5 things to know about Affordable Care Act’s 2020 enrollment period
Western Pennsylvanians shopping for 2020 insurance coverage through the federal health care marketplace can expect to see a small uptick in prices over last year and more plans to choose from. Costs for 2020 individual plans increased statewide by an average of about 4%, state data show. “It’s a slight...
Report: China has been using pigs as crash test dummies
Researchers in China have apparently been using live pigs as a substitution for crash dummies for testing the potential impact of automobile collisions. According to a report from the Daily Mail, 15 juvenile pigs were buckled into seats for high-speed simulations in testing that resulted in seven immediate deaths. The...
Dying winds bring relief after weeks of California wildfires
WINDSOR, Calif. — Lynn Darst and her husband were camped out in their motor home on the edge of their seats for four days wondering if their house would survive yet another wildfire menacing Sonoma County. Flames had come close to their neighborhood of spacious homes surrounded by vineyards two...
Trick-or-treater, 7, critically injured in Chicago shooting
CHICAGO — A 7-year-old girl out trick-or-treating in a bumblebee costume was critically injured Thursday night after being struck by apparent stray gunfire, police said. The girl, who was shot in the upper chest area, was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford....
Test shows little impact of citizenship on census form
ORLANDO, Fla. — Including a citizenship question didn’t have much of an impact on overall response rates on a test for the 2020 Census, though responses by people who identified as Hispanic were down slightly, according to preliminary results released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau started...
Using acetaminophen such as Tylenol in pregnancy linked to higher rates of ADHD, autism
Exposure to acetaminophen in the womb may have some connection with a child’s risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder, suggests a new study in JAMA-Psychiatry. But experts caution that it is too soon to tell pregnant women not to use the over-the-counter painkiller, better known as...
Party lines define Pennsylvania congressional delegation take on impeachment
Party lines were starkly visible Thursday as five Western Pennsylvania congressmen weighed in on the impeachment resolution that narrowly passed in the U.S. House, 232-196. Mike Kelly of Butler, John Joyce of Hollidaysburg, and Guy Reschenthaler of Peters — like 191 other House Republicans — voted against continuing the impeachment...
California endures more wildfires, 1 sparked by a hot car
JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. — A stolen car sparked a wildfire in a bone-dry field Thursday as two of Southern California’s quintessential themes — car chases and gusty Santa Ana winds — collided with potentially devastating consequences. The hot car ignited dry grass in a field in the city of Jurupa...
Police: Missing Alabama college student was harmed
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Evidence shows a missing college student was harmed and is now considered a victim of foul play, police said Thursday as her mother and stepfather, who’s an Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight, pleaded for information. Speaking in an interview with WBRC-TV, Angela Harris said “there has to be...
Dog struck by car rides inside bumper for miles
ROTTERDAM, N.Y. — A dog hit by a car in upstate New York rode for 45 minutes wedged between the broken bumper and the grille before the driver realized she was carrying an injured passenger. Coco the shiba inu was being treated for a fractured elbow after being struck Monday...
Nebraska man tries to open bank account with fake $1 million bill
Police are searching for a man who walked into a bank in Nebraska this week and tried to open a checking account with a fake $1 million bill. Staff at the Pinnacle Bank branch in Lincoln reported the Monday morning incident to police. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that bank...
U.S. vaping illnesses rise to 1,888 with pace picking up again
The number of U.S. vaping illnesses has jumped again, reaching more than 1,800 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that 1,888 confirmed and probable cases have been reported in 49 states. That includes 37 deaths in 24 states. The total is 284 higher than what the...
$90M for Pa. voting machines, mail-in ballots signed into law
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is making the most significant changes to its election laws in 80 years and helping counties buy new voting machines ahead of next year’s presidential election. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill Thursday, two days after it passed the Republican-controlled Legislature handily. The legislation was negotiated...
Survivors: Burning train in Pakistan took 20 minutes to stop, 74 dead
MULTAN, Pakistan — A raging fire swept through a train in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab Province on Thursday killing 74 people and survivors said afterward it took nearly 20 minutes for the train to stop amid contradictory reports about the condition of the train’s brakes. Three carriages were consumed by flames...
Democrats push impeachment rules package through House
WASHINGTON — Democrats rammed a package of ground rules for their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump through a sharply divided House Thursday, the chamber’s first formal vote in a fight that could stretch into the 2020 election year. The vote was 232-196, with all Republicans against the resolution and...
Stable costs but more uninsured as ‘Obamacare’ sign-ups open
WASHINGTON — More Americans are going without health insurance, and stable premiums plus greater choice next year under the Obama health law aren’t likely to reverse that. As sign-up season starts on Friday, the Affordable Care Act has shown remarkable resiliency, but it has also fallen short of expectations. Even...
Trump to welcome military working dog Conan to White HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — Every dog has his day, just not at the White House. President Donald Trump tweets that the military working dog injured in the raid last weekend that killed the Islamic State leader will leave the Middle East for the White House sometime next week. And the president appears...
Polling finds Pennsylvania voters break along party lines on Trump impeachment
Pittsburgh retiree Francine Hunter said she worries that President Trump often oversteps the bounds of his office. “I don’t think he sticks to what a president is supposed to do,” said Hunter, 69, a Democrat from Pittsburgh’s West End. That’s one of the major reasons the retired hospital dietary worker...
Chicago teachers OK tentative agreement but strike goes on
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s teachers union voted to approve a tentative contract agreement with city officials Wednesday but refused to end a strike that has canceled two weeks of classes unless the city’s mayor adds school days to cover that lost time. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday night that she...
California nursing home patients had minutes to flee fire
JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. — A wildfire pushed by gale-force winds moved with terrifying speed toward a psychiatric nursing care facility Wednesday, leaving caregivers just 15 minutes to evacuate more than five dozen residents, many of them elderly and confined to wheelchairs and beds. They copied residents’ paperwork, gathered medications and...
Georgia Supreme Court temporarily halts man’s execution
ATLANTA — With about eight hours to spare before a man convicted of killing a convenience store clerk was to be put to death Wednesday, Georgia’s highest court stepped in and temporarily halted the execution. Ray Jefferson Cromartie, 52, was to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. Wednesday at...
Judge: Pennsylvania can’t tally Marsy’s Law votes while challenge pending
HARRISBURG — A judge ruled Wednesday that votes in a referendum next week about enshrining victims’ rights in Pennsylvania’s constitution will not be tallied or certified while a legal challenge is pending. Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler issued a preliminary injunction that was requested by the voter and the state...
Work zone speed cameras to be deployed in Pennsylvania
Cameras to detect speeding in Pennsylvania’s roadway work zones will begin limited operation next week ahead of their use statewide early next year. Two cameras will be deployed, one in the Pennsylvania Turnpike system and one on another Pennsylvania roadway, but for 60 days violators won’t be issued warnings or...
At-large python found in West Virginia by letter carrier
RICHWOOD, W.Va. — An 11-foot python that was on the loose in West Virginia was found Tuesday, about a month after it got out of its tank, broke through a window screen and slithered outside. Richwood Police Chief Charles Burkhamer says a letter carrier saw the snake laying out in...
Teen’s family says he complained of bullying before death
MORENO VALLEY, Calif. — A 13-year-old complained to an administrator that he was being bullied at his Southern California middle school days before the assault that killed him, the boy’s family said. Juana and Felipe Salcedo, the aunt and uncle of Diego Stolz who raised the boy since his parents...
