Another U.S. judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Six states and the District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the U.S. Postal Service itself...
Pennsylvania adds more than 1,500 new covid cases in past 2 days
Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases increased by 1,594 over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the state’s Department of Health. The department said 918 cases were added Sunday and 676 were announced Monday. The state has seen 156,826 covid-19 cases since the pandemic began in March. From Sept....
Sex ed mandate sparks bitter Washington state ballot fight
SEATTLE — Democrats in the Washington state Legislature thought they had passed a routine sex education requirement for public schools earlier this year. But a coalition of Republicans and religious conservatives launched a swift, historic backlash that’s led to a bitter partisan fight and an effort to overturn the measure...
Feds target predatory lenders to small business, but Pennsylvania remains a haven for the industry
Last summer, Philadelphia lawyer Shane Heskin told Congress that Pennsylvania has robust laws to prevent consumers from being gouged on loans — but none protecting business owners. “Consumers have laws protecting them from usurious interest rates,” he said. “But for small businesses, those protection laws don’t apply at all.” Heskin...
Jury finds white nationalist guilty of rape threat
CONCORD, N.H — A federal jury on Monday found a self-proclaimed white nationalist who rose to prominence during a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va., guilty of threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a racist group he felt was harassing and bullying him. Christopher...
Belarus detains 500 at weekend anti-government protestsVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Authorities in Belarus have detained about 500 people during weekend protests against the country’s authoritarian president, who has claimed a sixth term in office in an election widely seen as rigged. Belarus’ Interior Ministry said Monday that 150 protesters were detained on Saturday and over 350 more...
France to release $49 billion in economic stimulus next year
PARIS — France’s government presented its 2021 budget on Monday, a plan that aims to rescue the country’s beleaguered economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic by injecting a 42 billion-euro ($49 billion) stimulus next year. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said “we are convinced that France can recover,...
Debates 2020: Trump to woo suburban voters while Biden shows he’s more than ‘not Donald Trump’
President Donald Trump told thousands of cheering supporters outside Pittsburgh International Airport that he’s looking forward to facing off with “Hidin’ Biden” on Tuesday. Speaking to a mostly unmasked, tightly packed crowd outside a hangar in Moon Township, Trump mocked Democratic challenger Joe Biden for rarely being seen on the...
Deadly microbe water warning lifted for final Texas city
LAKE JACKSON, Texas — Environmental officials in Texas have lifted a warning for a final Houston-area community to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe, but with a warning that the water should be boiled before being consumed. Earlier this month, 6-year-old Josh...
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale hospitalized after he was armed and threatening to harm himself, police say
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale was taken from his Fort Lauderdale home by police Sunday afternoon after his wife reported that he was armed and threatening suicide. The police, called by his wife, went to the house in the Seven Isles community, an...
Napa County fire with ‘dangerous rate of spread’ forces evacuationsVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — A fast-moving fire in Napa County on Sunday forced evacuations north of the town of St. Helena as large swaths of Northern California faced dangerous fire weather. The Glass fire has burned 1,200 acres about four miles northwest of downtown St. Helena, according to the California Department...
New York Times: Trump paid $750 in U.S. income taxes in 2016, 2017
President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times. Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern...
Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan; 18 killedVideo
YEREVAN, Armenia — Fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces has erupted again over the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the territory’s defense ministry said 16 soldiers and two civilians have been killed and more than 100 others wounded. Azerbaijan’s president, meanwhile, says his military has suffered losses, but gave...
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge endorses Joe Biden for president
Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania Republican governor and first secretary of Homeland Security, plans to vote for President Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, he announced Sunday. Ridge, who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration, said it will be his first vote for a Democratic...
How Trump, Biden are preparing for first presidential debate
WASHINGTON — Ahead of the first debate-stage matchup between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, each campaign is promising a stark contrast in policy, personality and preparation. Trump has decided to skip any formal preparation. And while Biden’s team believes the significance of the debate may be...
Biden to Dems: Focus on health care, not court expansion
WILMINGTON, Del. — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden wants voters to see Republicans’ push for a speedy Supreme Court confirmation as an end-run of Congress and the 2010 health care law. In remarks on Sunday, the former vice president sidestepped any talk of expanding the court to counter conservative gains...
Late night protest in Portland, Oregon, declared unlawful
PORTLAND — Several people in Portland, Oregon, were arrested in anti-police brutality protests that continued into early Sunday, hours after demonstrations ended with few reports of violence. The protests that began Saturday night were declared an unlawful assembly and police began forcing demonstrators out after objects were thrown at officers,...
Lockdowns are fading, but GOP outrage isn’t in campaigns
AUSTIN, Texas — When the coronavirus pandemic slammed the U.S. economy this spring, Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther became an overnight symbol of rebellion against lockdown measures, spending two days in a Texas jail for refusing to close her doors. Nearly $500,000 poured into a donation fund set up by...
Military suicides up as much as 20% in covid era
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under covid-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest. While the data is incomplete and causes of...
Breonna Taylor protests continue as Louisville under curfew
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police maintained barricades and plans for a nighttime curfew as Louisville prepared Saturday for a fourth night of protests after a grand jury declined to charge the officers who shot Breonna Taylor. Early Saturday evening, some protesters were gathering at a downtown park, known as “Injustice Square,”...
‘I didn’t mean to do it,’ suspect charged in 1974 Texas killing says in interviewVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — The suspect in a 1974 Fort Worth strangling who was arrested this week said in a radio station interview that he did not kidnap the teenage victim more than four decades ago, but rather saved her from a boyfriend’s assault. Glen McCurley, who was arrested Monday...
About 200 people gather in Portland for right-wing rally
PORTLAND, Ore. — Police arrested three people at a right-wing rally Saturday afternoon in Portland, Oregon, and authorities say they’re also investigating an assault after one person who was documenting the event was pushed to the ground and kicked in the face. Several hundred people, dozens of them wearing militarized...
If Barrett joins, Supreme Court would have six Catholics
Roman Catholics account for a bit more than 20% of the U.S. population, yet they are on track to hold six of the Supreme Court’s nine seats now that President Donald Trump has nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill its vacancy. It’s a striking development given that the high court,...
How Amy Coney Barrett rose from law professor to high court in 4 years
WASHINGTON — Four years ago, Amy Coney Barrett was a little-known law professor in Indiana. Within weeks, she is likely to be the newest associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Barrett’s fast-track rise, set to drive the nation’s highest court to the right for a generation or longer, is...
Trump picks conservative Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Saturday, capping a dramatic reshaping of the federal judiciary that will resonate for a generation and that he hopes will provide a needed boost to his reelection effort. Republican senators are already lining up for...
