Pennsylvania begins coronavirus testing at state-owned lab
A Pennsylvania state laboratory is now able to handle about six tests per day for a new coronavirus that is sickening people across the globe, state health officials said Tuesday. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, said getting test results from the state-run lab in Exton is reducing the...
911 dispatcher in Ohio suspended after refusing to send ambulance to stroke victim
CINCINNATI — An Ohio emergency dispatcher accused of violating several procedures while taking a call about a man who later died from a stroke was suspended. The dispatcher’s suspension was the result of an investigation by Cincinnati’s Emergency Communication Center of a call on Jan. 12, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported....
Tensions rise as U.S. death toll from coronavirus reaches 9
SEATTLE — Tensions over how to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus escalated Tuesday in the United States as the death toll climbed to nine and lawmakers expressed doubts about the government’s ability to ramp up testing fast enough to deal with the crisis. All of the deaths have occurred in Washington...
VA sued over veteran’s death from wrongful insulin injection
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A woman is suing the federal government over the 2018 death of her father from a wrongful insulin injection at a West Virginia veterans hospital. Melanie Proctor filed the lawsuit Monday against Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie. It details a “widespread system of failures” at the Louis...
U.S. Supreme Court debates presidential power on Super Tuesday
The Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with whether to make it easier for the president to fire the head of the agency that enforces federal consumer financial laws, a decision that could ultimately impact a vast range of agencies. The high court was hearing arguments in a case involving the Consumer...
Lawmakers close in on $7.5B bipartisan measure to battle coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are finalizing a $7.5 billion emergency bill to fund the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, in a burst of bipartisan cooperation that’s atypical of today’s Washington. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a caustic critic of President Donald Trump’s handling of the spreading crisis, said he’s expecting a bipartisan...
Publisher pushes back release date for John Bolton’s book
NEW YORK — The publisher of John Bolton’s highly anticipated memoir has pushed back the release date from March 17 to mid-May. Simon & Schuster cited the ongoing government security review of the former national security adviser’s “The Room Where It Happened.” The new date is May 12, the publisher...
Pa. mom gets 9 to 20 years in death of 4-month-old daughter
LANCASTER — A mother has been sentenced to nine to 20 years in prison in the strangulation death of her 4-month-old daughter almost two years ago. Court documents indicate that Candace Parrow, 25, pleaded no contest but mentally ill Monday to criminal homicide, aggravated assault and strangulation. Lancaster County authorities...
Klan group plans another rally in Dayton; mayor upset
DAYTON, Ohio — A Ku Klux Klan group that caused tensions with a rally in Ohio last year has applied to hold another one this year. The Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana recently asked for a permit for a Sept. 5 rally in Dayton. Montgomery County’s administrator said the application...
W.Va. House passes bill making it easier to use solar energy
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It could soon be easier for power companies to use solar energy under a bill passed Tuesday in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Lawmakers voted 75-23 to approve the measure after around an hour of debate that revolved around whether it’s better to focus on coal...
UAW, stung by corruption, seeks $1.3M for vacation home
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers is seeking $1.29 million for the Michigan vacation home of its former president. The Detroit News reports that the home’s design plan included granite counters, stainless-steel appliances, a fireplace, wine cooler and a hidden storage room. It was built for Dennis Williams, who retired...
Mexican accused by U.S. as Russian agent pleads not guilty
MIAMI — A Mexican scientist pleaded not guilty Tuesday to U.S. charges that he spied for Russia in Miami. The plea was entered in a brief hearing by Ronald Gainor, attorney for 35-year-old Hector Cabrera Fuentes. Cabrera stood nearby in chains and a tan jail outfit but did not speak....
State-owned universities offering enhanced retirement program
More than 200 faculty members across Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities have signed on to a retirement incentive program, meeting the threshold required for the plan to go into effect, according to university officials. The incentive was laid out in January as a way to pare the number of employees at...
Biden, Bernie’s Super Tuesday brawl to shape Democratic raceVideo
LOS ANGELES — Millions of voters from Maine to California headed to the polls on Super Tuesday, the delegate-rich prize in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination that’s shaping up as a contest between two starkly different visions for the party’s future as it hurtles toward a November rematch...
2 convicted in slaying of 3-year-old boy on Ohio interstate
TOLEDO, Ohio — Two men face up to life in prison after being convicted in a shooting on Interstate 75 that killed a 3-year-old as his family headed home from a Thanksgiving gathering. A jury on Monday convicted K’veon Giles, 19, and Matthew Smith, 18, of aggravated murder, murder and...
Federal Reserve cuts benchmark rate by half-pointVideo
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half-percentage point in its first emergency rate cut since the Great Recession in response to the spreading coronavirus. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the coronavirus “poses evolving risks to economic activity.” The Fed’s statement Tuesday also said...
Report: U.S. natural gas consumption set record in 2019
Consumption of natural gas, mostly for electric power uses, set a new record in the United States in 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Use of natural gas for the creation of electric power grew by 7% — 2 billion cubic feet per day — but consumption remained relatively...
Israeli exit polls: Netanyahu ahead, but short of majorityVideo
JERUSALEM — Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced an uncertain path to staying in office on Tuesday, even as preliminary results showed his Likud party pulling ahead of its opponents in the country’s third election in less than a year. Exit polls on Israeli TV stations showed Likud and...
UN watchdog: Iran has 3 possible undeclared nuclear sites
VIENNA — The UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran has more than tripled its supply of enriched uranium in the past three months and now has more than a ton stockpiled, in violation of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential...
Consent the key in Spain’s new sex crimes draft bill
MADRID — The Spanish government Tuesday approved a new draft bill on sex crimes that makes consent a key determinant in cases, freeing victims of having to prove that violence or intimidation was used against them. The “Only Yes is Yes” bill comes in the wake of the furor raised...
What to watch as 14 states vote in Super Tuesday primaries
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Democratic presidential candidates are racing toward the biggest day on the primary calendar, when 14 states vote on Super Tuesday. It’s the day when the primary moves from retail to wholesale. Instead of one state voting at a time, candidates have to focus on contests in...
Tornadoes devastate Tennessee, killing at least 25 peopleVideo
NASHVILLE — Rescuers searched through shattered Tennessee neighborhoods for bodies Tuesday, less than a day after tornadoes ripped across Nashville and other parts of the state as families slept. At least 25 people were killed, some in their beds, authorities said. The twisters that struck in the hours after midnight...
Russia freezes bank accounts of opposition leader, familyVideo
MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Tuesday the government has frozen all of his bank accounts, as well as the accounts of his wife, his two children and his elderly parents. In addition, Navalny said that the director of his non-profit Foundation for Fighting Corruption, Ivan Zhdanov, and...
Health Happenings: Week of March 2
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday , Hempfield Township Athletic Complex, 220 Forbes Trail Road, Hempfield — Noon-6:30 p.m. Monday , Charter Oak Church, 449 Frye Farm Road, Unity Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome Classes/programs • Excela Health offers...
Canker sores often go away on their own, are not contagious
Dear Mayo Clinic: Every few months, my teenage son gets canker sores in the back of his throat that really bother him and last for about a week. Is there something that he can do to prevent them? Will this continue throughout his life? Answer: Canker sores rarely pose a...
