Officials: Police shoot, kill man outside store in Louisiana
LAFAYETTE, La. — Police in Louisiana shot and killed a man as he tried to enter a convenience store with a knife, authorities said Saturday. The shooting was captured on video, and the state ACLU condemned what it described as a “horrific and deadly incident of police violence against a...
AP: U.S. faces back-to-school laptop shortage
SAN FRANCISCO — Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays, of up to several months, in getting this year’s most crucial back-to-school supplies: the laptops and other equipment needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation has found. The world’s three biggest computer companies, Lenovo, HP...
Trump ordered to pay $44,100 in Stormy Daniels legal fees
LOS ANGELES — A California court ordered President Donald Trump this week to pay $44,100 in attorney fees to porn actress Stormy Daniels to pay for her legal battle over her effort to cancel a hush money deal brokered to keep her quiet about their sexual relationship a decade ago....
Ketamine that’s injected during arrests draws new scrutiny
DENVER — Police stopped Elijah McClain on the street in suburban Denver last year after deeming the young Black man suspicious. He was thrown into a chokehold, threatened with a dog and stun gun, then subjected to another law enforcement tool before he died: a drug called ketamine. Paramedics inject...
Miami ICU nurse: I have never in my life seen so many deaths
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Their final breaths are tormented. Rublas Ruiz has seen too many of them — the last gasps of 17 men and women who died of the coronavirus. A 41-year-old ICU nurse in Miami’s Kendall Regional Medical Center, Ruiz has witnessed the desperate, pleading, wide-eyed, barely there...
Mississippi flag designs: Would they make good tattoos?
JACKSON, Miss. — After mothballing its old Confederate-themed state flag, Mississippi could choose a new one with a magnolia, a shield with wavy lines representing water, or an “edgy” representation of the Mississippi River snaking along the state’s western border. The Associated Press consulted three experts about five final designs...
West Virginia: Kanye West short on ballot signatures
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s secretary of state says rapper Kanye West’s bid to get on the ballot for president came up short on qualified signatures. Secretary of State Mac Warner’s office told media outlets Friday that West needed 7,144 signatures from registered voters in West Virginia. West submitted 15,000...
As more colleges stay online, students demand tuition cuts
As more universities abandon plans to reopen and decide instead to keep classes online this fall, it’s leading to conflict between students who say they deserve tuition discounts and college leaders who insist remote learning is worth the full cost. Disputes are flaring both at colleges that announced weeks ago...
Pennsylvania reports 796 new coronavirus cases, 18 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 796 new coronavirus cases, as the case count inches slowly upward from the weekly average of 688. The state Department of Health reported 18 new deaths attributed to coronavirus after posting 20 on Friday. Sunday’s total of 33 was the highest total of the week. Saturday’s...
Lawyers: Autopsy suggests inmate suffered during execution
CHICAGO — An inmate suffered “extreme pain” as he received a dose of pentobarbital during just the second federal execution following a 17-year lag, according to court filings by lawyers representing one of the inmates scheduled to be executed next. The claim Wesley Purkey may have felt a sensation akin...
Sturgis rally linked to 15 Minnesota COVID-19 cases, including 1 hospitalization
MINNEAPOLIS — State health officials say 15 Minnesotans who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this month have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including one state resident hospitalized with covid-19. The Minnesota Department of Health received the first case report on Thursday and 14 more case reports on Friday, said...
Once in a lifetime: Two hurricanes, same time, same place
ORLANDO, Fla. — As if the 2020 hurricane season needed another reason to be remembered, meteorologists are now predicting two hurricanes may hit near the same location at about the same time. The phenomenon is one that has never been recorded before, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration....
With stretched crews, homeowners join California firefight
BONNY DOON, Calif. — As wildfires rage throughout California turning forests and homes into kindling, some firefighters are badly short-staffed, and some residents are taking matters into their own hands. In the Santa Cruz mountains south of San Francisco, about 1,000 firefighters are battling a fire over 78 square miles...
Lori Loughlin to serve prison time for role in college bribery scheme
BOSTON — “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin must serve two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, must serve five months for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as rowing recruits, a federal judge ruled...
Biden, Kamala, the Obamas: Read key DNC speech transcripts here
The Democratic National Convention wrapped up Thursday. In addition to the nomination of former Vice President Joe Biden as the party’s candidate for the 2020 presidential election, a number of notable speeches were given throughout the four-day virtual event. Find the transcripts for key DNC speeches below. - Joe Biden...
Dark money mystery: Top Pa. lawmaker helped raise cash for nonprofit whose agenda is largely a secret
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 — In early March, a little-known Pennsylvania nonprofit called the Growth and Opportunity Fund Inc. hosted a gathering of...
Pa. lawmakers concerned ‘guidance’ for schools could open the door to covid-19 lawsuits
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 — As students prepare to begin a highly unusual school year, Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday told Wolf administration officials...
Indoor air purification systems play supporting role in covid-19 prevention measures
A mask mandate, a no-smoking policy and a suspension of indoor dining were among the measures Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore took to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus when it reopened in early July. That same week, the World Health Organization acknowledged airborne transmission of the virus, particularly...
Pennsylvania reports 693 new coronavirus cases, 20 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Friday reported an additional 693 cases of covid-19, bringing total cases to 127,633, according to the state Department of Health. The seven-day average has dropped to 669 cases, its lowest since July 6. The state is reporting 510 patients currently hospitalized, 93 of which are on ventilators. Pa....
Postmaster says ‘no idea’ mailboxes, equipment being removed
WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Friday he had “no idea” blue mailboxes and sorting machines were being removed until a public uproar nationwide, as he testifies before a Senate committee digging into disruptions and changes in postal operations being made just as millions of Americans will be relying...
Portland clashes rage again outside U.S. immigration building
PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters in Oregon’s largest city have clashed again with federal agents outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has become a new focus of the demonstrations that have gripped Portland for months, officials said Friday. People in a group of about 100 late Thursday and...
Pence criticizes DNC, previews themes for RNC convention
Vice President Mike Pence said Friday next week’s Republican Party convention “will make sure the American people see the choice” between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. Previewing themes for the Republican gathering, Pence said viewers will hear about how the GOP will support law and order, and the...
Giant Sea Scorpion Model Brings Fan Favorite to Life at Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Imagination can be overrated. Visitors to Carnegie Museum of Natural History have long been asked to imagine the creature that made the mysterious tracks on a one-ton block of dark coarse sandstone that greets them at Benedum Hall of Geology. An adjacent label challenges them to visualize the seven-foot-long invertebrate...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus ‘proud to be a nasty, nasty woman’ for DemsVideo
NEW YORK — The star of “Veep” brought some bite to her role at the Democrats’ virtual convention. Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the celebrity host for the convention’s final night Thursday, took some pointed shots at President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. “I’m proud to be a nasty, nasty...
Libya’s government announces cease-fire, calls for elections
CAIRO — Libya’s U.N.-supported government Friday announced a cease-fire across the oil-rich country and called for demilitarizing the strategic city of Sirte, which is controlled by rival forces. In a separate statement Aguila Saleh, speaker of the rival east-based House of Representatives, also called for a cease-fire. The announcements came...
