Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says free college amounts to a ‘socialist takeover’
In a veiled swing at President-elect Joe Biden’s education plans, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday blasted the push for free college as a “socialist takeover of higher education” that could damage the nation’s economy. Speaking at an online conference hosted by the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office, DeVos...
Justice Department probing potential bribery, lobbying scheme for pardonVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating whether there was a secret scheme to lobby White House officials for a pardon as well as a related plot to offer a hefty political contribution in exchange for clemency, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday. Most of the information in the...
Visitor: Monolith toppled by group of men who said ‘leave no trace’Video
SALT LAKE CITY — New clues have surfaced in the disappearance of a gleaming monolith in Utah that seemed to melt away as mysteriously as it appeared in the red-rock desert — though it’s no longer the only place where a strange structure has come and gone. A Colorado photographer...
Florida’s covid-19 total surpasses the million mark with 8,847 new casesVideo
MIAMI — Florida has now confirmed more than 1 million cases of covid-19. The state hit the milestone Tuesday when the Florida Department of Health confirmed 8,847 additional cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the state’s known total to 1,008,166. That makes Florida the third state in the country to...
Sen. Mitch McConnell says he’s revising his covid relief planVideo
WASHINGTON — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he’s revising his scaled-back covid-19 relief bill with the goal of passing a significant downpayment during the lame-duck session and then revisiting the topic next year. The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after President-elect Joe Biden called upon lawmakers to follow...
After White House visit, Pa. state Sen. Doug Mastriano calls covid-19 case mild
HARRISBURG — A Republican state lawmaker from Pennsylvania revealed he has covid-19, confirming the positive test five days after he went to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump and went maskless at a packed public meeting to discuss efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. State Sen....
Canada: U.S. border measures to last until coronavirus under control
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the ban on nonessential travel with the United States will not be lifted until covid-19 is significantly more under control around the world. Canada and the U.S. have limited border crossings since March, extending the restrictions each month. “Until the virus...
AG William Barr appoints John Durham as special counsel in Russia probe investigation
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr has given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, giving him the authority of a special counsel to complete the work without being easily fired. Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he had appointed...
Biden unveils economic team declaring, ‘Help is on the way’
WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday introduced top advisers he says will help his administration rebuild an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, declaring, “I know times are tough but I want you to know that help is on the way.” Biden said he’d chosen a “first rate...
AG William Barr: No evidence of fraud that’d change election outcome
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. His comments in an interview with The Associated Press come despite President Donald Trump’s repeated baseless claims that the election was...
U.S. panel: 1st vaccines should go to health care workers, nursing homes
NEW YORK — Health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line when the first coronavirus vaccine shots become available, an influential government advisory panel said Tuesday. The panel voted 13-1 to recommend priority be given to those groups in the first days of...
Trump files lawsuit challenging Wisconsin election results
MADISON, Wis. — President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Wisconsin seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in the state’s two most Democratic counties, a longshot attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the battleground state he lost by nearly 20,700 votes. Trump filed the day after Democratic...
Trump headed to Georgia as runoff boost, but also a threat
ATLANTA — Some establishment Republicans are sounding alarms that President Donald Trump’s conspiratorial denials of his own defeat could threaten the party’s ability to win a Senate majority and counter President-elect Joe Biden’s administration. The concerns come ahead of Trump’s planned Saturday visit to Georgia to campaign alongside Sens. David...
FDA chief called to White House as Trump pushes for vaccine
WASHINGTON — The head of the agency responsible for approving any covid-19 vaccine for the U.S. was summoned to the White House Tuesday as an increasingly frustrated President Donald Trump complained approval wasn’t coming faster. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows called in Stephen Hahn, the head of the...
Nonessential shops reopen in Belgium as virus numbers drop
BRUSSELS — Nonessential shops in Belgium reopened Tuesday in the wake of encouraging figures about declining daily coronavirus infection rates and hospital admissions. Few overcrowding incidents were reported. The government had been fearful that the change might lead to massive gatherings in the nation’s most popular shopping centers and streets....
Forecasters confirm small tornado hit Pennsylvania town
MONTGOMERYVILLE — The National Weather Service on Tuesday determined a small tornado hit a Pennsylvania town as a line of severe storms packing high winds and heavy rain moved across the Northeast. The EF-0 twister was packing 70 mph winds as it cut a 100-yard path through Montgomeryville on Monday...
Rescue efforts slowed a week after Zimbabwe mine collapse
BINDURA, Zimbabwe — Rains and flooding have slowed rescue efforts at a Zimbabwean mine where a shaft collapsed last week, trapping at least 10 artisanal miners. Hopes of finding survivors are vanishing and relatives camped at the site on Tuesday expressed their desperation for decent burials of their loved ones...
Pa. posts highest single-day covid-19 deaths since May
Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported the most covid-related deaths in a single day since May. There were 180 new deaths attributed to covid-19 — surpassing any single-day mark since 275 were posted May 14 — according to the Health Department. Hospitalizations continue to climb as well. According to the state’s covid-19...
Pa. Supreme Court hears argument in case against Bill Cosby
An attorney for actor and comedian Bill Cosby argued to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday that five women called to testify about prior bad acts by the man led to “unquantifiable prejudice” against him. During oral argument, Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, asked the court to find that the prior...
Arizona cites holiday reporting delays for record 10K cases
PHOENIX — Arizona on Tuesday reported over 10,000 new known coronavirus cases, but the state said the record number nearly three times the latest seven-day daily rolling average reflected not only the current surge but also delayed reporting by local health officials due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. “Today, the...
Detroit police fatally shoot gunman suspected in slaying
DETROIT — Police killed a gunman during a shootout early Tuesday who was suspected of fatally shooting a woman over a child-custody issue and firing shots at a Detroit police station, authorities said. Members of the department’s Special Response Team approached the 28-year-old man about 7 a.m. as he sat...
U.S. officials say mountain pine tree that feeds grizzlies is threatened
BILLINGS, Mont. — Climate change, voracious beetles and disease are imperiling the long-term survival of a high-elevation pine tree that’s a key source of food for some grizzly bears and found across the U.S. West, U.S, officials said Tuesday. A Fish and Wildlife Service proposal scheduled to be published Wednesday...
China says probe sent to retrieve lunar rocks lands on moon
BEIJING — A Chinese robot probe sent to return lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s landed on the moon Tuesday, the government announced, adding to a string of increasingly bold space missions by Beijing. The Chang’e 5 probe “successfully landed” at its planned site, state...
Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction gets high court review
PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby’s lawyers will argue Tuesday that his 2018 sex assault trial was marred by evidence and testimony that should have been excluded as they ask Pennsylvania’s highest court to throw out the conviction. Cosby, 83, has served more than two years of his three- to 10-year prison...
Operation Better Block, First Commonwealth Bank provide solutions to housing issues in Homewood
There is a reoccurring theme that plays out across America when blighted neighborhoods are gazed upon for potential economic development. Current residents — the ones who rode out the leanest of times — are rarely consulted. If they are, local residents rarely attend planning meetings, and if they do, they...
