North Pole’s ‘Christmas in Ice’ canceled amid lack of ice
Seasonal ice park officials in Alaska are missing a crucial ingredient announcing a Christmas-themed park has closed amid lack of ice in North Pole. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Wednesday that Executive Director Keith Fye says the annual ice park called Christmas in Ice was canceled for the first time...
Judge temporarily stops 1st federal executions since 2003
WASHINGTON — A judge has temporarily halted the first federal executions in 16 years as a lawsuit on how the government intends to carry them out continues. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said in a Wednesday evening ruling that the public is not served by “short-circuiting” legitimate judicial process....
Aide says ambassador on ‘political errand’ for Trump
WASHINGTON — In riveting testimony, a former national security official declared Thursday that a U.S. ambassador carried out a controversial “domestic political errand” for Donald Trump on Ukraine, an allegation undercutting a main line of the president’s defense in the impeachment inquiry. Fiona Hill told House investigators she came to...
Massachusetts OKs ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products
BOSTON — Massachusetts lawmakers passed a groundbreaking ban Thursday on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes. The bill would also place a 75% excise tax on vaping products and require health insurers, including the state’s Medicaid program, to cover tobacco cessation counseling. “This nation-leading step...
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu charged in corruption cases
JERUSALEM — Israel’s attorney general on Thursday formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, throwing the country’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening the long-time leader’s grip on power. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes...
Buttigieg, 2020 front-runners avoid attacks: Takeaways from the 5th Democratic debate
The Democratic presidential debate Wednesday was supposed to be a sharp-elbowed argument about the future of the party and how best to defeat Donald Trump. Surprisingly, the candidates had other ideas. In a stark reversal from the tense moments of previous debates, the 10 Democratic White House hopefuls gathered in...
Biden: ‘Keep punching’ to curb domestic violence
Former Vice President Joe Biden had an ironic reply Wednesday night when asked how he would address sexual violence and harassment against women in today’s “MeToo” era. Biden started off with a solid statement citing that he wrote the legislation in the original Violence Against Women bill. “No man has...
Pennsylvania lawmakers near finish on church scandal bills
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Legislature moved closer Wednesday night to settling a yearslong battle over lifting criminal and civil statutes for child sexual abuse crimes in a debate growing out of Roman Catholic Church scandals. The Republican-controlled state Senate voted to dramatically expand statutes of limitation in sexual abuse cases where...
Trump makes false claim of opening Apple plantVideo
Call it a case of mistaken facility. On Wednesday, President Trump toured a manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas, that makes the Mac Pro computer for Apple. Trump was joined by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his daughter, Ivanka. Once the tour was over, Trump took to...
Defense Official: Ukraine asked about aid on day of Trump callVideo
WASHINGTON — In a blow to GOP defenses of President Donald Trump, a Defense Department official said Wednesday the Ukrainian government asked “what was going on” with U.S. military aid as early as July 25 — the very day that Trump asked Ukraine’s president to investigate Democrats. Testifying in an...
Senate sends fight over Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to House
HARRISBURG — Legislation to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009 passed the state Senate on Wednesday against a deadline to stall Gov. Tom Wolf’s move to substantially expand overtime pay eligibility. The Republican-controlled Senate approved the bill, 42-7, to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage in four steps...
AP source: FBI has asked for interview with whistleblower
WASHINGTON — The FBI last month requested an interview with the whistleblower whose complaint fueled the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday. An agent from the FBI’s Washington field office reached out to the whistleblower’s lawyers last month to seek...
Court ponders discipline against Penn State case prosecutor Frank Fina
HARRISBURG — A lawyer for the agency that investigates misconduct by Pennsylvania lawyers says a yearlong law license suspension is justified against one of the primary prosecutors in Jerry Sandusky’s 2012 child molestation trial. Amelia Kittredge with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel argued Wednesday in favor of the punishment against...
Vietnam veteran was devoted to country, fellow service members
The two years Skip Hornbake spent with the Marines during the Vietnam War were just the beginning of a life of service. “He never stopped serving his country,” said son Thomas Gauthier. “He always felt he had to give back, donate time, money and anything he could. He would always...
Jewish group condemns Nazi auction in GermanyVideo
BERLIN — A Jewish group condemned an auction of Nazi memorabilia in Germany on Wednesday that included items such as Adolf Hitler’s top hat, a silver-plated edition of his book “Mein Kampf” and a black cocktail dress owned by his long-time partner Eva Braun. “It’s wrong to make money off...
Rudy Giuliani attacks GOP impeachment lawyer after Sondland testimony
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani defended himself against damaging allegations in the impeachment inquiry by attacking his own side. After Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, threw him under the impeachment bus in blistering testimony Wednesday, Giuliani lashed out in real time against the GOP counsel co-running the hearing,...
New Hampshire library bans patrons who return books with bed bugs
Some bookworms are including bed bugs in the volumes they return to a library in New England. Books were discarded and desks wiped down with alcohol after the staff found bed bugs in books returned to the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton, New Hampshire, reports Seacoast Online. The vermin were...
Penn State researchers develop toilet coating that stops stuff from stickingVideo
Researchers say they have created a coating that can make toilets self-cleaning and save water on each flush. The scientists from Penn State said they have developed a two-step spray that, among other things, can be applied to ceramic toilet bowls. “Our team has developed a robust bio-inspired, liquid, sludge-...
Police: Girl had knives in plot to attack black churchgoers
GAINESVILLE — A Georgia police chief says a white 16-year-old girl had collected several kitchen knives and scouted out a mostly black congregation as part of a methodically planned attack on worshippers there. Police say the plot came to light when Gainesville High School students told administrators the girl had...
Good Samaritan killed, 2 others injured at crash scene
LYNN, Pa. — Pennsylvania state police say a good Samaritan who stopped to help people involved in a traffic accident was killed and two others were hurt when they were struck by a passing vehicle. The crash on Route 309 in Lynn was reported around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. A car...
Penn State ranks close to worst in affordability for low-income students
Penn State ranks close to worst in affordability for low-income students among top public universities, according to a new report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Flagship universities like Penn State’s University Park campus are known around the country for having large research budgets and many resources for both...
Arrest made in shooting death of Pa. man found dead in trunk
CHAMBERSBURG — Authorities have made an arrest in the shooting death of a man whose body was found in the trunk of his car. Justin Hockenberry will face counts of criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and drug possession. It’s not known if he’s retained an attorney....
Food Podcast: ‘YaJagoff’ hosts ‘feel an attachment’ to volunteering with food bank
A pair of Pittsburgh podcasters are giving back this Thanksgiving season. John Chamberlin and Rachel Rennebeck of the “YaJagoff” podcast volunteered to help Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund, helping a KDKA team sort and bag 4,500 pounds of locally grown apples at the food bank’s...
Rising sea levels are swallowing Outer Banks beaches, new report says
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hurricanes aren’t the only hazard lapping at the shores of the Outer Banks, according to a report examining the threat of climate change on some of the country’s most beloved natural landscapes. Thanks to creeping sea levels and erosion rates, Cape Hatteras National Seashore made the list....
GOP-requested witness rejects Trump ‘conspiracy theories’Video
WASHINGTON — Sought by Republicans to testify, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine spoke up instead for Democrat Joe Biden in Tuesday’s impeachment hearings, rejecting “conspiracy theories” embraced by President Donald Trump and some of his allies. Kurt Volker said he has known Biden as an honorable man for...
