Strange case of 2 kids who vanished in Idaho takes grim turnVideo
BOISE, Idaho — It was the extended family who grew suspicious first, and then at their urging, local police: Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his 17-year-old sister Tylee Ryan hadn’t been seen in far too long, and their mother wouldn’t give a straight answer about where they were. Soon strangers...
Eastern Pennsylvania fireworks explosion kills 1, injures another
COOPERSBURG — The explosion of two tractor-trailers filled with fireworks, killing one person and injuring another, is under investigation, officials said Wednesday. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents joined state investigators at the scene in eastern Pennsylvania to comb through the trailers and a building that were destroyed by the...
U.S. military rethinking links to Confederate Army symbols
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate Army symbols, mindful of their divisiveness at a time the nation is wrestling with questions of race after the death of George Floyd in police hands. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, both former Army...
Confederate monument in Virginia covered with trash bagsVideo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Protesters in Portsmouth, Va., covered a Confederate monument in the city with trash bags and sheets Wednesday, several hours after the city’s council members had a meeting to figure out ways to relocate it. A white sheet that read “BLM” covered the fence in front of the...
Russia detains managers of plant that spilled fuel in ArcticVideo
MOSCOW — Russian authorities have detained three top managers of an Arctic power plant that leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region. Plant director Pavel Smirnov, chief engineer Alexei Stepanov and his deputy, Yuri Kuznetsov, have been detained on suspicion of violating environmental regulations, the spokeswoman...
Pennsylvania GOP seeks to dismantle Wolf’s shutdown
A Republican proposal that aims to force Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to end the pandemic disaster declaration occupied the Legislature for hours on Tuesday, but its legal impact was disputed. Senate Republicans said the state law that gave Wolf the ability to issue the March 6 declaration also gives lawmakers...
‘He is going to change the world’: Funeral held for George Floyd
HOUSTON — George Floyd was fondly remembered Tuesday as “Big Floyd” — a father and brother, athlete and neighborhood mentor, and now a catalyst for change — at a funeral for the black man whose death has sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice. More than 500...
Video shows prison guard mocking George Floyd killing
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A corrections officer who participated in a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New Jersey in which people reenacted the death of George Floyd was suspended after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video, protesters march along a street Monday...
Body camera: Dying man pleads ‘save me’ during Taser arrest
AUSTIN, Texas — A black man died in custody last year after sheriff’s deputies in Texas repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe, according to recently released police video and documents. Williamson County deputies attempted to pull 40-year-old Javier Ambler over...
Lawyer spits on teen Wisconsin protest organizer, assaults officer, police sayVideo
What began as an argument with protesters has spiraled for a Wisconsin lawyer, who faces charges of battery, disorderly conduct, battery to a law enforcement officer and resisting/obstructing an officer, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The attorney, Stephanie Rapkin, 64, was arrested Saturday because police say she spit on...
Trump administration opposes extending enhanced unemployment benefit
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration opposes a Democratic proposal to extend a $600 per week federal unemployment benefit approved in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said Tuesday. The $600 payment, which is in addition to normal unemployment benefits, “was the right thing to do,” Scalia said,...
VA says it lacks adequate medical gear for 2nd virus wave
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday defended itself against criticism of past shortages of masks and other medical gear to protect employees from the coronavirus but acknowledged its current supplies may not be enough to handle a second wave. Dr. Richard Stone, the top health official at VA,...
BabyNames.com alters homepage to honor black Americans killed by police, fellow citizens
Emmett Till. Walter Scott. Freddie Carlos Gray Jr. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Antwon Rose II. The website BabyNames.com bucked its normal homepage on Tuesday, replacing trending and popular baby names with 107 names of black men and women who have been killed by police or, in some instances, fellow Americans:...
‘Zoombombers’ disrupt Pennsylvania synagogue’s online services with racist, anti-Semitic slurs
“Zoombombers” hurled racist and anti-Semitic slurs during a digital attack on online services held Friday by Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown, according to The Morning Call. Video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom have found a home amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has kept people at home and canceled everything from holidays...
Woman arrested in hit-run that left officer hospitalized
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia woman has been charged with attempted murder after police say she ran over a bicycle officer during the burglaries and vandalism that happened after the first night of protests over the death of George Floyd. Court documents indicate that 41-year-old Angela Hall faces charges of attempted...
Voting delays, long lines bring chaos to Georgia primariesVideo
ATLANTA — Long lines snaked around polling places Tuesday, and some voters faced waits of an hour or longer as Georgia held twice-delayed primary elections with a shortage of poll workers and social-distancing precautions caused by the coronavirus. Widespread problems included trouble with Georgia’s new voting system that combines touchscreens...
Trump pushes conspiracy theory about Buffalo protester
President Donald Trump on Tuesday advanced an unfounded conspiracy theory about a 75-year-old protester in Buffalo, New York, who was pushed down by police officers, tweeting without evidence that the confrontation may have been a “set up.” Trump, who has called himself “your president of law and order,” was once...
Police: Florida man lets 12-year-old drive Jeep 85 mph
JUPITER, Fla. — A Florida man is facing felony charges after police said he let a 12-year-old girl drive his SUV and told her to speed because he wanted to be a “cool father” — even though he is not her dad. Shaun Michaelsen, 41, told the arresting officer Monday...
Amid US tension, Iran builds fake aircraft carrier to attack
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S., the Islamic Republic appears to have constructed a new mock-up of an aircraft carrier off its southern coast for potential live-fire drills. The faux foe, seen in satellite photographs obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, resembles...
Pennsylvania coronavirus death toll tops 6,000; 493 new cases reported
Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday reported 61 more covid-19 deaths and 493 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 76,436, according to health officials. A total of 6,014 people have died from the virus. Nearly 460,000 people have tested negative. Of the total cases, 71% have recovered. Approximately...
U.S. challenges planned expedition to retrieve Titanic’s radio
NORFOLK, Va. — The U.S. government will try to stop a company’s planned salvage mission to retrieve the Titanic’s wireless telegraph machine, arguing the expedition would break federal law and a pact with Britain to leave the iconic shipwreck undisturbed. U.S. attorneys filed a legal challenge before a federal judge...
Allegheny Health Network to allow limited visitors at hospitals
Effective immediately, inpatient, observation, surgery and emergency department patients at Allegheny Health Network hospitals are permitted to have one healthy support person on site during visitation hours. As phased measures are implemented by state and local governments to adapt to evolving conditions of the covid-19 outbreak, AHN on Tuesday announced...
Concealing coronavirus is latest Bolsonaro effort to shore up baseVideo
RIO DE JANEIRO — As the coronavirus claims tens of thousands of lives in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro is focused on ensuring his political survival and mobilizing his far-right supporters to do so. With less than one-third of Brazilians approving Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, and protests against him increasing,...
AG William Barr says Secret Service told Trump to go to White House bunker
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr said that the U.S. Secret Service told Donald Trump to go to a secure part of the White House as large protests unfolded outside, contradicting the president’s account of what happened. “Things were so bad that the Secret Service recommended that the president go...
Tropical Storm Cristobal to merge with new storm system after lashing SouthVideo
Tropical Storm Cristobal could soon renew its strength by uniting with another storm system coming from the west to form one giant cyclone, forecasters say. After drenching much of the South, forecasters now expect the remnants of Cristobal to bring fierce winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms to much of the...
