Tennessee prepares to execute blind death row inmate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The execution of a blind man in Tennessee this week would mark only the second time in recent decades that a person without vision has been put to death in the U.S., the death row inmate’s lawyers say. Lee Hall, 53, is scheduled to be electrocuted Thursday...
Berks County mother charged with murder in hanging deaths of 2 children
Authorities are linking the mother of two young children found hanging in a Berks County home to internet searches for suicide and crime shortly before their deaths, according to court documents filed in support of murder charges against the woman. Lisa Snyder, 36, was charged with first- and third-degree murder,...
Student in custody after shooting at Milwaukee-area school
MILWAUKEE — A student is in custody after exchanging gunfire with a school resource officer Monday morning at a suburban Milwaukee high school, the school district said. Police in Waukesha tweeted about 11 a.m. that officers were responding to a “critical incident” at Waukesha South High School. Terry Schuster, the...
Gov. Tom Wolf warns of harm from changes to minor league baseball
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf wants Major League Baseball to rethink a restructuring plan that would affect three minor league teams in his state. Wolf on Monday wrote to baseball commissioner Robert Manfred to express concern about the impact on the Erie SeaWolves, the Williamsport Crosscutters and the State...
Clergy sex abuse lawsuits taking advantage of new law
NEWARK, N.J. — Lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy are taking center stage in New Jersey as the state’s relaxation of statute of limitations rules takes effect. A new law allows child victims to sue until they turn 55, or within seven years of their first realization the...
New higher-speed Florida train has highest U.S. death rate
MIAMI — After Richard Branson announced his Virgin Group would partner with Brightline, Florida’s new higher-speed passenger rail service, a train whisked the British billionaire, VIPs and journalists from Miami to West Palm Beach in just over an hour and then back, with no problems. That was likely a great...
Dictionary.com chooses ‘existential’ as word of the year
NEW YORK — Climate change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel “existential” to Dictionary.com’s word of the year. The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019. “In...
Kosovo: 6 Serbs charged in moderate Serb leader’s killing
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo prosecutors have brought murder charges against a group of six ethnic Serbs for the killing of a moderate Serb leader. A prosecutors’ statement Monday considered the six Serbs an organized criminal group that committed or helped in the killing of Oliver Ivanovic, who was gunned down...
Indians demand justice after woman gang raped, killed
NEW DELHI — Hundreds of people gathered in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and other Indian cities on Monday to demand justice in the case of a veterinarian who was gang-raped and killed last week. The protesters demanded a fast-track investigation of the case and stringent laws for the safety of...
Storm bears down on East, promises up to 20 inches of snowVideo
NEW YORK — A wintry storm that made Thanksgiving travel miserable across much of the country gripped the East with a messy mixture of rain, snow, sleet and wind, slowing the Monday morning commute, closing schools and offices, and snarling air travel. Forecasters said the nor’easter could drop 10 to...
Monsoon floods kill at least 25 in southern India
CHENNAI, India — The government of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu says at least 25 people have died in recent floods that inundated low-lying areas and hundreds more have been evacuated to relief camps. The Press Trust of India news agency reports that 17 people were killed when...
Officials: 3 dead after small plane crash in San AntonioVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Authorities in Texas say three people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed on a city street while attempting to land at San Antonio International Airport. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood says the plane went down around 6:30 p.m. Sunday in a commercial and residential area...
White House says it won’t participate in impeachment hearing
WASHINGTON — The White House declared Sunday it would not participate in the first impeachment hearings before the House Judiciary Committee as Democrats prepared to approve their report Tuesday making the case for President Donald Trump’s removal from office. The Democratic majority on the House Intelligence Committee says its report...
Woman rescued, 2 missing after 12 nights stranded in Outback
DARWIN, Australia — Police say a woman who became stranded in the arid central Australian Outback with two friends almost two weeks ago has been rescued. Police Superintendent Pauline Vicary told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that Tamra McBeath-Riley is being treated in an Alice Springs hospital for dehydration and...
Why black voters are backing Biden
After Kamala Harris challenged Joe Biden’s past opposition to school busing in a nationally televised Democratic presidential debate, the former vice president who prides himself on strong relationships in the black community was in an unfamiliar place, playing defense on race. But Bebe Coker had a message for the man...
Man with metal detector finds ring lost in sand for 50 years
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A man using a metal detector on a Florida beach found a high school ring that another man lost nearly 50 years ago. Kenneth Board says he lost the Auburndale High School ring on Cocoa Beach the day after the 1970 senior prom. The Ledger reports...
Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A new statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was dedicated in Alabama’s capital city on Sunday, the 64th anniversary of her historic refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey pulled...
Substitute teacher lectures Utah child over his 2 dads
SALT LAKE CITY — A substitute teacher berated a Utah fifth grader after he said during a pre-Thanksgiving lesson that he was thankful he’s finally going to be adopted by his two dads, the parents said. The boy’s classmates said the teacher told him, “that’s nothing to be thankful for”...
Tennessee police: 4 teens escape juvenile detention center
NASHVILLE — Police in Tennessee were searching Sunday for four teenagers who escaped from a juvenile detention center in Nashville. One of the escapees is a suspect in the February slaying of a rock band’s frontman. The teens broke out of the downtown facility Saturday night and are believed to...
Supreme Court to take up gun case though disputed law has changed
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is turning to gun rights for the first time in nearly a decade, even though those who brought the case, New York City gun owners, already have won changes to the regulation they challenged. The justices’ persistence in hearing arguments Monday despite the city’s action...
New ‘three amigos’ riding into Trump impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON — The “three amigos” used to stand for one thing in Washington — the pack of globe-trotting senators led by John McCain who brought American idealism to the world’s trouble spots. Now it refers to another trio, the Trump envoys who pushed Ukraine to pursue investigations of Democrats and...
Sanders: Scripture calls for renewed focus on justice in U.S.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — As he vies for the chance to replace President Trump, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he is running a campaign that, like Scripture, calls for a renewed focus on justice in the way all people should be treated. It’s a broad-based approach that the Vermont...
Minneapolis police: 2 boys killed, hostage situation likely
MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities say two boys have been shot to death outside a house in Minneapolis and a male suspect could be holding someone hostage inside the property. Police spokesman John Elder describes the two boys as “not yet teenagers.” He says it appears they had been playing in the...
Toll at least 21 after Mexico cartel attack near U.S. border
MEXICO CITY — Mexican security forces on Sunday killed seven more members of a presumed cartel assault force that rolled into a town near the Texas border and staged an hour-long attack, officials said, bringing the death toll to at least 21. The Coahuila state government said in a statement...
New Orleans police: 11 shot on edge of French Quarter
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police say 11 people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday on the edge of the city’s famed French Quarter. A police news release said two people were in critical condition. No arrests were announced by midday Sunday. Police Supt. Shaun Ferguson told The New...
