More election security funds headed to states as 2020 looms
Congress is poised to give states a last-minute infusion of federal funds to help boost election security with voting in early caucus and primary states slated to begin in February. Under a huge spending bill, states would receive $425 million for upgrading voting equipment, conducting post-election audits, cybersecurity training and...
UK’s Johnson unveils legislative plan to end Brexit deadlock
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled an end to Britain’s era of Brexit deadlock Thursday, announcing a packed legislative program intended to take the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31, overhaul everything from fishing to financial services and shore up the country’s cash-starved public services. The...
Authorities find 15 horses fatally shot in eastern KentuckyVideo
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — At least 15 horses have been fatally shot at a strip mine site in eastern Kentucky, authorities said. The horses were found on a site along U.S. 23 near the Floyd-Pike County line, WYMT-TV reported Tuesday. A $500 reward is being offered for information on the shootings....
2 reported trapped in Philadelphia row house collapse, fireVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Two people were reported to be trapped inside a Philadelphia row home that collapsed and caught fire Thursday, authorities said. More than 100 firefighters battled flames that shot out the top of the collapsed home and spread to three or four adjacent homes in south Philadelphia. News video...
2 dead, 2 others shot at Rhode Island housing complex
WESTERLY, R.I. — A shooting at a Rhode Island affordable housing complex for elderly and disabled residents left two people dead and two others injured Thursday morning, police said. Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey said a 66-year-old gunman killed a 47-year-old woman at the Babcock Village apartment complex and injured...
Senate passes anti-robocalls bill, sending it to Trump
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill that cracks down on robocalls, a persistent and costly problem for Americans, and is sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. The bill is one of several measures that federal and state government and the telecom industry are taking to protect...
Senate advances $1.4 trillion spending deal in drive to adjourn
WASHINGTON — The Senate has voted to advance a $1.4 trillion government spending package in a last, bipartisan burst of legislating before bolting for the holidays from a Capitol that’s toxic with impeachment. The 71-21 procedural vote is a likely prelude to an easy final set of votes later Thursday....
EU court finds grounds for airline damages in spilled coffee
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s highest court ruled Thursday that an airline can be held liable if a passenger is burned by hot coffee even if turbulence or other flight-related factor didn’t cause the spill. The European Court of Justice said such injuries don’t have to be linked to issues...
1,200 detained in India amid ban on citizenship law protests
NEW DELHI — Police detained more than 1,200 protesters in some of India’s biggest cities Thursday after they defied bans on assembly that authorities imposed to stop widespread demonstrations against a new citizenship law that opponents say threatens the country’s secular democracy. At least three people were reported killed as...
Teen girl sneaks into small plane, drives it into fenceVideo
FRESNO, Calif. — A 17-year-old girl was arrested Wednesday after authorities say she sneaked into a small plane at a central California airport and drove it into a chain-link fence. The teenager climbed a fence topped with barbed wire at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, started up the plane and...
Radio show canceled after host makes school shooting comment
DENVER — A Denver radio station has canceled a scheduled program after one of the hosts said a school shooting would help break up media coverage of impeachment proceedings. Chuck Bonniwell from the show “Chuck & Julie” was complaining Tuesday about an abundance of media coverage on the impeachment of...
EU top court: Airbnb not subject to real estate agent rules
BRUSSELS — Airbnb scored a big win in its long-standing fight with French hoteliers as the European Union’s highest court rejected Thursday an argument that Airbnb should be subject to the strict rules that govern French real estate agents. The case was submitted by a French court after a major...
Just 7 Democrats on stage for the latest presidential debate
LOS ANGELES — A winnowed field of Democratic presidential contenders takes the debate stage for a sixth and final time in 2019, as candidates seek to convince anxious voters that they are the party’s best hope to deny President Donald Trump a second term next year. Thursday night’s televised contest...
U.S. probes 4 automakers in new Takata air bag recall
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has launched an investigation into four automakers that have a potentially deadly type of Takata air bag inflator in their vehicles but have yet to recall them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted Thursday that it is investigating...
Lawyer: U.S. charges against WikiLeaks’ Assange ‘political’
LONDON — Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court Thursday that he should not be extradited to the United States to face spying charges because the offenses he is accused of are political in nature. U.S. authorities accuse Assange of scheming with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea...
U.S. home sales tumbled 1.7% in November
WASHINGTON — Home-buying slumped in November, with some Americans priced out of the market by rising prices and a shortage of sales listings. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of existing homes fell 1.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million. Would-be buyers...
2 killed, dozens hurt in I-80 pileup during Eastern Pa. snow squall
NEW COLUMBIA — A section of Interstate 80 remained closed Thursday in central Pennsylvania hours after a multi-vehicle wreck in snow squalls left two people dead and dozens injured. Westbound traffic was being diverted Thursday while tow trucks worked to remove 15 to 20 cars and trucks. The crash was...
Defying party, Gabbard votes ‘present’ on Trump impeachment
Already comfortable as an outlier in her party, Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard did not support the impeachment of President Donald Trump, voting “present” Wednesday on two articles that cleared the House. In a lengthy statement released after the House charged the president with abuse of power and obstructing Congress,...
Defiant Trump rallies supporters in Michigan as House impeaches himVideo
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Defiant in the face of a historic rebuke, President Donald Trump labeled his impeachment by the House of Representatives on Wednesday “a suicide march” for the Democratic Party. “Crazy Nancy Pelosi’s House Democrats have branded themselves with an eternal mark of shame,” Trump told the crowd...
Greensburg resident had life full of stories
Frank “Bunsie” Novak loved telling stories, and he had plenty to tell. The son of Czech immigrants, he grew up on a farm and went to school in a one-room schoolhouse. He was a star football player in high school and got a scholarship to play at Saint Vincent College,...
Majority in House votes to impeach President Trump on 2 chargesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors. The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the...
Appeals court: Part of ‘Obamacare’ invalid, more review neededVideo
NEW ORLEANS — The “individual mandate” of former President Barack Obama’s health care law is invalid, but other parts of the law need further review, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 2-1 ruling handed down by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans...
Study estimates that half of U.S. adults will be obese by 2030
There’s no way to sugarcoat this news: Nearly half of American adults will be obese within a decade and one-quarter will be severely so, a new report predicts. It corrects for a weakness in previous estimates that may have made the problem seem not as big as it really is....
Ailing former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers ordered freed from prison
NEW YORK — A former top executive sentenced to 25 years in prison in one of the largest corporate accounting scandals in U.S. history was ordered freed from prison Wednesday for medical reasons. U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni ordered the release of former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers after hearing...
Paul Manafort’s New York fraud case tossed over double jeopardy concern
NEW YORK — A New York judge threw out state mortgage fraud charges against Paul Manafort, ruling Wednesday that the criminal case was too similar to one that has already landed President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman in federal prison. The decision was a blow to what had widely been...
