Clarifying the carrot confusion
My recent column on carrots brought these letters. And they piqued my curiosity to get more information: Q: I just finished a column by you about carrots in the Fredericksburg Virginia Free Lance Star. I always wondered about baby carrots. Now that you have confirmed that they are cut regular...
Health Happenings: Week of Feb. 24
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 2-6 p.m. today , Brush Valley VFD, 5540 Route 259 Highway, Homer City — 12:30-6 p.m., Friday, Excela Square at Latrobe, 100 Excela Health Drive — 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, St. Michael’s Orthodox Church, 1182 Ashland St., Greensburg...
Unity woman was caring person who loved children, loved pets
Rachael Johnston of Unity had a loving heart, taking care of children in her work and babysitting relatives and loving pets — both cats and dogs. “I knew her as a very gentle, loving person. She got along very well with kids and pets,” said her uncle, Herman Lagally of...
U.S. appeals court upholds Trump rules involving abortions
SEATTLE — In a victory for the Trump administration, a U.S. appeals court on Monday upheld rules that bar taxpayer-funded family-planning clinics from referring women for abortions. The 7-4 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned decisions issued by judges in Washington, Oregon and California. The court...
Trump administration rules on abortion referrals upheld by appeals court
SEATTLE — In a victory for the Trump administration, a U.S. appeals court on Monday upheld rules that bar taxpayer-funded family-planning clinics from referring women for abortions. The 7-4 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned decisions issued by judges in Washington, Oregon and California. The court...
UnitedHealthcare tackles homelessness as a root cause of poor health
PHILADELPHIA — Purvis Wright’s health, and life, were spiraling out of control. Wright went to the hospital in July 2018 after a spate of blackouts and throwing up blood. “It was all downhill,” Wright said this month. “I wound up with my eight or nine different sicknesses all at once.”...
Monongahela native, Purdue president wants civics test as graduation requirement
Let’s hope they paid attention in high school civics. If students at Purdue University didn’t master civics back then, they might find themselves in a bit of a bind. Inside Higher Ed, a publication that follows higher education, is reporting Purdue President Mitch Daniels wants to make a passing grade...
White House unveils $2.5B emergency coronavirus request
WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent budget request for $2.5 billion to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets. The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment, and protective equipment. The...
Pennsylvania launches webpages to school voters on new procedures
State officials are making good on a promise to get out the word about Pennsylvania’s new voting systems — at least online. On Monday, three weeks before the new date when voters may apply for a no-excuse absentee ballot, the Pennsylvania Department of State launched a new website (www.votespa.com/readytovote), complete...
Louisiana Judge Jessie LeBlanc apologizes for racial slurs in text messagesVideo
NAPOLEONVILLE, La. — A Louisiana judge has apologized for using racial slurs in angry text messages, which she now admits she sent during an argument with her lover in an extramarital affair. District Judge Jessie LeBlanc told WAFB-TV in an interview Sunday that she admits using a slur to describe...
Girl, 11, brings AR-15 to Idaho hearing on gun legislation
BOISE, Idaho — An 11-year-old girl toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon appeared Monday with her grandfather, who is supporting legislation that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits. Charles Nielsen addressed the committee that voted to send the...
Joe Biden predicts South Carolina win as Democrats grapple with Bernie Sanders
HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Joe Biden expressed confidence on Monday that he would win this weekend’s South Carolina primary as he and other Democrats fight to loosen front-runner Bernie Sanders’ grip on the party’s 2020 presidential nomination. Opening the most critical week of his campaign, Biden said he would win...
Kobe Bryant’s widow sues helicopter operator for deaths
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant’s widow sued the owner of the helicopter that crashed in fog and killed the former Los Angeles Lakers star and their 13-year-old daughter last month as she publicly mourned their deaths Monday in an emotional public ceremony. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant...
Chocolate bar ends hostage situation in Irish prison
Chocolate can do great things. The latest amazing attribute of the sweet treat: peacekeeper. Media outlets in Ireland, including the Irish Post, report that a five-hour standoff with hostages at Midlands Prison in Ireland was brought to a peaceful end when one of two inmates agreed to trade his weapons...
Harvey Weinstein found guilty in landmark #MeToo moment
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday at his sexual assault trial, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement. He was found guilty of criminal sex act for assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006 and third-degree rape...
Pioneering black NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson has diedVideo
HAMPTON, Va. — NASA says Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who worked on NASA’s early space missions and was portrayed in the film “Hidden Figures,” about pioneering black female aerospace workers, has died. In a Monday morning tweet, the space agency said it celebrates her 101 years of life and her...
Palestinians fire rockets at Israel; Netanyahu threatens war
JERUSALEM — Gaza militants resumed their intense bombardment of southern Israel on Monday, with some rockets slipping through Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and one landing in the yard of a kindergarten. There was no word of casualties, but the second day of violence threatened to unleash a new round...
Car hits crowd at German carnival; several injured
BERLIN — A car drove into a crowd at Carnival procession in a German town on Monday, injuring several people, police said. A large number of police are at the scene in Volkmarsen, about 175 miles southwest of Berlin, and the driver was arrested, Northern Hesse police said. Local media...
Canadian police move to clear indigenous protest in Ontario
TORONTO — Canadian police moved on Monday to clear an indigenous rail blockade in Ontario that has crippled freight and passenger rail traffic in most of eastern Canada for nearly three weeks. Ontario Provincial Police arrested some protesters on Tyendinaga Mohawk territory near Belleville, Ontario, east of Toronto. Demonstrators have...
Weinstein jury back to work with signs of split over chargesVideo
NEW YORK — Jurors at Harvey Weinstein’s New York City rape trial are set to resume deliberations Monday after signaling they are at odds on the top charges in the closely watched #MeToo case. The jury sent a note to Judge James Burke at the end of a fourth day...
Former French prime minister and wife go on trial for fraudVideo
PARIS — He was the front-runner to be president of France. Instead, former Prime Minister Francois Fillon is going on trial to face fraud charges after he used public funds to pay his wife and children for work they allegedly never performed. The trial formally began Monday in the presence...
Porn actors face fingerprinting under proposed California bill
Porn — er, adult film — actors would be required to be fingerprinted and licensed in order to work in the industry in California, if a new bill is adopted. That’s after washing their hands, we’re assuming. NBC News reports the proposal, AB 2389, would call for any actor to...
Virus pushes beyond Asia, taking aim at Europe, Mideast
SEOUL, South Korea — The new virus took aim at a broadening swath of the globe Monday, with officials in Europe and the Middle East scrambling to limit the spread of an outbreak that showed signs of stabilizing at its Chinese epicenter but posed new threats far beyond. Worldwide, the...
U.S. sets out case for extradition of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
LONDON — The U.S. government began outlining its extradition case against Julian Assange in a London court on Monday, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder is not a free-speech champion but an “ordinary” criminal who put many lives at risk with his secret-spilling. U.S. authorities want to try Assange on espionage...
India pours on the pageantry with colorful welcome for Trump
AHMEDABAD, INDIA — Basking in adulation from a massive, colorful crowd, President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lavished each other with praise Monday in a reaffirmation of U.S.-India ties as the subcontinent poured on the pageantry in a joyful welcome for the U.S. president. Trump capped his...
