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...
U.K.’s official terror threat level lowered to ‘substantial’
LONDON — Britain’s official terrorism threat level has been lowered from “severe” to “substantial” because the tempo of attacks in Europe has lessened. The U.K. government said Monday that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Center had lowered the level to the middle rung of its five-point scale, meaning an attack in...
Police: Off-duty officer charged after car injures 2 in Philadelphia homeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say an off-duty police officer is facing charges after his car went out of control and crashed into a northeast Philadelphia home, hitting two residents and critically injuring one of them. Police say the car was heading north on Caroline Road near the Northeast Philadelphia Airport when...
Chicago mayor touts deal with teachers union to reopen schoolsVideo
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot touted a preliminary agreement with the teachers union over covid-19 safety protocols on Sunday, potentially averting a strike in the nation’s third-largest school district. Some students could return to classrooms as soon as Thursday, with the reopening of school phased-in by grade. Also, the...
South Africa suspends AstraZeneca vaccine drive
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn’t effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country. South Africa received its first 1 million doses of...
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,...
