West Virginia lawmaker faces fresh criticism for discrimination stance
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Republican lawmaker in West Virginia who resigned after posting an anti-gay slur but then was re-elected is drawing fresh criticism for an extended online diatribe opposing protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. House Delegate John Mandt said in a now-deleted Facebook post...
Senate Republicans back Trump as impeachment trial nearsVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s defenders in the Senate on Sunday rallied around the former president before his impeachment trial, dismissing it as a waste of time and arguing that the former president’s fiery speech before the U.S. Capitol insurrection does not make him responsible for the violence of Jan. 6....
Utah students allowed to opt out of Black history curriculum
NORTH OGDEN, Utah — A charter school in northern Utah that is allowing parents to opt students out of its Black History Month curriculum has sparked a debate over if parents should have the option. Maria Montessori Academy Director Micah Hirokawa said on the school’s Facebook page on Friday that...
2nd major snowstorm in a week blankets NortheastVideo
NEW YORK — A major snowstorm pushed through the Northeastern United States on Sunday, less than a week after a storm dumped more than 2 feet on parts of the region. By early afternoon, 5 to 7 inches had already fallen in parts of northwestern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut....
Utah police: Avalanche killed 4 local backcountry skiers
SALT LAKE CITY — Four backcountry skiers in their 20s died when one of the deadliest avalanches in Utah history hit a popular backcountry skiing area, police said Sunday. Four other people were also buried in the Saturday slide but managed to dig themselves out and didn’t suffer serious injuries,...
Reagan’s longtime secretary of state George P. Shultz dies
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, a titan of American academia, business and diplomacy who spent most of the 1980s trying to improve Cold War relations with the Soviet Union and forging a course for peace in the Middle East, has died. He was 100. Schultz died...
In race for covid-19 vaccinations, older residents in rural Pa. face tough obstacles
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. SULLIVAN COUNTY — Robert Keen figured his year of dodging the coronavirus was over. At 84, the retired ambulance driver —...
In pandemic, more people choose to die at home
MISSION, Kan. — Mortuary owner Brian Simmons has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed since the pandemic hit. With covid-19 devastating communities in Missouri, his two-person crews regularly arrive at homes in the Springfield area and remove bodies of people who...
Weary postal workers hope Biden will bring new tone, change
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Postal Service’s stretch of challenges didn’t end with the November general election and tens of millions of mail-in votes. The pandemic-depleted workforce fell further into a hole during the holiday rush, leading to long hours and a mountain of delayed mail. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy...
Music to my fears: Man swallows earbud while sleeping
BOSTON — A man is warning people against using headphones while falling asleep after health care workers had to remove a wireless earbud from his esophagus. Worcester resident Brad Gauthier, who detailed his bizarre experience in a Facebook post, went to bed Monday listening to music. He woke up Tuesday,...
False narratives seeped in through multiple channels to fuel violence at the Capitol
Disinformation, misinformation and social media proved a potent brew in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Experts say it is important to understand the role each played in inciting protesters to sack the Capitol. But no one was surprised events...
California to revise indoor church guidelines after ruling
SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Saturday it will issue revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing and chanting. In the most significant legal victory against...
U.S. soldier charged with murder, wife found dead in barracks
HONOLULU — A U.S. Army soldier has been charged with murder after his wife was found dead at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks. Army Spc. Raul Hernandez Perez of Florida was charged in the killing of 25-year-old Selena Roth. Roth was found dead in a trash can on Jan. 13 after concerned...
Florida: Slain FBI agent remembered for protecting children
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A slain FBI agent was remembered for her strength, infectious laugh, love of family and commitment to protecting children during a memorial service Saturday. Agents Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, and Daniel Alfin, 36, were gunned down Tuesday while serving a search warrant at the Broward County home...
Wyoming GOP censures Rep. Liz Cheney over impeachment vote
RAWLINS, Wyo. — The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Only eight of the 74-member state GOP’s central committee stood to oppose censure in a...
Biden gives Calif. woman pep talk in weekly address revival
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden gave a pep talk to a California woman who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, during a conversation the White House said is part of an effort to help him engage more consistently with regular Americans. The White House on Saturday released...
With Carnival scrapped, Rio’s Sambadrome hosts covid vaccinations
RIO DE JANEIRO — In a normal year, Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome would preparing for its great moment of the year: the world’s most famous Carnival parade. But a week before what should be the start of Carnival, the pandemic has replaced pageantry, with the great celebration put on hold...
5 key questions for Trump’s Senate impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — Arguments begin Tuesday in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on allegations that he incited the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A look at five key questions about what to expect when senators hear the case against the former president in the very...
Pa. legislature enacted 140 laws last year, only 27 addressed pandemic
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 2020, the coronavirus thrust state government into the lives of Pennsylvanians unlike any other time in recent history....
Pennsylvania posts 3,930 new covid cases, 157 deaths
Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 3,930 new coronavirus cases, as hospitalizations and case counts continue to trend downward in the Keystone State. The new data bring the total cases to 865,604. That’s a jump of more than 26,000 additional cases from this time last week. Two weeks ago, the...
‘One Lens’ project seeks to archive state residents’ covid-19 experience
Looking at photos from a specific period in history can be very telling. American photographs from the years of World War II, without any words, can tell the stories of battle-worn soldiers, the families they left behind and the efforts of those at home to support them. Pennsylvania First Lady...
Abuse survivors and advocates push emergency measure for May ballot
A bipartisan team of Pennsylvania lawmakers will invoke a rare emergency provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution, seeking to restore a constitutional amendment ballot question long sought by victims of child sex abuse. An administrative error by the Department of State, discovered late last month, prevents the question from appearing on...
Biden back in Delaware as CDC recommends avoiding travel
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden flew home to Delaware on Friday to spend the weekend with his wife and family, even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans forgo travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. The White House officials said the trip by Biden, his...
Cowboys for Trump leader released from jail pending trial
SANTA FE, N.M. — Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin is headed home to New Mexico after nearly three weeks in a Washington jail, after a judge on Friday said she will trust Griffin to show up for trial in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol....
Bus driver in California crash that killed 11 leaves prison
STOCKTON, Calif. — The driver of a private bus in Northern California that crashed in 2008 and killed 11 passengers headed to a casino has been released from prison after his sentence was reduced because of changes in state law. After nearly 12 years in custody, Quinton Watts, 64, was...
