Judge: Reopen Puerto Rico school cafeterias or face arrest
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A judge on Thursday gave Puerto Rico’s education secretary 24 hours to open all public school cafeterias in the U.S. territory or face arrest as impoverished students struggle to obtain free meals amid the pandemic. The ruling is the latest development in a lawsuit that...
Breonna Taylor police report gives few details, some wrong
LOUISVILLE, Ky.— An incident report released by Louisville Police on the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor is mostly blank, with few details of the incident that spurred days of protests in the city. The report dated March 13, the day of the shooting, cites a police-involved death investigation and identifies...
Police: 7 arrested for vandalizing Columbus statue in MiamiVideo
MIAMI — Seven people have been arrested for vandalizing statues of Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de León in Miami, and one man was charged with smashing a patrol car with his skateboard and trying to incite a riot, the city’s police said. The arrests happened Wednesday after a chaotic...
Newspaper publisher in Missouri resigns after printing racist cartoon
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The publisher of a family-owned Missouri newspaper has resigned after publishing a racist syndicated cartoon depicting a black man stealing a white woman’s purse while hailing funding cuts to police. Bill Miller Sr. on Thursday told The Associated Press he has stepped down as publisher of the...
Pennsylvania adds 467 additional covid-19 cases, 51 more deaths
Pennsylvania officials on Thursday reported 51 more covid-19 deaths and 467 additional cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 77,313, according to health officials. A total of 6,113 people have died from the virus. Approximately 5,888 of the total cases are from health care workers. There are 630...
State officials: Westmoreland adds 1 new covid case, no new deaths
Westmoreland County on Thursday had one new covid-19 case, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 474, according to Pennsylvania health officials. No new deaths from the virus were reported in Westmoreland. State officials continued to report 38 deaths, while county coroner Kenneth Bacha reports 32 deaths as of...
Chicago coronavirus survivor receives double lung transplant
Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus. Northwestern Medicine on Thursday announced the procedure, which took place last Friday. Only a few other covid-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants. The Chicago patient...
Russia welcomes prospect of U.S. troop pullback from Germany
MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed President Donald Trump’s reported plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany, saying it would help bolster security in Europe. Trump has reportedly signed off on a plan to cut the number of troops stationed in Germany from...
Former Baltimore mayor refunds $860K to campaign donors
BALTIMORE — Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is refunding more than $800,000 to campaign donors, months after she was convicted in a case involving the fraudulent sales her self-published children’s books to promote her political career. Pugh’s campaign committee issued checks totaling about $860,000 to more than 1,000 donors last...
Workers fired after black woman denied restroom access
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A business fired two Kentucky workers and issued an apology after a black woman was denied access to a restroom. Liquor Barn said in a statement Wednesday that it terminated the employee who turned the woman away and the general manager of the Louisville store, the Courier...
Police investigate fire at property where group reenacted George Floyd killing, mocked protestVideo
Police are conducting a criminal investigation into a small fire at a Gloucester County, N.J., property where a group of men, including a prison guard and a former FedEx worker, reenacted the killing of George Floyd on Monday, taunting peaceful protesters as they marched by them. On Wednesday, police were...
Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Va.Video
RICHMOND, Va. — Protesters pulled down a century-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the former capital of the Confederacy, adding it to the list of Old South monuments removed or damaged around the United States in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The bronze statue on Richmond’s Monument...
Fitness company apologizes for ‘I can’t breathe’ workout
WAUWATOSA, Wis. — A health club company is apologizing on behalf of a franchisee who posted an “I can’t breathe” workout at a gym in suburban Milwaukee. Photos of the workout instructions drawn on a dry erase board at Anytime Fitness in Wauwatosa were shared widely on social media and...
Thousands without power after storms sweep through MichiganVideo
DETROIT — About 290,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday in Michigan after thunderstorms barreled through the state, downing hundreds of trees and power lines. DTE Energy said about 137,000 of its customers in southeast Michigan were without service as of 6 a.m. after about 90,000 had power restored...
1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits – Jun. 11, 2020Video
WASHINGTON — About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening. The latest figure from the Labor Department marked the 10th straight weekly decline...
Queen Elizabeth takes part in first public video callVideo
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has taken part in her first public video conference call to chat to four carers about the challenges they face looking after people close to them during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of Carers Week in the United Kingdom, the 94-year-old monarch showed once again...
First large covid-19 vaccine test in U.S. on track for JulyVideo
The first experimental covid-19 vaccine in the United States is on track to begin a huge study next month to prove if it really can fend off the coronavirus, its manufacturer announced Thursday — a long-awaited step in the global vaccine race. The vaccine, developed by the U.S. National Institutes...
Stolen Banksy honoring Bataclan victims found in ItalyVideo
L’AQUILA, Italy — Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by the British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. L’Aquila prosecutors said the work was recovered on Wednesday during a search of...
Giant Eagle takes steps ‘to stand up against racism and social injustice’
The Giant Eagle supermarket chain has announced several measures intended “to stand up against racism and social injustice.” Among the moves announced were: • A $350,000 contribution to support social justice causes; • The closure of its Giant Eagle, Market District and GetGo locations Saturday from 7 to 8 a.m....
Jon Ossoff wins Georgia Senate primary; will face Perdue
ATLANTA — Jon Ossoff, a young Georgia media executive known for breaking fundraising records during a 2017 special election loss for a U.S. House seat, beat back a field of Democratic primary opponents to win a spot taking on Republican Sen. David Perdue in November. Ossoff received about 50.5% of...
Jaywalking arrest of 2 black teens in Oklahoma under review
TULSA, Okla. — Authorities in Oklahoma are investigating the arrest of two black teenagers who were accused by white police officers of jaywalking in a Tulsa neighborhood where some areas had patchy sidewalks or no visible footpaths. Tulsa police on Tuesday released two body camera videos of the officers who...
Trump administration proposes sweeping asylum restrictions
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed sweeping restrictions on asylum, seeking to align a legal framework with the president’s efforts to limit immigration to the United States. The moves are only the latest in a series of measures that Trump has taken to limit asylum — this...
Buffalo adops policing changes after protester is hurt
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo will replace its police Emergency Response Team with a new “Public Protection Unit” following the suspension and arrest of two ERT members seen on video shoving a 75-year-old protester who fell and cracked his head, Mayor Byron Brown said Wednesday. The city also will halt arrests...
Disband the police? Camden already did that
CAMDEN, N.J. — When Gabe Rodriguez started as a rookie cop in this impoverished New Jersey city, his training officer gave him a tip. If a comrade radios for backup, just park your patrol car in a vacant lot and let someone else handle it. The police had given up...
House Speaker Turzai to resign from Legislature effective Monday
Pennsylvania State House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, on Wednesday announced he will resign from the General Assembly effective Monday. Turzai, an abortion opponent, strong proponent of state support for charter and religious schools and the state’s energy industry, did not say what the future holds for him beyond the...