News category, Page 1182

COLUMBUS — A white Ohio police officer was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge in the latest fallout following the December shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, a Black man, the state’s attorney general said. Columbus Police Officer Adam Coy was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury following an...

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said Wednesday he looks forward to having the opportunity to serve on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee as the nation faces threats of domestic terrorism at home and complex challenges abroad. Casey, D-Scranton, announced that he was named to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A northern Virginia businessman who was awarded $38 million in federal contracts to provide high-quality masks during the coronavirus pandemic that he never possessed pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud and making false statements. Robert Stewart, 35, of Arlington, was owner of a company called Federal Government Experts...

Public education advocates applauded the proposed 21% boost to K-12 funding in Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2021-22 budget Wednesday calling it bold and overdue, even as members of the Republican-controlled Legislature savaged it. “It is long overdue and very, very necessary,” said Ron Cowell, the former Allegheny County lawmaker and founder...

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is ordering military leaders to spend time talking to their troops about extremism in the ranks, after a number of former and current military members took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last month. Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Austin met...

SEATTLE — Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a man who describes himself as the “Sergeant of Arms” of the Seattle chapter of the far-right group Proud Boys, after he was charged in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol last month. Ethan Nordean, who is also known as Rufio...

MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday for a new arrest warrant for an Illinois teen charged with shooting three people, killing two of them, during a protest over police brutality in Wisconsin after he apparently violated his bail conditions. Kyle Rittenhouse failed to inform the court of his...

A Pennsylvania county prosecutor was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting women who were his clients in criminal and child custody cases when he worked as a defense attorney. Bradford County District Attorney Chad Michael Salsman was charged with three counts of sexual assault, five counts of indecent assault, witness intimidation,...

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s reached a two-year power sharing deal with GOP leader Mitch McConnell formally giving Democrats committee chairmanships and setting other ground rules, allowing the chamber to begin fully functioning after weeks of procedural limbo. The agreement announced Wednesday is based on a...

TORONTO — The Canadian government designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity on Wednesday, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys have faced increased scrutiny after seizing on the former Trump administration’s policies and was a...

Sixty years ago, before the push for women’s rights gained widespread support, Mary Belak Zakutney of Herminie sought the same pay for the same job as a man in her rural community. Mrs. Zakutney was secretary-treasurer for Sewickley Township for almost 17 years, from the early 1940s to 1957, working...

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 — In one of his boldest budget proposals since taking office, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is asking the legislature to...

Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania are on a downward trend, decreasing more than 500 in a week. Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows the number of coronavirus patients dropped 544 from 3,768 a week ago to 3,224 Wednesday. The number also shrunk by 57 from Tuesday’s 3,281. There are...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday in a multimillion-dollar dispute over a collection of religious artworks will make it harder for some lawsuits to be tried in U.S. courts over claims that property was taken from Jews during the Nazi era. The justices sided with Germany in a dispute...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday dropped its discrimination lawsuit against Yale University that had alleged the university was illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants. The Justice Department noted in its filing that it was voluntarily dismissing the action, filed in October under the Trump administration. A...

The United States joined Russia on Wednesday in extending the two countries’ last remaining treaty limiting their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, two days before the pact was set to expire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the U.S. would use the five years of the New START...

If it feels like the coronavirus vaccine rollout in Pennsylvania is among the worst in the country, you’re not wrong. According to data compiled by the Associated Press, Pennsylvania is tied for 39th among the 50 states in terms of the percentage of the population that has received at least...

President Joe Biden’s nominee for education secretary is promising to help reopen schools but says much of the hardest work will come after that as schools try to address long-standing disparities worsened by the pandemic. “These inequities will endure, and prevent the potential of this great country, unless tackled head-on,”...

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf will ask lawmakers Wednesday to raise income taxes on higher earners and give public schools a massive boost in aid, even as he faces a gaping deficit and uncertainty over how much more pandemic relief the federal government will send. Because of the coronavirus pandemic,...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden panned a Republican alternative to his $1.9 trillion covid rescue plan as insufficient as Senate Democrats pushed ahead, voting to launch a process that could approve his sweeping rescue package on their own, if Republicans refuse to support it. Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen...

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top infectious disease expert doesn’t want the Super Bowl to turn into a super spreader. Dr. Anthony Fauci, says when it comes to Super Bowl parties during the pandemic, people should “just lay low and cool it.” He said during TV interviews Wednesday that now isn’t...