Stranded hiker survives after 2 weeks in Santa Fe Forest
SANTA FE, N.M. — A father and his two children while out hiking helped rescue a man who was stranded in the Santa Fe National Forest for 14 days. John Utsey launched an unexpected two-day rescue mission Saturday after hearing a call for help while hiking with his kids up...
Genevieve a Cat 4 hurricane, winds likely to brush Baja
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Hurricane Genevieve grew rapidly into a highly dangerous Category 4 storm on Tuesday, threatening to bring tropical storm force winds to parts of the Baja California Peninsula even if its center wasn’t likely to hit land. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm had...
Woman drowns after rescuing children in northwest Minnesota
BAGLEY, Minn. — An 18-year-old woman drowned after pulling several children from turbulent river water below a dam in northwestern Minnesota, authorities said. The teen and about seven children related to her were sliding over a rushing dam that separates Clearwater Lake and Clearwater River and got caught up in...
Over $700K raised for slain 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant’s funeral in North Carolina
WILSON, N.C. — More than $780,000 has been raised for the funeral service expenses of a slain 5-year-old boy in North Carolina whose death has captured national attention. The donations poured into a GoFundMe page organized by Gwen Hinnant, who identifies herself on the website as Cannon Hinnant’s grandmother. “This...
Slain North Carolina 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant remembered for big smile
WILSON, N.C. — The North Carolina 5-year-old fatally shot while playing in his front yard carried a big smile and a big heart, the boy’s grandfather recalled at his funeral. Merrill Race joined others at grandson Cannon Hinnant’s funeral Thursday night to mourn the boy killed as he rode his...
Pennsylvania adds 735 new coronavirus cases, 31 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 735 coronavirus cases and 31 deaths on Tuesday. The counts come a day after the state reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a month and no deaths Monday. Those figures were slightly skewed because data from Philadelphia County —...
Polish health minister, key official in virus fight, resigns
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s health minister, a doctor who has been a leading figure in the government’s fight against the coronavirus, resigned Tuesday following questions about the procurement of questionable medical equipment. Dr. Lukasz Szumowski, a cardiologist, announced at a news conference in Warsaw that he was stepping down to...
As virus cases fall, South Africa allows liquor sales
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa, which had one of the world’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns for five months, relaxed its restrictions Tuesday, permitting the sales of alcohol and cigarettes in response to decreasing new cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19. In a festive mood, people lined up at shops across the country wearing...
Trump to pardon women’s suffrage leader Susan B. AnthonyVideo
WASHINGTON — As he works to curry favor with women voters, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will pardon Susan B. Anthony, a women’s suffrage leader arrested for voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote. Trump’s support has been eroding among suburban white women...
Coin shortage hits retailers, laundromats, tooth fairy
The national coin shortage has been an unusual side effect of the pandemic. Among its victims? Retailers, laundromats and even the tooth fairy. The Federal Reserve announced in June that the supply system for coins had been severely disrupted by the pandemic. While there are still enough coins out there,...
Michelle Obama assails Trump as Democrats open conventionVideo
NEW YORK — Michelle Obama delivered a passionate broadside against President Donald Trump during Monday’s opening night of the Democratic National Convention, assailing the Republican president as unfit for the job and warning that the nation’s mounting crises would only get worse if he’s reelected. The former first lady issued...
Trump rule on transgender health blocked at the 11th hour
WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Monday from enforcing a new regulation that would roll back health care protections for transgender people. Finalized days after the Supreme Court barred sex discrimination against LGBT individuals on the job, the regulation from the federal Department of Health and...
Man dies in Arizona water slide’s support structure
Police say a 32-year-old homeless man has died after getting trapped inside the support structure for a water slide at a Scottsdale park. Scottsdale police spokesman Officer Kevin Watts said an officer heard someone calling out for help early Monday morning at the Eldorado Aquatic and Fitness Center. Authorities initially...
Can Trump win without winning the most votes? Yes. Pennsylvania shows how
PHILADELPHIA — Few people think President Donald Trump will win the most votes in the 2020 election. But he could still become the first president to serve two terms without ever winning a majority of the country’s support. And Pennsylvania is a big reason why. It’s older and whiter than...
UNC-Chapel Hill moves all classes online after coronavirus outbreak on campus
North Carolina’s flagship university canceled in-person classes for undergraduates just a week into the fall semester Monday as the school and other campuses around the country scrambled to deal with coronavirus clusters linked in some cases to student housing, off-campus parties and packed bars. The University of North Carolina at...
Report: Nursing home cases up nearly 80% in covid-19 rebound
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 cases in U.S. nursing homes jumped nearly 80% earlier this summer, driven by rampant spread across the South and much of the West, according to an industry report released Monday. “The case numbers suggest the problem is far from solved,” said Tamara Konetzka, a research professor at...
Oklahoma State sorority isolated after 23 women test positive for covid-19
STILLWATER, Okla. — Women living at an off-campus sorority house at Oklahoma State University have been placed in isolation and are prohibited from leaving the house after 23 of them tested positive for covid-19, university officials confirmed on Monday. “Due to the nature of this situation, the entire chapter house...
Death Valley’s brutal 130 degrees may be record if verifiedVideo
California sizzled to a triple-digit temperature so hot that meteorologists need to verify it as a planet-wide high mark. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees Sunday, which if the sensors and other conditions check out, would be the hottest Earth has been in more than 89 years and the...
Sen. Bob Casey: Problems at USPS a ‘5-alarm fire’ for democracyVideo
SCRANTON — Senator Bob Casey appeared at a United States Postal Service facility in Scranton today — a facility which has had three of its large-scale sorting machines removed in recent months — and called changes at the post office a threat to our very democracy. Case, D-Scranton, was scheduled...
Trump counters Biden with law and order message in Minnesota
MANKATO, Minn. — Declaring it’s “crunch time” for the upcoming election, President Donald Trump zeroed in on Midwest battleground states on Monday with a tough, law and order message to counterprogram former Vice President Joe Biden’s show at the Democrats’ national convention. In Mankato, Minn., Trump stepped up his rhetoric...
FBI arrests Puerto Rico lawmaker, family in corruption probe
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — FBI agents on Monday arrested Puerto Rico Rep. María Milagros Charbonier after the legislator who once presided over the island’s House Ethics Committee was charged in a public corruption case that officials say also involved her son, husband and an assistant. U.S. Attorney Stephen Muldrow...
Pa. to spend $10M on surplus produce, milk, more from farmers for struggling familiesVideo
The demand to get nutritious food to struggling families may have slowed slightly since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but not much: At its Aug. 10 distribution day, Westmoreland County Food Bank officials estimate they served about 1,000 families. To continue that effort — and to lend a hand...
Detroit priest denies abuse, gets $125K in lawsuit deal
DETROIT — A Detroit priest who said he was defamed by a police officer in an investigation of alleged sexual abuse has settled a lawsuit against her for $125,000. The Rev. Eduard Perrone said he doesn’t care about the money but wants to be reinstated at Assumption of the Blessed...
Amid outcry, postmaster general to testify before HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — Facing a public backlash over mail delays, the Trump administration scrambled to respond Monday as the House prepared an emergency vote to halt delivery interruptions and service changes that Democrats warned could imperil the November election. The Postal Service said it has stopped removing mailboxes and mail-sorting machines...
Activists: Police killings of Latinos lack attention
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Antonio Valenzuela’s death didn’t spark widespread protests like George Floyd’s. In fact, the police killing of the 41-year-old drew little attention outside the American Southwestern city just north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The details about Floyd’s death, a 46-year-old Black man, who died in May at...
