Arkansas sheriff quits after racist rant goes viral
DEWITT, Ark. — The sheriff of an Arkansas Delta county resigned Friday under pressure after a recording of a man identified as him delivering a racist rant went viral. Arkansas County Sheriff Todd Wright resigned at the request of the county’s Quorum Court after the Pine Bluff Commercial reported a...
Postal chief DeJoy has long leveraged connections, dollars
WASHINGTON — During its search for a new postmaster general, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors was presented with 53 candidates screened by an outside company. Not on the list: Louis DeJoy, who ultimately got the job. Instead, in what Democrats call a breach of protocol and blatant cronyism,...
Protester killed in Portland as mayor, Trump trade blameVideo
PORTLAND, Ore. — A man who was fatally shot after supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with left-wing protesters on the streets of Portland, Oregon, was a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, its founder said Sunday. Joey Gibson, head of the group based in Washington state, told The...
Super PACs turn to Western Pa. voters for testimonials in presidential contest
On the surface, Janie and Shawn share little beyond their small-town Western Pennsylvania roots. But now, they are sharing 15 minutes of fame, thanks to their testimonials in ads supporting Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Identified only as 82-year-old Janie from Westmoreland, the tiny, blue-eyed woman who sports a halo...
Trump surveys Hurricane Laura damage in post-convention trip
LAKE CHARLES, La. — President Donald Trump got a firsthand look Saturday at the damage from Hurricane Laura on a post-Republican National Convention trip that allowed him to use the trappings of his office to try to project empathy and leadership. His stops, first in Louisiana and later in Texas,...
‘A time to pick up:’ Hurricane-hurt Louisiana begins cleanup
CAMERON PARISH, La. — Residents in southwestern Louisiana embarked Saturday on the epic task of clearing away felled trees, ripped-off roofs and downed power lines after Hurricane Laura tore through parts of the state. The U.S. toll from the Category 4 hurricane rose to 16 deaths, with more than half...
‘7 bullets, 7 days’: Protesters march for Jacob Blake in Kenosha
KENOSHA, Wis. — Roughly a thousand people gathered Saturday in Kenosha for a march and rally against police violence, about a week after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back and left the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed. Marchers chanted “No justice, no peace!” and “Seven bullets, seven days” —...
Weeks without power or water ahead as Laura cleanup begins
LAKE CHARLES, La. — The destructive storm surge has receded, and the clean up has begun from Hurricane Laura, but officials along this shattered stretch of Louisiana coast are warning returning residents they will face weeks without power or water amid the hot, stifling days of late summer. The U.S....
2 soldiers killed in Black Hawk training crash in California
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Two soldiers were killed and three were injured when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training exercise off Southern California’s coast, the Defense Department said Saturday. Staff Sgt. Vincent P. Marketta, 33, of Brick, New Jersey, and Sgt. Tyler M. Shelton, 22, of San Bernardino,...
Shiite Muslims mark holy day of mourning in virus’ shadow
Shiite Muslims are observing the solemn holy day of Ashoura that they typically mark with large, mournful gatherings, in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Ashoura commemorates the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq with the army...
Nurses on NY’s front lines call for minimum staffing ratios
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nurses on the front lines of New York’s covid-19 pandemic are calling for the state to enact minimum staffing standards ahead of another wave of infections. Health care industry leaders, though, warn that passing such a law would saddle facilities with billions of dollars in extra costs...
Nevada man 1st in U.S. to be infected with covid-19 twice, according to study
A Nevada man has become the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with coronavirus for a second time amid similar reports of reinfection out of Hong Kong. The 25-year-old from Reno initially tested positive for the virus in April. He later recovered, but was again diagnosed in...
Pennsylvania reports 843 new coronavirus cases, 16 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 843 new coronavirus cases, as the case count inches slowly upward from yesterday’s 835. The state Department of Health reported 16 new deaths attributed to coronavirus after posting 20 on Friday. Tuesday’s total of 26 was the highest total of the week. The total number of...
Activists see disparate police tactics amid Kenosha protests
KENOSHA, Wis. — Police officers in Kenosha were on alert after days of protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake by one of their colleagues, and they’d recently gotten a tip about “suspicious vehicles” from out of state. So, after watching a group of people fill cans at a gas...
Census, like Post Office, politicized in election year
ORLANDO, Fla. — The postal service isn’t the only staid federal agency to be drawn into a political battle in 2020. Unlike the department charged with delivering mail, however, the U.S. Census Bureau has been here before. It has found itself targeted by politicians repeatedly since it conducted its first...
Trump to head to Louisiana as Hurricane Laura cleanup starts
LAKE CHARLES, La. — The angry storm surge has receded and the clean up has begun from Hurricane Laura, but officials along this shattered stretch of Louisiana coast are warning returning residents they will face weeks without power or water amid the hot, stifling days of late summer. The U.S....
Health experts decry Trump’s shunning of virus rules
WASHINGTON — Public health experts expressed concern Friday about President Donald Trump’s largely mask-free, socially un-distanced Republican convention event on the White House lawn, saying some of his 1,500 guests may have inadvertently brought and spread the coronavirus to others. “There almost certainly were individuals there who were infected with...
Trump, at N.H. rally, sows fears about ‘thugs,’ ‘anarchists’
LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Fresh off accepting the Republican Party’s nomination, President Donald Trump said Friday he was the only thing standing between “democracy and the mob,” as he lashed out at protesters who accosted his supporters as they left the White House the night before. Sowing fear about the implications...
Pa. utility regulators leave moratorium on shutoffs in place
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state utility regulators have effectively extended a moratorium preventing utilities from terminating service to non-paying customers for three more weeks while the state fights the spread of the coronavirus. The four-member panel of two Democrats and two Republicans postponed a vote on Thursday’s agenda until Sept. 17,...
Kenosha police union gives its version of Jacob Blake shooting
MADISON, Wis. — The Kenosha police union on Friday offered the most detailed accounting to date on officers’ perspective of the moments leading up to police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, saying he had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock...
Teen accused of killing 2 in Kenosha thrust into debate over protests
ANTIOCH, Ill. — A white 17-year-old who says he went to protests in Wisconsin to protect businesses and people has become a flashpoint in a debate over anti-racism demonstrations that have gripped many American cities and the vigilantism that has sometimes met them. On Tuesday, Kyle Rittenhouse grabbed an AR-15...
Surge in mail-in ballots could delay election results, so Wolf wants to change the rules
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. HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday unveiled a wishlist of election reforms to address logistical concerns that some county...
Kansas girl’s killer 5th federal inmate executed this year
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A Kansas girl’s killer Friday became the fifth federal inmate put to death this year, an execution that went forward only after a higher court tossed a ruling that would have required the government to get a prescription for the drug used to kill him. Questions...
College towns growing alarmed over covid-19 outbreaks among students
RALEIGH, N.C. — As more and more schools and businesses around the country get the OK to reopen, college towns are moving in the opposite direction because of too much partying and too many COVID-19 infections among students. With more than 300 students at the University of Missouri testing positive...
Man gets 5 years in prison for lottery scam targeting elderly Pennsylvanians
The ringleader of a Jamaican lottery scheme that bilked senior citizens out of millions of dollars will spend more than five years in prison for the scam that spanned not just Pennsylvania but also reached nationwide, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Friday. Kristoff Cain, who went by Patrick Williams, pleaded...
