CDC director has feeling of ‘impending doom’ amid new covid spike
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made an impassioned plea to Americans Monday not to let their guard down in the fight against covid-19, warning of a potential fourth wave of the virus and saying she has a recurring feeling “of impending doom.” Speaking during a...
Judge orders 3 to trial in plot to kidnap Michigan governor
JACKSON, Mich. — A Michigan judge on Monday ordered three men to stand trial in a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her coronavirus restrictions. Jackson County District Court Judge Michael Klaeren ruled there was enough evidence and bound over Paul Bellar, Joe Morrison and Pete Musico...
How well are covid vaccines working in Americans who got them? CDC releases new data
New research provides “strong evidence” that the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are capable of preventing infections — both those that cause symptoms and those that don’t — in real-world conditions, that is, outside the controlled laboratory settings where the initial clinical trials took place. The study, conducted by...
U.S. offers $10 million reward for info on Hezbollah operative
WASHINGTON — The United States on Monday offered a $10 million reward for information on a Hezbollah operative who was convicted last year in the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The State Department said the reward will be given to anyone who provides information preventing Salim Jamil...
N.Y. to expand covid-19 vaccine eligibility to those over 30
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state residents over 30 will be eligible for covid-19 vaccinations starting Tuesday, and everyone over 16 will be eligible starting April 6, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. Vaccine eligibility had previously been restricted to people over 50, people in certain job categories and those with...
Wall of Faces project to honor Vietnam casualties nears completion; all Pennsylvania photos found
On March 29, 1973, combat and combat support units withdrew from South Vietnam, and the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 permanently designates that date every year as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. It is a time not only to recognize the service of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, but...
Biden boosts offshore wind energy, wants to power 10M homes
The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, announcing progress on a huge wind farm planned off the New Jersey coast and setting a goal to generate enough power to provide electricity for more than 10 million homes by 2030. Meeting...
Funeral Mass celebrated Monday for slain Colorado officer
DENVER — A Roman Catholic funeral Mass was being celebrated Monday for a Colorado police officer shot and killed after rushing into a supermarket where a gunman had opened fire. The draped casket of Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, 51, was flanked by six candles during a traditional Latin Mass...
Body of 2nd Iowa State student recovered in rowing accident
Emergency workers recovered the body of an Iowa State University student on Monday, a day after a school crew club boat capsized during practice on a lake, killing one other student. The students were practicing Sunday morning at Little Wall Lake in Hamilton County when the scull capsized, the university...
Happy Monday? England embarks on major easing of lockdown
LONDON — It’s been dubbed Happy Monday — the day people could put on a bathing suit and swim in an outdoor pool for the first time in months, or rusty golfers strove to hit their drives down the middle of the fairway. Following a near three-month coronavirus lockdown that...
New lawsuit challenges Georgia’s GOP-backed election law
ATLANTA — A group of civil rights and advocacy organizations including the Georgia NAACP have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging Georgia’s new Republican-backed election law, which includes new restrictions on mail voting and gives the state legislature more control over the administration of elections. The lawsuit, filed Sunday...
Hundreds evacuated after fire at Indonesian oil refineryVideo
JAKARTA, Indonesia — More than 900 people from a nearby village were evacuated after a massive fire broke out early Monday at the Pertamina Balongan Refinery in Indonesia’s West Java province, officials said. About 20 people were injured, including refinery workers and several villagers who suffered burns while passing through...
Reacting to bloody coup, U.S. suspends trade deal with Myanmar
WASHINGTON — The United States on Monday suspended a trade deal with Myanmar until a democratic government is brought back to the Southeast Asian country after a bloody Feb. 1 coup. The military overthrew the elected government, jailed Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders and killed and imprisoned...
U.S. eases student loan relief for those with disabilities
The U.S. Education Department is canceling student debt for more than 40,000 Americans who were previously granted loan forgiveness because of disabilities but later had their debt reinstated after they failed to submit certain paperwork, the agency announced Monday. The action targets a loan forgiveness program that aims to help...
Pennsylvania pension system investigating calculation error
The board of Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system, the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, said it is investigating a consultant’s calculation about the fund’s investment performance last year that is apparently wrong. The calculation — 6.38% growth over the nine years ending last June 30 — was slightly above a...
Inside Pennsylvania’s race to expand eligibility for the covid vaccine
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 — For Doris Daigle of Westmoreland County, booking a coronavirus vaccine appointment was a multi-state effort shared by her nine...
Republican announces run for Murkowski’s Alaska Senate seat
JUNEAU, Alaska — An early Republican candidate announced plans Monday to seek the Alaska U.S. Senate seat that has been held since 2002 by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Kelly Tshibaka, who has led the sprawling Alaska Department of Administration since early 2019, in a statement said she is running “for...
Obama family matriarch has died in a Kenyan hospital at 99
Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old. Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village....
A Soviet-era legacy, Lada cars awaken passions for Cubans
Uncomfortable, wasteful, tough, rustic. All are descriptions heard about the old Russian-built Lada cars cruising the roads in Cuba, where it is common to see a driver standing next to the raised hood of one pondering what has gone wrong this time. Yet, despite the flaws, Ladas arouse passions. The...
Richest Czech man among 5 killed in Alaska helicopter crash
A contracted helicopter carrying guides and guests from a lodge on a heli-skiing trip in Alaska’s backcountry crashed, killing the pilot and four others, including the Czech Republic’s richest man. The only other person onboard was in serious condition but stable Sunday at an Anchorage hospital, Alaska State Troopers said....
Pandemic masks ongoing child abuse crisis as cases plummet
LANSFORD, Pa. — Ava Lerario lived in a home marked by love and chaos, even before the walls of the pandemic started closing in on her family. Sandwiched between two brothers, the 9-year-old was her father’s princess. She loved to snuggle up with her mom to read. She sometimes lugged...
Pope grants ‘time out’ to German archbishop faulted over abuse
BERLIN — Pope Francis has granted a “time out” to a German archbishop who offered his resignation after being faulted for his handling of allegations of sexual abuse in his previous diocese, church authorities said Monday. Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Hesse’s offer on March 18 followed the release of a report...
Jurors shown video at ex-officer’s trial in George Floyd’s deathVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — The video of George Floyd gasping for breath was essentially Exhibit A as the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee on the Black man’s neck went on trial Monday on charges of murder and manslaughter. Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell showed the jurors the footage at the earliest...
Hungary first in European Union for vaccinations, and deaths
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary has vaccinated more of its population than any other country in the European Union, according to figures from an EU agency, but it continues to be one of the world’s worst in the number of covid-19 deaths per capita. The Central European country has given at...
A $10 minimum wage in Pa.? Two GOP senators are calling for it
Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic lawmakers have been calling for an increase in the state’s $7.25 an hour minimum wage, and now they are finding support for this initiative in the Senate Republican Caucus. Sens. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie County, and Pat Browne, R-Lehigh County, are proposing to introduce legislation that...
