Report: West Virginia cadets gave Nazi salute as ‘sign of respect’
CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Correction officer trainees in West Virginia regularly gave the Nazi salute “as a sign of respect” for their instructor in the weeks prior to the release of a photo of the cadets with arms raised that triggered widespread outrage, state investigators said in a report Monday....
Prosecutors: Boyfriend shot and killed Michigan State student while playing with gun
CHICAGO — A Michigan State University student home for winter break was shot and killed by her boyfriend as he played with a revolver in a South Side apartment, prosecutors said Monday. Lafayette Hodges, 18, held his hands to his head as he appeared in court on charges of involuntary...
Father who made kids panhandle for drug money gets 20 years
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A judge sentenced a New Mexico father to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of forcing his children to panhandle to get him money for drugs. The office of Attorney General Hector Balderas said Monday the man was sentenced in Albuquerque, nearly three months after...
With births down, U.S. had slowest growth rate in a centuryVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century because of declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. grew from 2018 to 2019 by almost...
New overtime rule affects 61,000 in Pennsylvania
A new year could mean additional earnings for thousands of Pennsylvanians as a new federal rule guaranteeing overtime pay goes into effect. The rule that takes effect Wednesday guarantees time-and-a-half payments to nearly all hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week as well as most salaried workers...
Big red buoy missing for 2 years beached in Florida
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A big red navigation buoy that bounced along Atlantic waves for two years has beached in Florida, where it’s drawing attention. Crowds of spectators streamed to New Smyrna Beach over the weekend for a close up view and some pictures with the navigational marker that...
Philadelphia names 1st black female police chief
Philadelphia appointed a new police chief to lead the troubled department that has been plagued by sexual harassment lawsuits and racial discrimination — issues she will be suited to tackle with “conviction,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday. Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney announced his choice of Portland Chief Danielle Outlaw to...
Woman set on fire during surgery in Romania dies
A woman in Romania has died, eight days after she was set on fire during surgery, The Guardian reports. The country’s health ministry said the 66-year-old patient was undergoing a procedure on Dec. 22 at Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest to treat her pancreatic cancer. Prior to the surgery, the patient...
Mom takes selfie instead of recording daughter’s proposal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A future mother-in-law tasked with making a phone recording of her future son-in-law proposing to her daughter apparently missed the moment. She ended up recording a selfie on her reaction to what she was seeing. KOB-TV reports Susan Griego somehow took a selfie video of herself watching...
White House: Putin called Trump to thank U.S. for info that helped foil potential attack
WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Donald Trump on Sunday to thank him for information that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia. White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Putin thanked Trump for information the United States...
UCLA researchers say there is a way to predict who will become homeless
LOS ANGELES — With the ranks of homeless people growing faster than housing is being built, one of the most popular strategies for reducing homelessness has become to simply keep people in their homes. In theory, a small infusion of cash, counseling or legal aid could be the difference that...
Bill would require schools to have climate change lessons
CONCORD, N.H. — A bill up for consideration before the New Hampshire Legislature in 2020 would require school districts to offer lessons on climate change. The House bill would require at least 10 hours of climate education or a full semester of environmental education in high school, and anywhere from...
Greensburg man was local icon at Mt. Odin
For nearly 40 years, Russ Bell was Mr. Mt. Odin. If you were a golfer and you lived in Greensburg, chances are you knew the good-natured man who guided the expansion of the city golf course from nine to 18 holes and made sure the greens at the course were...
Hate crimes charges against man accused in Hanukkah stabbing
MONSEY, N.Y. — Handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references were found in the home of the man charged with federal hate crimes Monday in the stabbing and slashing of five people celebrating Hanukkah at a rabbi’s house north of New York City, authorities said. Grafton E. Thomas, 37, was held without...
Endangered brown bat may become official D.C. ‘state’ mammal
WASHINGTON — A small, brown endangered bat would become the “official state mammal” of America’s capital city, under a proposed ordinance that will get a public hearing in January. The idea was proposed earlier this year by several Girl Scout troops after they studied the little brown bats, according to...
Australian cities snuffing fireworks as fire danger worsens
PERTH, Australia — New Year’s Eve fireworks in Australia’s capital city have been canceled as the wildfire danger worsens in oppressive summer heat, and pressure was building Monday for Sydney’s iconic celebrations to be similarly scrapped. Temperatures on Tuesday were set to hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the capital, Canberra,...
Retired Derry teacher loved teaching youngsters
As a young girl growing up in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks, Frances E. Hayes was just 16 when she started at the University of Pittsburgh in 1940 and then traveled all the way to Oregon after graduation to take a teaching job where her sister lived. “She was...
NTSB: Poor condition of Louisiana wreckage will slow plane crash probe
The lack of a distress call and flight data recorder coupled with mangled and charred wreckage will make finding the cause of a fiery airplane crash in Louisiana extremely challenging, federal officials said Sunday. National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said at a news conference that it could...
U.S. Rep John Lewis of Georgia says he has pancreatic cancer
ATLANTA — Congressman John Lewis of Georgia announced Sunday that he has stage IV pancreatic cancer, vowing he will stay in office and fight the disease with the tenacity with which he fought racial discrimination and other inequalities dating to the civil rights era. Lewis, the youngest and last survivor...
Western Pa. unlikely to set rainfall record in 2019
This year may have been one of the wettest in Pennsylvania history, but it’s got a few more inches to go if it wants to top the list. As of Sunday around 4 p.m., the Pittsburgh area recorded 51.94 inches of rain with a likely chance to reach 52 inches...
Taliban council agrees to cease-fire in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban’s ruling council agreed Sunday to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, providing a window in which a peace agreement with the United States can be signed, officials from the insurgent group said. They didn’t say when it would begin. A cease-fire had been demanded by Washington...
2 dead, 1 hurt in shooting at church near Fort Worth, Texas
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — Congregants shot and killed a man who opened fire in a church near Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, killing the attacker, police said. A person shot by the suspect also died and a second parishioner has life-threatening injuries following the attack at the West Freeway Church...
5 stabbed at rabbi’s house on Hanukkah; suspect arraigned
MONSEY, N.Y. — A knife-wielding man stormed into a rabbi’s home and stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City, an ambush the governor said Sunday was an act of domestic terrorism fueled by intolerance and a “cancer” of growing hatred...
Officials confirm no survivors from Hawaii helicopter crash
HONOLULU — There were no survivors of a Hawaii tour helicopter crash that killed three minors and four adults, officials confirmed Saturday. A helicopter that was set to tour the rugged Na Pali Coast, the picturesque and remote northern shoreline of Kauai that was featured in the film “Jurassic Park,”...
A silent worship revival at an Episcopal church for the deaf
NEW YORK — The Lord’s Prayer ended with the bang of dozens of fists that landed on open palms after a circular motion and a thumbs up in a joint “Amen!” Not a voice could be heard inside the cavernous sanctuary of Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz in Manhattan. There...
