Rules set, Senate to hear case for pulling Trump from officeVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate was poised to hear opening arguments Wednesday in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, with Democratic House managers set to make their case that Trump abused power and should be removed from office. After late-night deliberations over the rules that will govern the process, the trial...
Republicans reject subpoenas as impeachment debate goes on
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate plunged into President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Tuesday with Republicans abruptly abandoning plans to cram opening arguments into two late-night sessions and Democrats arguing for more witnesses to expose Trump’s “trifecta” of offenses. The turn of events was a setback for Republican Senate leader...
Bloomberg calls for Trump’s removal in new impeachment ad
NEW YORK — Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg launched a new impeachment-focused television ad Tuesday urging the Senate to remove President Donald Trump from office. The ad will run in 27 states, including states represented by vulnerable Republican senators, and be Bloomberg’s only ad on television in the next few...
Neighbor wanted Hawaii cop killing suspect evicted years ago
HONOLULU — A next-door neighbor of a handyman accused of stabbing a woman and fatally shooting two Hawaii police officers said he was assaulted by the suspect years ago and wanted him evicted from their upscale neighborhood near Waikiki Beach. Warren Daniel, who lived next to Jaroslav “Jerry” Hanel and...
McConnell backs off, abruptly eases some Trump trial rules
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate plunged into President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Tuesday with Republicans abruptly abandoning plans to cram opening arguments into two late-night sessions and Democrats arguing for more witnesses to expose Trump’s “trifecta” of offenses. The turn of events was a setback for Republican Senate leader...
Pat Toomey’s ‘candy desk’ sates sweet-toothed senators
As the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump begins this week, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, has an important task — making sure his fellow senators have plenty of sugar. The Morning Call reported on the history of the Senate ‘candy desk,’ a tradition started by Sen. George Murphy of...
Michigan lawmaker says Sen. Peter Lucido harassed her at orientationVideo
LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan lawmaker alleged Tuesday that a fellow legislator sexually harassed her during a Capitol orientation 14 months ago, coming forward a week after a young female reporter said the same senator made a sexist comment to her before a group of high school boys. Sen. Mallory...
Mexico begins flying, busing migrants back to HondurasVideo
CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico — Hundreds of Central American migrants who waded across a river into Mexico in hopes of eventually reaching the U.S. were sent back to their homeland or retreated across the border Tuesday after Mexican troops blocked their way. Fewer than 100 remained in the no-man’s land along...
Art competition aims to raise awareness about ticks, Lyme disease in Pa.
Pennsylvania residents were afflicted with about 10,000 cases of Lyme disease in 2018, according to the state health department, and if a child’s drawing is enough to prevent even one, it’s worth the effort. “Ticks that cause Lyme disease are everywhere, which is why it is so important to know...
Police: Father tackled son’s opponent during wrestling match in North CarolinaVideo
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A North Carolina man has been charged with assault after he charged onto the mat at a high school wrestling match and tackled his son’s opponent. Barry Lee Jones, of Harrisburg, was charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct on Saturday, according to Kannapolis Police Department records....
Pennsylvania judge ends halt to police seizures of cash-paying games
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday lifted a month-old halt to police seizures of a prominent brand of cash-paying video machines while the courts consider whether the devices are legal under state law. Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler denied the request to continue an injunction sought by the Williamsport-based...
Washington man is 1st in U.S. to catch new virus from ChinaVideo
SEATTLE — The U.S. on Tuesday reported its first case of a new and potentially deadly virus circulating in China, saying a Washington state resident who returned last week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle. The man, identified only as a Snohomish County resident is in his 30s,...
Indian couple’s wedding canceled after bride’s mom, groom’s dad elope
There are many ways to upstage a wedding. Maybe two guests wearing the same dress. Perhaps too much open bar action. Or, you could upstage one wedding with another. Seems like that’s what happened recently in Surat, a city in western India. The Times of India reports a couple’s planned...
New Jersey law bans sale of flavored vaping productsVideo
TRENTON, N.J. — The sale of flavored vaping products is banned in New Jersey under legislation Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed Tuesday. Murphy signed the measure that moved to his desk amid a nationwide scare last year over mysterious illnesses linked to vaping. The ban will take effect in April....
Watch live: Sen. Mitch McConnell abruptly eases impeachment limitsVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly eased his restrictive proposed rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial , backing off the condensed two-day schedule to add a third for opening arguments after protests from senators, including Republicans. The trial quickly burst into a partisan fight at the Capitol...
Mexico homicide rate edges up in 2019; rate of rise slows
MEXICO CITY — The number of homicides in Mexico rose to 35,588 in 2019, but the rate of annual increase in murders has slowed, according to government figures. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said crime and violence are the toughest challenges he faces. But on Tuesday, he said corruption...
Police: Dad strangles coyote to defend family under attack
EXETER, N.H. — A coyote attacked a pair of dogs, bit a woman and skirmished with a vehicle before being killed by a father defending his family on a walk Monday, police said. The same coyote is likely connected to three attacks that happened relatively close together and throughout the...
Ex-waitress sentenced in $420K slot machine scam at Mohegan Sun in Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE — A former cocktail waitress at a Pennsylvania casino has been sentenced for her role in a $420,000 slot machine scam. Rochelle Poszeluznyj, 39, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation with the first six months on house arrest, The Morning Call reported. Poszeluznyj pleaded guilty to a...
Hillary Clinton says ‘nobody likes’ Bernie SandersVideo
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton says “nobody likes” her former presidential rival Bernie Sanders, even as the Vermont senator remains entrenched among the front-runners in the Democratic race, with the Iowa caucus beginning in less than two weeks. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday, Clinton was asked about...
Phoenix police: 3 children found dead, mother arrested
PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing her three children after they were found dead inside the family home, authorities said Tuesday. The 22-year-old mother, whose name has not been released, “has admitted to harming her three children, which caused their demise,” Sgt. Mercedes Fortune...
Authorities: Man fatally shot in botched Erie drug deal robbery
ERIE — A reputed drug deal that turned into a botched robbery ended with a man fatally shot and charges filed against several people, authorities said. Three men and a woman had arranged to meet with the man on Sunday under the guise of buying marijuana from him, Erie police...
Police fatally shoot man who held frying pan, cleaver
DENTON, Texas — A police officer in north Texas fatally shot a man at an apartment complex early Tuesday after the man refused to drop a frying pan and cleaver that he was holding, officials said. One officer was stabbed in the melee but officials said the injuries aren’t life-threatening....
Trump lauds U.S. economy in Davos, says little on climate change
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday that he’s led a “spectacular” turnaround of the U.S. economy and urged the world to invest in America, but had little to say about climate change issues that are a focus of this year’s gathering of top business and political leaders in...
What to watch for as Trump impeachment trial takes off
WASHINGTON — Senators like to float above messy politics in what’s known by some as the dignified “upper chamber,” home of Congress’ cooler heads and lofty rhetoric. But as a court of President Donald Trump’s impeachment, the Senate beginning Tuesday might seem more like the economy cabin of an oversold...
Health Happenings: Week of Jan. 20
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: —12:30-5 p.m. Thursday, Ascension Church, 621 Division St., Jeannette — 1-5:30 p.m. Friday , New Life Tabernacle, 851 S. Center Ave., Hunker Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome • Vitalant (formerly Central Blood Bank) will host a blood drive...