Congressman halts attempt to rename Mount Rushmore
One of the country’s most famous landmarks probably will keep its name, despite a recent attempt to rename it. A California resident in July proposed renaming Mount Rushmore to Igmu Tanka Paha, a Lakota Sioux name that means Cougar Mountain, according to the federal Board on Geographic Names. Anyone can...
Neighbor calls 911 when hockey fans yell ‘Shoot! Shoot!’
TAMPA, Fla. — A neighbor called sheriff’s deputies on some rabid Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were screaming “shoot! shoot!” as they watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final on television Wednesday night. The call prompted several Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies to show up at Devon Garnett’s apartment door....
Ginsburg is first woman to lie in state at U.S. CapitolVideo
WASHINGTON — Commemorations are set to begin Friday honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman in American history to lie in state at the domed building, capping days of commemoration of her extraordinary life. Mourners are paying tribute to Ginsburg, who...
Belarus detains opposition leader’s lawyer amid protestsVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Authorities in Belarus detained a lawyer representing a top opposition activist who was jailed this month amid mass protests against the country’s authoritarian president, who won a sixth term in a disputed election. Lawyer Lyudmila Kazak went missing Thursday, with police confirming later in the day that...
Mom’s remains go missing after being mailed to wrong address
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Kentucky woman is sending out what she calls an “urgent plea” after a box containing her mother’s cremated remains went missing after she mailed it to her sister in Florida. On Sept. 9., Amy Redford of La Grange, Kentucky, sent the box via the U.S. Postal...
Giant rat wins animal hero award for sniffing out landmines in Cambodia
LONDON — A rat has for the first time won a British charity’s top civilian award for animal bravery, receiving the honor for searching out unexploded landmines in Cambodia. Magawa, a giant African pouched rat, was awarded the PDSA’s Gold Medal for his “lifesaving bravery and devotion” after discovering 39...
Madrid resists government pressure to extend soft lockdown
MADRID — Authorities in Madrid are expanding restrictions on movement to a further eight areas of the Spanish capital, which is leading the country’s contagion curve, despite a recommendation from the national government that the partial lockdown should apply to all the city. Over 850,000 residents in 37 neighborhoods have...
Hearing seeks to move protest shooter for trial in Wisconsin
A 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, faces a hearing Friday on whether he should be sent to Wisconsin to stand trial on homicide charges that could put him in prison for life. Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested at his...
Trump promises to protect sick Americans; does his new order do that?Video
WASHINGTON — Less than six weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina on Thursday to announce his commitment to protecting Americans with preexisting medical conditions and to issue another round of executive orders related to health care. “We are delivering better care, with more choice, at...
At U.N., China, Russia and U.S. clash over pandemic responses
UNITED NATIONS — The United States butted heads Thursday with China and Russia at the United Nations over responsibility for the covid-19 pandemic, trading allegations about who mishandled and politicized the virus in one of the few real-time exchanges among top officials at this year’s covid-distanced General Assembly meeting. The...
Mary Trump files suit saying family cheated her of millions
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s niece followed up her best-selling, tell-all book with a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the president and two of his siblings cheated her out of millions of dollars over several decades while squeezing her out of the family business. Mary L. Trump sought unspecified damages in...
Coalition of nearly 500 former senior military, civilian leaders endorse Biden for president
A large group of generals, admirals and former national security officials from both parties endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, saying the “current president” is not up to “the enormous responsibilities of his office.” In a letter addressed to “Our Fellow Citizens,” the 489 signatories include 22 four-star...
Resource officer uses Taser on woman who refused to wear mask at Ohio football gameVideo
A resource officer in Ohio shocked a woman with a Taser and forcibly removed her from a football game when she refused to wear a face mask in the stands. The officer asked the woman to put on a face covering, but she refused, claiming that she had asthma, according...
Pa.’s failure to mandate quicker death reporting before the coronavirus fueled wild data fluctuations, mistrust
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. For years, Pennsylvania has had a hard time counting its dead. A new analysis shows that in 2017, Pennsylvania had...
House Democrats drafting $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi has directed House committee leaders to put together a more slender coronavirus relief package than the one that previously passed the chamber, in their latest offer in talks with the White House. The House could vote on that as-yet-unreleased $2.4 trillion bill as soon as...
AP Explains: What’s next with the Supreme Court vacancy?Video
WASHINGTON — The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is putting the Senate in uncharted political terrain. There’s no recent precedent for a confirmation vote so close to a presidential election. President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the Republican-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination, even...
Fraud, frustration continue to plague Pennsylvania unemployment claimants
As historically high unemployment compensation claims continue to inundate the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Labor Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said he knows people are struggling. Presiding over a virtual town hall Thursday afternoon, Oleksiak acknowledged that fraud is plaguing the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that temporarily expands unemployment insurance...
Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania hurdle: Voters who fear a California-style energy planVideo
When US Airways stopped using Pittsburgh’s airport as a global hub in 2004, a billion-dollar renovation project completed in 1992 that was supposed to breathe life into the regional economy became a suffocating financial burden, and local leaders stopped looking to the sky for salvation. Instead, they looked beneath their...
AP-NORC poll: Support for racial injustice protests declines
NEW YORK — As the decision in Kentucky to bring charges against only one of three police officers involved in a raid that killed Breonna Taylor sparks renewed protests nationwide, a new survey finds support has fallen for demonstrations against systemic racism. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for...
Crowd jeers as Trump pays respects at court to GinsburgVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was booed Thursday as he paid respects to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He plans to nominate a replacement this weekend for the liberal justice, best known for her advancement of women’s rights. The president and first lady Melania Trump — both wearing...
Federal probe focuses on discarded Trump ballots in Luzerne County
A federal investigation into irregularities with mail-in ballots at the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections has turned up discarded ballots that were cast for President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney David J. Freed said Thursday. In a prepared statement, Freed said FBI agents and Pennsylvania State Police who began investigating “potential...
Pennsylvania reports 853 new coronavirus cases, 17 deaths
Pennsylvania on Thursday reported 853 new cases of covid-19, with 796 of those confirmed and 57 reported as probable. The total number of cases reported in the state has now reached 153,397, according to the Department of Health. The state’s 7-day average is 782 cases and the daily positivity rate...
Officials plead for calm amid anger over Breonna Taylor case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Authorities pleaded for calm while activists vowed to fight on Thursday in Kentucky’s largest city, where a gunman wounded two police officers during anguished protests following the decision not to charge officers for killing Breonna Taylor. Outrage over a grand jury’s failure to bring homicide charges against...
Post office defends on claims that cuts threaten election
PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers for the U.S. Postal Service were in court Thursday to defend accusations that service cuts are slowing down the mail and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. The latest hearing on the issue took place in federal court in Philadelphia, where the attorneys general from six...
Crash drops Cleveland highway sign onto pickup; 1 person dead
CLEVELAND — A dump truck struck the base of a sign on a Cleveland highway during the morning commute Thursday, causing the sign to fall on a passing pickup truck and kill one person in the pickup, authorities said, The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 8:30...
