Liz Cheney re-ignites fight with Trump over false election claimsVideo
WASHINGTON — Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, accused Donald Trump of “poisoning” U.S. democracy with his false election claims, escalating the GOP’s internal conflict over the former president’s role in the party. She tweeted a response on Monday to a statement from Trump saying that...
FDA expected to OK Pfizer vaccine for teens within week
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine for young adults age 12 and older by next week, according to a federal official and a person familiar with the process, setting up shots for many before the beginning of the next school year....
Mitch McConnell says GOP open to $600 billion for infrastructureVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday that Republicans are willing to spend up to $600 billion on infrastructure, far less than President Joe Biden is seeking, even as he ruled out supporting a higher corporate tax rate to pay for it. Instead McConnell is endorsing...
Witness rescues girl from Maryland bay after 5-car crash on bridge
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A witness to a five-vehicle crash on a Maryland bridge jumped into a bay and rescued a 2-year-old girl who had been ejected into the water while still in her car seat, according to authorities. The girl was thrown from a pickup truck on the Route...
Ohio proposal would ban drivers from holding phones, devices
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Holding a cell phone or other electronic device while driving in Ohio would be illegal under legislation introduced Monday that takes aim at distracted driving by targeting not just texting but scrolling through social media and other hands-on phone uses. Having an electronic device in your hand...
Biden lifts Trump refugee cap after delay backlashVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by former President Donald Trump. Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Biden to quadruple the number of...
Groups say gunshot detection systems unreliable, seek review
CHICAGO — The gunshot detection system that set in motion the recent fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Chicago routinely reports gunshots where there are none, sending officers into predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods for “unnecessary and hostile” encounters, community groups argued in a court filing Monday. The...
West Virginia high school basketball player set to graduate fatally shot
BECKLEY, W. Va. — An 18-year-old high school basketball standout who was set to graduate this month has been killed in a shooting in southern West Virginia. Dewayne Marquette Richardson, Jr. was shot once in the chest Sunday night, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the Beckley Police Department....
Storms spawn twisters in Mississippi, kill 2 in GeorgiaVideo
YAZOO CITY, Miss. — Much of the South is facing the risk of more severe weather Tuesday, forecasters say, after tornadoes struck parts of the region Sunday night and Monday, causing heavy damage in some parts of Mississippi. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, as well as corners...
Pa. Supreme Court picks former Pitt chancellor to chair powerful redistricting commission
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 former University of Pittsburgh chancellor will chair the committee...
EPA rule to phase out greenhouse gases used in refrigerators, coolants
WASHINGTON — In the first Biden administration rule aimed at combating climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The proposed rule follows through on a law Congress passed in December...
Calls for justice at N.C. funeral of Andrew Brown Jr.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The Rev. Al Sharpton issued a powerful call for transparency and the release of body camera footage at the funeral Monday for Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot and killed by deputies in North Carolina, with the civil rights leader likening withholding the video to...
Top general drops opposition to change in sex assault policy
In a potentially significant shift in the debate over combating sexual assault in the military, the nation’s top general says he is dropping his opposition to a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of commanders. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
GOP: Wolf should fire vendor that mishandled virus data
Pennsylvania should immediately terminate the no-bid state contract of a company that performed covid-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents, Republican state lawmakers said Monday. GOP leaders also called for state and federal probes into the Atlanta-based contractor’s mishandling of the data,...
Philadelphia man gets life term in parking lot slaying of ex-girlfriend
NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man who prosecutors said stabbed and ran over his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of her suburban workplace has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Lawrence Crawley, 36, apologized Monday in Montgomery County Court before the mandatory sentence was imposed, The Philadelphia...
Restrictions easing in U.S. and Europe amid disaster in India
Air travel in the U.S. hit its highest mark since covid-19 took hold more than 13 months ago, while European Union officials are proposing to ease restrictions on visitors to the continent as the vaccine rollout sends new cases and deaths tumbling in more affluent countries. The improving picture in...
Sheriff: Wisconsin casino shooter was fired employee
MADISON, Wis. — A man who shot and killed two people and wounded a third at a northeastern Wisconsin tribal casino restaurant before police killed him had been fired from the eatery and banned from the property, authorities said Monday. Bruce Pofahl, 62, walked into the Duck Creek Kitchen and...
Florida governor signs law preempting local covid edicts
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining covid-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law on Monday freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic — including mask mandates, limitations on business...
N.Y. Times, Washington Post, NBC correct articles on Giuliani
NEW YORK — The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News all issued similar corrections to stories regarding Rudolph Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, and his dealings in Ukraine. The corrections, to stories that ran last Thursday or Friday, take back reports that the former New...
U.K.’s Johnson voices optimism over lockdown easing routeVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that there is a “good chance” that social distancing rules in England will be scrapped on June 21 if coronavirus infections and deaths stay low. Johnson told reporters in the north England town of Hartlepool where he is campaigning before a...
First-grade teacher accused of pushing boy to ground
SHREVEPORT, La. — A northwest Louisiana teacher faces criminal charges over accusations that she pushed a 7-year-old boy to the ground. Local news outlets report that Melody Harris Moffett, a first-grade teacher at Judson Elementary School in Shreveport, was arrested on April 20. She was booked into jail on a...
Are Pa.’s state House and Senate maps gerrymandered? Depends on how you measure them
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 — When Amanda Holt was preparing to vote in 2010, she...
Despite virus, Atlantic City casinos reinvesting millions
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — With covid-19 restrictions limiting how many people can gamble inside, and revenue and profits plunging, this might not sound like the best time for Atlantic City’s casinos to be spending big on renovations. And yet they are, looking to a post-pandemic future when gamblers will be...
Germany busts international child porn site used by 400,000
BERLIN — German prosecutors announced Monday they have busted one of the world’s biggest international darknet platforms for child pornography, used by more than 400,000 registered members. Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement together with the Federal Criminal Police Office that in mid-April three German suspects, said to be the...
U.S. begins reuniting some families separated at Mexico border
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration said Monday that four families that were separated at the Mexico border during Donald Trump’s presidency will be reunited in the United States this week in what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calls “just the beginning” of a broader effort. Two of the four...
