Transgender bathroom ban heard by federal appeals court
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia school board defended its transgender bathroom ban before a federal appeals court Tuesday, as a transgender man who was barred as a student from using the boys’ bathrooms at his high school argued that the policy discriminated against him and violated his constitutional rights. A...
Philadelphia police break up Memorial Day party of about 200 people in vacant lot
Philadelphia police spent nearly an hour breaking up a group of about 200 people who had gathered in the city’s Brewerytown section to listen to a DJ, 6ABC reported. Police say the crowd got larger as word of the gathering spread on social media, and helicopter footage from the TV...
Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati job fair for veterans goes virtual
More than 30 companies and schools will participate in a virtual job fair for veterans in the Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cincinnati areas this week. Hosted by nonprofit DAV and RecruitMilitary, the free virtual event, set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdayis open to all members of the military community,...
Pittsburgh ranks as 7th best city to start a career
New college grads from Pittsburgh, take heart. While this might be one of the most unfortunate times to be starting a career, those in the Steel City have a slight advantage over their counterparts in other cities. A recent data analysis by LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team finds that Pittsburgh is...
Costa Rica latest country to legalize same-sex marriage
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country’s ban. Couples held ceremonies — mostly private due to the covid-19 pandemic, but some that were broadcast — to celebrate...
Twitter gives Trump a pass on unfounded ‘murder’ allegationsVideo
President Donald Trump is again pushing the limits of Twitter’s attempts to deal with national leaders who spread misinformation and engage in personal abuse, this time with a barrage of baseless tweets suggesting that a television host he has feuded with committed murder. Twitter, which has tried to devise penalties...
New York Stock Exchange reopens as U.S. closes in on 100,000 covid-19 deathsVideo
NEW YORK — The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange reopened Tuesday in a largely symbolic step toward economic recovery, and stocks surged, even as the official U.S. death toll from the coronavirus closed in on 100,000, a mark President Donald Trump once predicted the country would never...
4 Minneapolis police officers fired after death of black manVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Four Minneapolis officers involved in the arrest of a black man who died in police custody were fired Tuesday, hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving. Mayor Jacob Frey...
State police: 2-year-old fatally shot at Pennsylvania home
EAST PENN — A 2-year-old boy was shot and killed at a Pennsylvania home, authorities said. The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon in East Penn, according to state police in Carbon County. The child was taken to a hospital but died there a short time later. No other injuries were reported...
New Jersey man dies after shooting at Pennsylvania hotel
FALLS — A New Jersey man who was shot during a disturbance at a hotel in Pennsylvania has died from his wounds, authorities said. When Falls police responded to the hotel around 1 a.m. Sunday for reports of shots fired, they encountered a large number of people trying to leave...
Minister quits U.K. government over aide’s lockdown breachVideo
LONDON — A junior British government minister quit on Tuesday over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s failure to fire his top aide for allegedly breaching coronavirus lockdown rules. Johnson has stood by Dominic Cummings over his decision to drive 250 miles to his parents’ house at the end of March, despite...
Worker shortage concerns loom in immigrant-heavy meatpackingVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — When Martha Kebede’s adult sons immigrated from Ethiopia and reunited with her in South Dakota this year, they had few work opportunities. Lacking English skills, the brothers took jobs at Smithfield Foods’ Sioux Falls pork plant, grueling and increasingly risky work as the coronavirus sickened thousands...
On Memorial Day, Trump insults Marine Corps veteran Conor Lamb by calling him ‘American fraud’
On Memorial Day, President Trump called Marine reserve officer and Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb an “American fraud” on Twitter. Almost a week before the state’s primary, Trump threw his support toward Sean Parnell, an Army combat veteran from Cranberry, who is running for Lamb’s seat in the 17th Congressional District....
Brazil travel ban set to start on Tuesday
WASHINGTON — A ban on foreign travelers arriving in the United States from Brazil due to the surge in coronavirus cases there will now take effect late Tuesday, two days earlier than previously announced. The ban had been set to go into effect late Thursday. The White House announced the...
NASA astronauts go back to the future with capsule launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It’s back to the future as NASA astronauts launch again from the U.S. — aboard a retro-style “Right Stuff” capsule. Make no mistake: This is not your father’s — or grandfather’s — capsule. SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule outshines NASA’s old Apollo spacecraft in virtually every way....
Ohio’s covid-19 death toll nears 2,000, university students warned
COLUMBUS — The number of confirmed and probable deaths associated with the coronavirus in Ohio is nearing 2,000 total. The Ohio Department of Health said Monday afternoon there have been 1,987 coronavirus-related deaths., an increase of 18 reported in the previous 24 hours. The state health department also reported 32,477...
U.N. virus therapy trial pauses hydroxychloroquine testing because of safety concerns
GENEVA — The World Health Organization said Monday that it will temporarily drop hydroxychloroquine — the anti-malarial drug President Trump says he is taking — from its global study into experimental covid-19 treatments, saying that its experts need to review all available evidence to date. In a press briefing, WHO...
Venezuela celebrates docking of Iranian tanker carrying gasoline
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities celebrated Monday as the first of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline docked in the South American country, delivering badly needed fuel to the crisis-stricken nation that sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves. The gasoline shipments are arriving in defiance of stiff sanctions by...
In Bolsonaro’s Brazil, everyone else is to blame for coronavirusVideo
RIO DE JANEIRO — With Brazil emerging as one of the world’s most infected countries, President Jair Bolsonaro is deflecting all responsibility for the coronavirus crisis, casting blame on mayors, governors, an outgoing health minister and the media. By contrast, he portrays himself as a clear-eyed crusader willing to defend...
Biden makes 1st in-person appearance in more than 2 monthsVideo
NEW CASTLE, Del. — Joe Biden made his first in-person appearance in more than two months on Monday as he marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at a veterans park near his Delaware home. Since abruptly canceling a March 10 rally in Cleveland at the onset of the coronavirus...
Efforts underway to get food from U.S. farms to needy
OMAHA, Neb. — As food banks have struggled to meet soaring demand from people suddenly out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been especially troubling to see farmers have to bury produce, dump milk and euthanize hogs. Now some states are providing more money to help pay...
Pennsylvania records 15 more coronavirus deaths, 473 new cases
Pennsylvania on Monday reported 15 more covid-19 deaths and 473 additional cases, according to the state Department of Health. The state has now had 68,186 total cases and 5,139 deaths. Deaths have been recorded in 54 of the state’s 67 counties, while every county has had a positive case. Nearly...
Car struck by truck at intersection, killing 2 near Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG — Two people were killed when their car was struck by a truck at an intersection in central Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend, authorities said. State police in Adams County say the car was heading north when it was hit by the westbound truck in Union Township just...
Trump threatens to move RNC without assurances from governor
President Donald Trump threatened Monday to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina if the state’s Democratic governor doesn’t immediately sign off on allowing a full-capacity gathering in August despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s tweets about the RNC, planned for Charlotte, come just two days after North...
Police investigating vandalism to Lawrenceville war memorial
Pittsburgh police are investigating vandalism to a Lawrenceville war memorial that happened late Sunday or early Monday. Police responded before 8 a.m. to find the statue at Doughboy Square covered in red paint and a message: “June 19, 1986! Glory to the Day of Heroism!” Police are reviewing available video...
