Wolf, Fetterman travel to NYC for cannabis summit
Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman traveled to New York City on Thursday to talk pot with leaders from other states. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hosted the Governors’ Regional Cannabis and Vaping Summit. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont also participated, as did...
Spokesman for grieving U.K. parents: White House ‘a bunch of henchmen’ for TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — The grieving parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving a U.S. diplomat’s wife said President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand” how much the accident has “broken” their family. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn appeared on CNN for an interview Thursday morning in which...
Energy Secretary Rick Perry tells Trump he plans to leave post soon
WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Rick Perry notified President Donald Trump Thursday that he will soon be leaving the post, according to two people familiar with the matter. Perry, one of the administration’s original Cabinet secretaries, enjoyed good rapport with Trump. The former Texas governor has recently come under scrutiny in...
NFL season rockets Pennsylvania to new sports betting record
HARRISBURG — Sports betting in Pennsylvania blew through its previous monthly record with the start of the NFL season. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Thursday that gamblers bet a record $194.5 million in September at nine casinos and two off-track betting parlors where sports betting is approved. That was...
Mick Mulvaney confirms Trump withheld aid in part to pressure Ukraine to investigate DemocratsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump withheld roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine earlier this year in part to push its new government to investigate Democrats, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday, a stunning confirmation that hits directly at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry....
Family finds 5 inches of blood in their basementVideo
An Iowa family discovered a bloody mess in their basement. Five inches of animal blood, fat and tissue, to be specific. Nick Lestina, a father of five, stopped home on Oct. 3 and found his sump pump spewing red liquid, reports the Des Moines Register. The blood and guts had...
Mike Pence says Turkey agrees to cease-fire in Syria
ANKARA, Turkey — Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that Turkey has agreed to a cease-fire to allow the Kurdish forces it was battling to safely withdraw from an area in northern Syria. Pence spoke after he and other U.S. officials met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara....
Trapper plays with alligator until it tires, pulls it from pool
PARKLAND, Fla. — A Florida animal trapper says he corralled a large alligator by playing with it until it got tired after it hopped into a residential swimming pool. Celebrity trapper Paul Bedard, who is contracted with the state’s nuisance alligator program, said Thursday that he was dispatched to a...
Romania’s autumn fairs delight all ages, incomes
TITU, Romania (AP) — Romania’s autumn fairs are a loud, colorful reminder that summer has come to an end. And for many families in poorer areas of the country, they are one of the few affordable events of the year. Fairs like the one in Titu, northwest of Bucharest, which...
Pennsylvania fir selected as White House Christmas tree
A 23-foot Douglas fir from Pennsylvania will be decorated and displayed in the Blue Room of The White House this Christmas season. The tree was planted about 16 years ago at Mahantango Valley Farms in Upper Mahanoy Township in Northumberland County, reports WNEP. White House officials selected the tree Tuesday...
U.S. envoy key to Ukraine probe distances himself from Trump
WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to the European Union distanced himself on Thursday from President Donald Trump, planning to tell House impeachment investigators that he was disappointed Trump directed him to work with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine policy and that he believes it’s wrong to invite a...
Hurricane Center: Tropical storm likely along Gulf Coast
MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center says thunderstorms and showers off the coast of Mexico are likely to develop into a storm that will threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast by this weekend. Forecasters say there’s an 80% chance that the area of low pressure located in the Bay of Campeche...
Rep. Elijah Cummings dies from health complications at 68Video
BALTIMORE — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable...
Pa. congressional delegation briefly crossed party lines to scold Trump on Syria
Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation had a rare moment of near unity this week when members came together to vote 354-60 to condemn President Trump’s abrupt withdrawal from Syria. The 18-member delegation, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, largely ignored the partisan divide that has polarized the nation. They voted 16-2 in...
Chicago teachers to strike amid no contract deal
CHICAGO — Chicago teachers are set to go on strike after failing to reach a contract deal with the nation’s third-largest school district. Both sides have been negotiating for months over issues including pay and benefits, class size and teacher preparation time. The Chicago Teachers Union said Wednesday night that...
911 recording: Boy found hanging in home with sister was bullied, ‘didn’t want to go alone’
ALLENTOWN — Minutes after finding her two children hanging from a support beam in the basement of their Albany Township home, Lisa R. Snyder told a 911 dispatcher that her 8-year-old son was bullied and had “made threats of doing this, but didn’t want to go alone,” a recording of...
Attorney: Lawsuit planned over VA hospital death in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An attorney representing the family of a patient who died at a Veterans Affairs hospital in West Virginia says he plans to sue over what he believes is the man’s suspicious death from a wrongful insulin injection. Charleston attorney Tony O’Dell said a notice of a pending...
Trump warns Erdogan not to be ‘tough guy’ or ‘fool,’ seeks dealVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling on him to “work out a good deal!” and warning him not to be a “tough guy” or “fool.” “History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way,”...
Ligonier electrician known for generosity
William E. LaRue didn’t always accept money for his work as an electrician. “He was very good at bartering, he brought that trade back to life,” said his daughter, Susan Huba. When people needed help he helped them, regardless of if they could pay for it. “He didn’t feel that...
Fentanyl test strips should be legal in Pennsylvania, auditor general says
Citing the growing role of fentanyl in drug overdoses, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to legalize fentanyl test strips. The call was among the top recommendations DePasquale released in a new report, “A Deadly Dose: Fentanyl’s Impact on Pennsylvania.” The two-term auditor general, who...
GM and union reach tentative deal that could end strike
DETROIT — Bargainers for General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative contract deal on Wednesday that could end a monthlong strike that brought the company’s U.S. factories to a standstill. The deal, which the union says offers “major gains” for workers, was hammered out after months of...
Stoneman Douglas High School commission says mental health system needs overhaul
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s mental health system is underfunded and needs to be overhauled, with better coordination between providers, law enforcement and educators, the commission investigating last year’s high school massacre recommended to the legislature Wednesday. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, meeting in Orlando, found...
Bike lane prank dangerous but a hit on social media
A city in Cyprus got some surprises when it hired a company to paint a bike trail. Residents of Limassol found their new red cycling route a little difficult (and unsafe) to follow, reports Knews Kathimerini. The painted path made twists and turns around obstacles like trees and parked cars,...
Aging, thin pipe likely cause of Philadelphia refinery fire
PHILADELPHIA — An aging, failed elbow pipe appears to be the initial cause of a June 21 fire and subsequent explosions that injured five people at the largest oil refinery on the East Coast, federal investigators said Wednesday. The U.S. Chemical and Safety Hazard Investigation Board released a preliminary factual...
British family held at Pa. detention center decries treatment by U.S. after border crossing
Seven members of an extended British family who made an unauthorized crossing into the United States from Canada are being held in federal custody at a Pennsylvania detention center nearly two weeks after their arrest, their lawyer said Tuesday, as U.S. border officials defended their handling of the case by...
