Rochester suspends officers who pepper-sprayed 9-year-old girlVideo
The city of Rochester has suspended police officers seen in body-camera videos spraying a chemical “irritant” in the face of a distraught and handcuffed 9-year-old girl, officials announced Monday. The city did not specify how many officers were suspended. The suspensions will last at least until an internal police investigation...
GOP’s McConnell blasts ‘loony lies’ by Ga. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
WASHINGTON — Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.” “Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings...
As Biden and Republicans meet, Democrats prepare to move covid-19 relief aloneVideo
WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden met with 10 Republican senators Monday to test the waters of bipartisanship on coronavirus relief, Democrats on Capitol Hill took the first step toward fast-tracking the administration’s $1.9 trillion proposal through a legislative procedure that wouldn’t require GOP support. Although the Oval Office meeting,...
Devoted Browns fan cuts hair after 6 years to celebrate winning season
SANDUSKY, Ohio — For years, Cleveland Browns season ticket holder and devoted fan, Jeff Panovich, has let his hair grow as his team saw losing season after losing season. That changed this year with the Browns ending the regular season 12-5, so Panovich got his first hair cut in six...
House Democrats mount effort to punish Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are mounting an effort to formally rebuke Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a newly elected Georgia Republican with a history of making racist remarks, embracing conspiracy theories and endorsing violence directed at Democrats. Democrats have teed up action Wednesday to send a resolution to the House floor...
New Trump impeachment lawyers unlikely to push vote fraud claims
WASHINGTON — The two lawyers Donald Trump hired at the last minute to defend him at his Senate impeachment trial on Feb. 9 are no strangers to controversial cases but are generally regarded as straight-shooters who won’t push the former president’s wild claims of election fraud claims. David Schoen and...
St. Louis police: Carjacker tossed 1-year-old out of vehicleVideo
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis police are looking for suspects after armed robbers stole a woman’s car then threw her 1-year-old son out of the vehicle. The crime occurred around 3 a.m. Sunday. Police say a 22-year-old woman was sitting at a stoplight in north St. Louis with two men...
‘A long two days’: Major storm pummels Northeast with heavy snowVideo
NEW YORK — A sprawling, lumbering winter storm walloped the Eastern part of the country on Monday, shutting down coronavirus vaccination sites, closing schools and halting transit as snow piled up from the Appalachians to New England, with the heaviest accumulations yet to come in many places. With flakes falling...
Luzerne County couple slain as a result of snow disposal argument; suspect also dead
A northeastern Pennsylvania shooting stemming from an argument Monday between neighbors over snow disposal left two people dead, and the suspect was later found dead at his home, authorities said. Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said a husband and wife were shot to death in the street outside their...
CDC report: Many nursing home staff decline first covid shotsVideo
A little more than a third of nursing home workers have been getting covid-19 vaccines when the shots are first offered, U.S. health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave a national accounting of a problem that’s been reported anecdotally — many nursing home workers are...
‘Just sick over it’: Clergy sexual abuse victims, their advocates lament error that derailed Pa. amendment
Mark Rozzi was crushed Monday when Gov. Tom Wolf called to tell him an amendment seeking to open a window of opportunity in court for old child sex abuse claims would not make the primary ballot this year because of an advertising oversight. Rozzi, a state representative from Berks County...
Spacewalkers complete 4 years of power upgrades for station
A pair of spacewalking astronauts completed a four-year effort to modernize the International Space Station’s power grid on Monday, installing one last battery. Over the weekend, flight controllers in Houston used the space station’s big robot arm to replace the last pair of old-style batteries with a single better-quality one....
Pandemic’s deadliest month in U.S. ends with signs of progress
The deadliest month yet of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. drew to a close with certain signs of progress: covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, while vaccinations are picking up speed. The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of the fast-spreading mutations of the virus. The U.S....
Pennsylvania’s new covid cases, deaths, hospitalizations all decline in January
The number of new cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania declined more than 27% from December’s totals to January’s totals. The latest reports from the state show Pennsylvania added 202,899 new cases of the virus in January, compared with 278,861 cases in December. In a report issued Monday by the Pennsylvania...
Biden threatens sanctions on Myanmar after military coup
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is threatening to slap new sanctions on Myanmar after a coup that saw the military arrest the civilian leaders of its government. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been a U.S. democracy promotion project for decades, though there have been recent and serious concerns about...
As virus cuts class time, teachers have to leave out lessons
English teachers are deciding which books to skip. History teachers are condensing units. Science teachers are often doing without experiments entirely. With instruction time reduced as much as half by the coronavirus pandemic, many of the nation’s middle school and high school teachers have given up on covering all the...
Iran state TV airs launch of new satellite-carrying rocket
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state TV on Monday aired the launch of the country’s newest satellite-carrying rocket, which it said was able to reach a height of 310 miles. The footage of the solid-liquid-fueled rocket showed the launch taking place during daytime in a desert environment. The report did not...
A Pa. Dept. of State error means some sex-abuse victims will again have to wait for justice
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— Pennsylvania’s top election official will resign after her agency made a mistake that will delay a statewide vote on whether...
Prince Harry accepts apology, damages in U.K. libel suit
LONDON — Prince Harry on Monday accepted an apology and damages from the publisher of British tabloid The Mail on Sunday and its online version, MailOnline, in a libel lawsuit relating to articles about his relationship with the British armed forces. Harry sued Associated Newspapers for libel over two articles...
Biden to meet with GOP lawmakers to discuss virus relief
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to meet Monday with a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support. An invitation to the White House...
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group says it shot down Israeli drone
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said its fighters shot down an Israeli drone on Monday over a southern village near the border with Israel. The Israeli military did not confirm the shootdown but said a drone had crashed on Lebanese territory. Tensions in the region have been rising over...
Videos show Rochester officers pepper-spraying 9-year-oldVideo
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Police in Rochester released two body-camera videos Sunday of officers restraining a distraught 9-year-old girl who was handcuffed and sprayed with what police called a chemical “irritant.” The Democrat and Chronicle reported that prior to the release of the videos, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren expressed her concern...
Anti-vax ‘mob’ that closed Dodger Stadium vaccination site sparks outrageVideo
LOS ANGELES — After a group of protesters managed to disrupt operations at Dodger Stadium’s mass covid-19 vaccination site Saturday, some Los Angeles officials expressed fury at the demonstrators while calling for increased security at testing and vaccination installations. Los Angeles Fire Department officials closed the main entrance to the...
Military stages coup in Myanmar, detains Aung San Suu Kyi
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military staged a coup Monday and detained senior politicians including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi — a sharp reversal of the significant, if uneven, progress toward democracy the Southeast Asian nation has made following five decades of military rule. An announcement read on military-owned Myawaddy...
Trump names 2 lawyers to impeachment defense team
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Sunday named two lawyers to his impeachment defense team, one day after it was revealed that the former president had parted ways with an earlier set of attorneys. The two lawyers representing him will be David Schoen, a criminal defense lawyer with offices in Alabama...
