Boyfriend accused of killing au pair girlfriend, employer
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. — A man has been charged in the shooting deaths of his au pair girlfriend and her employer at his suburban home in northern New Jersey. The Essex County prosecutor’s office said 27-year-old Joseph Porter of Elizabeth is charged with two counts of murder, weapons possession charges, and...
Report: Iran seizes tanker carrying ‘smuggled fuel’ in Persian Gulf
TEHRAN — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions. State TV...
Latrobe woman dedicated to taking care of others
When Marjorie L. Sigmund graduated from Latrobe High School in the midst of World War II, she did not have the opportunity to go to nursing school like she had wanted, but that did not stop her from helping others, said one of her nieces. “All during her life, she...
El Paso suspect Patrick Crusius appears to have posted anti-immigrant screedVideo
DALLAS — About 20 minutes before the shooting started at an El Paso Walmart, a rambling screed was posted to an online message board saying the massacre was in response to an “invasion” of Hispanics coming across the southern border. Titled “The Inconvenient Truth,” it railed against the dangers of...
Aide: Sen Mitch McConnell trips, breaks shoulder in Kentucky
LOUISVILLE — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is recuperating at home in Kentucky after suffering a shoulder fracture in a fall Sunday, a spokesman said. McConnell tripped Sunday morning on his outdoor patio, but has been treated and released after getting medical attention, David Popp, a spokesman for the...
After pair of mass shootings, Trump remains out of sight
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and...
2020 Democrats lay blame on Trump’s rhetoric for shootings
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Democratic presidential candidates sought to lay blame Sunday on President Donald Trump following a pair of mass shootings in Ohio and Texas, saying his language against minorities promotes racial division and violence. At public events and on television, several candidates pointed to a need for more gun...
Attack on Texas shoppers to be handled as domestic terrorism
EL PASO, Texas — The shooting that killed 20 people at a crowded El Paso shopping area will be handled as a domestic terrorism case, federal authorities said Sunday as they weighed hate-crime charges against the gunman that could carry the death penalty. A local prosecutor announced that he would...
Oops: Bank robber’s note demanding money includes his name
CLEVELAND — Investigators say a Cleveland bank robber made their job much easier because his note demanding money was written on the back side of a document bearing his name and address. FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson tells WJW-TV the stunned teller who was handed the note last Monday looked...
A bird? A plane? French inventor flies over English Channel
SANGATTE, France — Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a French inventor flying over the English Channel on his hoverboard. Looking like a superhero, Franky Zapata successfully completed the famed 35-kilometer (22-mile) journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning, reaching speeds of up to 177 kilometers...
Hong Kong protesters move to luxury shopping district
HONG KONG — Demonstrators in Hong Kong moved en masse to a luxury shopping district Sunday evening after riot police used tear gas to clear out an area they were previously occupying, as the 2-month-old protest movement showed no signs of easing. Clad in yellow helmets and black face masks,...
Cummings urges Trump to ‘come to Baltimore’
BALTIMORE — Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings took the high road in inviting President Donald Trump and other Americans to visit Baltimore but declining to respond in kind to the barrage of presidential tweets and comments disparaging him and the majority-black city he has long represented. “We are a great community,”...
2 mass shootings in less than 24 hours shock U.S.
Two mass shootings at crowded public places in Texas and Ohio claimed at least 29 lives in less than 24 hours and left scores of people wounded, a shocking carnage even in a country accustomed to gun violence. In the Texas border city of El Paso, a gunman opened fire...
White House fence project obscures tourists’ view
WASHINGTON — Tourists aiming for postcard-perfect photos of the White House at first couldn’t avoid the black metal bicycle racks that were arranged to form an extra security barrier against possible fence-jumpers. The racks were in just about every shot. But visitors now must contend with a tall white wooden...
9 killed in Ohio in second U.S. mass shooting within 24 hours
DAYTON, Ohio — A shooter in body armor and carrying extra magazines opened fire early Sunday in a popular nightlife area of Dayton, Ohio, killing nine and injuring dozens before being slain by police, authorities say, in the second U.S. mass shooting in less than 24 hours. Police patrolling the...
Police: El Paso mall shooting suspect posted hate-filled manifesto
The suspect in the killing of at least 20 people in El Paso posted an online manifesto before starting on the deadly rampage that was described by Texas law enforcement and political leaders as hate-filled and racist. Media reports have identified 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, as the suspect...
2020 Dems back gun limits after El Paso mass shooting
LAS VEGAS — Democratic presidential candidates expressed outrage Saturday that mass shootings have become chillingly common nationwide and blamed the National Rifle Association and its congressional allies after a gunman opened fire at a shopping area near the Texas-Mexico border. “It’s not just today, it has happened several times this...
2 United pilots held for alleged intoxication before flight
Police in Scotland say two pilots have been arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs before a scheduled flight to New Jersey. The flight, United Airlines 162 to Newark, New Jersey, was due to leave Glasgow Airport at 9 a.m. on Sunday. It was canceled...
North Irwin Pepsi delivery man loved his job, people
Clifford Lee Bressler loved his job as a delivery man for Pepsi Co., serving grocery store owners with soft drinks from the company’s warehouse in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks. “He loved people,” and loved going to the “mom and pop” grocery stores, where he would become friends with...
56,000 cases put on fast-track in U.S. immigration courts
LOS ANGELES — Rosita Lopez said armed gang members demanded money from her and her partner at their small grocery store on the Guatemalan coast and threatened to kill them when they couldn’t pay. When her partner was shot soon afterward, they sold everything and fled north. Lopez was eight...
Romanian tourist dies in accident at Yosemite National Park
A Romanian tourist has died in a fall near a waterfall in Yosemite National Park in California. Authorities say 21-year-old Lucian Miu was scrambling on wet rocks below Bridalveil Fall on Wednesday when he fell about 20 feet. He died at a hospital. The Fresno Bee says two other people...
Vineyard fined $3.7M after bulldozing California wetland
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — California regulators say a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and winemaker has agreed to pay $3.76 million in penalties after his company bulldozed a protected wetland and filled in a stream bed to build a vineyard in Mendocino County. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports Saturday that...
Texas governor: 20 dead in shooting at El Paso shopping complex
EL PASO, Texas — A young gunman opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, shopping area packed with as many as 3,000 people during the busy back-to-school season Saturday, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured. Authorities were investigating the possibility the shooting was a hate crime, working...
Test is first in U.S. to help detect new STD threat
It is hard to get much of a reputation if nobody knows you’re around, and that has definitely been the case for mycoplasma genitalium, the tiny bacteria estimated to be more prevalent than the bug that causes gonorrhea but is almost completely off the public’s radar. That’s because, until very...
Impeachment summer? August town halls may decide next steps
WASHINGTON — Freshman Democratic Rep. Andy Kim came face to face with impeachment fervor at a town hall in New Jersey. “Do your job!” shouted one voter. Several states away, a woman held up a copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and told freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin at a...
