride month, Gov. Tom Wolf again called on the state’s Republican-led legislature to...
N.Y. lifts more covid rules as it hits vaccination mark
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that 70% of adults in New York have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, a threshold he said the state would celebrate by easing many of its remaining social distancing rules and shooting off fireworks. “What does 70% mean? It means that...
899 people got expired vaccine doses at Times Square site
NEW YORK — Nearly 900 people received expired covid-19 vaccine doses at a vaccination site in Times Square this month, health officials said Tuesday. The 899 people who received doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the former NFL Experience building in Times Square between June 5 and 10 should schedule...
U.S. Park service sued after gate kills Ugandan humanitarian
SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a women’s rights activist from Uganda sued the National Park Service this month after she was decapitated last year by a gate at Utah’s Arches National Park. The gate had been left unlatched against federal policy for two weeks before it struck Esther...
U.S. covid-19 deaths hit 600,000, equal to yearly cancer toll
The U.S. death toll from covid-19 topped 600,000 on Tuesday, even as the vaccination drive has drastically brought down daily cases and fatalities and allowed the country to emerge from the gloom and look forward to summer. The number of lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater...
GOP’s major election overhaul advances in Pa. House as Democrats call it a ‘farce’
This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. SpotlightPA 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. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Republicans in the state House advanced their...
Philips issues voluntary recall for CPAP machines, ventilators
Medical equipment company Philips has issued a recall on some products to address possible health risks associated with a foam component meant to help reduce noise. The polyester-based polyurethane foam in its Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and mechanical ventilator devices could “degrade into...
Robotic ship sets off to retrace the Mayflower’s journey
SWANSEA, Wales — Four centuries and one year after the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, on a historic sea journey to America, another trailblazing vessel with the same name has set off to retrace the voyage. This Mayflower, though, is a sleek, modern robotic ship that is carrying no human...
Panel approves Pa. House GOP bill to ban employer vaccine mandates
HARRISBURG — A ban on employers mandating vaccines for their workers inched ahead in the state House on Tuesday with a committee vote supported by all Republicans and opposed by every Democrat. The main sponsor, Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, called it “a very simple question of workers’ rights.” Diamond has...
May retail sales fell 1.3% as Americans spend less on goods
NEW YORK — Retail sales fell in May, dragged down by a decline in auto sales and a shift by Americans to spend more on vacations and other services instead of goods. Total sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.3% in May from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said...
Hong Kong watching Chinese nuclear plant after leak reported
HONG KONG — China’s government said Tuesday no abnormal radiation was detected outside a nuclear power plant near Hong Kong following a news report of a leak, while Hong Kong’s leader said her administration was closely watching the facility. The operators released few details, but nuclear experts said that based...
Republican election bill pushed ahead over Dems’ objections
HARRISBURG — Republicans on a legislative committee Tuesday pushed out a multifaceted proposal to revamp Pennsylvania election law, a bill backers said would make need improvements and standardize procedures. Democrats were dead-set against it, insisting that many of its purported upgrades were unworkable or would, in practice, make voting more...
Former lawmaker Rohrabacher confirms he was at Capitol riot
PORTLAND, Maine — Former California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher confirmed he attended the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after anonymous investigators online identified him in footage. Rohrabacher told the Portland Press Herald on Monday that he did not go into the Capitol building. The Republican served 15 terms in...
More evidence suggests covid-19 was in U.S. by Christmas 2019
NEW YORK — A new analysis of blood samples from 24,000 Americans taken early last year is the latest and largest study to suggest that the new coronavirus popped up in the U.S. in December 2019 — weeks before cases were first recognized by health officials. The analysis is not...
Emails show Trump pressured Justice Dept. over 2020 election
WASHINGTON — During the last weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to investigate unsubstantiated claims of widespread 2020 election fraud that even his former attorney general declared without evidence, newly released emails show. The emails, released Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee, reveal...
Autopsy: Mother overdosed, infant starved to death
PORTLAND, Tenn. — Autopsies in Tennessee show that a 1-year-old child starved to death in his car seat in a house where his mother died of a drug overdose, while his 3-year-old sister, found alive, had tried for days to feed her brother. The bodies of Tiffany Spears, 32, and...
Charitable giving in the U.S. reaches all-time high in 2020
Galvanized by the racial justice protests and the coronavirus pandemic, charitable giving in the United States reached a record $471 billion in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday that offers a comprehensive look at American philanthropy. The Giving USA report says Americans gave more to charity last year than...
Thinner Mints: Girl Scouts have millions of unsold cookies
The Girl Scouts have an unusual problem this year: 15 million boxes of unsold cookies. The 109-year-old organization says the coronavirus — not thinner demand for Thin Mints — is the main culprit. As the pandemic wore into the spring selling season, many troops nixed their traditional cookie booths for...
Police: Alabama fire hydrant plant worker kills 2, wounds 2
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — A worker who killed two people and wounded two more at an Alabama fire hydrant plant early Tuesday has been found dead, apparently after killing himself in a car, a police chief said. “The person was deceased from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Police...
Biden eases trade friction with EU ahead of Putin summit
BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden on Tuesday moved to end a long-running dispute with the European Union over subsidies for aircraft manufacturers, a major breakthrough in the U.S.-EU trade relationship that comes on the eve of his highly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The announcement that the two...
GOP bill would prohibit requiring any vaccination in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — No employer, either public or private, could require employees to receive vaccinations under GOP legislation pending in the Ohio House. Also, workers could not be fired as a result of refusing. The measure before the Republican-controlled House Health Committee has attracted multiple opponents of covid-19 vaccines but...
Videos of violent arrests sparked by vaping stir criticism in Ocean City, Md.Video
OCEAN CIY, Md. — Videos showing Ocean City police officers kneeing one Black teen and Tasing another on the Boardwalk of that beach community in separate confrontations that began over vaping are stirring criticism of the department’s use of force in such cases. On June 6, police tried to stop...
