Former aide to Gov. Cuomo pens essay with allegations of sexual harassment
ALBANY, N.Y. — A former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo detailed accusations of sexual harassment against the governor in an essay Wednesday, alleging top female staffers “normalized” behavior that included unwanted kissing and touching. Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, said...
Florida man charged with trying to join Islamic militants
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man traveled to Turkey and attempted to enter Syria so he could help Islamic State militants, according to an indictment by a federal grand jury. The grand jury Tuesday charged Mohamed Suliman, 33, with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization....
Georgia senators vote to end changing clocks twice a year
ATLANTA — Georgia senators want to stop changing their clock twice a year, saying shifting from standard time to daylight saving time and back is disruptive. The Senate voted 46-7 Wednesday to pass Senate Bill 100, which calls for Georgia to observe standard time year round. It goes to the...
Special prosecutor picked for case against St. Louis couple
ST. LOUIS — A former U.S. attorney and circuit judge was appointed Wednesday as special prosecutor in the case against a St. Louis couple who waved guns at racial injustice protesters last summer. Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer chose Richard Callahan to prosecute Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who have pleaded not...
Pa. Republicans say Gov. Wolf is trying to sabotage ballot question
HARRISBURG — Republican leaders of Pennsylvania’s Legislature said Wednesday that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is trying to sabotage ballot questions to amend the constitution to shift authority over the length of emergency declarations from governors to lawmakers. The measures arose from Republican lawmakers’ strident disagreement with how Wolf, a Democrat,...
Pennsylvania reports 76 new covid deaths, while cases, hospitalizations slow
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday reported 76 new coronavirus deaths and 2,786 additional coronavirus cases. The total number of deaths in the state because of the coronavirus stands at 23,787. The state’s seven-day average is at 2,569 cases, and the state’s seven-day case total is 17,984, both down...
Pa. woman linked to ‘alien reptile’ cult must stay jailed for killing boyfriend, state court says
A Pennsylvania woman who claimed she was under the influence of an alien reptile cult when she shot and killed her boyfriend will stay locked in prison on Earth for a while. A state Superior Court panel ensured that by upholding the third-degree murder conviction and 15- to 40-year jail...
Biden to order a review of U.S. supply chains for vital goods
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is preparing to sign an executive order to review U.S. supply chains for large-capacity batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors that power cars, phones, military equipment and other goods. The United States has become increasingly reliant on imports of these goods — a potential national...
Girl dies, boy hurt in fall through ice in Ohio; officer also dies
HILLSBORO, Ohio — A 16-year-old girl died and a teenage boy was injured after they fell through an icy lake in Ohio, officials said. An Ohio Natural Resources Department police officer who responded to the call at Rocky Fork State Park in Hillsboro also died after he suffered a medical...
FDA says Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot prevents covid; final decision soonVideo
WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe covid-19, according to an analysis by U.S. regulators Wednesday that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration’s scientists confirmed that overall the...
Controversy swirls over lowering of flags for Rush Limbaugh
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving ahead with plans to honor recently deceased conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh by lowering flags to half-staff despite protests from some public officials who don’t see Limbaugh as worthy of the honor. DeSantis announced Tuesday that he was directing the U.S....
Mars rover’s giant parachute carried secret message
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white strips of...
China ponders approving 2 more covid vaccines
BEIJING — China is moving ahead with two more covid-19 vaccines in the regulatory process, one from state-owned company Sinopharm and another from a private company CanSino. Both vaccines have been submitted to regulators for approval this week. CanSino said that Chinese regulators are reviewing its application for its covid-19...
House Democrats prepare changes to coronavirus relief packageVideo
WASHINGTON — A $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill continued to take shape Tuesday, with suspense building over whether a minimum wage increase would survive. House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth has assembled an initial 138-page draft manager’s amendment full of changes to the 592-page version his committee approved on Monday, including...
Tip led to FBI arrests of Iowa mother, son in Capitol attack
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The FBI has identified an Iowa woman and her adult son as participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after receiving a tip from a longtime family acquaintance, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. Videos that Deborah Sandoval and Salvador Sandoval Jr....
Johnson & Johnson’s covid vaccine could get green light by the end of the weekVideo
An advisory panel from the Food and Drug Administration will meet Friday to consider approving Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine. The company has applied to the FDA for emergency authorization. The panel is expected to grant that as early as this weekend, after it discusses the effectiveness and safety...
Audits find no problems with Arizona election equipment
PHOENIX — Two independent audits of election equipment in Arizona’s most populous county found no modified software, malicious software or incorrect counting equipment, and none of the computers or equipment were connected to the internet. However, the state Senate wants its own audit and a judge will decide if it...
Virtual Pennsylvania birthday celebration to be held by Historical & Museum Commission
It’s Pennsylvania’s 340th birthday and there will be a Charter Day party on Sunday, March 7. The celebration is being put on by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. It will include a virtual display of Pennsylvania founder William Penn’s original charter and other programming. Pennsylvania came into existence when...
No CPAC invitation for Mitch McConnell this year
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s Republican leader, has not been invited to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, two sources familiar with the event’s organizing tell McClatchy. The annual conference, set to kick off this Thursday in Orlando, Fla., and run through Sunday, will feature speeches by former President...
Ex-NYPD officer and Marine charged in violent Capitol attack
A retired New York Police Department officer and retired U.S. Marine was deemed a danger to the community and ordered held without bail Tuesday after his arrest on charges that he attacked a police officer during the Capitol attack in early January. Thomas Webster, 54, who runs a landscaping business,...
No charges against Rochester officers involved in Daniel Prude’s death
Police officers who put a hood over the head of a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them, New York’s attorney general announced Tuesday. Daniel Prude, 41, died last...
Senate confirms Tom Vilsack for 2nd stint as USDA secretary
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 92-7 on Tuesday to confirm Tom Vilsack as Agriculture secretary, sending the former Iowa governor back to a department he ran for eight years under President Barack Obama. “His deep knowledge of agriculture and rural America is needed now more than ever,” Senate Agriculture Chairwoman...
Organ transplant patient dies after receiving lungs infected with covid-19
Doctors say a woman in Michigan contracted covid-19 and died last fall two months after receiving a tainted double-lung transplant from a donor who turned out to harbor the virus that causes the disease — despite showing no signs of illness and initially testing negative. Officials at the University of...
Washington taps pastors to overcome racial divide on vaccineVideo
WASHINGTON — Stately and deliberate, with a distinctive white streak in his black hair, the Rev. Wallace Charles Smith started his Valentine’s Day sermon at Shiloh Baptist Church by talking about love and vaccinations. “That’s what love’s all about. When you get a vaccination, you are saying to everyone around...
Capitol defenders blame bad intelligence for deadly breachVideo
WASHINGTON — Faulty intelligence was to blame for the outmanned Capitol defenders’ failure to anticipate the violent mob that invaded the iconic building and halted certification of the presidential election on Jan. 6, the officials who were in charge of security declared Tuesday in their first public testimony on the...
