Minneapolis to ban police chokeholds in wake of Floyd deathVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Negotiators for the city of Minneapolis have agreed with the state to ban the use of chokeholds by police and to require police to report and intervene anytime they see an unauthorized use of force by another officer. The moves are part of a stipulation between the city...
UN agency: Iran violating all restrictions of nuclear deal
VIENNA — Iran has continued to increase its stockpiles of enriched uranium and remains in violation of its deal with world powers, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported the finding in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated...
West Virginia governor removes fire commissioner over social media posts
A West Virginia fire commissioner has been removed over “inappropriate and inflammatory” social media posts, Gov. Jim Justice said. Martin Hess was removed Thursday from the West Virginia State Fire Commission after Justice was made aware of various recent posts, the governor said in a statement. The brief statement did...
DC paints huge Black Lives Matter mural near White House
WASHINGTON — City workers and activists painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the the street leading to the White House, a highly visible sign of the District of Columbia’s embrace of a protest movement that has put it at odds with President Donald Trump....
Pennsylvania coronavirus death toll rises by 69
Sixty-nine more people have died from the coronavirus, bringing Pennsylvania’s death toll to 5,886, state Department of Health department officials said Friday. The department reported 443 new cases of the virus, bringing the state’s total case count to 74,385. More than 424,000 people have tested negative. Health officials said more...
Officers suspended after man, 75, is shoved on video, bleeds
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Prosecutors investigated Friday after a television crew captured a police officer in Buffalo shoving a 75-year-old man who then falls and cracks his head, a confrontation that resulted in the suspension of two officers. The video from WFBO of Thursday night’s encounter, which happened near the conclusion...
Stimulus grant adds $30 million to Pennsylvania college aid program
Pennsylvania college students will be eligible for an additional $400 in state grant aid this fall, officials with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) said Friday. State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, vice chairman of the PHEAA board, said an additional $30 millionfrom the federal CARES Act, part of the...
Virginia city removes 176-year-old slave auction block
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — A 176-year-old slave auction block has been removed from a Virginia city’s downtown. The 800-pound stone was pulled from the ground at a Fredericksburg street corner early Friday after the removal was delayed for months by lawsuits and the coronavirus pandemic, The Free Lance-Star reported. The weathered...
Putin chastises Russian tycoon over massive Arctic oil spillVideo
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday chastised the billionaire owner of a nickel giant for negligence over a massive fuel oil spill that has inflicted huge damage on a fragile Arctic region. An estimated 20,000 tons of diesel oil spilled into the Ambarnaya River last Friday from a...
Authorities: Man, 13-year-old girl slain in Akron shooting
AKRON, Ohio — A shooting in a northern Ohio city has left a man and a 13-year-old girl dead. Akron police said the victims were found shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday when officers responded to reports of shots fired. The 24-year-old man and the girl were both pronounced dead at...
7 people found dead inside burning house in Alabama
VALHERMOSO SPRINGS, Ala. — Deputies responding to a call about a shooting in Alabama early Friday found seven people dead inside a home and the house on fire, WHNT-TV reported. Morgan County deputies were able to put out the fire before firefighters got to the scene, and that’s when they...
Deputies investigate cross burning on bridge in Alabama
TUSKEGEE, Ala. — Deputies in Alabama are investigating a cross burning after a wooden cross lit ablaze was found by drivers passing alongside a bridge. The burning cross was first seen stationed on top of a bridge over Interstate 85 in Macon County Thursday night, Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson...
2 Buffalo officers suspended after video shows man apparently shovedVideo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Prosecutors investigated Friday after a television crew captured a police officer in Buffalo shoving a 75-year-old man who then falls and cracks his head, a confrontation that resulted in the suspension of two officers. The video from WFBO of Thursday night’s encounter, which happened near the conclusion...
JC Penney closing 154 stores in 1st post-bankruptcy phase
J.C. Penney said Thursday that it will start closing 154 of its stores next week in what it is calling the first phase of its efforts to shrink its footprint. The Plano, Texas-based retailer said it could take about 10 to 16 weeks to complete the closures. A list of...
Utah man accused of pointing bow and arrow at protesters chargedVideo
A man captured on video aiming a bow and arrow at protesters in Salt Lake City over the weekend was charged Thursday with assault and weapon possession. Brandon McCormick, 57, of Taylorsville, was reportedly pushed to the ground on Saturday after shouting “All lives matter!” and pointing the weapon at...
Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations continue surging in TexasVideo
AUSTIN — Reported coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continued to surge Thursday in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott continues his phased reopening of the state’s economic activity. The Department of State Health Services said 1,649 more cases of covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, were reported to the state...
ACLU sues Trump administration over police force on protesters near White House
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration Thursday, alleging officials violated the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House by police using chemical agents before President Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to take a photo. The...
Emotions run high as anti-lynching bill stalls in SenateVideo
WASHINGTON — A Senate impasse over a widely backed bill to designate lynching as a federal hate crime boiled over on Thursday in an emotional debate cast against a backdrop of widespread protests over police treatment of African Americans. Raw feelings were evident as Sen. Rand Paul — who is...
Wolf calls for police oversight, troopers association calls it an attack on law enforcement
Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday announced his proposals to implement more training, transparency and oversight of Pennsylvania police departments in response to the killing of George Floyd. “We must rise to the challenge, because too many people have lost faith in our public safety institutions, and in our institutions in...
Texas GOP official urged to resign over George Floyd social media post
SAN ANTONIO — The GOP chairwoman of one of Texas’ largest counties faced widespread pressure from her party to resign Thursday for floating a conspiracy theory on social media suggesting that George Floyd’s death was staged. Cynthia Brehm is head of the Bexar County Republican Party in San Antonio. She...
White House tightens security with extra fencing as protests continue in D.C.Video
Extra metal fencing has been installed around the White House on Thursday for protection against recent protests in response of the death of George Floyd. The added fortification is “standard anti-riot fencing and ranges from seven feet to more than nine feet high,” a source from the Secret Service told...
Lancet study on safety of malaria drugs for coronavirus retracted
Several authors of a large study that raised safety concerns about malaria drugs for coronavirus patients have retracted the report, saying independent reviewers were not able to verify information that’s been widely questioned by other scientists. The retraction Thursday in the journal Lancet involved a May 22 report on hydroxychloroquine...
New York Times writers condemn decision to run Sen. Tom Cotton’s op-ed calling for military mobilization
Demonstrations for the civil rights of black Americans that have gripped the country in recent days have spilled into the corridors of the New York Times, as writers protested the publication of an opinion piece calling for the military to be brought in to quell the unrest. Writers from across...
Judge rejects Ponzi king Bernie Madoff’s bid for early release
NEW YORK — Dying Ponzi king Bernard Madoff lost his bid for early release from prison Thursday when the judge who sentenced him to 150 years behind bars said he intended for him to die there and nothing has happened in the last 11 years to change his mind. Judge...
Epidemic of wipes and masks plagues sewers, storm drains
PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a recent briefing on Philadelphia’s coronavirus response with an unusual request for residents: Be careful what you flush. Between mid-March, when the city’s stay-at-home order was issued, and the end of April, most of the 19 sewer and storm water pumping stations in...
