‘Strong’ after shooting, El Paso now vulnerable to virus
EL PASO, Texas — Inked on skin and hashtagged on social media, the words “El Paso Strong” united city residents after a mass shooting at a Walmart last year. As COVID-19 took hold in El Paso, government officials have tried to repurpose the slogan, much like “Don’t mess with Texas,”...
Spain’s far-right holds car protest against virus lockdown
Several thousand followers of Spain’s far-right Vox party gathered Saturday in their cars and on motorbikes in the center of Madrid and other Spanish cities to protest the Spanish government’s handling of the nation’s coronavirus crisis. The party accuses the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of lying about...
‘Last responders’ seek to expand postmortem COVID-19 testing in unexplained deaths
Examining dead bodies and probing for a cause of death is rarely seen as a heroic or glamorous job. Rather, as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, all eyes have been on the medical workers and public health disease detectives fighting on the front lines — and sometimes giving their lives...
Allies: Ex-Detroit mayor to be released from prison early
DETROIT — Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is being quarantined at a federal prison while awaiting a likely release in June, which would be years before he was scheduled to finish his 28-year sentence for corruption, a pastor said Friday. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons declined to comment about Kilpatrick,...
US warns Los Angeles stay-at-home extension could be illegal
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday warned the mayor of Los Angeles and the county’s top health officer that an extension of the coronavirus stay-at-home order may be unlawful. The vague letter sent to Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer did...
Vermont ER doctor charged with child porn, hiding camera in bathroom
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A former emergency room doctor at Vermont’s largest hospital who was charged last month with setting up a video camera in a staff bathroom is now facing federal child pornography charges. Eike Blohm, 38, of South Burlington appeared in court Friday where he was ordered held pending...
Judge orders Los Angeles to move thousands of homeless
LOS ANGELES — A judge on Friday ordered Los Angeles city and county to move thousands of homeless people living near freeways after an agreement on a plan fell through. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction requiring the relocation, by Sept. 1, of an estimated...
NASA’s newest test pilots are veteran astronauts, friends
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The two astronauts who will test drive SpaceX’s brand new rocketship are classmates and friends, veteran spacefliers married to veteran spacefliers, and fathers of young sons. Together, they will end a nine-year drought for NASA when they blast into orbit next week from Florida’s Kennedy Space...
Will virus keep Florida spectators from astronaut launch?
ORLANDO, Fla. — In ordinary times, the beaches and roads along Florida’s Space Coast would be packed with hundreds of thousands of spectators, eager to witness the first astronaut launch from Florida in nine years. In the age of coronavirus, local officials and NASA are split on whether that’s a...
As Pennsylvania clarifies coronavirus reporting, health experts call process into question
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday took the first step to clarifying its reporting process for coronavirus test results, which infectious disease experts say has muddied the picture of the outbreak in the state. Pennsylvania was among several states that combined two types of test results, according to a...
Prosecutor to drop charge against Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky prosecutor is moving to dismiss an attempted murder charge against the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who shot a police officer as they entered Taylor’s home. Tom Wine, Louisville’s top prosecutor, announced Friday that the case needs more investigation and he wants to let state and...
DA: Long Island man confesses to fatally stabbing dad during Zoom call
NEW YORK — A Long Island man suspected of fatally stabbing his father on a live Zoom call confessed to the caught-on-camera killing after police found him trying to wash blood off his body with Dr. Pepper, prosecutors said Friday. Thomas Scully-Powers, 32, was arraigned via video and ordered jailed...
Chicago will cautiously reopen in early June, mayor says
CHICAGO — The city of Chicago is on pace to begin cautiously reopening and ease restrictions on certain activities in early June, with outdoor dining at restaurants, barber shops, non-lakefront park buildings and libraries slated to resume limited business, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday. If safety measures can be put...
South Carolina girl, 11, says racism behind white woman’s assault
An 11-year-old African American girl from South Carolina said she didn’t think a white woman who accused her of stealing mail was being racist until the woman’s husband told the girl that if she were “a different type,” things would have turned out differently. Elizabeth Shirey, 38, was charged with...
Pennsylvania prepares for subdued second year of hemp growing
Pennsylvania farmers have lowered their expectations as they prepare for a second year of growing hemp. “Everybody went into this thinking they were going to make a million dollars, and that crashed real quick,” said Lee Ralph, who lives in Robinson Township and owns Full Circle Fields in Venango County....
Trump deems churches ‘essential,’ calls for them to reopen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he has deemed churches and other houses of worship “essential” and called on governors across the country to allow them to reopen this weekend, even as some parts of the nation remain under coronavirus lockdown. “Today I’m identifying houses of worship —...
Lawrence County among those going to green phase of reopening
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday he is easing some pandemic restrictions in Philadelphia and the heavily populated suburbs on June 5, while lifting them almost entirely in 17 rural counties next week as Pennsylvania continues to emerge from a shutdown imposed nearly two months ago to help slow...
Pennsylvania prisons plan to loosen coronavirus-related restrictions
The Secretary of Corrections on Friday laid out the state prison system’s plan to gradually step down pandemic-related restrictions and talked about factors he said led to outbreaks in some prisons and not others. John Wetzel, head of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, also said the state’s criteria for granting...
Cornavirus pandemic claims another victim: Robocalls
Have you been missing something amid the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders? No, not human contact. Not even toilet paper. Robocalls. Industry experts say robocalls are way down — scam calls as well as nagging from your credit-card company to pay your bill. The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted millions of job...
When should New York City reopen? Gov. Andrew Cuomo: It’s my call
NEW YORK — New York City’s mayor unveiled a new set of data thresholds Friday to help determine when to loosen restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, but his frequent political sparring partner, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, later said it will be up to the state — not the city —...
115 new coronavirus deaths reported in PennsylvaniaVideo
Pennsylvania reported more than 100 new coronavirus-related deaths Friday, bringing the overall death toll to just under 5,000. With the addition of 115 deaths, the statewide total now stands at 4,984. State health officials recorded 866 new cases of the virus throughout the day Thursday, pushing the running case count...
Iran leader says Israel a ‘cancerous tumor’ to be destroyedVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader on Friday called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed” in an annual speech in support of the Palestinians, renewing threats against Iran’s archenemy in the Middle East. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s speech marked a subdued Quds Day for...
Biden: If you can’t choose me over Trump, ‘you ain’t black’Video
ATLANTA — Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, had a testy exchange with a prominent black radio personality on Friday over his support among black voters and his potential running mate. Charlamagne Tha God pressed Biden on reports that he is considering Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is white,...
Putin says coronavirus situation in Russia stabilized
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Friday the coronavirus outbreak in Russia has begun to abate, creating a positive environment for easing restrictions, as officials defended the country’s data on deaths against claims they were being under-reported. Speaking during a video conference with top officials, Putin pointed at the decreasing...
In Mexico City, experts find bones of dozens of mammoths
MEXICO CITY — Archaeologists have found the bones of about 60 mammoths at an airport under construction just north of Mexico City, near human-built ‘traps’ where more than a dozen mammoths were found last year. Both discoveries reveal how appealing the area — once a shallow lake — was for...
