Jump in western wildfires means smoke’s health impact will spread
BILLINGS, Mont. — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will sweep across the continent to affect tens of millions of people and cause a spike in premature deaths. That emerging reality is prompting people in cities...
New Jersey woman accused of killing identical twin sister
CAMDEN, N.J. — Authorities say a New Jersey woman stabbed her identical twin to death. Camden County’s prosecutor announced on Monday 27-year-old Amanda Ramirez is charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of her sister, Anna. Police found her unconscious with stab wounds at the Centennial Village Apartments on Saturday....
2 killed, 3 hospitalized following Philadelphia shootings, stabbing
PHILADELPHIA — A domestic dispute in a Philadelphia neighborhood ended with a man stabbed and three people shot, one fatally. Authorities say the incident may have also spurred another shooting that killed a 24-year-old man. The domestic dispute occurred around 9:40 p.m. Monday. Authorities say a 26-year old man was...
Nutrition and camping: The same rules apply
It’s always nice when things fall together. Especially on vacation. Our recent trip to a state park with dogs and horses in tow was a good example. After a few minor delays I won’t go into, we set out to ride and relax. Food? The same rules for nutrition (let’s...
Mayo mindfulness: Improve your well-being
Mindfulness is the act of being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling at every moment — without interpretation or judgment. Spending too much time planning, problem-solving, daydreaming or thinking negative or random thoughts can be draining. It can also make you more likely to experience stress, anxiety and...
Hand sanitizers not contributing to superbugs, experts say
Mysteriously slick subway poles, a sneezing colleague, the arrival of flu season: These are all reasons to be grateful for any bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer that’s within reach. Yet in an era of superbugs — bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics — and fears about being too clean, you...
Health Happenings
Blood drives — 1-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 501 Fairfield Drive, Hempfield — 1:30-7 p.m. Friday, Greater Latrobe Area High School, 131 High School Road — 1:30-7 p.m., Monday, St. Bruno Church, 1707 S. Poplar St., Greensburg Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome Classes/programs • Excela Health fitness...
Judge releases list of 700 requests for Mueller warrants, records
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Monday released a bare-bones list of nearly 700 requests by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation for search warrants and court-authorized orders to scoop up information about individuals’ telephone, email and social media activity from providers such as Verizon, Google and Facebook. The investigative requests...
Trump: Woman who accused him of sexual assault not his ‘type’Video
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that a New York-based advice columnist who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s is not his “type.” “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never...
West Virginia Senate passes GOP charter school bill
CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Senate passed a sweeping GOP education bill Monday that would allow the state’s first charter schools, a move that has drawn heavy protests from teachers. Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled chamber approved the bill 18-16. It now moves to the office of Gov. Jim Justice, who...
Missing Utah college student Mackenzie Lueck last seen in a park at 3 a.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — A University of Utah student missing for over a week was last seen meeting an unknown person at a park at 3 in the morning, authorities said Monday. The Lyft driver who took Mackenzie Lueck from the airport and dropped her off at a park in...
Woodpeckers die when stuck on Spotted Lanternfly traps
Bands of sticky tape installed on trees to ensnare and kill the pesky and invasive Spotted Lanternfly are backfiring and killing some birds, bats and other wildlife that inadvertently get stuck, according to media and other accounts. The Morning Call reports the sticky tape is entrapping woodpeckers, squirrels and other...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. man set foot on every continent but Antarctica
James Hall has set foot on every continent except Antarctica. “He went on at least three mission trips to Africa, another trip to Morocco, all over the place,” said his daughter C. Carol Oravetz of Ligonier. “He loved to travel and he loved to eat. I traveled the U.S. and...
Trump order pushes for disclosure of secret health care pricesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump called for hospitals to disclose to patients up front how much they charge for tests, surgeries and other procedures, in an executive order he signed Monday. The federal regulations Trump is calling for push forward a relatively simple idea: that patients should know how much hospitals...
Trump signs order imposing new sanctions on Iran, warns U.S. restraint is limitedVideo
President Trump, warning that U.S. “restraint” has limits, signed an executive order Monday imposing additional economic sanctions on Iran in apparent retaliation for the downing of a U.S. drone last week. Trump said the new “hard-hitting” sanctions will deny Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials access...
Pa. adds Tree-of-Heaven to noxious weeds list, bans sales to combat spotted lanternfly
Members of the Pennsylvania Noxious Weeds Committee are hoping that adding a new species to its list will help address another invasive issue: the spotted lanternfly. The committee has added Tree-of-Heaven to the state’s Class B noxious weeds list. “Class B includes species that are so widespread, it would be...
Police: Florida woman fatally shot daughter and stepfather
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Authorities in Florida say a woman fatally shot her stepfather and her 8-year-old daughter and wounded her mother. Treasure Coast Newspapers reports 28-year-old Alyssa Marie Torres was arrested Monday morning about 10 hours after the shooting. Port St. Lucie police spokeswoman Lisa Carrasquillo says the...
Indiana school firing gay teacher to keep archdiocese ties
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis archbishop has forced a Catholic high school to fire a gay teacher, just days after another school in the city defied a similar order despite church officials saying they would no longer recognize it as Catholic. Cathedral High School announced Sunday that it’s terminating the teacher’s...
Social network for knitters bans Trump talk on its website
NEW YORK — A free, 8-million strong social network for knitters, crocheters and others in the fiber arts has banned talk of President Donald Trump and his administration. The new policy on Ravelry.com was posted Sunday. The post says the site took the action because it can’t provide a space...
Government moves migrant kids after poor conditions exposed
The U.S. government has removed most of the children from a remote Border Patrol station in Texas following reports that more than 300 kids were detained there and caring for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation. Rep. Veronica Escobar said 30 children were at the facility near El...
Florida woman charged after giving husband’s guns to police
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida woman’s effort to protect herself from domestic violence has become a flashpoint in the debate over gun rights and victims’ safety. Courtney Irby gave her estranged husband’s guns to police after he was charged with domestic violence-aggravated battery, only to find herself arrested for theft....
Official: Woman, 3 children died of heat exposure in Texas
MISSION, Texas — Four people, including three children, found dead in South Texas near the border with Mexico most likely died of dehydration and heat exposure after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States, authorities said Monday. A law enforcement official close to the investigation told the Associated Press...
Truck driver charged with 7 homicides in motorcycle crash
CONCORD, N.H. — The driver of a pickup truck in a fiery collision on a rural New Hampshire highway that killed seven motorcyclists was charged Monday with seven counts of negligent homicide, and records show he was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving last month and in 2013. Volodymyr Zhukovskyy,...
Jackpot: More than 2,000 winners in North Carolina lottery
RALEIGH, N.C. — Turns out that zero can be a lucky number. North Carolina’s state lottery Saturday said it set a record payout after the winning numbers in a Pick 4 game came back “0-0-0-0.” The lottery said about 1,000 tickets at $1 were sold and will pay out at...
Former Pa. congressman Joe Sestak launches presidential campaign
PHILADELPHIA — Former Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak has become the latest Democrat to enter the presidential race. The retired Navy admiral who calls himself “Admiral Joe” on his campaign website joins a crowded Democratic field seeking the nomination to challenge President Donald Trump. He was launching his longshot candidacy Sunday...
