Montana governor lifts statewide mask mandate
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s statewide mask mandate that had been in place since July was lifted Friday by Gov. Greg Gianforte, but some cities and counties are keeping local mask requirements because they think the governor’s move was premature. Gianforte, a Republican, promised the day after assuming office in January...
Putin pitches Russia’s covid vaccine but still won’t take it
While Vladimir Putin this week hailed international recognition of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against covid-19, the Kremlin says the president still hasn’t taken the inoculation that he enthusiastically recommends to other world leaders. Putin is following a vaccination schedule that requires him to take other shots first, including against flu...
Tennessee man leaves $5 million to pet border collie
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It won’t be a dog’s life for a Tennessee canine whose owner recently died. Lulu, an 8-year-old border collie, will be living the good life in Nashville after inheriting $5 million in her owner’s will, WTVF-TV reported. Martha Burton, Lulu’s caretaker, told the station Lulu’s owner, Bill...
Mississippi Senate: Ban transgender athletes on female teams
JACKSON, Miss. — Transgender athletes would be banned from competing in girls’ or women’s sports in Mississippi schools and universities, under a bill that comes at a time of renewed focus on transgender rights. Mississippi is one of a dozen states with lawmakers proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming health...
Bidens view Valentine’s Day decorations on White House lawnVideo
WASHINGTON — First lady Jill Biden had installed before dawn Friday special Valentine’s Day artwork on the North Lawn of the White House: giant pink, white and red hearts that resemble the popular candy. President Joe Biden stepped out with his wife early on Friday morning to inspect the colorful...
Biden administration to allow 25,000 asylum-seekers into U.S.
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration on Friday announced plans for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico for their next immigration court hearings to be allowed into the United States while their cases proceed. The first of an estimated 25,000 asylum-seekers in Mexico with active cases will be...
Trump impeachment trial: Defense wraps up case in 3 hoursVideo
WASHINGTON — The defense attorneys for Donald Trump have wrapped up their presentation in the former president’s impeachment trial. Lawyers argued for three hours Friday that former President Donald Trump didn’t incite the Jan. 6 rally crowd to riot at the U.S. Capitol and that his words were merely figures...
Ex-Tribune-Review Sunday editor remembered as a ‘giant of a man’
William T. “Bill” Dymond, the first editor of the Sunday Tribune-Review, was a man great in stature and personality, a man who cared deeply about his family and community, his friends said. “He was a giant in so many ways. Not only in personal stature, but a giant in the...
FBI probe of Texas attorney general expands to look at home renovations
DALLAS — The FBI is investigating renovations made to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s million-dollar home as part of an ongoing probe into allegations that the state’s highest-ranking attorney illegally helped a wealthy donor, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Last year, much of Paxton’s senior staff accused...
Kentucky man held for trial in pepper spraying of Capitol officers
A federal judge has ruled there is probable cause in the case against a man accused of spraying at least two officers with an irritant during the violent siege on the Capitol in January. During a probable cause hearing Thursday, federal prosecutors presented videos and photos of the Jan. 6...
Charges dropped for officers seen shoving Buffalo protesterVideo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Criminal charges have been dropped against two police officers seen on video last spring shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground in Buffalo, New York, prosecutors said Thursday. A grand jury declined to indict Buffalo Officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski on felony assault charges, ending the...
Biden says U.S. is securing 600 million vaccine doses by JulyVideo
BETHESDA, Md. — President Joe Biden visited some of the nation’s leading scientists on the frontlines of the fight against covid-19 on Thursday, as he announced the U.S. will have enough supply of the vaccine by the end of the summer to inoculate 300 million Americans. Biden toured the Viral...
Feds: Man charged in riot suggested bringing weapons by boat to Capitol
A man authorities say is a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and led other extremists in the attack on the U.S. Capitol discussed the possibility of getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River, prosecutors said Thursday. Court papers filed in the case against...
Pa. state trooper, 3 others accused of illegal activity at strip club
MAYFIELD — A Pennsylvania state trooper and three other people were charged Thursday with operating a corrupt organization involving prostitution, gambling and money laundering at a Lackawanna County strip club the trooper co-owns. Robert Covington Jr., 48, who has served with the state police for 13 years, surrendered at the...
Officials: AG Barr blocked ex-officer Derek Chauvin from pleading guilty in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was prepared to plead guilty to third-degree murder in George Floyd’s death before then-Attorney General William Barr personally blocked the plea deal last year, officials said. The deal would have averted any potential federal charges, including a civil rights offense, as part of...
White House says it will defer to CDC on reopening schoolsVideo
Facing criticism that President Joe Biden has not acted aggressively enough on reopening schools, the White House on Thursday said it’s aiming for a full reopening but will defer to science experts on how to achieve it in the middle of a pandemic. The White House drew criticism this week...
Wisconsin judge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse
MADISON, Wis. — A judge on Thursday refused prosecutors’ request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois who is accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder also rejected prosecutors’ request for a $200,000...
GOP attacks Dems’ $1.9T covid relief bill from all angles
WASHINGTON — Republicans are attacking the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package as too costly, economically damaging and overtly partisan, an all-angles attempt to derail new President Joe Biden’s top priority as it starts moving through a Congress his party controls only narrowly. Four House committees worked Thursday on their...
Senators advance Cardona for Education, Walsh for Labor
WASHINGTON — The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday advanced the nominations of Miguel Cardona to be Education secretary by a vote of 17-5, and Martin J. Walsh to be Labor secretary, 18-4. If confirmed by the full Senate, both would face immediate challenges in their respective...
Rioters acted on Trump’s ‘order,’ Democrats insist in impeachment trialVideo
WASHINGTON — House prosecutors concluded two days of emotional arguments in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial late Thursday, insisting the Capitol invaders believed they were acting on “the president’s orders” to stop Joe Biden’s election, the deadly culmination of Trump’s pattern of spreading false and violent rhetoric that will continue to...
Driver who plunged off Wisconsin ramp thankful to be aliveVideo
MILWAUKEE — A driver who survived when his pickup truck plunged about 70 feet off a slippery interchange exit ramp in Wisconsin said he feels thankful to be alive. Richard Lee Oliver, in an interview that aired Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said he was on his way to...
U.S. distances itself from Trump attempts to ban WeChat
A day after it put a hold on a proposed ban of TikTok, the Biden administration is distancing itself from attempts by former President Donald Trump to ban the Chinese messaging app WeChat. The Commerce Department is reviewing recent actions, such as the rules undermining TikTok and WeChat, to ensure...
Covid hospitalizations in Pennsylvania drop again
For the second day in a row, hospitalizations in Pennsylvania dropped by more than 100 patients. According to the state covid-19 dashboard, the number of residents hospitalized for the virus is 2,687, down 102 from Wednesday, which was down 101 from Tuesday. Hospitalizations in the state have been on a...
6 killed in 130-vehicle pileup on icy Texas interstate near Fort WorthVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — A massive crash involving more than 130 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate left six people dead and dozens injured Thursday amid a winter storm that dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S. At the scene of the crash on Interstate 35...
How a leading anti-Trump group ignored a crisis in its ranks
Last June, the Lincoln Project was on a high. Led by several prominent former Republican consultants, its slickly produced ads attacking President Donald Trump made it perhaps the best known of the so-called Never Trump organizations. The group tried to claim a higher moral ground in an effort to purge...
