Jury finds Mar-a-Lago intruder not guilty of trespassingVideo
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida jury acquitted a Chinese woman Wednesday of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after she testified she didn’t understand a security guard who told her to leave. However, jurors did find Jing Lu, 56, guilty of resisting a police officer without violence...
Scientists discover mysterious outer space radio waves that repeat every 16 days
Something, somewhere, about a half-billion light-years away in space, is sending out mysterious radio signals that form a set pattern. Fast radio bursts (FRB) are rare but not unheard of, according to CNN, but they normally are emitted once by whatever the source. When they do repeat, it’s in short...
Coronavirus has many U.S. firms waiting for products to ship
NEW YORK — When the factory in China that makes Romy Taormina’s anti-nausea wristbands closed for the Lunar New Year in late January, she expected production to resume by early this month. But many factories across China are still closed to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus, leaving...
Transgender felons seek to ease Pennsylvania rules on name changes
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court this week will consider a legal challenge by three transgender women to a two-decade-old state law that prohibits people who have committed serious felonies from ever changing their names. Commonwealth Court will hear oral arguments Thursday in the lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who live as...
Pope avoids question of married priests in Amazon document
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis declined Wednesday to approve the ordination of married men to address a shortage of priests in the Amazon, sidestepping a fraught issue that has dominated debate in the Catholic Church and even involved retired Pope Benedict XVI. Francis, in an eagerly awaited document, did not...
Analysis: Bernie Sanders’ narrow New Hampshire win ups pressure on moderatesVideo
WASHINGTON — For Bernie Sanders, not all victories are created equal. In 2016, Sanders carried New Hampshire by 22 points, pummeling Hillary Clinton and setting the stage for a protracted fight over the Democratic presidential nomination. On Tuesday, he won the state’s primary by less than 2 points, raising questions...
Penn State suspends Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity over ‘serious misconduct’ allegations
Penn State’s Office of Student Conduct suspended the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity Tuesday morning, citing “multiple allegations of serious misconduct made against the fraternity,” according to a Penn State News release. The fraternity allegedly held an unregistered social event Jan. 30 that the university said “potentially endangered students” and contained...
Record-setting astronaut feels good after near year in space
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new record-setting astronaut said Wednesday that aside from sore muscles and trouble with balance, she’s readjusting well to gravity after nearly 11 months in space. Christina Koch met with reporters in Houston six days after returning to Earth from the International Space Station. Her 328-day...
A victory, a caution: Takeaways from New Hampshire’s primary
New Hampshire Democrats gave Bernie Sanders a win, but also a warning. Sanders’ durability, based both on his 2016 campaign and the first two contests this year, cannot be questioned. What remains unanswered is how moderates will now come at him and whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be able to...
Sanders edges Buttigieg in New Hampshire, cementing Dem front-runnersVideo
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bernie Sanders won New Hampshire’s presidential primary election Tuesday night, narrowly edging moderate rival Pete Buttigieg and scoring the first clear victory in the Democratic Party’s chaotic 2020 nomination fight. In his win, the 78-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, beat back a strong challenger from the...
Michael Bennet ends 2020 bid after poor showing in New Hampshire
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet ended his long-shot presidential bid Tuesday, failing to break out of a crowded Democratic field dominated by other moderate candidates, including Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Bennet, 55, was a late entrant to the race who staked his bid largely on trying to win...
Andrew Yang, who created buzz with freedom dividend, ends 2020 bid
CHICAGO — Democrat Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who created buzz for his presidential campaign by championing a universal basic income that would give every American adult $1,000 per month, suspended his 2020 bid on Tuesday. His national press secretary, Erick Sanchez, confirmed the decision. It came as he expected a...
Trump wants Pentagon to review conduct of impeachment witness Alex VindmanVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that the Pentagon should review the conduct of a former White House national security aide who played a central role in the Democrats’ impeachment case and potentially consider disciplinary action against him. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who until last week was detailed...
Embattled Boy Scouts seek to boost support for abuse victims
NEW YORK — Facing a possible bankruptcy resulting from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America issued a new apology Tuesday to survivors of abuse and announced plans for expanded services to support them. The Boy Scouts are teaming up in a five-year partnership with 1in6, a national nonprofit that...
AP VoteCast: After Iowa, many NH Dems worry about fairness
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Democrats headed into Tuesday’s primary with a focus on matters of fairness, with just over 1 in 10 saying they were “very confident” that their party’s process for choosing a presidential nominee is fair. The trouble in counting ballots after last week’s Iowa caucuses, an issue...
New state fund will underwrite counseling for victims with old sexual abuse claims
Survivors of sexual abuse now can access trauma counseling and therapy under a provision quietly inserted in a Pennsylvania statute of limitations reform bill late last fall. In addition to extending the time for survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits until their 55th birthday and eliminating the statute...
Even before Iowa fiasco, caucuses were on their way out
WASHINGTON — It didn’t take the high-profile disaster that was last week’s Iowa caucus for state political parties to move away from the party-run presidential preference system. Even before the Iowa debacle, caucuses were on their way out across the country. Ten states that hosted caucuses in 2016 — Alaska,...
Pennsylvania hemp farmers look to future at conference
Pennsylvania hemp farmers saw a lot less green than they were hoping for in 2019. A sudden glut of supply and lack of infrastructure caused national hemp prices to plummet throughout the year. “We had a bunch of people who threw hemp in the ground and expected at the end...
Unlikely allies push the White House to back cleaning pollution from the Tijuana River
For decades, millions of gallons of raw sewage and trash have flowed from the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean, fouling beaches, angering Southern Californians and getting worse by the year. An estimated 143 million gallons of waste from Tijuana spilled into the river valley in 2017, overwhelming a treatment...
Police: Driver traveling 79 mph when Oklahoma students hit
OKLAHOMA CITY — A pickup truck was traveling 79 mph in a 25 mph zone when it struck members of a high school cross-country team on a sidewalk in suburban Oklahoma City, killing two and injuring the others, a police sergeant said Tuesday. A police report said the driver, Max...
Trump Store has all the ’45’ swag you could wantVideo
They’re on a MAGA mission: to deliver the goods to the faithful followers of President Donald Trump. T-shirts and hats, sure. But also buttons, bracelets, koozies, water bottles, pens. All bearing either the likeness or name of the 45th president. There’s even MAGA magnets. Michael Domanico and his wife, Monica,...
Couple weds in Northern Ireland’s first same-sex marriage
LONDON — Two women tied the knot Tuesday in Northern Ireland’s first same-sex wedding, after the region became the last part of the United Kingdom to legalize gay marriage. Care worker Robyn Peoples, 26, and waitress Sharni Edwards, 27 married at a ceremony in Carrickfergus, near Belfast. The couple said...
Students in Dubai, UAE no longer have to do homework
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Students at more than 250 government-run schools in the United Arab Emirates are officially done with homework. The local National newspaper reports that, starting next week, the Education Ministry is abolishing homework in public schools in the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to help...
Guardian for elderly arrested on abuse, neglect charges
ORLANDO, Fla. — A former guardian for the elderly and incapacitated who was accused of filing “do not resuscitate” orders without her clients’ permission has been arrested in Florida on felony charges. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said local authorities arrested Rebecca Fierle-Santoian in a county northwest of Orlando...
Nelson Mandela’s release 30 years ago birthed a new South AfricaVideo
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Thirty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years of imprisonment by South Africa’s apartheid regime and instantly galvanized the country, and the world, to dismantle the brutal system of racial oppression. Raising a clenched-fist salute and striding purposefully from the gates of Victor...
