Trump rips private Texas border wall built by his supporters
HOUSTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized a privately built border wall in South Texas that’s showing signs of erosion months after going up, saying it was “only done to make me look bad,” even though the wall was built after a months-long campaign by his supporters. The group...
Texas patient in 30s dies after reportedly citing ‘mistake’ of attending ‘covid party’
DALLAS — A 30-something patient has died from the coronavirus after reportedly attending a “covid party” and ultimately telling their nurse they had acted in error, San Antonio’s WOAI-TV reported. “Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said, ‘I think I made a mistake, I thought...
Video shows Allentown police officer kneeling on man’s neck during arrestVideo
ALLENTOWN — The woman who shot a video outside Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown that shows a police officer putting his knee on a man’s head and neck during an arrest said the man was screaming “Mira, mira!” — Spanish for ‘Look, look!’” “That means he knew what was going...
Lindsey Graham plans to invite Robert Mueller to testify on Russian investigationVideo
Sen. Lindsey Graham is preparing to invite former Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before a Senate panel about the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to a spokesperson for the panel’s Republican majority. Graham of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted earlier that...
Houston leaders call for city lockdown amid coronavirus case surgeVideo
HOUSTON — Top officials in Houston are calling for the city to lock back down as area hospitals strain to accommodate the onslaught of patients sick with the new coronavirus. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, both Democrats, said this weekend that a stay-at-home order is...
21 injured in fire aboard ship at Naval Base San DiegoVideo
SAN DIEGO — Twenty-one people suffered minor injuries in an explosion and fire Sunday on board a ship at Naval Base San Diego, military officials said. The blaze was reported shortly before 9 a.m. on USS Bonhomme Richard, said Mike Raney, a spokesman for Naval Surface Force, US Pacific Fleet....
2 dead, 2 critical after group fixing flat tire struck in Berks County
READING — Authorities say a car belonging to two men helping a couple fix a flat tire on an eastern Pennsylvania road was struck by another vehicle, killing two men and critically injuring two other people. Police in Ontelaunee Township Police said a man and woman heading south on Route...
Coronavirus spread, not politics should guide schools, doctors sayVideo
As the Trump administration pushes full steam ahead to force schools to resume in-person education, public health experts warn that a one-size-fits-all reopening could drive infection and death rates even higher. They’re urging a more cautious approach, which many local governments and school districts are already pursuing. But Education Secretary...
Dr. Fauci doesn’t weigh ‘whole national interest,’ coronavirus task force member saysVideo
One of President Trump’s coronavirus task force members said Sunday that infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci doesn’t necessarily “have the whole national interest in mind” in suggesting responses to the pandemic. Fauci, who’s also on the task force, “looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view,”...
Maryland governor says GOP needs ‘bigger tent’ after Trump
WASHINGTON — A Republican governor rumored to be eyeing a run for the White House in 2024 said Sunday that the GOP needs to be a “bigger tent party” after President Donald Trump leaves office. Maryland’s Larry Hogan, who has been known to break with Trump, told NBC’s “Meet the...
Florida reports largest, single-day increase in coronavirus cases
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida shattered the national record Sunday for the largest single-day increase in positive coronavirus cases in any state since the beginning of the pandemic, adding more than 15,000 cases as its daily average death toll continued to also rise. According to state Department of Health statistics,...
Pennsylvania reports 725 new cases of coronavirus
Pennsylvania health officials on Sunday reported 725 additional covid-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 95,414. The data section of the state Department of Health’s website was down for maintenance Sunday and because of that only new cases were reported, according to a news release emailed Sunday evening. Earlier in...
Trump wears mask in public for first time during pandemic
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital on Saturday, the first time the president has been seen in public with the type of facial covering recommended by health officials as a precaution against spreading or becoming infected by the novel coronavirus. Trump...
4 more states added to Pennsylvania travel quarantine list
HARRISBURG, Pa. — State health officials in Pennsylvania have added four states — including neighboring Delaware — to the travel quarantine recommendation aimed at stemming the spread of covid-19 in the commonwealth. Officials said people who have traveled to Delaware, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma are being asked to self-quarantine for...
Trump, Biden try to outdo each other on tough talk on China
WASHINGTON — China has fast become a top election issue as President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden engage in a verbal brawl over who’s better at playing the tough guy against Beijing. The Trump campaign put out ads showing Biden toasting China’s Xi Jinping, even though Trump did just...
It’s Trump’s call on what the GOP convention will look like
WASHINGTON — After months of insisting that the Republican National Convention go off as scheduled despite the pandemic, President Donald Trump is slowly coming to accept that the late August event will not be the four-night infomercial for his reelection that he had anticipated. After a venue change, spiking coronavirus...
‘Moving target’: Schools deal with new plans, Trump demands
TOLEDO, Ohio — With little more than a month before millions of U.S. schoolchildren go back to class, much is still up in the air - and not just because of the surging number of coronavirus cases nationwide. Last week, President Donald Trump and his administration demanded schools fully reopen...
2 officers, suspect killed in Texas border town shootingVideo
MCALLEN, Texas — Two police officers were shot and killed Saturday by a suspect who later fatally shot himself in a South Texas border town after responding to a domestic disturbance call, authorities said. McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez identified the slain officers as Edelmiro Garza, 45, and Ismael Chavez,...
U.S. warns its citizens in China they risk ‘arbitrary’ arrest
WASHINGTON — The State Department warned U.S. citizens living in or traveling to China they may face arbitrary arrest, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing. “Exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than...
Toomey: Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence a ‘mistake’
Sen. Pat Toomey calls President Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence a “mistake.” In a statement released Saturday, Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said while Trump had the “legal and constitutional authority” to take the action, it should be used “judiciously and very rarely by any president.” “While I understand the frustration...
Audubon Society announces most fabulous bird photos of 2020Video
Each year, the National Audubon Society picks 10 award-winning photographs of birds. The contest, in its 11th year, honors images that “evoke the ingenuity, resilience and beauty of birds small and large, terrestrial and aquatic,” according to a recent Audubon Society press release. Photos are judged on technical quality, originality...
Buses pose particular challenge for Pa. schools’ pandemic plans
HARRISBURG — A proposal to construct plastic barriers around school bus drivers as a covid-19 mitigation tactic was shot down by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, a sign of one particular challenge — among many — schools face as they plan for a fall reopening. The state Education Department told...
Coronavirus deaths take a long-expected turn for the worse
NEW YORK — A long-expected upturn in U.S. coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West, according to data on the pandemic. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months, and even remained down as states like Florida...
Fire destroys much of 249-year-old church in California
SAN GABRIEL, Calif. — A fire early Saturday destroyed the rooftop and most of the interior of a California church that was undergoing renovation to mark its upcoming 250th anniversary celebration. Fire alarms at the San Gabriel Mission rang around 4 a.m., and when firefighters responded to the historic structure...
Trump’s defiant help for Stone adds to tumult in Washington
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s intervention into a criminal case connected to his own conduct drew fierce rebukes Saturday from Democrats and a few lonely Republicans, with calls for investigations and legislation. But it remained to be seen if Trump’s most recent defiance of the conventions of his office to...
