Pennsylvania nears launch of new health insurance website
Pennsylvania is getting ready to launch its own website to sell Affordable Care Act-compliant policies that will replace the federally operated Healthcare.gov to enroll people for the 2021 insurance year, state officials said Tuesday. It is named “Pennie” and lawmakers approved the idea last year in a bid to get...
‘Unfathomable’: U.S. death toll from coronavirus hits 200,000
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, a figure unimaginable eight months ago when the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation with its state-of-the-art laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medicines and emergency supplies. “It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo,...
Sen. Toomey says he will consider Trump’s high court nominee
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will not try to block President Donald Trump’s attempt to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court less than 40 days before the election, he said Tuesday. The Lehigh Valley Republican joined the successful effort to block President Barack Obama from filling a vacancy on...
Bill freezing pay for Pa.’s legislators, judges, top executive branch officials heading to Gov. Wolf’s desk
Pennsylvania lawmakers this year likely will be spared the grief that often accompanies the annual automatic pay raise that state law authorizes them to receive. Legislation is on its way to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk that would not only freeze lawmakers’ salaries at their current level through 2021 but judges...
Pennsylvania sees 7th straight day with double digit new covid-19 deaths
Pennsylvania has 834 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, per the state Department of Health. The state also reported 19 additional coronavirus-related deaths. Total cases are now 151,646, and the death total is 8,023. Pennsylvania surpassed 150,000 covid-19 cases Sunday. The state surpassed 100,000 cases on July 18 and 50,000 cases on...
U.S. homes sales rise 2.4% in August
Sales of existing homes rose 2.4% in August to its highest level since 2006 as the housing market recovers from a widespread shutdown in the spring brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6...
Louisville restricts access before decision in Breonna Taylor caseVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Officials in Kentucky’s largest city were preparing Tuesday for more protests and possible unrest as the public nervously awaits the state attorney general’s announcement about whether he will charge officers in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death. With timing of the announcement still uncertain, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared...
Louisiana trooper who faced firing in Black man’s death dies in crash
A Louisiana state trooper has died following a single-vehicle highway crash that happened just hours after he learned he would be fired for his role last year in the in-custody death of a Black man. Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth was pronounced dead Tuesday following a brief hospitalization, Warren Lee, chief...
Romney OKs voting on Supreme Court nominee, all but assures approvalVideo
WASHINGTON — Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he supports voting to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, all but ensuring President Donald Trump has the backing needed to push the nomination over Democratic objections that it’s too close to the November election....
Complaint flushed: No charge in toilet election display
MASON, Mich. — A prosecutor in Michigan has flushed a complaint about a toilet that was promoted as a place to drop absentee ballots. The election clerk in Ingham County informed police about a toilet on the front lawn of a home in Mason, near Lansing. A sign said, “Place...
UN chief: ‘Epochal’ crisis as world powers meet remotelyVideo
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the U.N.’s first-ever virtual meeting of global leaders Tuesday that the world is facing an “epochal” health crisis, the biggest economic calamity and job losses since the Great Depression, threats to human rights and worries of a new Cold War between the U.S....
Trump calls Swedish lawmaker in thanks for Nobel nomination
STOCKHOLM — A Swedish lawmaker who nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the Middle East says he got a phone call of thanks from the American leader. Magnus Jacobsson, a member of Sweden’s Parliament for the Christian Democrats, wrote Tuesday on...
Pennsylvania launches new coronavirus exposure notification app
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s new coronavirus exposure notification app became available in app stores Tuesday and could soon be compatible with those of three neighboring states, including New York. The release of the app, named COVID AlertPa, is part of Pennsylvania’s effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using...
Dog trapped in 30-foot hole lured to safety with beef jerky
MORGANTON, N.C. — A group of mountain bikers on a North Carolina trail spotted a dog trapped 30 feet down in a sinkhole — and it took a salty snack and some straps to lift him to safety. The group was riding the Sinkhole Trail at Pisgah National Forest, about...
In battleground states, Catholics are a pivotal swing vote
For decades, Roman Catholic voters have been a pivotal swing vote in U.S. presidential elections, with a majority backing the winner — whether Republican or Democrat — nearly every time. How they vote in the battleground states this year could well decide the outcome, and the rival campaigns are targeting...
U.K.’s Boris Johnson slams brakes on reopening as covid cases surgeVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson slammed the brakes Tuesday on the country’s return to offices and a normal social life, saying the U.K. was at a “perilous turning point” in its fight against coronavirus. Saying that Britain had to act now or face a huge second wave of...
Professor put on leave for comments about Trump supporters
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A university professor who told her students in West Virginia that she hopes people who attend political rallies without masks get the coronavirus and die has been placed on administrative leave. The video posted on social media last week identifies the professor as Jennifer Mosher, who teaches...
National park sign vandalized with racist message, bear skin
WALLAND, Tenn. — The National Park Service is trying to identify who mounted a cardboard sign with a racist message and hung a black bear skin over an entrance sign at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Visitors reported seeing the bear skin and sign on Saturday morning on a welcome...
Beta weakens to tropical depression, stalls over Texas coastVideo
HOUSTON — Beta weakened to a tropical depression Tuesday as it parked itself over the Texas coast, raising concerns of extensive flooding in Houston and areas farther inland. Beta made landfall late Monday as a tropical storm just north of Port O’Connor, Texas, and has the distinction of being the...
DA seeking Trump’s taxes cites ‘mountain’ of allegations
NEW YORK — The Manhattan district attorney’s office told a federal appeals court Monday that its quest to gain access to President Donald Trump’s tax returns is supported by “a mountainous record” of public allegations of misconduct. The president and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have been battling for...
Florida Gov. DeSantis proposes law to quash ‘disorderly assemblies’
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida leaders plan to crack down on people involved in what Gov. Ron DeSantis called “disorderly assemblies,” including making it a felony to block a road or topple monuments. DeSantis proposed a tough new law on Monday in reaction to demonstrations that erupted nationwide after the death...
Sen. Toomey mum on Trump’s rush to replace Justice Ginsburg; Casey balks at GOP hypocrisy
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has not said whether it’s critical to let the American people have the chance to “weigh in and select a new president” before filling the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That’s what Toomey, a Lehigh Valley Republican, described as...
Federal judge: Postal Service must process election mail on time
NEW YORK — For the second time in a week, a federal judge said a nationwide order is necessary to ensure mail for November’s election is delivered on time, and he is threatening to demand weekly updates on efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to process election mail. On Monday,...
Louisville police cancel vacations; prepare for Breonna Taylor decision
LOUISVILLE — Louisville, Ky., police said Monday that they had canceled vacations and were setting up barricades in preparation for the state attorney general’s announcement about whether he will charge officers in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death. A statement from the department said all requests for vacation and days off were...
Michigan official: Toilet display mocking mail-in voting is a crime
MASON, Mich. — A Michigan resident’s apparent joke showing disdain for voting by mail is no laughing matter for one election official. The resident put a toilet on the lawn with a sign that says, “Place mail in ballots here.” Barb Byrum, the Democratic clerk of Ingham County, filed a...
