U.S. judge dismisses lawsuit over transgender pronoun dispute
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A judge dismissed a professor’s lawsuit against a small, public university in Ohio that rebuked him for not addressing a transgender student using the student’s preferred gender terms. Nicholas Meriwether’s federal lawsuit alleged that Shawnee State University officials violated his rights by compelling him to speak in...
5 firefighters injured battling Pa. apartment building blaze
RED LION — Authorities say five firefighters were injured battling a blaze at an apartment building in Pennsylvania. Crews were called to the Hilltop Apartments in Red Lion at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday and quickly extinguished a basement fire, York County officials said. But fire crews then realized that the...
U.K. issues severe flood warnings; storm injures 9 in Germany
LONDON — Britain issued severe flood alerts Monday, warning of life-threatening danger after Storm Dennis dumped weeks’ worth of rain in some places. One woman swept away by the floodwaters was feared dead. To the east, Dennis’ gale-force winds also injured nine people in car accidents in Germany as trees...
SWAT team fatally shoots murder suspect after standoff in Florida
POINCIANA, Fla. — A Florida SWAT team fatally shot a murder suspect early Monday after investigators say he pulled a gun on them after barricading himself inside a house. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his SWAT team first shot Rudy “Shorty” Arenas, 40, with beanbag guns to knock him...
Televangelist, ex-pastor settle lawsuit alleging sex abuse
AKRON, Ohio — A confidential settlement was reached in a former Ohio megachurch pastor’s lawsuit alleging televangelist Ernest Angley sexually abused and harassed him over a decade, starting in 2004. The allegations by Brock Miller, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., included that Angley forced him to get a vasectomy, inspected his...
One thing unites establishment Democrats: Fear of Bernie Sanders
LAS VEGAS — A growing number of Democratic lawmakers, union officials, state leaders and party strategists agree that Bernie Sanders is a risky nominee to put up against President Donald Trump. There’s less agreement about whether — and how — to stop him. Critics of the Vermont senator, who has...
Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapon ban
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal. Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew...
Ex-South African leader F.W. de Klerk sorry for apartheid comment
JOHANNESBURG — Former South African president F.W. de Klerk on Monday apologized and withdrew his statement that the country’s former harsh system of racial separation known as apartheid was not a crime against humanity. De Klerk, the last president under apartheid, caused an uproar with the comment during an interview...
Suicide bomber in Pakistan kills 8 at Islamist rally
QUETTA, Pakistan — A powerful suicide bombing killed eight people and wounded 16 others in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province on Monday, local police said, when it struck an Islamist rally in the regional capital. Police said the blast went off near Quetta’s press club, where dozens of supporters for a...
Trading quarantines amid virus concerns, Americans from cruise land in U.S.Video
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at military bases in California and Texas overnight, starting the clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers don’t have the new virus that’s been spreading in Asia. A plane carrying American passengers touched...
Exes’ reported driveway shootout kills stuntwoman, husbandVideo
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — An Ohio man who fatally shot his ex-wife and her husband indicated they ambushed him and his current wife in the driveway of their luxury home and a shootout erupted. Authorities responding to the property near Yellow Springs after the gunfire Wednesday morning found Hollywood stuntwoman...
Topless protesters storm stage as Bernie Sanders campaigns in Nevada
A group of protesters blew their tops — literally — as Sen. Bernie Sanders was campaigning Sunday in Carson City, Nev. The Democratic presidential hopeful had just finished introducing his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders as “the next First Lady” when a woman walked up to the mic and started rambling...
Costa Rica seizes 5 tons of cocaine headed for Netherlands
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rican officials say they have seized more than 5 tons of cocaine, the largest such haul in the Central American country’s history. The Public Security Ministry said the 11,128 pounds of cocaine were found Saturday evening in a shipping container at the Caribbean port...
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton claims coronavirus is Chinese biological warfareVideo
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton suggested Sunday that the coronavirus is a biological weapon that was manufactured by the Chinese military. Cotton claimed on the show, “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News that the Chinese government is “still lying” about the virus that has killed more than 1,600 citizens. More than...
Trump takes Daytona 500 warmup lap in presidential limousineVideo
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump gave an election-year embrace to NASCAR and its fans Sunday when he became the second president ever to attend the Daytona 500. The presidential motorcade took to the track to join in a warm-up lap after he had told the crowd that the...
Attorney threatens to sue Lt. Gov. Fetterman over blocking users on Twitter
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has seven days to apologize to two men over blocking them on Twitter, according to the attorney who is representing them. Sean M. Guay, of Hummelstown, and Jason Lindemuth, of Harrisburg, hired Marc Scaringi to represent them. They say they have a First Amendment Right...
At a Pa. Catholic seminary, hope for church beyond scandals
WYNNEWOOD, Pa. — The seminarians walk along a hallway lined with photos of classes of priests who came before them. Some are pious alumni who have become their teachers and mentors; others climbed the Catholic hierarchy to be revered as bishops and cardinals. But there are others: Raymond Leneweaver, Class...
Hunker man remembered for devotion to children, ingenuity
There pretty much wasn’t anything Paul Patterson wouldn’t do for his children and grandchildren. Even while working third shift at Robertshaw Controls and driving a school bus during the day, he made time to attend his daughters’ dance recitals and band competitions. “He was always with us, doing things with...
Americans on quarantined ship in Japan to be flown home
TOKYO — The U.S. says Americans aboard a quarantined cruise ship will be flown home on a chartered flight Sunday, but they will face another two-week quarantine. About 380 Americans are aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has docked at Yokohama, a port city southwest of Tokyo. So far,...
Taliban deal promising but not without risk, Pentagon chief Esper says
MUNICH — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk but “looks very promising.” Ahead of a formal announcement of the seven-day “reduction in violence” deal,...
U.K. faces another fierce storm; 2 found dead in rough seas
LONDON — Rescuers pulled two male bodies from rough seas off the coast of southeast England and military personnel mobilized to help build flood barriers Saturday as Britain braced for a second straight weekend of stormy weather. The fourth named storm of the season, dubbed Dennis by Britain’s Met Office...
Week 4 of Weinstein trial: Closing arguments, two universes
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein grinned as he left court, and his lawyers said he was confident heading into what could be his last weekend of freedom as his New York City rape trial moves closer to a verdict. Jurors are set to start deliberating Tuesday, their task put off...
Mating snakes prompt closure of part of Florida park
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida city shut down a section of a lake Thursday after receiving reports of swarming snakes. Turns out, the slithery creatures were just celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early. The Lakeland Parks & Recreation department wrote on its Facebook page that a group of non-venomous water...
Police: 14-year-old held in Barnard College student death
NEW YORK — A 14-year-old has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a Barnard College student in a park during a robbery in December, a crime that rattled New York City residents, authorities said Saturday. Rashaun Weaver has been indicted by a grand jury and was taken into custody...
Shift to digital census raises fear of Iowa-like breakdown
ORLANDO, Fla. — The stakes are high when a major civic exercise involves a large population, new technology that has not been thoroughly tested and an entire country waiting on the results. Just ask the organizers of the Iowa caucuses, which offered a cautionary tale on the technological woes that...
