‘Person of interest’ emerges in case of missing Utah woman
SALT LAKE CITY — Police investigating the case of a college student who went missing in Utah 10 days ago said Thursday that the owner of a home they searched in connection with the disappearance is a “person of interest” and that they are trying to find a mattress that...
GI Bill, written by Braddock native, marks 75th anniversaryVideo
Aryanna Berringer, the newly appointed director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Veterans Services, is one of the millions of veterans whose life has been impacted by the GI Bill, which marked its 75th anniversary on June 22. “For me, personally, I grew up in poverty. I grew up...
Police: Florida man drugged, assaulted girl, posted naked video
MIRAMAR, Fla. — Police in South Florida say an 18-year-old man drugged and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he met at a party and posted a naked video of her on Instagram. Miramar police say Jorge Martinez gave the girl Percocet on Monday and took her to a home where...
Hawaii set to include gender X on state driver’s licenses
Driver’s licenses in Hawaii will soon have a third gender option. “Gender X” will be available for residents who prefer not to identify as male or female, reports Hawaii News Now. The move is aimed at reducing discrimination against transgender and gender fluid individuals. Gov. David Ige was expected to...
Fact-checking the first Democratic debate
In the initial debate of the Democratic primary season, 10 presidential hopefuls rarely strayed over the factual line. Many were armed with statistics, but only a handful of the stats were stretched past the breaking point. Instead, most ranged from mostly or partly true. Here’s a roundup of 13 statements...
California could become first state to protect natural black hair from discrimination
LOS ANGELES — Kari Williams has worked to make her natural hair salon a refuge for black Angelenos, including those who’ve felt pressured to alter their hairstyles to hold on to a job. Some customers have asked her to cut their locs — short for dreadlocks — because their bosses...
Prince Harry, Meghan to make official visit to South Africa
LONDON — Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will make an official visit to South Africa in the fall. The trip announced Thursday would likely be one of Meghan’s first international trips since the birth of the couple’s son Archie in May. The...
New Florida law authorizes statewide needle exchanges
MIAMI — Jose Garcia carried a drawstring backpack full of used syringes as he walked into the converted shipping container that serves as the base for Florida’s only hypodermic needle exchange program. The 57-year-old carefully counted as he dropped 115 syringes one-by-one into a locked biohazard bin brimming with hundreds...
U.S. gets no commitment from NATO for help on Iran threat
BRUSSELS — NATO allies gave the United States no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran, Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday, wrapping up his first alliance meeting. Esper said the United States will come back next month...
Trump’s next tweet could get a warning label
SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s next tweet might come with a warning label. Starting Thursday, tweets that Twitter deems in the public interest, but which violate the service’s rules, will be obscured by a warning explaining the violation. Users will have to tap through the warning to see the...
Couples can officiate their own wedding in the District of Columbia
WASHINGTON — When he spotted the small white fountain in a downtown area of the District of Columbia, Scott Bovarnick knew. He knew the same way he knew he would marry Lucille Convery after a shared glance years ago on a drive. “This is pretty,” he said, turning to Convery,...
Police arrest man accused of stealing 26 street signs
GEORGIA, Vt. — Deputies have arrested a Vermont man who is accused of stealing more than two dozen street signs. Mynbc.com reports 19-year-old Joshua Hanselman has been charged with larceny and unlawful mischief after acknowledging that he and others stole the 26 street signs. The signs were stolen between April...
Lightning strikes injure 3 during heavy storm in Hawaii
Three people were injured by lightning strikes during heavy storms in Hawaii, a report said. A 10-year-old boy and two men sustained serious injuries in two separate lightning strikes on Oahu Tuesday, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday. As heavy rain continued Wednesday, a brown-water advisory warning the public to avoid...
Alabama woman charged in fetal death, her shooter goes free
A 27-year-old Alabama woman was indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday in the shooting death of her own unborn child, even though, police say, another woman pulled the trigger. The moment quickly became a flashpoint in the broader debate over abortion, particularly in Alabama, and raised questions over how fairly manslaughter...
Pa. budget brinksmanship leaves last-minute bills in doubt
HARRISBURG — Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Legislature are inserting some pet policy objectives into hundreds of pages of just-unveiled legislation with the annual budget deadline days away, forcing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to make hard choices. Amid the deadline brinksmanship, measures expected to advance Thursday included a $34 billion...
Supreme Court blocks Trump administration’s census citizenship question
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court put a hold on the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. On the court’s final day of decisions before a summer break, the court said the Trump administration’s explanation for wanting to add the question was “more of a...
Dalai Lama says Trump has a ‘lack of moral principle’
The Dalai Lama accused President Donald Trump of having a “lack of moral principle” during a television interview that aired Thursday in which the Tibetan spiritual leader also voiced renewed concerns about Trump’s “America first” policies. Speaking to the BBC, the Dalai Lama described Trump’s emotions as a “little bit...
Democrats debate in Spanish, to mixed reviews
Minutes into the first Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential election, late-night host Trevor Noah said he suspected that “half of America thought they flipped to Univision by mistake.” Why? Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke had suddenly started speaking Spanish. In the middle of his opening answer to a question...
American woman dies of injuries sustained in shark attack in the Bahamas
An American woman has died of injuries sustained in a shark attack in the Bahamas, the State Department said Thursday. Jordan Lindsey, 21, of Torrance, Calif., was snorkeling with her family during a vacation in the Bahamas when she was attacked by three sharks on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported....
U.S. Customs records largest cocaine seizure in its historyVideo
Last week’s cocaine seizure in Philadelphia, nearly 20 tons, is the largest in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials announced. “Today, I can officially report that CBP has seized a historic amount of cocaine, in fact, the largest cocaine seizure in our 230-year history, with a weight...
Democrats rail against economy-for-the-rich in first debate
MIAMI — Ten Democrats railed against a national economy and Republican administration they said exists only for the rich as presidential candidates debated onstage for the first time in the young 2020 season, embracing class warfare as a defining theme in their fight to deny President Trump a second term...
Asylum officers: Trump policy threatens migrants’ lives
WASHINGTON — U.S. asylum officers slammed President Trump’s policy of forcing migrants to remain in Mexico while they await immigration hearings in the United States, urging a federal appeals court Wednesday to block the administration from continuing the program. The officers, who are directed to implement the policy, said it...
Chaos erupts in Pennsylvania Senate over welfare billVideo
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate devolved into partisan shouting, name-calling and bare-knuckled procedural tactics Wednesday over a bill to end a decades-old program that offers $200 a month to people deemed unable to work. The bill ultimately passed the GOP-controlled chamber, 26-24, with two Republicans siding with Democrats against it,...
Artist’s viral Juneteenth doodle leads to job offer from Google
Who says passive-aggression doesn’t earn any friends? It might not, but it reportedly earned artist Davian Chester a job with search engine-giant Google this past week. Chester, 26, called out Google for what he described as the company’s failure to highlight an important milestone for his ancestors, according to VladTV....
EPA’s top air policy official steps down amid scrutiny over possible ethics violations
Bill Wehrum, a top Environmental Protection Agency official who helped reverse Obama-era rules aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, is stepping down amid scrutiny over possible violations of federal ethics rules. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement Wednesday did not cite a specific reason for the...
