Maine blueberry industry reels from drought, frost, virus
PORTLAND, Maine — A late spring frost, a devastating drought and labor troubles wrought by the coronavirus pandemic conspired to make 2020 a difficult year for the wild blueberry producers who harvest the fruit in the nation’s northeastern corner. America’s producers of wild blueberries are largely located in Maine, where...
After Ginsburg: McConnell pledges quick vote on successor
WASHINGTON — The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just over six weeks before the election cast an immediate spotlight on the high court vacancy, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly vowing to bring to a vote whoever President Donald Trump nominates. McConnell, in a statement just...
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a diminutive yet towering women’s rights champion who became the court’s second female justice, died Friday at her home in Washington. She was 87. Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said. Her death just over six weeks before...
Democrats set to unveil stopgap bill to prevent shutdown
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Friday prepared a temporary spending bill that is needed to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month — and that would allow lawmakers to leave Washington to campaign. It’s a lowest-common-denominator, bare-minimum measure that befits a deeply polarized Congress. Even so, it...
Running out of storm names, Atlantic season goes Greek
The Atlantic’s record-breaking “crazy” hurricane season got a bizarre European remake Friday as forecasters ran out of traditional names and trotted out the Greek alphabet for subtropical storm Alpha. And the geographically misplaced storm promptly sloshed ashore in Portugal. But wait there’s more. The busy Atlantic is beta testing the...
Captain says he knowingly risked career with virus warning
SAN FRANCISCO — The dismissed captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier knew he was jeopardizing his military career when he broke protocol and sent a now-famous email warning of possible sailor deaths due to a coronavirus breakout on board, But Brett Crozier says in a witness statement obtained by...
Presidential town hall a deciding factor of some undecided voters
Currying favor with Pennsylvania voters such as Laura Galvas, Alexandra Stehman and Flora Cruceta could prove crucial in the battle to claim Pennsylvania’s 20 Electoral College votes this fall. Like the other participants in ABC’s Philadelphia Town Hall — where they had an opportunity to question President Trump last week...
Justices stop Philadelphia from broadcasting trials on YouTube
Pennsylvania’s highest court has put a stop to a local policy that allowed streaming of Philadelphia criminal trials over the internet. The state Supreme Court in an order dated Thursday halted the pandemic-prompted policy. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner asked the justices earlier this week to put an end to...
NYC tries $50 fines to get scofflaws to don masks on subway
The young man slouched against the inside of the subway doors as the No. 3 train headed south along Broadway. Across the aisle, another young man lay asleep, sprawled across three seats. In ordinary times, it would be the snoozing seat hog who got angry glares. But in the age...
Firefighter dies battling wildfire sparked by gender reveal
A firefighter died battling a wildfire in California that officials said was sparked by a device used to reveal a baby’s gender. The death happened Thursday in the San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement. The fire erupted...
Philadelphia puts ban on police chokeholds into law
The Philadelphia City Council formally banned police from using certain modes of restraint on crime suspects Thursday, including kneeling on a suspect’s neck, and voted to open contract negotiations with the police union to the public. The contract bill passed by the council requires a public hearing to be held...
Pennsylvania sees big drop in jobless rate in August
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate took a steep drop in August as the labor force shrank and payrolls shot up again in a continuing rebound from shutdowns and the worst economic effects of the pandemic, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 10.3% in August, down 2.2 percentage points...
Wilkes-Barre hospital accused of altering records wants case sealed
A Pennsylvania hospital wants a judge to seal all records and issue a gag order in a long-running wrongful death suit that alleges hospital officials altered the medical records of a 44-year-old man who died after going to the emergency room with chest pain and breathing difficulties. In an unusual...
CDC drops controversial testing advice that caused backlashVideo
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials on Friday dropped a controversial piece of coronavirus guidance and is now advising anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person get tested. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially returned to its previous testing guidance, getting rid of language...
Trump gives award to Kuwait’s ruling emir
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has bestowed a top U.S. honor on Kuwait’s ruling emir, who has played a central role in resolving a yearslong four-nation boycott of Qatar and is now ill and receiving treatment in the U.S., the White House said Friday. Trump awarded the Legion of Merit...
Flooding affects more than 1 million across East AfricaVideo
JOHANNESBURG — Flooding has affected well over a million people across East Africa, another calamity threatening food security on top of a historic locust outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic. The Nile River has hit its highest levels in a half-century under heavy seasonal rainfall, and large parts of Sudan, Ethiopia...
Pennsylvania reports 760 new coronavirus cases, 21 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 760 new coronavirus cases to raise the state’s total to 148,683 since March. There were 11,530 new negative cases reported, making the daily positivity rate 6.18%. The state’s seven-day average of new cases is 828. There were 172,682 tests administered in the past seven days with...
Libya’s east-based commander promises end of oil blockadeVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Libya’s commander who rules the eastern half of the country and who was behind a year-long military attempt to capture the capital, Tripoli, said Friday that oil production would restart soon, ending a months-long blockade of the nation’s vital oil fields. The Tripoli-based National Oil...
Man serving life requests death for Indiana prison slaying
ANDERSON, Ind. — A man serving two life sentences at an Indiana prison asked for the death penalty for a slaying of a fellow inmate, but a prosecutor said he is reluctant to pursue it. Tommy P. Holland, 45, of Indianapolis is charged with murder in the stabbing of Clifford...
Emergency tents back as Madrid struggles to curb virus wave
MADRID — A line of green tents labeled with a red cross stands empty Friday in the garden of a Madrid military hospital as a second wave of the coronavirus takes hold in the Spanish capital. The Gómez Ulla hospital is getting ready just in case emergency wards get crammed...
Murrysville woman, 20, appointed to national Crohn’s advocacy board
For Rachel Stackiewicz, enjoying most meals is a temporary pleasure at best. Stackiewicz, 20, of Murrysville, has been living since age 11 with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Along with ulcerative colitis, it is one of two illnesses classified as inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. “Every...
Assange lawyer says Trump offered indirect offer of pardon
LONDON — A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a London court that her client was indirectly offered a “win-win” deal by President Donald Trump that would see him avoid extradition to the U.S. if he revealed the source of a leak of documents from the Democratic Party...
Judge blocks Michigan’s ban on transporting voters to polls
LANSING, Mich. — A federal judge has blocked Michigan’s longstanding ban on transporting voters to the polls, ruling it conflicts with U.S. election law. District Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis in Detroit issued an injunction Thursday against enforcing the restriction in November’s presidential election. A form of the prohibition has been...
U.S. curbs WeChat transfers, freezes TikTok as deadline loomsVideo
The U.S. will ban some transactions over the Chinese-owned WeChat app while freezing TikTok’s app starting Sunday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. Ross said Friday that the U.S. will prohibit U.S.-to-U.S. transactions related to WeChat and its parent company Tencent Holdings Ltd. but that will not impact activity in China....
Trump’s vaccine ambitions contradict his own health expertsVideo
President Donald Trump once again promised that a covid-19 vaccine for Americans could be ready within weeks, a timeline faster than has been deemed possible or likely by the scientific agencies overseeing the effort and the companies developing the products. Trump’s optimistic promises have left him in a battle with...
