Rider injured when ejected from Tennessee mountain coaster
GATLINBURG, Tenn. — A rider was ejected from a mountain coaster in Tennessee and hospitalized with head, wrist and ankle injuries, according to state officials. A report submitted by the owner to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development says the incident occurred Monday on the Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster...
Pressley, Warren push Biden to nix $50,000 in student debt
BOSTON — President Joe Biden should help those struggling under crushing student loan debt by immediately canceling up to $50,000 of debt for federal student loan borrowers, Democratic elected officials said Thursday. Biden can make the move by using existing authority granted to him under the Higher Education Act, said...
Mitch McConnell urges fellow Republicans to get covid-19 vaccines
LOUISVILLE, Ky — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his fellow Republicans to be vaccinated against covid-19 during a visit to a western Kentucky hospital Thursday. “As a Republican man, I wasn’t reluctant to get it when I was eligible and I would encourage everybody to do that,” he said....
Biden launches community corps to boost covid vaccinations
WASHINGTON — Seeking to overcome vaccine hesitancy, the Biden administration on Thursday stepped up its outreach efforts to skeptical Americans, launching a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote covid-19 shots in hard-hit communities. The administration’s “We Can Do This” campaign features television and social media ads, but...
U.S. allows 2 more over-the-counter covid-19 home tests
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have authorized two more over-the-counter covid-19 tests that can be used at home to get rapid results. The move by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vastly expand the availability of cheap home tests that many experts have advocated since the early days...
George Floyd’s girlfriend recalls 1st time they met during Chauvin’s trial
MINNEAPOLIS — George Floyd’s girlfriend cried on the witness stand Thursday as she told the story of how they first met in 2017 at a Salvation Army shelter where Floyd was a security guard with “this great Southern voice, raspy.” She also recounted how they both struggled with opioid addiction....
Ancient coins may solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate
WARWICK, R.I. — A handful of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in rural Rhode Island and other random corners of New England may help solve one of the planet’s oldest cold cases. The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate who became the world’s most-wanted criminal after plundering...
Pennsylvania saw upswing in covid cases, hospitalizations in March
Covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania took an upswing in March, though nothing like what was experienced last fall through the beginning of this year. The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 3,893 additional cases; and the seven-day average of cases in the state ticked up to 4,073. The seven-day total...
April Fools’ Day: Tom Brady, Funko, Peeps get in on the ha-ha holidayVideo
Pranks and jokes, welcome back. April 1 is here and it’s time again. April Fools’ Day. Let’s see who got in on the action, from a GOAT to Peeps. Brady brings back Expos Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is bringing back an old MLB franchise. He’s going to be...
Justices uphold FCC’s easing of local media ownership limits
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld federal regulators’ decision to ease ownership limits on local media, rejecting a claim that the change would hurt minority and female ownership. The court said the Federal Communications Commission acted reasonably in 2017 when it modified rules that predated the internet....
Senators object to proposed Nebraska sex education standards
LINCOLN, Neb. — Twenty-eight Nebraska lawmakers are objecting to proposed state education standards that include lessons on gender identity and gender stereotypes, with lessons starting as early as the first grade. The senators sent an open letter to the Nebraska State Board of Education, which is expected to consider the...
Donald Trump Jr. buys mansion 20 miles from Mar-a-Lago
JUPITER, Fla. — Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are now Florida home owners. The Palm Beach Post reports that the couple spent $9.7 million this week to buy a 11,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, 11-bath mansion in the town of Jupiter, about 20 miles from the Mar-a-Lago compound where former...
High court: Charlottesville can remove Confederate statues
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s highest court ruled Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017. The state Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor...
Pfizer shot remains more than 91% effective after 6 months
Pfizer Inc.’s covid-19 vaccine remained highly effective after six months, according to new long-term results that the company said could be used to seek an expansion of its regulatory status. Follow-up data from a final-stage trial of 46,307 people showed the vaccine was 91.3% effective in preventing symptomatic cases starting...
U.S. hunger crisis persists, especially for kids, older adults
PHOENIX — America is starting to claw its way out of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but food insecurity persists, especially for children and older adults. Food banks around the U.S. continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the virus outbreak...
World trade body chief says vaccine inequity ‘unacceptable’
GENEVA — The head of the World Trade Organization called Thursday for expanded capability in developing countries to manufacture vaccines, saying the gaping imbalance in access to coronavirus vaccines that mostly favors rich, developed countries was unacceptable. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she supports the creation of a framework that...
New GOP-led voting restrictions move forward in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republicans advanced a slate of proposed new voting restrictions Thursday that would reduce options to cast ballots, limit polling hours and hand more power to partisan poll watchers. All those efforts are rolled into a single bill that cleared the GOP-controlled state Senate — a key...
Covid world update: Germany’s president receives AstraZeneca vaccine; vaccine requirements in Italy
BERLIN — Germany’s president has been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot, a signal of confidence in the vaccine after the country restricted its use in people under 60. The presidential office said in a statement that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is 65, received his first shot at a hospital in...
Sarah Palin confirms covid-19 diagnosis, urges steps like masks
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she tested positive for covid-19 and is urging people to take steps to guard against the coronavirus, such as wearing masks in public. “Through it all, I view wearing that cumbersome mask indoors in a crowd as not only allowing the...
Gunman in Southern California mass shooting knew his victims
ORANGE, Calif. — The gunman who killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building knew all the victims and apparently before opening fire chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside, authorities said Thursday. Among the victims of the “horrific...
Gaetz staying on Judiciary panel, despite investigation
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a prominent, outspoken conservative and a close ally of former President Donald Trump who has been under federal investigation for a former relationship, would lose his House seat if convicted of a felony. But there are no rules addressing lawmakers under investigation. House Minority...
Mexican electoral court: President can’t praise achievements
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s electoral tribunal ruled Wednesday that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador cannot talk about his administration’s achievements during the campaign leading up to June 6 mid-term elections. The court’s ruling places the president in a tough spot. López Obrador has held news conferences almost every weekday since...
New Mexico advances bills to legalize recreational marijuana
SANTA FE, N.M — Legislators mounted a charge toward legalizing recreational marijuana in New Mexico, as House lawmakers on Wednesday sent an approved framework for pot sales, business licenses and taxation to the state Senate for consideration. The Senate prepared for a decisive evening vote on a House-approved bill to...
Covid-19 pushed total U.S. deaths beyond 3.3 million last year
The covid-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths last year beyond 3.3 million, the nation’s highest annual death toll, the government reported Wednesday. The coronavirus caused about 375,000 deaths, and was the third leading cause of death in 2020, after heart disease and cancer. Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. now top...
Ever Given crew could face criminal charges for Suez Canal incident
The 25-member Indian crew of the Ever Given, a massive container ship that remained stuck in the Suez Canal for nearly week, could face criminal charges. Investigators boarded the 1,300-foot-long vessel and launched their investigation on Wednesday, shortly after its arrival in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake. The probe is expected...
