Only Native American on federal death row executed
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The only Native American on federal death row was put to death Wednesday, despite objections from many Navajo leaders who had urged President Donald Trump to halt the execution on the grounds it would violate tribal culture and sovereignty. With the execution of Lezmond Mitchell for...
Turbulent reality collides with GOP convention plans
WASHINGTON — Turbulent reality is clashing with the smooth, steady image Republicans are hoping to paint of President Donald Trump and his leadership on the third night of the GOP’s convention. A potentially catastrophic hurricane is bearing down on the Gulf Coast, wildfires have ravaged huge areas of California, protests...
Pa. leaders loosen childcare restrictions as families balance work, online learning
Most children across the state are returning to school in partially online , and Pennsylvania leaders say they are adding more flexibility to childcare options as parents work to balance their jobs with their children now learning from home. That flexibility includes temporarily suspending some regulations in order to create...
Justice Department seeks data about covid-19 nursing home deaths from Pa., 3 other states
The Justice Department is seeking data about “orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents,” sending letters Wednesday to the governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Officials say Wednesday that the Justice Department’s civil rights division is evaluating whether to...
Chief: Still trying to learn how ‘dead’ woman was found alive at funeral home
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — A suburban Detroit fire chief said Wednesday that he still can’t explain why a 20-year-old woman declared dead at her home was discovered alive hours later at a funeral home. An emergency medical crew did not “detect signs of life,” despite immediately attempting to revive Timesha Beauchamp...
Heeding warnings, Gulf Coast residents flee coming hurricane
LaFITTE, Louisiana — Thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled inland from an approaching storm deemed “unsurvivable” by forecasters, heeding warnings from leaders in two states, but leaving some without help as available space in hotels and shelters filled quickly. Evacuees arrived as far as Ennis, Texas, a city south of...
Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers hatch new plan to undermine Wolf’s emergency powers
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 weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Thwarted by court rulings and vetoes, Republicans in the legislature unhappy with Gov. Tom Wolf’s response to the...
Moscow announces advanced trials for new covid-19 vaccine
MOSCOW — The mayor of Moscow invited residents Wednesday to join trials of a coronavirus vaccine that Russia approved for use earlier this month, in what officials described as a breakthrough on par with the Soviet Union’s launch of the world’s first satellite in 1957. The world’s first vaccine against...
Plea agreement of ex-N.C. state Rep. David Lewis accepted
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal judge on Wednesday accepted the guilty plea of a longtime North Carolina state lawmaker who acknowledged conducting a scheme to funnel campaign dollars to his ailing farm. David Lewis, 49, who until last week was a chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee, appeared before...
Pressure mounts on Russia to investigate Navalny’s illness
MOSCOW — The Kremlin said Wednesday it doesn’t want the condition of sickened opposition leader Alexei Navalny to affect Russia’s relations with the West as international pressure mounted on Moscow to investigate what caused the Russian politician to fall into a coma almost a week ago. The Kremlin statement came...
Only Native American on federal death row set to be executed
CHICAGO — The only Native American on federal death row is set to die Wednesday for the slayings of a 9-year-old and her grandmother nearly two decades ago, though many Navajos are hoping for last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump to halt the execution. If Lezmond Mitchell is put to...
Pennsylvania reports 501 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Wednesday reported 501 additional cases of coronavirus to bring the state’s total to 130,536. Of the total cases, 126,835 are confirmed and 3,701 are considered probable. There have been 1,457,642 negative tests, according to the Department of Health. The daily positivity rate is 3.86%. Pa. coronavirus by dayInfogram...
South Dakota’s Noem to appear at RNC as virus cases rise
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — From the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump called on governors to “liberate” residents, reopen schools and get businesses back to normal. No governor followed that advice more closely — and with more attention-seeking fervor — than South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. The...
Hong Kong police arrest 16, including 2 opposition lawmakers
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police arrested 16 people, including two opposition lawmakers, on Wednesday on charges related to anti-government protests last year. The arrests of pro-democracy legislators Ted Hui and Lam Cheuk-ting were announced via social media posts. A post on Hui’s Facebook page said he was arrested on...
U.N. watchdog: Iran to allow access to 2 suspected nuke sites
BERLIN — The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Tehran has agreed to allow inspectors in to two sites where Iran is suspected of having stored or used undeclared nuclear material. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday that Iran was “voluntarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations...
Laura now forecast to be a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane
GALVESTON, Texas — Hurricane Laura rapidly gained strength Wednesday, raising fears that it could come ashore as a catastrophic Category 4 storm with an “unsurvivable” 20-foot storm surge that could sink entire communities in Texas and Louisiana. Authorities implored coastal residents to flee before it’s too late. Laura grew nearly...
17-year-old arrested in killing of 2 in Kenosha
KENOSHA, Wis. — A white, 17-year-old police admirer was arrested Wednesday in the killing of two people gunned down during a third night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake. Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was taken into custody in Illinois on suspicion...
Takeaways from GOP convention: Promoting power, positivity
WASHINGTON — The second day of the Republican National Convention started with a decidedly different, more positive tone, with an emphasis on Americans who say have they benefited from President Donald Trump’s policies. Here are some takeaways from the second night. Leveraging the White House Three ruffles and flourishes. The...
Only Native American on federal death row set to be executed
CHICAGO — The only Native American on federal death row is set to die Wednesday for the slayings of a 9-year-old and her grandmother nearly two decades ago, though many Navajos are hoping for last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump to halt the execution. If Lezmond Mitchell is put to...
California faces huge fires before usual peak of season
VACAVILLE, Calif. — California’s firefighting agency is in talks with the National Guard and California Conservation Corps about providing reinforcements as an already devastating wildfire season threatens to get even worse. Lightning-sparked fires that have grown to some of the largest in state history have pushed firefighters to the breaking...
DeVos softens position on schools reopening in Georgia visit
CUMMING, Ga. — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has softened earlier comments that called for schools to reopen for in-person instruction for all, saying during a visit to a Georgia high school Tuesday that what she really wants to see is “100% learning.” “I think perhaps there’s been a...
A look at key moments in Falwell’s relationship with Liberty
During 13 years under the stewardship of Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, has grown into a powerhouse with an endowment of over $1.7 billion, more than 15,000 on-campus and over 94,000 virtual students and a Division I athletics program. However, Falwell’s tenure at Liberty has become increasingly...
Coroner attributes California death to Las Vegas mass shooting
LAS VEGAS — The death of a California woman last November stemmed from wounds she received in the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017, a coroner has determined. The decision by authorities in San Bernardino County, Calif., could add Kimberly May Gervais to the list of 58 people killed in...
Hundreds of thousands flee U.S. coast ahead of Hurricane Laura
NEW ORLEANS — In the largest U.S. evacuation of the pandemic, more than half a million people were ordered to flee the Gulf Coast on Tuesday as Laura strengthened into a hurricane that forecasters said could slam Texas and Louisiana with ferocious winds, heavy flooding and the power to push...
Gov. Tom Wolf wants Pa. to legalize marijuana, provide more covid-19 relief this fall
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 weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf wants state lawmakers to legalize recreational cannabis this fall and spend $1 billion in federal...
