2 giraffes found dead after barn blaze at Virginia zoo
VIENNA, Va. — Two giraffes were found dead Monday evening after firefighters battled a blaze at a Virginia zoo, officials said. A two-story barn at Roer’s Zoofari caught fire around 5:30 p.m. Monday night, news outlets reported. The two giraffes were found after the fire was extinguished. Fairfax County Fire...
Happy campers: More overnight camps to reopen this summer
PORTLAND, Maine — There are going to be more happy campers this summer as more camps choose to reopen despite the pandemic, providing millions more kids an opportunity to gather around a campfire. Most camp directors sat out last summer as the virus raged across the country, either because of...
Oak trees to rebuild Notre Dame’s spire are felled in forest
JUPILLES, France — In a former royal forest in France, four 200-year-old oaks are being felled for wood to reconstruct Notre Dame cathedral’s fallen spire. Last July, French president Emmanuel Macron ended speculation over the reconstruction plans, announcing that the iconic spire of the Paris monument would be rebuilt exactly...
Twitter sues Texas AG Ken Paxton, claiming retaliation for Trump ban
DALLAS — Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming the Republican used his office to retaliate against it for banning the account of former President Donald Trump following the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Days after the deadly January insurrection, Paxton announced an investigation into...
Report: Aggressive incident results in Biden’s dogs being sent back to Delaware
Joe Biden’s dogs just got a time out. Approximately 110 miles away. According to a report from CNN, the president’s German shepherds were sent back last week to Wilmington, Del., because of an aggressive incident at the White House. Major, the 3-year-old that was adopted by the Biden family in...
Georgia DA overseeing Trump investigation hires top RICO expert
An Atlanta civil litigator widely considered to be the state’s leading authority on racketeering and conspiracy law has joined the Fulton County district attorney’s office in an advisory capacity. John Floyd, who played a pivotal role in two of the biggest local trials of the past 20 years, will serve...
Spring-break partying falls victim to covid-19 crisis
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Goodbye, sunshine. Hello, study sessions. Colleges around the country are scaling back spring break or canceling it entirely to discourage partying that could spread the virus and raise infection rates back on campus. Texas A&M University opted for a three-day weekend instead of a whole week...
RNC maintains right to use Trump’s name in fundraising
WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee is defending its right to use former President Donald Trump’s name in fundraising appeals after he demanded they put an end to the practice. In a Monday letter to Trump attorney Alex Cannon, RNC chief counsel J. Justin Riemer said the committee “has every...
Heads up: Some sea slugs grow new bodies after decapitationVideo
TOKYO — Scientists have discovered the ultimate case of regeneration: Some decapitated sea slugs can regrow hearts and whole new bodies. This “wonder of nature,” reported in a biology journal on Monday, could eventually help scientists better understand and tackle regeneration of human tissue. Biology researcher Sayaka Mitoh said she...
Emails: FBI was looking for gold at Pennsylvania dig site
Go for the gold? The U.S. government went for it. FBI agents were looking for an extremely valuable cache of fabled Civil War-era gold — possibly tons of it — when they excavated a remote woodland site in Pennsylvania three years ago this month, according to government emails and other...
Police on foot, horseback and by helicopter search for missing York County woman who vanished near trail
Officers on foot, horseback and by helicopter searched an area Monday in southern York County where a 29-year-old missing woman was last seen Saturday near a hiking trail. It represented the third day of searching for Nicole Ebaugh, who was reported missing about 7:45 p.m. Saturday. She was last spotted...
Gov. Wolf nominates Meadville OB-GYN to serve as Pa. physician general
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday nominated a Meadville doctor to serve as the state’s physician general — a potential permanent replacement for Dr. Rachel Levine, who previously served in both that role and as the state’s secretary of health. Dr. Denise Johnson, most recently chief medical officer at Meadville Medical...
FBI arrests 2, including Roger Stone bodyguard, in Capitol riotVideo
NEW YORK — Two men wanted in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol were arrested over the weekend, including one who reportedly served as a bodyguard to former President Donald Trump’s longtime political confidant Roger Stone, federal authorities said Monday. Roberto Minuta breached the Capitol grounds and “aggressively berated...
GOP Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri won’t seek reelection in 2022Video
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said Monday he will not seek reelection, making him the fifth Republican in the Senate to bow out rather than seek another term in a party searching for direction after President Donald Trump. Blunt, who turned 71 in January, was widely expected...
Security review recommends more authority for Capitol Police chief, D.C. National GuardVideo
WASHINGTON — As part of the review of Capitol security after the Jan. 6 attack, retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré and his task force are recommending a boost to the Capitol Police chief’s authority in times of crisis, the deployment of a mobile fencing option and an upgrade...
Pennsylvania agrees to settle gas drilling royalties lawsuit
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania reached a settlement in a lawsuit against natural gas driller Chesapeake Energy Corp. for its handling of royalty payments to property owners, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday. Speaking in Tunkhannock, a northeastern Pennsylvania town in the heart of heavy Marcellus Shale natural gas production, Shapiro...
Stimulus check calculator tells you how much your 3rd payment will be
Curious how much — if anything — you will be getting if the third stimulus checks go out? Well, there are several online calculators set up to tell you just that. On Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. Now, it’s headed to the House for...
Drop a request in community prayer boxes in Ligonier, New Stanton
Pandemic or no pandemic, life can be tough. “There are always distraught people out there with no one to help them,” said Ron Ingelido, lead pastor of New Stanton Assembly of God. “The community has to know that we’re there in their time of need.” The church has established a...
Guilt, envy, distrust: Vaccine rollout breeds mixed emotions
NEW YORK — Before posting a selfie with her covid-19 vaccination card on Twitter, Aditi Juneja debated whether to include an explanation for why she was eligible for a shot. “The first draft of the tweet had an explanation,” says Juneja, a 30-year-old lawyer in New York City. After some...
Giant ship seen ‘suspended’ over the water off English coastVideo
A man walking on the coast near Falmouth, Cornwall in southwest England got quite a surprise last week when looking out to sea. He saw a large ship that appeared to be hovering in mid-air above the horizon. BBC News reported that David Morris took a photo of the ship,...
Couple seeks owner of wedding band found in Outer Banks
Someone out there had a horrible experience in the Outer Banks in 2019. And one northern Virginia couple is hoping to make it all better. While on their final day of vacation, Robert and Kathie Menuet were at The Point at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It was there — while...
With virus aid in sight, Democrats debate filibuster changes
WASHINGTON — With President Joe Biden on the verge of his first big legislative victory, a key moderate Democrat says he’s open to changing Senate rules that could allow for more party-line votes to push through other parts of the White House’s agenda such as voting rights. West Virginia Sen....
Coroner: Pa. worker killed in fall into lead refining furnace
LYONS — Authorities say a Pennsylvania worker died after falling into a lead refining furnace at an eastern Pennsylvania plant over the weekend. The Berks County coroner’s office said Monday that 30-year-old John Evanoff fell into a refining kettle portion of the furnace shortly before 11:30 p.m. Saturday in East...
More than 100,000 have now died of covid-19 in Italy
MILAN — Italy surpassed 100,000 dead in the pandemic, a year after it became the first country in Europe to go on lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of covid-19. The Italian Health Ministry on Monday said 318 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the...
Georgia Senate passes bill to nix no-excuse absentee voting
ATLANTA — Georgia’s state Senate narrowly passed a Republican-backed bill that would end no-excuse absentee voting Monday, the deadline that bills must generally pass out of one chamber to remain alive for the session. Senate Bill 241 would limit absentee voting to people 65 and older, those with a physical...
