Fast-moving fire drives thousands from California homesVideo
LOS ANGELES — An aggressive wildfire in Southern California seared its way through dry vegetation Friday and spread quickly, destroying more than a dozen homes as tens of thousands of residents were ordered to get out of its way, authorities said. The blaze broke out Thursday evening in the San...
Trafford woman was a guardian angel at crosswalk to generations of children
Rose Ann Fullerton didn’t have a title, but children in Trafford knew that she was queen of the crossing guards, a guardian angel who saw them safely on and off the school bus. Every school day morning for 42 years, rain, snow or shine, Mrs. Fullerton was at the corner...
Southwestern Pennsylvania residents renew calls for research on possible health impact of frackingVideo
As calls for better science on the health impact of unconventional natural gas drilling grew last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health revealed that a new study found a slight increase in the expected number of cases of Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, among girls in Fayette, Greene, Washington...
Pennsylvania hospitals struggle under demand for mental health beds
More than 300 Pennsylvanians a day were hospitalized for mental illness in 2018, leaving mental health professionals in many instances struggling to find beds for them in a system plagued by limited resources. The numbers, detailed in a new report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, found the...
California to require abortion medication at public colleges
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will be the first state to require abortion medication on college campuses under a law signed Friday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law takes effect in 2023 and only applies to the 34 campuses in the University of California and California State University systems. But...
Man sentenced to death for Texas attack that killed 6
HOUSTON — A man who prosecutors say was driven by vengeance when he fatally shot six members of his ex-wife’s family in Texas, including four children, was sentenced Friday to death, a decision the lone survivor of the attack says will help her let go of “hurt and anger.” Jurors...
Pelosi calls Trump ‘potty-mouth’ after his remarks on Biden
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump has become a “potty-mouth,” but that’s not why House Democrats are pursuing impeachment. In a conference call Friday, Pelosi told her House Democratic colleagues to stay focused on their “just the facts, ma’am,” impeachment probe. Trump “has become a potty-mouth and...
McAleenan, acting Homeland Security secretary, stepping down
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that Kevin McAleenan was stepping down as the acting secretary of Homeland Security. Trump said McAleenan wanted to spend more time with his family and go to the private sector. “We have worked well together with Border Crossings being Way down,” Trump tweeted....
Boeing, FAA both faulted in certification of the 737 Max
A panel of international aviation regulators found that Boeing withheld key information about the 737 Max from pilots and regulators, and the Federal Aviation Administration lacked the expertise to understand an automated flight system implicated in two deadly crashes of Max jets. In its report issued Friday, the panel made...
Greta Thunberg tells Denver rally: ‘We are the change’
DENVER — Young people must be prepared to continue striking to call for action on climate change for a long time and not back down, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told a climate strike rally in Denver on Friday. Thunberg said she and fellow youth activists won’t beg those in...
Pentagon: U.S. not abandoning Kurds in face of Turkish attack
WASHINGTON — Top Pentagon officials on Friday denied the U.S. is abandoning its Syrian Kurdish allies in the face of a Turkish military offensive, although the future of a counterterrorism partnership with the Kurds was in grave doubt. “We have not abandoned the Kurds. Let me be clear about that,”...
Homeless man indicted in New York City beating deaths
NEW YORK — A homeless man accused of beating four other homeless men to death while they slept on a New York City Street has been indicted by a grand jury. Randy Santos was not in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday for a brief session with prosecutors. He was being...
U.S. suspends plans to hike tariffs on Chinese imports
WASHINGTON — The United States is suspending a tariff hike on $250 billion in Chinese imports that was set to take effect Tuesday, and China agreed to buy $40 billion to $50 billion in U.S. farm products as the world’s two biggest economies reached a cease-fire in their 15-month trade...
Police: 15-year-old stabbed, seriously hurt near U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON — A 15-year-old boy was stabbed and seriously injured Friday afternoon near the U.S. Capitol after an altercation with a teenage girl aboard a Metro train, police said. The stabbing occurred around 12:30 p.m. at the Capitol South Metro station, about a block from the Cannon House Office Building,...
Authorities order 100,000 evacuated in California wildfire
LOS ANGELES — A wildfire raged out of control along the northern edge of Los Angeles early Friday, forcing thousands of people from their homes as firefighters battled flames from the air and on the ground. Police Chief Michel Moore said mandatory evacuations encompassed about 100,000 people in over 20,000...
NASA conducting spacewalk as world’s 1st spacewalker dies
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts replaced more oversized batteries outside the International Space Station on Friday, as news broke of the death of the world’s first spacewalker. NASA interrupted live TV coverage of its second spacewalk this week to announce the death of Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov at age 85....
Federal agency underwrites grants to struggling coal communities
Pennsylvania communities harmed by downturns in the coal industry will reap $8 million in grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission to bump up local economic initiatives. The grants from the federal agency will go toward projects in 10 counties, including four in Western Pennsylvania. “These projects will enable affected regions...
Republicans stumbling over question at heart of impeachment
DENVER — A simple yes-or-no question keeps tripping up Senate Republicans: Should the president ask foreign countries to investigate political rivals? A month ago the question was a legal and constitutional no-brainer. It’s illegal to accept foreign help in a political campaign, an action that also raises questions about U.S....
Uber driver not guilty in death of passenger in Denver
DENVER — A jury on Thursday found an Uber driver not guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of a passenger he said attacked him while driving on a freeway in Denver. Jurors sided with Michael Hancock, 31, who argued that he was defending himself against passenger Hyun (Huhn) Kim....
El Paso mass shooting suspect pleads not guilty in 22 deaths
EL PASO, Texas — The 21-year-old man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, pleaded not guilty Thursday during a brief initial hearing. Police have said Patrick Crusius of Dallas confessed to the Aug. 3 mass shooting and that...
Latrobe teacher led by example
Esther Pevarnik strived to set a good example in everything she did. “She always said you have to act like a duck,” said her daughter, Amanda Coup. “Calm, cool and collected up top, but sometimes you had to paddle like hell underneath to make it work.” The longtime school teacher...
Study: Climate change could make dozens of bird species extinct in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s state bird, the ruffed grouse, could go extinct in the state along with dozens of other bird species because of climate change, according to a National Audubon Society study released Thursday. It’s more bad bird news. Last month, the journal Science reported the loss of 3 billion birds since...
California hospital chain going to court over high prices
SAN FRANCISCO — One of California’s largest hospital systems is facing a trial over accusations that it has used its market dominance to snuff out competition and overcharge patients for medical bills. The antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health, which operates 24 hospitals with 5,500 doctors across Northern California, was first...
Wildfire prompts Southern California evacuation
SONOMA, Calif. — The Latest on power outages in California (all times local): 12:55 p.m. A fire has erupted in a Southern California city as strong Santa Ana winds buffet the region. The San Bernardino County Fire Department says the fire erupted in Fontana early Thursday afternoon. Officials say one...
Florida men tied to Rudolph Giuliani arrested on campaign charges
WASHINGTON — Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump’s lawyer and the Ukraine investigation were charged Thursday with federal campaign finance violations. The charges relate to a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump’s reelection. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani, were arrested Wednesday night trying...
