Trump team wraps impeachment defense with an elephant in the Senate: John BoltonVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s defense team ended its arguments in his Senate trial Tuesday by broadly dismissing the elephant in the room: a leaked firsthand account from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, that the president directly tied aid to Ukraine to his demands for the country to...
W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice, Jerry Falwell Jr. double down on Virginia secession callVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In what they acknowledged is a long-shot bid, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. urged unhappy Virginia counties Tuesday to secede and join a neighboring state where Democrats aren’t in charge. Justice, a Republican in a state where the GOP dominates...
West Newton woman loved arts, crafts and the ocean
Shirley Cantini couldn’t dip her toes in the ocean often enough. “She just loved the beach,” said her daughter, Cindy Achtzehn of Madison. “We went to Myrtle Beach every year when I was younger. And we had a camping group that was my family, my brother-in-law and some good friends....
PETA wants Punxsutawney Phil to retire; Groundhog Club president responds
PETA is suggesting Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog call it a career. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president Bill Deeley on Tuesday morning and asked for Punxsutawney Phil to retire “to a reputable sanctuary and start using a cutting-edge animatronic groundhog...
Powerful earthquake hits between Cuba and JamaicaVideo
HAVANA — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and eastern Cuba on Tuesday, shaking a vast area from Mexico to Florida and beyond, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or heavy damage. The quake was centered 86 miles northwest of Montego Bay,...
Budget deficit to break $1 trillion despite strong economy
WASHINGTON — An annual congressional report says the U.S. budget deficit is likely to burst through the symbolic $1 trillion barrier this year despite a healthy economy. Tuesday’s Congressional Budget Office report follows a burst of new spending last year and the repeal in December of several taxes used to...
Fresh anti-Semitic writings appear in Italian cities, towns
MILAN — Fresh anti-Semitic writings appeared in Italian cities and towns as the country marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, officials said Tuesday. The incidents included a racist placard tacked onto a Democratic Party bulletin board near Vicenza, a swastika in a...
Lawsuit: Winter wonderland is neighbor’s spring nightmare
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — A New Hampshire woman says the operators of a seasonal attraction of ice structures failed to control runoff and flooded her basement with over 15,000 gallons of water — and she worries it will happen again this spring. Kelly Trinkle alleges in a lawsuit against Ice...
Gov. Tom Wolf has $2.2M to help Democrats win Pennsylvania seats
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is renewing his push for his top priorities that have stalled in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature, and the Democrat will have at least a couple million dollars to spend in this year’s legislative elections to try to improve his chances. Wolf’s campaign raised $2.8 million in...
Wienermobile pulled over in Wisconsin for traffic infraction
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Oscar Mayer’s iconic Wienermobile got a grilling from a Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy because the driver of the giant hot dog failed to give enough room to another car on the road with emergency lights. The deputy pulled over the Wienermobile and gave the driver a verbal warning...
New Michigan State student from Iran sent home after landing at airport
EAST LANSING, Mich. — U.S. authorities declined to admit an Iranian graduate student after he landed at an airport to start classes at Michigan State University, an attorney said. Alireza Esfidajani, 27, was stopped Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and interviewed by agents. He was held at a jail in...
Authorities: Florida boy, 9, stabs younger sister with knife
OCALA, Fla. — A 9-year-old boy was taken into custody after he stabbed his 5-year-old sister with a kitchen knife because he said he wanted her to die, authorities in Florida said. The boy stabbed his sister in the back Monday, news outlets reported, citing the Ocala Police Department. When...
Trump to unveil his Middle East peace plan amid skepticismVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set to unveil his administration’s much-anticipated Middle East peace plan in the latest American venture to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Odds of it taking shape are long, given that the Palestinians, effectively cut off by the Trump administration, have preemptively rejected the plan. Moreover,...
Judge rejects Sandusky’s latest request for shorter sentence
BELLEFONTE — A judge flatly rejected Jerry Sandusky’s latest request to have his 30- to 60-year child molestation sentence reduced during a brief hearing Tuesday. Judge Maureen Skerda said she purposely fashioned the prison term to have an impact on the former Penn State assistant football coach and noted Sandusky...
Pakistan gas cylinder explosion kills 11 in perfume factory
LAHORE, Pakistan — A massive explosion and fire triggered by a gas cylinder explosion engulfed a small perfume factory in eastern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, rescuer workers and police said. Two people were also injured in the blast, which caused the roof of the factory to...
Wildfire threatens homes on Australian capital’s outskirtsVideo
CANBERRA, Australia — A wildfire sparked by a military helicopter helping firefighting efforts was blazing out of control and threatening homes on the outskirts of Australia’s capital on Tuesday as fire danger escalated across the country’s southeast. The fire had spread over 19,000 acres since it was started by a...
Puerto Rico opens only 20% of schools amid ongoing earthquakes
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico opened only 20% of its public schools on Tuesday following a strong earthquake that delayed the start of classes by nearly three weeks as fears linger over the safety of students. Only 177 schools were certified to open after engineers inspected them for...
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Dietary supplements useful in some situations, but also can be harmful
Dear Mayo Clinic: Why does my doctor want to know what supplements I’m taking, even if I don’t have any health problems and don’t take more than the recommended amounts? Answer: It’s important to tell your health care provider about any dietary supplements you take. Although you don’t need a...
Health Happenings: Week of Jan. 27
Classes/programs • Excela Health fitness classes for the mind, body and spirit at Westmoreland Hospital,
532 W. Pittsburgh St., Greensburg, unless otherwise noted: — Strength and Tone, 3:30-4:15 p.m. Mondays beginning Feb. 3 — Interval Training, 4:30- 5:30 p.m. Mondays beginning Feb. 3 — Chair Fit, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Mondays beginning...
Grove City College seniors write full-length musical, ‘Antigone & the King’
Grove City College students could be forgiven for not recognizing the name of the musical playing on the Little Theatre of Pew Fine Arts Center at the end of the month. That’s because the full-length musical “Antigone & The King” was written by two Grove City students, Noah Gould and...
Mixed blessing: Social media provides spread of health information, misinformation
Combine the vast power and reach of social media, the unlimited resources of websites and apps, and the unquenchable thirst for health information and motivation. The result is a powerful tool for researchers, health care providers and patients. But like many aspects of the internet, it can be a mixed...
Ben Schmitt: Here’s what I found during my Dry January experience
The concept of Dry January left me a bit wary. I generally savor the post-work beer or cocktail after a long day of juggling breaking news, meetings and headlines. But, like a lot of people, I did my fair share of imbibing over the holiday season. So, after waking Dec....
GOP defends Trump as John Bolton’s book adds pressure for witnessesVideo
WASHINGTON — Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial even as Trump’s lawyers mostly brushed past extraordinary new allegations from the former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate...
China reports 25 more virus deaths as U.S. prepares evacuationVideo
BEIJING — China on Tuesday reported 25 more deaths from a new viral disease, raising the total to at least 106, as the U.S. government prepared to fly Americans out of the city at the center of the outbreak. Health authorities in Hubei province, where the coronavirus first was detected...
State Deptartment removes NPR reporter from Pompeo plane
WASHINGTON — The State Department Correspondents’ Association says the State Department has denied a National Public Radio reporter a seat aboard Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane for an upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia. The decision was made a few days after Pompeo lashed out at another NPR...
