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...
Pa. ranks No. 2 in terms of residents charged by feds in U.S. Capitol riot
This is hardly an honor, but as of Monday Pennsylvania is in second place among the 50 states in terms of the number of its residents who are facing federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Texan ranked No. 1, with 21 defendants. Pennsylvania...
50 Yellowstone bison transported to Montana reservation
BILLINGS, Mont. — Officials have transported 50 Yellowstone National Park bison to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana. The animals transferred Friday were under quarantine by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service located north of the park in the Gardiner Basin, the...
Arizona Senate planning to hold board in contempt in election fight
PHOENIX — Republicans who control the Arizona Senate were poised to hold the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in contempt Monday for failing to turn over voting machines and ballots from the November election that lawmakers want to examine as they continue to question President Joe Biden’s win in the...
Republican Tenney’s narrow win certified in U.S. House race
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state elections officials certified Republican Claudia Tenney’s razor-thin victory over U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi on Monday, more than three months after Election Day. The certification came after a state judge ruled that Tenney won the race for central New York’s 22nd Congressional District by 109...
New variants raise worry about covid-19 virus reinfections
Evidence is mounting that having covid-19 may not protect against getting infected again with some of the new variants. People also can get second infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus if they mounted a weak defense the first time, new research suggests. How long immunity lasts from natural infection...
Myanmar junta imposes curfew, meeting bans as protests swell
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s new military rulers on Monday signaled their intention to crack down on opponents of their takeover, issuing decrees that effectively banned peaceful public protests in the country’s two biggest cities. The restrictive measures were ordered after police fired water cannons at hundreds of protesters in the...
Trump lawyers blast impeachment trial as ‘political theater’
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday blasted the impeachment case against him as an act of “political theater” as they accused House Democrats of exploiting the chaos and trauma of last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol for their party’s gain. In a brief filed on the eve...
Russia updates statistics on virus-linked deaths in 2020
Russia’s updated statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths show that 162,429 people with covid-19 had died in the pandemic last year, a number much higher than previously reported by government officials. The state statistics agency, Rosstat, released figures for December on Monday, updating its count of coronavirus-linked deaths that includes cases where...
Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Wright of Texas dies at 67
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, who had battled health challenges over the past year including lung cancer treatment, has died more than two weeks after contracting covid-19, his office said Monday. He was 67. Wright died Sunday, spokesman Matt Langston said. He said he did not...
As covid fills ICUs, chronically ill patients suffer ‘ripple effect’ of delayed surgeries
LOS ANGELES — In the early years of his illness, as his kidneys began to shrink and toxins coursed through his blood, the same four words often floated through Miguel Rangel’s mind: “I’m going to die.” Although some people live much longer, the average life expectancy of dialysis patients is...
Schools plan for potential of remote learning into the fall
Parents of schoolchildren learning from home shouldn’t necessarily count on reclaiming the dining room table any time soon. After seeing two academic years thrown off course by the pandemic, school leaders around the country are planning for the possibility of more distance learning next fall at the start of yet...
Poll: Few in U.S. say democracy is working very well
Only a fragment of Americans believe democracy is thriving in the U.S., even as broad majorities agree that representative government is one of the country’s bedrock principles, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 16% of Americans say democracy is working well...
Pelican named Arvy survives frostbite in Connecticut, flown to Florida
A pelican that got blown off course and was rescued in chilly Connecticut has been flown to Florida, where he is recovering from pneumonia and frostbite. The brown pelican, nicknamed Arvy, was rescued from the icy Connecticut River on Jan. 27. The bird, whose species is not typically seen in...
Michigan man killed after cannon used at baby shower explodes
GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A Michigan man who was fatally injured when a cannon exploded in a backyard during a baby shower was within 15 feet of the device when the blast occurred, police said. Evan Thomas Silva, 26, of Hartland, was struck by metal shrapnel in Saturday night’s explosion...
Alabama university removes Wallace name from building
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Alabama at Birmingham has removed the name of four-term governor and presidential candidate George C. Wallace from a campus building over his support of racial segregation. A resolution unanimously approved by trustees Friday said Wallace rose to power by defending racial separation and stoking...
Bodies recovered, midair breakup investigated in plane crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska State Troopers have recovered the bodies of two people who died in the crash of a small plane, which federal investigators said may have broken up in midair. Troopers and National Park Service Rangers arrived Saturday at the site in Wrangell-St Elias National Park where the...
Throngs of maskless fans celebrate Tampa’s Super Bowl win
TAMPA, Fla. — So much for the mayor’s order requiring masks at Super Bowl parties. Videos went viral on social media, showing throngs of mostly maskless fans and packed sports bars as the clock inside Raymond James Stadium ticked down on a hometown Super Bowl win for the Tampa Bay...
Rescuers in India digging for 37 trapped in glacier floodVideo
Rescuers in northern India worked Monday to rescue more than three dozen power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke off and sent a wall of water and debris rushing down a mountain in a disaster that has left at least 26 people dead...
Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, once foes, talk Trump
NEW YORK — When he was Donald Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen was hellbent on silencing Stormy Daniels, even arranging a hush-money payment to the porn actress that landed him in federal prison. Now, as one of many of the former president’s insiders-turned-critics, Cohen is literally broadcasting Daniels’ story — including...
South Africa seeks new vaccine plan after halting AstraZeneca
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa is considering giving a covid-19 vaccine that is still in the testing phase to health workers, after suspending the rollout of another shot that preliminary data indicated is not effective at preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country. The country is...
U.S. plans to reengage with UN rights council, reversing Trump
WASHINGTON — The United States announced plans Monday to reengage with the much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Council that former President Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, as the Biden administration reverses another Trump-era move away from multilateral organizations and agreements. Announcing the new approach from Washington, Secretary of...
