U.S. Space Command site will be located in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Air Force is expected to announce Huntsville, Ala., as the location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, according to Alabama’s governor. Gov. Kay Ivey said that Huntsville’s Redstone Region is set to house the headquarters. The governor said she was informed of the decision Wednesday...
Pennsylvania covid hospitalizations drop almost 10% in week
The number of patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Pennsylvania has dropped almost 10 percent since last Wednesday. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 5,069 covid-19 patients on Wednesday, a decline of 544 from last Wednesday’s 5,613. The state has 6,004 ventilators, with 1,912 in use, including 645 by covid-19 patients. There...
Internet ‘blackout’ in Uganda on eve of tense election
KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan authorities appeared to cut off internet access in the country Wednesday night on the eve of a tense presidential election, while a lawyer for leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine said all contact had been lost with him. “Confirmed: Uganda is now in the midst of a...
Ivanka Trump’s global women’s program halfway toward goal
WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump’s global women’s development program is about halfway toward its goal of helping 50 million women in developing countries advance economically by 2025. That’s according to an annual report for the U.S. government’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative released Wednesday as the program nears its two-year...
Airbnb to block, cancel reservations in D.C. next week
NEW YORK — Airbnb says it will be blocking and cancelling reservations in the Washington, D.C. area during the week of the presidential inauguration. The decision, announced Wednesday, came two days after it said it was reviewing reservations in the area ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration and said it...
Biden picks Samantha Power, former UN envoy, for USAID post
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has picked Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, to run the agency overseeing American foreign humanitarian and development aid. If confirmed by the Senate, Power will head the U.S. Agency for International Development, which...
NYC to terminate Trump contracts after Capitol insurrection
NEW YORK — New York City will terminate business contracts with President Donald Trump after last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. “I’m here to announce that the city of New York is severing all contracts with the Trump Organization,” de Blasio said in...
Trump appointees pressure Census for report on undocumented
U.S. Census Bureau statisticians are under significant pressure from Trump political appointees to figure out who in the U.S. is in the country illegally, and they’re worried that any such report they produce in the waning days of the Trump administration will be inaccurate, according to the bureau’s watchdog agency....
Pa. GOP proposal to elect judges by zone advances by single vote
HARRISBURG — A legislative panel on Wednesday narrowly approved a proposal to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to elect state appeals court judges by zone, a movement largely motivated by Republicans’ anger over recent rulings from the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court. The House Judiciary vote was 13-12, with two GOP members...
Soldiers repel rebels at Central African Republic capital
BANGUI, Central African Republic — Security forces in Central African Republic repelled attacks by rebels trying to seize the capital early Wednesday after intense fighting on the city’s outskirts, officials said. The rebels are protesting the re-election on Dec. 27 of President Faustin-Archange Touadera. Following the Jan. 4 announcement of...
YouTube suspends Trump’s channel for at least a week
HONG KONG — YouTube has suspended U.S. President Donald Trump’s channel for at least a week amid concerns over “ongoing potential for violence,” making it the latest platform to limit the president’s online activities. The Google-owned platform said it removed content that was uploaded on January 12 from the Donald...
Mega Millions jackpot rises to $750 million after no winner
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery players will have a shot Friday night at the fifth-largest jackpot in U.S. history after no tickets matched all the numbers in the latest Mega Millions drawing. The jackpot for Tuesday night’s Mega Millions was $625 million and lottery officials say it’s rising to an...
Trump on verge of 2nd impeachment after Capitol siege
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is on the verge of being impeached for a second time in an unprecedented House vote Wednesday, a week after he encouraged a mob of loyalists to “fight like hell” against election results just before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly siege. While...
U.S. carries out its 1st execution of female inmate since 1953
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate. Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31...
Franklin Regional students sign petition requesting more support from district
Franklin Regional school officials are asking for feedback from students about this year’s educational model, a few days after a Change.org petition titled “Franklin Regional Students Need Support” garnered more than 1,000 signatures online. High school Principal Ron Suvak said students would receive a form on Tuesday “seeking feedback on...
Group of House Republicans, led by Pa. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, wants Trump censured
WASHINGTON — A group of moderate House Republicans has introduced a resolution to censure President Donald Trump for his role in last week’s attack at the Capitol and for “attempting to unlawfully overturn the 2020 presidential election.” The group, led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County, said in a...
House members to be screened for weapons when entering chamber
WASHINGTON — Magnetometers have been installed outside the House floor for the first time ever, the latest fallout from last week’s violent attack on the Capitol in which insurrectionists breached both the House and Senate chambers. “Effective immediately, all persons, including members, are required to undergo security screening when entering...
House urges Mike Pence to help oust Trump; impeachment next
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House rushed ahead Tuesday toward impeaching President Donald Trump for the deadly Capitol attack, taking time only to try to persuade his vice president to push him out first. Trump showed no remorse, blaming impeachment itself for the “tremendous anger” in America. Already scheduled to leave...
U.S. prosecutors weighing sedition charges in Capitol riotVideo
WASHINGTON — The FBI warned law enforcement agencies ahead of last week’s breach of the U.S. Capitol about the potential for extremist-driven violence and prosecutors are now weighing sedition charges against at least some of the Trump loyalists who stormed the building, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The statements by FBI...
Trump’s grip on GOP loosens as No. 3 Republican Liz Cheney backs impeachment
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump denied responsibility for the U.S. Capitol riot that left five people dead and the FBI vowed to prosecute hundreds of his supporters who took part in the attack, the No. 3 House GOP leader announced she was voting for impeachment. It marked the starkest...
New York City man arrested on Capitol riot charges freed on $100K bondVideo
NEW YORK — The son of a New York City judge who was arrested by the FBI on charges that he was among the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol was ordered Tuesday by a different judge to stay away from Washington. Aaron Mostofsky, 34, was picked up at his...
Trump’s long-favored banks pull away from him amid fallout from Capitol riotVideo
Two of Donald Trump’s favored banks are pulling away from the billionaire president in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Deutsche Bank AG has decided to refrain from further business with Trump and his company, said a person with knowledge of the matter, asking not...
New Pa. websites promote restaurants and show violators of covid measures
New interactive dashboards announced Tuesday by state officials allow users to find open Pennsylvania restaurants, which are offering takeout and those accused of violating covid-19 mitigation measures. The Covid Inspection Dashboard allows users to search restaurants by name, county, city or ZIP code. The dashboard lists whether any violations have...
FBI says it sent stark warning to law enforcement about Capitol ‘war’Video
WASHINGTON — The FBI warned law enforcement agencies ahead of last week’s breach of the U.S. Capitol about the potential for extremist-driven violence, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, contradicting earlier statements that they were caught off guard by the assault by supporters of President Donald Trump. Nearly a week after...
Michigan plans to charge ex-Gov. Rick Snyder in Flint water scandal
DETROIT — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in 2014-15, The...
