Biden to visit Wisconsin next week in 1st official trip
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit Wisconsin next week for his first official trip as president beyond his home state of Delaware. Biden is set to visit Milwaukee next Tuesday, according to the White House, and will participate in a CNN town hall there. While the Biden administration did...
Former Nazi guard, age 100, charged as accessory to murder
BERLIN — German prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder on allegations he served during World War II as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin, authorities said Tuesday. The man is alleged to have worked...
Arab spacecraft enters orbit around Mars in historic flightVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause when word came that...
U.S. hiring plunged in December even as job openings ticked up
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in December, particularly industries slammed by the pandemic such as restaurants and hotels, as virus infections soared and governments responded with tighter restrictions. The number of available jobs rose slightly and layoffs fell, according to the Labor Department’s Tuesday report, known...
Democrats propose $1,400 payments as part of Biden virus relief
WASHINGTON — House Democrats proposed an additional $1,400 in direct payments to individuals as Congress began piecing together a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package that tracks President Joe Biden’s plan for battling the pandemic and reviving a still staggering economy. Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee would expand tax...
Iran may pursue nuclear weapon, intel minister warns West
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s intelligence minister has warned the West that his country could push for a nuclear weapon if crippling international sanctions on Tehran remain in place, state television reported Tuesday. The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its...
Rescuers look for survivors of Indian glacier disaster
JOSHIMATH, India — Hundreds of rescue workers were scouring muck-filled ravines and valleys in northern India on Tuesday looking for survivors after part of a Himalayan glacier broke off, unleashing a devastating flood that has left at least 31 people dead and 165 missing. One of the rescue efforts is...
Small plane lands on Pennsylvania TurnpikeVideo
LANCASTER — A small plane landed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, shutting down some traffic and prompting a crash on Monday evening, authorities said. Turnpike Commission spokesperson Carl Defebo told WGAL-TV the plane apparently made an emergency landing and then was struck by a vehicle. #BREAKING Plane's engine died, forcing pilot...
Justice Department seeks resignations of Trump-era U.S. attorneys
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will ask U.S. attorneys who were appointed by former President Donald Trump to resign from their posts, as the Biden administration moves to transition to its own nominees, a senior Justice Department official said Monday. But the U.S. attorney overseeing the federal tax probe involving...
What’s ahead as Trump impeachment trial beginsVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial begins Tuesday, forcing the Senate to decide whether to convict him of incitement of insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. While Trump’s acquittal is expected, Democrats hope to gain...
Man charged in U.S. Capitol riot worked for FBI, lawyer says
WASHINGTON — A man who authorities say is a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and helped to organize a ring of other extremists and led them in the attack last month at the U.S. Capitol has held a top-secret security clearance for decades and previously worked for...
Senate confirms McDonough as Veterans Affairs secretary
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 87-7 Monday to confirm Denis McDonough to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, making him the second nonveteran in history to helm the massive federal agency that oversees health care and other benefits for the nation’s veterans. McDonough, 51, received a muted reception from veterans...
New York’s high court ends state case against Paul Manafort
NEW YORK — Paul Manafort won’t face mortgage fraud charges in New York after the state’s highest court declined to revisit lower court decisions that found the case brought against Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman in the wake of a similar federal prosecution amounted to double jeopardy. The decision last...
Florida man sentenced in Giuliani-related fraud case
NEW YORK — A Florida businessman whose fraud-busting business was exposed as a fraud itself was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in prison in a case in which prosecutors said Rudy Giuliani was hired as a consultant to attract investors. David Correia, 45, was sentenced remotely by...
Settlement near in case of Pennsylvania pot suspect killed by state bulldozer
The estate of a man who was run over by a bulldozer while being chased by Pennsylvania State Police for illegally growing a handful of pot plants is nearing settlement of its federal wrongful death lawsuit against the state. Gregory Longenecker, a 51-year-old short-order cook and Grateful Dead fan, had...
Georgia election officials investigate Trump telephone call
ATLANTA — Georgia’s secretary of state’s office on Monday opened an investigation into a phone call between Donald Trump and the state’s top elections official in which the then-president said he wanted to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state, an official said. Walter Jones, a spokesman...
Seattle judge halts Proud Boy’s release in Capitol breach case
SEATTLE — The self-described “sergeant-at-arms” of the Seattle chapter of the far-right group Proud Boys will remain in custody for now pending charges filed in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida in Seattle initially said Monday that 30-year-old Ethan Nordean should be released pending...
In Florida city, hackers try to poison the drinking water
FLORIDA — A hacker gained unauthorized entry to the system controlling the water treatment plant of a Florida city of 15,000 and tried to taint the water supply with a caustic chemical, exposing a danger cybersecurity experts say has grown as systems become both more computerized and accessible via the...
Some college students temporarily eligible for SNAP benefits
Some college students will be eligible for SNAP food benefits based on their family’s income, a change that is temporary but will open up the program for a swath of students who otherwise did not qualify for the support, Pennsylvania officials announced Monday. Under normal circumstances, federal rules dictate that...
Family of Illinois woman who drank hand sanitizer sues firm that made it
ST. LOUIS — The family of an Illinois woman who died last year after drinking hand sanitizer contaminated with methanol is suing the company that made the product. The federal lawsuit filed Friday in St. Louis says the St. Louis County Medical examiner determined that Kayla Stagner’s death was caused...
Nothing to sneeze at: Global warming triggers earlier pollen season
When Dr. Stanley Fineman started as an allergist in Atlanta, he told patients they should start taking their medications and prepare for the drippy, sneezy onslaught of pollen season around St. Patrick’s Day. That was about 40 years ago. Now he tells them to start around St. Valentine’s Day. Across...
House Democrats reveal first draft of stimulus-bill measuresVideo
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Monday released the first draft text for key pieces of legislation that will constitute President Joe Biden’s covid-19 relief bill. The legislative language released by the Education and Labor Committee and Committee on Financial Services shows Democrats are forging ahead with plans to increase the...
Alabama U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby announces he won’t seek a 7th termVideo
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby, the Senate’s fourth most senior member and a force in Alabama politics for more than four decades, announced Monday that he will not seek a seventh term in office in 2022. The 86-year-old Republican has spent more than 40 years in Washington,...
Arizona Democrats move to expel lawmaker who attended Jan. 6 rally
PHOENIX — Democrats in the Arizona House moved Monday to expel a Republican lawmaker who attended the Jan. 6 rally that turned violent when demonstrators stormed the U.S. Capitol. Republican Rep. Mark Finchem of Tucson violated his oath of office and undermined democracy through actions that include his attendance at...
How some Pa. lawmakers score a ‘golden parachute’ to pad their pensions
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. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Members of Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board, whose responsibilities include meeting once or twice...
