AP Explains: How do immigration authorities make arrests?
After postponing an immigration-enforcement operation late last month, the Trump administration plans to go ahead with the raids as soon as this weekend. The sweep is expected to be similar to others that authorities have done regularly since 2003 and often netted hundreds of arrests. This one is different because...
Newer buildings show little damage after California quakes
LOS ANGELES — The two Southern California desert communities rocked by last week’s powerful earthquakes may have sustained as little damage as they did because they have no tall buildings and many of the homes in one are fairly new and were built to stricter earthquake standards. California’s Seismic Safety...
LA police chief aims to wipe out minor warrants for homeless
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said he is working to eliminate thousands of homeless people’s old warrants for minor offenses in the coming weeks as part of a solution to help get people off the streets. “This is a humanitarian crisis of our generation,” Moore said...
Trump administration plans immigration enforcement operation
CHICAGO — The Trump administration is moving forward with a nationwide immigration enforcement operation targeting migrant families, despite loud opposition from Democrats and questions over whether it’s the best use of resources given the crisis at the border. The operation could happen as soon as this weekend after being postponed...
Western Pa. pipeline battle over fuel delivery continues with regulators
The Texas-based owner of a petroleum pipeline that serves Western Pennsylvania is not taking “no” for an answer. Houston-based Buckeye Partners LP and its subsidiary, Laurel Pipe Line Co., which operates an east-to-west pipeline through Pennsylvania, want the option to deliver fuel from west-to-east, but can’t get the necessary regulatory...
Marijuana surplus poses problem in Oregon
Five years after it legalized recreational marijuana, Oregon has a new problem and it’s not the munchies. Stateline reports a large surplus of recreational weed in Oregon storehouses and processing plants has led to concerns that licensed growers may turn to the black market or look across state lines to...
Pa. adds anxiety to qualifying conditions for medical pot
The Pennsylvania Health Department is adding anxiety disorders and Tourette’s syndrome to the list of conditions that can qualify people to obtain legal medical marijuana. The heath secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, announced Thursday she’ll be adding them as of July 20. Levine says her decision was based on the recommendation...
Hempfield WWII veteran Joseph Churbock Sr. valued family
Joseph Churbock Sr. of Hempfield Township was part of the Greatest Generation of Americans, who served their country in war and came home to marry and raise a family. “He instilled the importance of family in us,” said his son, David Churbock of Hudson, Ohio. “He was always busy with...
Daughters rode in inflated pool as mom drove it home atop car, police say
A mother in Dixon, Ill., trying to transport an inflated pool from her friend’s house to her own Tuesday had her two juvenile daughters ride inside the pool as she drove with it atop her SUV, police said. Jennifer A. Janus Yeager, 49, has been charged with child endangerment and...
Rattlesnake, uranium, whiskey found during traffic stopVideo
GUTHRIE, Okla. — Police in Oklahoma say they found a rattlesnake, a canister of radioactive powdered uranium and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe whiskey during a traffic stop of a vehicle that had been reported stolen. The traffic stop happened June 26 in Guthrie, about 30 miles north of...
Former Pa. Congress members tackle civics education
It might be time to hit the civics books. Citing recent surveys that found only 26% of Americans could name all three branches of government and 37% could not name any of the rights guaranteed by First Amendment, a coalition of former Pennsylvania members of Congress is joining with eight...
Irwin woman receives national award for infection prevention efforts
Terri Lee Roberts of Irwin has made infection prevention her life’s work, and that work was honored recently with the 2019 Heroes of Infection Prevention Award for Education, presented by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Roberts is a senior infection preventionist at the Patient Safety Authority...
Pennsylvania must get tough on crime guns, prosecutor says
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office says it wants to improve the management and use of firearms-sales databases so that law enforcement can better clamp down on gun violence. Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that he wants police departments to enter serial numbers from every crime gun into a law-enforcement...
Court: Risks justify redacting Pa. abortion clinic worker names
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court says security risks for people who work in abortion clinics justify a decision to redact their names and license numbers before making government records available to the public. A three-judge Commonwealth Court panel said Thursday the state Health Department acted properly when it removed professional...
AG report: Unnecessary standardized tests cost Pa. taxpayers $18 million
Pennsylvania taxpayers are paying nearly $18 million a year for unnecessary standardized tests administered to high school seniors across the state, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale charged in a report issued Wednesday. The 18-page report “Where did your money go?” examines the costs associated with the Keystone Exams. DePasquale said his...
Pennsylvania State System universities freeze tuition, Pitt hikes rate
For the first time in 20 years, and the second time ever, tuition will not rise this year at the 14 state-owned universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Basic tuition for in-state undergraduate students will remain at $7,716 for the 2019-20 school year. That comes after a...
New Orleans braces for slow-moving possible weekend hurricane
NEW ORLEANS — Mandatory evacuations were ordered southeast of New Orleans on Thursday as the city and a surrounding stretch of the Gulf Coast braced for a possible hurricane over the weekend that could unload heavy rain and send water spilling over levees. All eyes were on a weather disturbance...
Democrats acknowledge questioning Robert Mueller ‘will not be easy’
WASHINGTON — Some are watching old video of his previous testimony. Others are closely re-reading his 448-page report. And almost all are worrying about how they’ll make the most of the short time they’ll have for questioning. Robert Mueller, the Democrats know, will be tough to crack. The stern, reticent...
Diplomats shaken by resignation of Britain’s ambassador to U.S.
WASHINGTON — The abrupt resignation of Britain’s ambassador to the United States over leaked cables critical of the Trump administration may have jolted official Washington, but it’s unlikely to have a lasting impact on the U.S.-British relationship or diplomatic practice. Current and former diplomats say the leak of Ambassador Kim...
McGrath flip-flops on Kavanaugh confirmation after backlash
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath said she would have voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court and then just hours later she changed her mind. The Courier Journal reports that the reversal came after her comments were slammed on social media by both...
Divisive telescope to restart building next week in Hawaii
HONOLULU — Construction on a giant telescope will start again next week after lengthy court battles and passionate protests from those who say building it on Hawaii’s tallest mountain will desecrate land sacred to some Native Hawaiians. State officials announced Wednesday that the road to the top of Mauna Kea...
Candidate: Woman reporter needs chaperone to cover him
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Republican candidate for Mississippi governor says he would not let a woman journalist follow him while campaigning unless she was accompanied by a male colleague — and now he’s trying to raise campaign money based on that because he says the “liberal media” are attacking...
Colorado settles suit by transgender inmate who alleged rape
DENVER — Colorado reached a $170,000 settlement with a transgender woman who sued the state and alleged being raped, assaulted and harassed while held in a men’s prison, state officials said Wednesday. Officials said the agreement does not force broad policy changes for transgender inmates in Colorado’s prisons, but the...
New holding center for migrant children opens in Texas
CARRIZO SPRINGS, Texas — A former oilfield worker camp off a dirt road in rural Texas has become the U.S. government’s newest holding center for detaining migrant children after they leave Border Patrol stations, where complaints of overcrowding and filthy conditions have sparked a worldwide outcry. Inside the wire fence...
Pa. state police report 9 killed in crashes over 5-day Fourth of July holiday
The Pennsylvania State Police reported that nine people died in eight crashes over the Fourth of July holiday, the second deadliest Independence Day stretch in the last five years. Four of those roadway deaths happened in Western Pennsylvania, data for the state police’s five-day enforcement period shows. Three people died...
