How Pa. troopers use sweating, stuttering during traffic stops to launch vehicle searches
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 — When Brandon Neely was pulled over in August 2020 for crossing into the area between a highway lane and...
Connecticut is 6th state to end religious vaccine exemption
Connecticut will no longer allow religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools and day care facilities, becoming the sixth state to end that policy. The bill, signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Ned Lamont, came hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill late Tuesday night. Over 2,000 opponents...
Strange theft of Confederate chair mystifies Alabama town
SELMA, Ala. — It’s not the first Confederate monument to go missing in Selma, Alabama, but the story of the stolen Jefferson Davis chair may be the oddest. How to steal a chair that weighed maybe 500 pounds? Who was the group “White Lies Matter” that appeared to have stolen...
Tennessee man suing officials over social media post arrest
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man arrested over a social media post sued law enforcement officers Tuesday, claiming they violated his First Amendment rights, the Tennessean reported. Joshua Andrew Garton was arrested in January after posting a photograph that depicted two people urinating on a gravestone with a photo of...
Polish government, unions initial plan to phase out coal by 2049
WARSAW, Poland — The government of Poland, a country heavily reliant on coal, initialed an agreement with the coal mining industry Wednesday to phase out coal production by 2049. The deal, which has been under negotiation for months, marks the first time that the powerful coal mining sector in Poland...
Feds raid Rudy Giuliani’s home, office, escalating criminal probeVideo
NEW YORK — Federal agents raided Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office Wednesday, seizing computers and cellphones in a major escalation of the Justice Department’s investigation into the business dealings of former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership...
Judge won’t release videos of North Carolina deputies shooting Black man
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A judge refused Wednesday to release body camera video showing North Carolina deputies shooting and killing a Black man, ruling that making the video public at this stage could jeopardize the investigation into Andrew Brown Jr.’s death. However, the judge did order authorities to allow Brown’s...
U.S. Catholic bishops may press Biden to stop taking Communion
When U.S. Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June, they’ll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don’t receive Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights. At issue is a document that will be prepared for...
Chauvin juror says guilty verdicts could have come quicker
MINNEAPOLIS — A juror who cast one of the unanimous votes to convict a white former Minneapolis police officer of killing George Floyd said most of deliberations was primarily spent trying to convince one person who was uncertain about part of the jury instructions. Brandon Mitchell is the first juror...
Texas man dies after attack by aggressive swarm of bees
BRECKENRIDGE, Texas — A Texas man died after going into cardiac arrest when he was attacked by an aggressive swarm of bees outside his home, authorities said. Thomas Hicks, 70, was mowing his lawn Monday when he was repeatedly stung by the bees outside his home in Breckenridge, about 130...
BioNTech chief says Europe will reach herd immunity by August
BERLIN — Europe can achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus within the next four months, the head of German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, which developed the first widely approved covid-19 vaccine with U.S. partner Pfizer, said Wednesday. While the exact threshold required to reach that critical level of immunization remains a...
What alcohol did Pennsylvanians buy most in the past pandemic year?
This past year has been a really long decade. At least it sure felt like it. For some, nay many, a taste of alcohol provided some comfort. But what exactly has been the drink of choice for those in Pennsylvania over the past 12 months? One thing’s for sure: Pennsylvanians...
Judge has doubts on voter privacy in Arizona recount
PHOENIX — A judge hearing a challenge to voter privacy policies during the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate’s recount of 2.1 million 2020 election ballots in the county that includes metro Phoenix said Tuesday he is not convinced voter secrecy is being upheld. The comment from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel...
Ex-Trump aides cite MLK in lawsuit claiming racism against whites
The Biden administration’s distribution of stimulus funds earmarked for “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” illegally discriminates against white people, according to a lawsuit filed by a new legal group with ties to former President Donald Trump. America First Legal, started in April by Trump’s ex-senior adviser Stephen Miller and former...
First-grader in southwestern Minnesota dies of covid-19
MARSHALL, Minn. — A young child from southwestern Minnesota has died of covid-19 complications, according to the state Department of Health. While coronavirus deaths in children are rare, they can occur even in otherwise healthy children, health officials said. “Since the start of the pandemic, three Minnesota children under age...
Democrats pressing Biden to go even bigger with families planVideo
Democratic lawmakers are clamoring to add to President Joe Biden’s package of social spending even before he rolls it out on Wednesday, risking a ballooning price tag and adding to the complications already facing the White House in getting it through Congress. From taxes to expanding Medicare to subsidizing child...
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee: Coronavirus now not statewide public health crisisVideo
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declared Tuesday that covid-19 is no longer a statewide public health crisis, saying he is removing the option for most local governments to mandate masks in public and urging a few big counties with restrictions like mask requirements to remove them on their own...
Pennsylvania’s ‘Move Over’ law now in effect for motorists
It’s a familiar situation for drivers: They see a stopped vehicle in the emergency lane on the right side of the road, with a police officer or first responder providing aid. For safety reasons, drivers in the right-hand lane have been encouraged to slow down or, ideally, to move to...
Suspect arrested in attack on Chinese immigrant in New York City
NEW YORK — A man was arrested Tuesday in an assault on a Chinese immigrant who was kicked repeatedly in the head in East Harlem, police said. Jarrod Powell was charged with two counts of felony assault in the attack Friday on 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, police said. It wasn’t...
Idaho lawmaker accused of rape was warned about his behavior
BOISE — An Idaho lawmaker facing rape allegations from a 19-year-old intern was previously warned against hitting on women who work at the Statehouse after his colleagues heard complaints from other staffers, according to documents gathered by the Legislature’s ethics committee and obtained by The Associated Press. The investigation into...
Chicago sues Indiana gun store, alleging weapons routinely wind up with gang members and felonsVideo
CHICAGO — The city of Chicago sued a northwest Indiana gun store alleging it has sold hundreds of guns to straw buyers that wound up in the hands of felons or at crime scenes in the city, some within days of purchase. The lawsuit filed in Cook County Chancery Court...
Private Florida school won’t employ vaccinated teachers, staffVideo
MIAMI — A private school founded by an anti-vaccination activist in South Florida has warned teachers and staff against taking the covid-19 vaccine, saying it will not employ anyone who has received the shot. The Centner Academy in Miami sent a notice to parents on this week informing them of...
CEO fired over remarks about male student’s prom dress
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The CEO of a Tennessee telemedicine company has been fired after being captured on video making disparaging remarks to a male high school student in a prom dress. James Dalton Stevens told news outlets he wanted to make a statement with the dress but didn’t expect the...
Indiana governor sues Legislature over emergency powers
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s governor is asking a court to block a new law passed by state legislators giving themselves more authority to intervene when the state’s chief executive declares an emergency. Lawyers for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a Marion County court challenging the law that...
CDC says many Americans can now go outside without a mask
NEW YORK — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks...
