Michigan became hotspot as variants rose and vigilance waned
ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Eric Gala passed up an opportunity to get a coronavirus vaccine when shots became available in Michigan, and he admits not taking the virus seriously enough. Then he got sick with what he thought was the flu. He thought he would sweat it out and then...
Airline bans Alaska state senator for violating mask rules
JUNEAU — Alaska Airlines has banned an Alaska state senator for refusing to follow mask requirements. “We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy,” spokesman Tim Thompson told the...
EU reportedly set to allow vaccinated U.S. tourists to visit this summer
The European Union plans to open its doors this summer to U.S. tourists who’ve been fully vaccinated against covid-19, The New York Times reported, citing the head of the bloc’s executive body. The change, which would come under certain conditions, would end the bloc’s more than one-year ban of nonessential...
Florida family may spend life in prison after ‘church’ sold bleach as covid-19 cure
MIAMI — A federal grand jury brought charges against members of a Bradenton family nearly a year after they were arrested for selling bleach that they claimed to be a cure for the covid-19 virus. Mark Grenon and his three sons — Jonathan, Jordan and Joseph — face several charges...
Prototype of 1st U.S. dollar coins auctioned for $840,000
A piece of copper that was struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1794 and was a prototype for the fledgling nation’s money was auctioned off for $840,000, considerably more than expected, an official said. Heritage auctions spokesman Eric Bradley said the “No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar” opened at...
Indonesia says 53 crew of lost sub are dead, wreckage foundVideo
BANYUWANGI, Indonesia — Indonesia’s military on Sunday officially said all 53 crew members from a submarine that sank and broke apart last week are dead, and that search teams had located the vessel’s wreckage on the ocean floor. The grim announcement comes a day after Indonesia said the submarine was...
Police seek attacker who kicked Chinese American man in headVideo
NEW YORK — A 61-year-old Chinese American man was attacked by a man who kicked him repeatedly in the head in East Harlem, police said. The man was collecting cans when he was attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and kicked in the head shortly after 8 p.m. Friday....
The end of U.S. mass vaccination is coming sooner than laterVideo
After three months of vaccination across the United States, a majority of American adults have gotten shots, and the effort will soon shift from mass inoculation to mop-up. As of Saturday, 138.6 million people in the U.S. have received at least one covid-19 vaccine shot. About 1.3 million more are...
Dallas-area man suspected of killing mother, sisterVideo
ALLEN, Texas — A Dallas-area man has been arrested while awaiting an airline flight out of state and charged with capital murder in the deaths of his mother and sister, police said Sunday. Isil Borat, 51, and daughter Burcu Hezar, 17, were found knifed to death in their Allen, Texas,...
Coronavirus ‘swallowing’ people in India; crematoriums overwhelmedVideo
NEW DELHI — With life-saving oxygen in short supply, family members in India are left on their own to ferry coronavirus patients from hospital to hospital in search of treatment as the country is engulfed in a devastating new surge of infections. Too often their efforts end in mourning. The...
Last week of April honors ‘father of Pennsylvania forestry,’ Joseph T. Rothrock
Joseph T. Rothrock dedicated much of his life to educating Pennsylvanians about the importance of the forests and natural areas that were once much more abundant in the Keystone State. Born in 1839 in Mifflin County, Rothrock began his career as a botanist and surgeon before starting the “Michaux Forestry...
Why it’s dangerous that workers in Pa. prisons, covid-19 hot spots, aren’t getting vaccinated
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan 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 — A delayed upgrade to the state Department of Corrections’ dashboard on covid-19 rates in prisons has revealed that only...
Death toll in fire at Iraqi covid-19 hospital surpasses 80
BAGHDAD — The death toll from a massive fire at a Baghdad hospital for coronavirus patients rose to at least 82 Sunday as anxious families searched for missing relatives and the government suspended key health officials for alleged negligence. The flames, described by one witness as “volcanoes of fire,” swept...
Young adults’ relocations are reshaping political geography
Garima Vyas always wanted to live in a big city. She thought about New York, long the destination for 20-something strivers, but was wary of the cost and complicated subway lines. So Vyas picked another metropolis that’s increasingly become young people’s next-best option — Houston. Now 34, Vyas, a tech...
More action, less talk, distinguish Biden’s 100-day sprint
WASHINGTON — The card tucked in President Joe Biden’s right jacket pocket must weigh a ton. You can see the weight of it on his face when he digs it out, squints and ever-so-slowly reads aloud the latest tally of covid-19 dead. Sometimes he’ll stumble on a digit — after...
Relief for child sex abuse survivors revived in Pa. Senate after Wolf administration error
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 — A key state Senate committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation to temporarily allow survivors of decades-old child sexual abuse...
Democrat Troy Carter wins New Orleans-based House seat
BATON ROUGE, La. — Democrat Troy Carter won Saturday’s special election for Louisiana’s vacant U.S. House seat, defeating his state Senate colleague and ending an acrimonious, intraparty clash. Carter easily defeated Karen Carter Peterson in the race for Louisiana’s only Democrat-held seat in Congress, handing a victory to the more...
With OK from experts, some states resume use of J&J covid vaccine
NEW YORK — With a green light from federal health officials, many states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it was being deployed: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Among the other states ordering or recommending a resumption, along with Indiana, were...
Your guide to Pa.’s 2021 primary ballot questions
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. All Pennsylvania voters — yes, that includes independents and minor-party members — will be asked to consider four ballot questions on...
1 verdict, then 6 police killings across America in 24 hours
Even as the Derek Chauvin case was fresh in memory — the reading of the verdict in a Minneapolis courtroom, the shackling of the former police officer, the jubilation at what many saw as justice in the death of George Floyd — even then, blood flowed on America’s streets. And...
Biden recognizes atrocities against Armenians as genocide
WILMINGTON, Del. — The United States is formally recognizing that the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was “genocide” as President Joe Biden used that precise word that the White House has avoided for decades for fear...
Mexican leader to talk with Kamala Harris on migration
MEXICO CITY — Mexico announced Saturday that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will hold talks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on May 7 to discuss migration amid an increase in underage migrants at the U.S. southern border. Mo’s top diplomat said the video meeting will focus on Mexico’s questioned...
Local health systems look to CDC guidance on resuming J&J covid vaccinations
U.S. health advisers on Friday urged resuming covid-19 vaccinations with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot, saying its benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clots — in line with Europe’s rollout. Federal health officials uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot, out of nearly...
Summit shows Biden’s big vision on fighting climate change
WASHINGTON — What did the world learn at Joe Biden’s global summit about his vision of the battle to save the world’s climate? For two days, Biden and his team of climate experts pressed his case that tackling global warming not only can avert an existential threat, but also benefit...
U.S. lifts pause, allowing J&J covid-19 vaccinations to resume
U.S. health officials lifted an 11-day pause on covid-19 vaccinations using Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot on Friday, after scientific advisers decided its benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clot. The government uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot, out of nearly 8...
