Mudslide along West Virginia highway strands thousands for more than 8 hours
Thousands of motorists were stranded for more than eight hours along a section of rural interstate highway in southern West Virginia early Friday after a mudslide caused by heavy rains blocked a storm drain the previous night, flooding the northbound lanes. Traffic backed up for 12 miles along the West...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox News over alleged defamation in story about call with Trump
SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday over alleged defamation, saying the network knowingly aired false information about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump about the time the National Guard was sent Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleges Fox News anchor Jesse Watters...
Big banks all pass Federal Reserve’s stress tests, but tests were less vigorous
NEW YORK — All the major banks passed the Federal Reserve’s annual “stress tests” of the financial system, the central bank said Friday, but the test conducted by the central bank was notably less vigorous than it had been in previous years. All 22 banks tested this year would have...
Trump administration ends legal protections for half-million Haitians who now face deportations
MIAMI — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it is terminating legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians, setting them up for potential deportation. DHS said conditions in Haiti have improved and Haitians no longer meet the conditions for the temporary legal protections. The termination of temporary protected...
For Eastern U.S., temperatures swing high, then low. They’ll soon go back up
After days of blistering heat, the nation’s sweaty East Coast got to open windows, step outside and get temporary relief Friday as temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees and humidity dropped. At least 68 record highs were set and more than 20 places logged triple-digit heat from Sunday through...
California court rules state insurance policy on smoke damage is unlawful
A California judge has ruled the state’s bare-bones home insurance program’s handling of smoke damage claims is unlawful, a decision that could have wide-ranging implications as insurers increasingly deal with the aftermath of wildfires. Home insurance broadly covers fire damage, but there is a growing dispute over what damage must...
Trump emboldened to accelerate his agenda after nationwide injunction ruling
After a divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, President Donald Trump told reporters he’d “promptly file” to advance policies blocked by judges, including birthright citizenship restrictions. “We can now promptly file to proceed with these numerous policies,” he said. The...
Conor Lamb steps up as Democrats try to figure out what to do about John Fetterman
ENOLA — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania isn’t even up for reelection until 2028, but already a one-time primary foe, former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, is crisscrossing Pennsylvania and social media, looking and sounding like he’s preparing to challenge Fetterman again. At town hall after town hall across Pennsylvania,...
Environmental groups sue to block migrant detention center rising in Florida Everglades
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday to block a migrant detention center being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades. The lawsuit seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal law. There is also...
Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 bodies to be sentenced for fraud
DENVER — A Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and sending grieving families fake ashes is set to be sentenced Friday in federal court for cheating customers and defrauding the government out of nearly $900,000 in covid-19 aid. Jon Hallford, owner...
What do new flu vaccine standards mean?
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) upheld recommendations for the fall flu vaccination to be administered to anyone 6 months and older, as long as the shots are completely mercury-free. While some Western Pennsylvania doctors say the new recommendations won’t change...
Supreme Court upholds Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing pornography online
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Texas law aimed at blocking children under 18 from seeing online pornography. Nearly half of all states have passed similar age verification laws as smartphones and other devices make it easier to access online porn, including hardcore obscene material. The ruling...
Supreme Court says Maryland parents can pull their kids from public school lessons using LGBTQ books
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Maryland parents who have religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ storybooks. The justices reversed lower-court rulings in favor of the Montgomery County school system in suburban Washington. The high court ruled that the schools likely...
Supreme Court OKs fee that subsidizes phone, internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the fee that is added to phone bills to provide billions of dollars a year in subsidized phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas. The justices, by a 6-3 vote, reversed an appeals court ruling that had struck down...
Supreme Court preserves key part of Obamacare coverage requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court preserved a key part of the Affordable Care Act’s preventive health care coverage requirements on Friday, rejecting a challenge from Christian employers to the provision that affects some 150 million Americans. The 6-3 ruling comes in a lawsuit over how the government decides which health...
Supreme Court limits nationwide injunctions, but fate of Trump birthright citizenship order unclear
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision left unclear the fate of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship. The outcome was a victory for the Republican president, who has complained about individual judges throwing...
Civil War book wins Gettysburg roundtable award for Penn Township author
Penn Township author Ron Kirkwood spent 17 days in 2022 at the National Archives in Washington, DC, scouring hundreds of pension files for the stories of Civil War soldiers and their families. Kirkwood, 70, a Michigan native, worked more than four decades as a newspaper and magazine editor — for...
Family sues over U.S. detention in what may be 1st challenge to courthouse arrests involving kids
A mother and her two young kids are fighting for their release from a Texas immigration detention center in what is believed to be the first lawsuit involving children challenging the Trump administration’s policy on immigrant arrests at courthouses. The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that the family’s arrests after fleeing...
Supreme Court meets Friday to decide 6 remaining cases, including birthright citizenship
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is meeting Friday to decide the final six cases of its term, including President Donald Trump’s bid to enforce his executive order denying birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of parents who are in the country illegally. The justices take the bench at 10 a.m. for...
Trump says U.S. has signed a deal with China on trade; no details yet
BANGKOK — The U.S. and China have signed an agreement on trade, President Donald Trump said, adding he expects to soon have a deal with India. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week. Neither Lutnick nor Trump provided any details about the...
Oslo police announce rape and sexual assault charges against son of Norwegian crown princess
OSLO, Norway — Oslo police on Friday announced charges against Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Norway’s crown princess, on multiple counts including rape, sexual assault and bodily harm after a months-long investigation of a case that involved a “double-digit” number of alleged victims. Høiby, the son of Crown...
Flash floods in Pakistan kill 8 after deluge sweeps away dozens
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Flash floods triggered by pre-monsoon rains swept away dozens of tourists in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least eight people. The nationwide death toll from rain-related incidents rose to 18 over the past 24 hours, officials said. Nearly 100 rescuers in various groups rescued a total...
Justice Department says Kilmar Abrego Garcia will face US trial before any move to deport him again
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Thursday that it intends to try Kilmar Abrego Garcia on federal smuggling charges in Tennessee before it moves to deport him, addressing fears that he could be expelled again from the U.S. within days. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tennessee, recently ruled...
Shark attacks at Hilton Head Island leave 2 injured in a week
Two shark attacks were reported within a week in a popular Pittsburgher vacation spot — Hilton Head Island, S.C. The latest incident happened on Sunday around noon at Coligny Beach Park, People reported. The attack happened near a lifeguard and in front of the beach path. WRDW reported that the...
Israeli strike kills 18 Palestinians in central Gaza as turmoil mounts over food distribution
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed....
