Officials: West Virginia sheriff damaged car, lied to have county pay
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia sheriff was fined Thursday for hitting a car with a shopping cart then lying about what happened so his county would have to pay for repairs, officials said. Brooke County Sheriff Larry C. Palmer has agreed to pay the state $5,000 and undergo ethics...
Police: Man and goat taken on terrifying 3-state drive during carjacking
SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — A man stole a pickup truck with a sleeping passenger and a goat inside it and drove it all the way from Missouri to Oklahoma before releasing the terrified victim and animal and eventually being arrested, authorities say. According to an arrest report, two men in...
Backlog of toxic Superfund cleanups grows under Trump
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has built up the biggest backlog of unfunded toxic Superfund cleanup projects in at least 15 years, nearly triple the number that were stalled for lack of money in the Obama era, according to 2019 figures quietly released by the Environmental Protection Agency over the...
Crews search Lake Michigan for teen swept from pier by waveVideo
HOLLAND, Mich. — A 16-year-old girl visiting Lake Michigan for the first time was missing and presumed drowned as a result of apparently being swept into the water by a large wave, authorities said. Eliza Trainer, of Flint, and an 18-year-old friend were knocked into the lake off Holland State...
Father, daughter killed in South Carolina hunting accident
WALTERBORO, S.C. — A South Carolina man and his 9-year-old daughter were mistaken for deer during a New Year’s Day hunting trip and accidentally shot to death by another hunter, authorities said. Kim Drawdy, 30, and daughter Lauren were fatally shot about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Colleton County near Walterboro...
Australian prime minister is jeered in wildfire-ravaged zone
PERTH, Australia — Prime Minister Scott Morrison was confronted by angry residents who cursed and insulted him Thursday as he visited a wildfire-ravaged corner of the country. Locals in Cobargo, in New South Wales, yelled at him, made obscene gestures and called him an “idiot” and worse, criticizing him for...
Steelers’ mascot Steely McBeam recreated in butter at Pa. Farm ShowVideo
HARRISBURG — The butter sculpture for this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show was unveiled Thursday, featuring three of the state’s professional sports team mascots. This year’s sculpture, crafted from about 1,000 pounds of donated butter, shows Steely McBeam, Gritty and Swoop — mascots for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Flyers and...
Trump’s plan to curb teen vaping exempts some flavors
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials will begin cracking down on most flavored e-cigarettes that are popular with underage teenagers, but their plan includes major exceptions that benefit vaping manufacturers, retailers and adults who use the nicotine-delivery devices. The Trump administration announced Thursday that it will prohibit fruit, candy, mint and...
‘Quid pro quo’ tops banished words list
In an apparent nod to President Donald Trump, and to the great relief of newspaper editors near and far, the experts at Lake Superior State University announced Wednesday that “quid pro quo” topped its 45th Annual Banished Word List. The small public university, located on Michigan’s northern Peninsula, began publishing...
Blackface again mars Philadelphia’s troubled New Year parade
PHILADELPHIA — The mayor of Philadelphia sharply criticized two men who wore blackface while marching in the city’s annual — and often racially troubling — New Year’s Day Mummers Parade, calling their actions “abhorrent and unacceptable.” The group the men apparently were affiliated with, the Froggy Carr Wench Brigade, was...
Pa. Farm Show opens Saturday with some new food offerings
Food is one of the biggest draws to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, and this year is no exception. The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, famous for its milkshakes, is introducing a new sandwich — Grilled Cheese Stix. The offering features mozzarella cheese sandwiched between Martin’s potato bread, served with a side of...
Flying signpost impales Corvette in multi-vehicle crash
A rogue traffic sign damaged several cars before landing in the back of a sports car along Interstate 95 in Florida. The yellow road sign somehow left its position Tuesday afternoon alongside an onramp at Hallandale Beach and became road debris that some drivers could not avoid, reports 7 News...
Gov. Wolf outlines effort to bolster Pa. mental health services
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor announced a broad effort Thursday to improve mental health services and change public perceptions of mental illness. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf rolled out an initiative that includes more resources and a public outreach campaign, saying the approach was inspired by a similar strategy the state has...
Family of Hanukkah attack victim calls for end of hatred
NEW YORK — The daughter of a man gravely wounded in an attack on a Hanukkah celebration north of New York City made an emotional plea Thursday to end hatred and anti-Semitism, saying she hopes her father regains consciousness “to a changed world.” “We want our kids to go to...
Politician who warned about driving drunk is charged with it
VICTOR, N.Y. — The top Republican in the New York State Assembly was charged New Year’s Eve with driving while intoxicated in his state-issued vehicle, just a week after he wrote a newspaper column warning citizens against getting behind the wheel drunk. Brian M. Kolb, a Republican from Canandaigua who...
U.S. Defense Secretary says Iran may be planning more attacks on U.S. interests
WASHINGTON — Iran or its proxy forces may be planning further strikes on American interests in the Middle East, and the United States is prepared to take preemptive military action if it gets sufficient warning, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday. “The game has changed,” Esper said, citing a series...
2-year-old among 3 dead after residential explosion and fire
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 2-year-old girl and two adults were found dead after an explosion ignited a fire at an Ohio home, police said Thursday. The cause of Wednesday evening’s blast in a neighborhood several miles southeast of downtown Columbus remains unclear, so homicide detectives are investigating, authorities said. “They’ll...
Mississippi inmate killed during prison fight amid lockdown
PARCHMAN, Miss. — A Mississippi inmate died and several others were injured in a fight Tuesday among prisoners at the State Penitentiary at Parchman, just days after a separate inmate’s killing led to an ongoing lockdown of dozens of correctional facilities statewide. The fight broke out around 9 p.m. in...
Hunter 1, rattlesnake 0 after scary encounter in deer stand
LEXINGTON, Miss. — A Mississippi hunter says he was trapped in his deer stand when a rattlesnake joined him there last month, but the snake ended up the loser. Mack Ginn of Lexington said he was about two hours into his Dec. 28 stakeout for a deer when he heard...
Reminder: Pennsylvania’s ‘Do Not Call’ list is now permanent
Perhaps you were too busy holiday-ing to notice, but as of Dec. 3, your protection from phone spammers got a lot stronger. As of that date, Pennsylvania’s “Do Not Call” list dropped the requirement that customers re-register their number every five years. That means once you are on, you are...
Julián Castro drops out of 2020 presidential raceVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — Former Obama housing secretary Julián Castro on Thursday ended his run for president that pushed the 2020 field on immigration and swung hard at rivals on the debate stage but never found a foothold to climb from the back of the pack. “I’m so proud of the...
Think unauthorized immigrants don’t pay taxes? Here are four ways they do
DALLAS — Unauthorized immigrants don’t pay taxes. It’s one of the most common but inaccurate talking points in the ongoing immigration debate. While some unauthorized immigrants may be paid in cash and avoid federal taxes altogether, some tax experts say it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone in Texas avoiding state...
Militiamen withdraw from U.S. Embassy but Iraq tensions linger
BAGHDAD — Iran-backed militiamen withdrew from the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Wednesday after two days of clashes with American security forces, but U.S.-Iran tensions remain high and could spill over into further violence. The withdrawal followed calls from the government and senior militia leaders. It ended a two-day...
‘Captain America’ actress Mollie Fitzgerald charged with killing mom in Kansas
OLATHE, Kan. — An actress who had a small role in the movie “Captain America: The First Avenger” is accused of fatally stabbing her mother inside a suburban Kansas City home. Mollie Fitzgerald, 38, was arrested Tuesday by police in Olathe, Kan., the Kansas City Star reported. She is charged...
Legal weed in Illinois: First day of recreational marijuana sales features long lines, happy customersVideo
CHICAGO — Some revelers in Chicago celebrated New Year’s Eve by waiting for midnight to arrive. But hours later, a different crowd of merrymakers was waiting to celebrate at 6 a.m. when they were able to make their first purchases after the state’s long-awaited introduction of legal marijuana. So far,...
