Covid-19 vaccine theft charge dismissed against Texas doctorVideo
HOUSTON — A judge on Monday dismissed a theft charge against a Houston area health department doctor who had been accused by prosecutors of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine from a damaged vial and administering them to family and friends. Authorities had alleged that Hasan Gokal, who worked for...
Trump impeachment goes to Senate, testing his sway over GOPVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats marched the impeachment case against Donald Trump to the Senate Monday night for the start of his historic trial, but Republican senators were easing off their criticism of the former president and shunning calls to convict him over the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol. It’s an...
Pa. Congressman Scott Perry acknowledges introducing Trump to Justice lawyer
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from the Harrisburg area, acknowledged Monday that he introduced former President Donald Trump to a Department of Justice attorney sympathetic the president’s false election claims, and who later joined Trump in a plot to pressure Georgia officials to overturn the results in...
Janet Yellen wins Senate approval as 1st female treasury secretary
The Senate on Monday approved President Joe Biden’s nomination of Janet Yellen to be the nation’s 78th treasury secretary, making her the first woman to hold the job in the department’s 232-year history. Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve, was approved by the Senate on a 84-15 vote,...
Teen held in Indiana killings of 5, including pregnant womanVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis police arrested a 17-year-old boy Monday in the killings of five people, including a pregnant woman, who were shot to death inside a home in what the city’s mayor called a “devastating act of violence.” The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that the name...
Biden more bullish on vaccines, suggests 1.5M shots per dayVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday appeared to boost his goal for coronavirus vaccinations in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that the nation could soon be vaccinating 1.5 million Americans on average per day. Biden signaled his increasing bullishness on the pace of vaccinations after signing an...
Supreme Court set to decide in Feb. whether to hear Rep. Mike Kelly’s election case
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to announce in as soon as a month whether it will hear the election case of U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, who started his legal fight against the results of the presidential race within weeks after fellow Republican Donald Trump lost the White House to...
Department of Justice watchdog to probe if staff tried to alter election outcomeVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into whether department staff members sought to use the agency to alter the outcome of the 2020 election and overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. The department didn’t say what prompted Inspector General Michael Horowitz to open the inquiry, but...
AP source: Lawmakers threatened ahead of impeachment trialVideo
WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officials are examining a number of threats aimed at members of Congress as the second trial of former President Donald Trump nears, including ominous chatter about killing legislators or attacking them outside of the U.S. Capitol, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The threats,...
Storm threatens Midwest with heavy snow, travel disruptions
OMAHA, Neb. — A major winter storm threatened to blanket parts of the middle of the country with more than a foot of snow Monday, promising to disrupt travel and even forcing the closure of some coronavirus testing sites. The National Weather Service forecast that the snow could stretch from...
Pets are back: Biden’s 2 dogs settle in at White HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — The patter of paws is being heard in the White House again following the arrival of President Joe Biden’s dogs Champ and Major. The two German shepherds are the first pets to live at the executive mansion since the Obama administration. Major burst onto the national scene late...
Effort to put Tubman on $20 bill restarted under BidenVideo
WASHINGTON — With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put the 19th century abolitionist leader on the $20...
Godiva closing its U.S. chocolate stores, including 1 at Ross Park Mall
Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing all of its brick and mortar stores in the United States. The company will exit its 128 physical locations, some through sales and others through closures, by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Locally, Godiva has a store at Ross Park Mall in...
Democrats push to enshrine abortion rights in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. — Democratic legislators are redoubling efforts to repeal New Mexico’s dormant, 50-year-old ban on most abortion procedures that could go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. A bill that would shore up abortion rights statewide was scheduled for...
House sending Trump impeachment to Senate, GOP opposes trial
WASHINGTON — As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of...
Police investigating death of 4 family members at Pa. home
EXTON — Police are investigating the deaths of four family members found in the basement of their southeastern Pennsylvania home. Police in Chester County responded to the West Whiteland Township home after an out-of-state relative called shortly after 12:30 p.m. Sunday to report being unable to contact the family. Detective...
Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio won’t seek reelection
CINCINNATI — Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said Monday that he won’t seek reelection due in part to how it’s gotten “harder to break through the partisan gridlock and make progress,” and plans to end a career in federal government spanning more than three decades. Portman’s announcement comes...
Covid cases continue to drop in Pennsylvania, fewer deaths starting to follow
With new coronavirus cases on the decline in Pennsylvania, a report from the state Department of Health shows covid-related deaths are also beginning to slow slightly. Over the past two days, the state added 7,910 new cases of covid-19 — a 21% drop from the same two-day period last week,...
Ex-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders launches Arkansas governor bid
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who worked as former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, launched a bid Monday for governor of her home state of Arkansas, a job once held by her father, Mike Huckabee. Sanders announced her candidacy in the Republican primary with an online video heavy on shots of her...
California lifts virus stay-at-home orders, curfew statewide
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions, state health officials announced. The order had been in place in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, covering...
Russian hack of U.S. agencies exposed supply chain weaknesses
The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn’t need to painstakingly break one-by-one into the networks of each department in order to cause havoc. Instead, they got inside by sneaking malicious code into a software update pushed out to thousands of government...
Supreme Court ends Trump emoluments lawsuits
The Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to lawsuits over whether Donald Trump illegally profited off his presidency, saying the cases are moot now that Trump is no longer in office. The high court’s action was the first in an expected steady stream of orders and rulings on pending...
Dominion Voting Systems sues Giuliani for $1.3B over election claimsVideo
Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who led the former president’s efforts to question the results of the 2020 election, including in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit seeks more than $1.3 billion in damages for the voting machine company, a target for conservatives...
Biden plans to sign order for government to buy more U.S. goods
BALTIMORE — President Joe Biden plans to sign on Monday an executive order that aims to boost government purchases from U.S. manufacturers, according to administration officials. The United States has shed roughly 540,000 factory jobs since last February as the coronavirus pandemic hurled the world’s largest economy into recession. The...
Biden to drop Trump’s military transgender ban
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order to reverse a Pentagon policy that largely bars transgender individuals from joining the military, dumping a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office, a person briefed on the decision tells...
