Clarion president hopeful universities merger reduces tuition by 25%
The university leader tasked with overseeing the merger plan for California, Clarion and Edinboro says she is confident her group can reduce students’ costs at the state-owned universities by 25%. Experts say the cost reduction will be a heavy lift as colleges and universities across the nation face a new...
A rusty Giuliani returns to the courtroom on Trump’s behalf
WILLIAMSPORT — Representing a client inside a courtroom for the first time in nearly three decades, Rudy Giuliani showed some rust as he tried to make the case that President Donald Trump has been robbed of re-election. The former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, who has taken over...
Biden’s DIY transition proceeds without Trump assistance
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Donald Trump’s refusal to cooperate with his successor is forcing President-elect Joe Biden to seek unusual workarounds to prepare for the exploding public health threat and evolving national security challenges he will inherit in just nine weeks. Blocked from the official intelligence briefing traditionally afforded to...
Pfizer says covid-19 shot 95% effective, seeking clearance soon
Pfizer said Wednesday that new test results show its coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective, is safe and also protects older people most at risk of dying — the last data needed to seek emergency use of limited shot supplies as the catastrophic outbreak worsens across the globe. The announcement from...
FDA allows 1st rapid coronavirus test that gives results at home
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators on Tuesday allowed emergency use of the first rapid coronavirus test that can be performed and developed entirely at home. The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents an important step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for covid-19 beyond health care facilities and...
Campaign attorney: Trump won Nevada, despite Biden results
LAS VEGAS — A Donald Trump campaign attorney declared the Republican president won in Nevada, not Joe Biden, despite results showing the Democratic former vice president drew 33,596 more votes in the battleground state. “Donald Trump won … after you account for the fraud and irregularities that occurred,” campaign attorney...
Report: More than 1 million children have been infected with covid-19
More than 1 million children in the United States have been infected with covid-19, according to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. The report, released on Monday, shows children now make up 11.5 percent of all cases in the country. The total...
In a stunning reversal, U.S. drops charges against Mexico’s ex-defense chief
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government said Tuesday that it was dropping drug trafficking charges against former Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, a stunning turnaround in a prosecution that had deeply angered Mexican authorities. The surprise move came a month after Cienfuegos’ arrest at Los Angeles International Airport. In...
Detroit-area county certifies vote after initially blocking itVideo
DETROIT — Michigan’s largest county reversed course and unanimously certified its presidential election results Tuesday night after Republicans first blocked the move in a party-line vote that threatened to temporarily stall official approval of Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state. The Wayne County Board of Canvassers acted after the...
Trump fires Chris Krebs, head of DHS election security agency
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election. Trump fired Christopher Krebs in a tweet, saying his recent statement defending the security of the election was “highly inaccurate.” The firing of Krebs, a Trump appointee...
GOP seeks to postpone Maricopa County election certification
PHOENIX — The Arizona Republican Party has asked a judge to bar Maricopa County from certifying its Nov. 3 election results, including Democrat Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump, until the court issues a decision about the party’s lawsuit seeking a new hand-count of a sampling of ballots. The...
Second Georgia county finds previously uncounted votesVideo
ATLANTA — A second Georgia county has uncovered a trove of votes not previously included in election results, but the additional votes won’t change the overall outcome of the presidential race, the secretary of state’s office said Tuesday. A memory card that hadn’t been uploaded in Fayette County, just south...
Raids, arrests as German police investigate Dresden jewelry theft
BERLIN — More than 1,500 police carried out a series of searches in Berlin and arrested three people in a massive operation connected to the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a unique collection in Dresden last November, authorities said Tuesday. The operation was coordinated by police and prosecutors in...
Amazon opens online pharmacy, shaking up another industry
NEW YORK — Now at Amazon.com: insulin and inhalers. The retail colossus opened an online pharmacy Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days. The potential impact of Amazon’s arrival in the pharmaceutical space rippled...
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, 87, says he tested positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, said Tuesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Grassley announced earlier Tuesday that he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus and was waiting for the results of a...
Controversial Fed nominee Judy Shelton fails in Senate test vote
WASHINGTON — The nomination of Judy Shelton, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for the Federal Reserve, is stalled in the Senate after Vice President-elect Kamala Harris returned to the chamber to cast a key vote in a tally Tuesday. Two key Republicans were absent because of covid-related concerns. The 47-50...
Hundreds of nurses strike at Philadelphia-area hospitalVideo
LANGHORNE — Hundreds of nurses have gone on strike at a suburban Philadelphia hospital, citing low staffing levels amid rising coronavirus cases. The walkout that began at 7 a.m. Tuesday involves the 700-plus registered nurses at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne and their allies in the Pennsylvania Association of...
Ohio governor orders 3-week retail curfew to slow virus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday announced a three-week retail curfew running from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to slow the spread of the coronavirus as cases stay at near-record high levels. DeWine said this measure, effective Thursday, is needed to reduce cases and stop the state’s...
Trump cuts troop levels to 2,500 in Iraq and Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said Tuesday the U.S. will reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January, asserting that the decision fulfills President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring forces home from America’s long wars even as Republicans and U.S. allies warn of the dangers of withdrawing...
Pennsylvania expands mask mandate as coronavirus cases rise
New orders from Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health expand on an April order mandating masks be worn in public, extending the conditions under which one must be worn to include indoors when with anyone outside their household. The orders, which also give further guidance to hospitals and colleges, are meant to...
Pa. Supreme Court rejects Trump campaign claim that Republicans lacked access to Philly vote count
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Republican monitors observing vote counting in Philadelphia were given sufficient access under state law to view the proceedings. In a 5-2 decision, the court overturned a lower court decision that ordered monitors with President Donald Trump’s campaign be allowed within 6 feet of...
Volunteers still needed to test variety of covid-19 vaccines
Two covid-19 vaccines might be nearing the finish line, but scientists caution it’s critical that enough people volunteer to help finish studying other candidates in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna Inc. and competitor Pfizer Inc. recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appear more than 90% effective, at...
Pennsylvania sets another record for new covid-19 cases, nearly 6,000 cases reported
Pennsylvania reported 5,900 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, the new high for daily cases in the state. With the new cases, the seven-day case total stands at 36,856 for the period of Nov. 11 through Tuesday. The seven-day case average is 5,265. Both figures are new records in Pennsylvania. There were...
Pentagon says it shot down unarmed missile in sea-based test
WASHINGTON — In a first for the Pentagon’s push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said. Previous tests against ICBM targets...
Financially troubled startup helped power Trump campaign
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign was powered by a cell phone app that allowed staff to monitor the movements of his millions of supporters, and offered intimate access to their social networks. While the campaign may be winding down, the data strategy is very much alive,...