J.C. Penney plans to close more than 240 stores
NEW YORK — J.C. Penney will close almost 30% of its 846 stores as part of a restructuring under bankruptcy protection. The Plano, Texas, retailer said Monday that it plans to close about 192 stores by February 2021, and then 50 additional stores in the year after that. That would...
Pa. revamps coronavirus reporting system as some counties see wide swings; in all, 822 new cases reported
State health officials reported dozens of new coronavirus deaths on Monday as they announced an overhaul in how deaths are reported to the Department of Health and then to the public. The 87 new deaths reported bring the state’s death toll to 4,505. Additionally, 822 new covid-19 cases were reported...
Police: Duo with watermelons on their heads robbed Sheetz in Virginia
Just a couple of melon heads out for a robbery, say the police. On Saturday, the Louisa Police Department in Virginia posted on their Facebook page asking whether anyone had seen two people wearing hollowed out watermelons on their heads who were suspected of stealing from a Sheetz. Yep, that...
Police: 2nd woman dies in car crash into Butler County convenience store
Police say a second woman has died of injuries stemming from the crash of a car into a convenience store in Butler County over the weekend. Officer Conrad Pfeifer of the Middlesex Township police department says 36-year-old Patricia Collins, who was a back seat passenger, was pronounced dead shortly before...
Hundreds evacuated as wildfire threatens homes near Phoenix
PHOENIX — A brush fire that quickly spread to span about 2.3 square miles in the desert hills north of Phoenix early Monday was threatening the town of Cave Creek. The fire came within about 100 yards of houses and forced the evacuation of as many as 150 homes, according...
Supreme Court allows bigger award in 1998 embassy bombing case
The Supreme Court is allowing a bigger award of money to victims of the 1998 bombings by al-Qaida of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Despite the court’s ruling, however, it’s unlikely the victims will ever collect the full amount. The nearly simultaneous truck bombings...
Tropical Storm Arthur hits North Carolina coast with rainVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Arthur moved out to sea Monday after dumping heavy rain on North Carolina as forecasters warned that the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could continue to whip dangerous surf and rip currents for another day or more along the East Coast. The storm...
70 cases of covid-19 at French schools days after reopeningVideo
PARIS — Just one week after a third of French schoolchildren went back to school in an easing of the coronavirus lockdown, there’s been a worrying flareup of about 70 covid-19 cases linked to schools. Some schools were opened last week and a further 150,000 junior high students went back...
Italy opens churches as virus rules dictate how to eat, prayVideo
VATICAN CITY — Italy and the Vatican opened a new phase in the virus crisis Monday, with churches resuming public Masses after a sharp confrontation between the Italian church and state over limits on worshipping in the era of covid-19. Guards in hazmat suits took the temperature of the faithful...
Taliban suicide bomber kills 9 troops in eastern AfghanistanVideo
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber in a stolen military Humvee targeted a base in eastern Afghanistan belonging to the country’s intelligence service early on Monday, killing at least nine members of the force, Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. At least 40 members of the...
China announces $2 billion in virus help at WHO assemblyVideo
GENEVA — China will provide $2 billion over two years to fight the coronavirus pandemic, President Xi Jinping said Monday, rallying around the World Health Organization and its efforts even as the Trump administration has slashed funding for the U.N. health agency. The European Union’s 27-member bloc and other countries,...
Europe reopens widely, seeks to salvage summer vacationsVideo
ATHENS, Greece — Europe reopened more widely Monday, allowing people into the Acropolis in Athens, shops in Italy, markets and museums in Belgium, golf courses in Ireland and beer gardens in Bavaria while its leaders discussed how to salvage Europe’s hallowed summer vacations. As nations carved out a new normal...
Trump aide Peter Navarro claims lockdowns will kill ‘many more’ Americans than covid-19Video
White House economic adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus will “indirectly” kill more people than the virus itself. Navarro said loosening restrictions on businesses is not a “question of lives vs. jobs. What President Trump realized early...
Law enforcement ties, long delay complicate Ahmaud Arbery case
ATLANTA — There was an abundance of evidence when officers arrived at the scene on a February afternoon in coastal Georgia: A man, apparently unarmed, lying on the street, soaked in blood. The suspected shooter, a shotgun, eyewitnesses. And video of the incident. But no arrests were made in the...
As more Texas businesses open, health experts watch and waitVideo
DALLAS — With gyms and more businesses set to reopen Monday, Texas is closer to reaching some of its goals for fighting the coronavirus. The number of daily tests has grown. The percentage of tests that come back positive has shrunk. The state now has 2,000 people in place to...
Canadian acrobatic jet crashes amid pandemic show; 1 deadVideo
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — A Canadian acrobatic jet crashed into a British Columbia neighborhood Sunday during a flyover intended to boost morale during the pandemic, killing one crew member, seriously injuring another and setting a house on fire. Video appeared to show at least one person ejecting. The crash left...
Pandemic claims another retailer: 118-year-old J.C. Penney
NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the storied but troubled department store chain J.C. Penney into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth major retailer to meet that fate. As part of its reorganization, the 118-year-old company said late Friday it will be shuttering some stores. It said...
Johnstown man dies after late-night shooting
A Johnstown man died early Sunday after being shot in the Coopersdale Homes neighborhood, investigators said. Armel Joe, 26, was shot once in the abdomen just after 1 a.m. He was taken by ambulance to Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, where the West End man died in the emergency room 30...
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse criticized for telling students China is to blame for covid-19
FREMONT, Neb. — U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse’s attempt at humor during a speech at a Nebraska high school’s online commencement — which included jokes about students’ fitness and psychologists and also blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak — drew strong criticism. The Republican senator’s speech on Saturday was panned by...
Ohio governor vows action if establishments don’t restrain crowds
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said officials will do “whatever we have to do” to enforce social distancing and other protective measures if bars and restaurants fail to restrain crowds as the state eases coronavirus measures. DeWine said he had seen images of a packed Columbus restaurant-bar over...
Investigators open criminal probe into Los Angeles explosionVideo
LOS ANGELES — Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s major crimes division were working with the city Fire...
Gov. Cuomo takes coronavirus test in bid to encourage New Yorkers to do sameVideo
NEW YORK — Claiming some New Yorkers are reluctant to seek coronavirus tests, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday took one himself on live national television. “There is a general proclivity where … some people just don’t like to go to the doctor and don’t like to get tested,” he said...
In Detroit, New York City, kindness comes one slice of pizza at a timeVideo
NEW YORK — Before the pandemic, Shalinder Singh spent Sundays at his gurdwara, helping serve a community meal for 300 people or more at the Sikh place of worship in suburban Detroit. Now, he’s all about pizza. Singh and his family have paid for and delivered hundreds of pies to...
Kelly Loeffler’s campaign hoped for a reset. But senator’s stocks came under new scrutiny
WASHINGTON — Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign was seeking a reset after a rocky first few months in the Republican’s tenure as a Georgia senator. Instead, an FBI investigation of a fellow senator suddenly placed Loeffler’s own stock sales front and center again. Even before that development, several high-placed Republicans had...
Coronavirus vaccine within a year is ‘far from a sure thing,’ expert warnsVideo
WASHINGTON — A coronavirus vaccine by year’s end is possible, but not something to “bank on,” a leading public health expert warned Sunday as the Trump administration continued to push for swift business reopenings in a bid to revive the battered U.S. economy. Aides to President Donald Trump have touted...
