Ex-pastor in Texas accused of sexually abusing teen relative
HOUSTON — A former Southern Baptist pastor who supported legislation in Texas that would have criminalized abortions has been arrested on charges of child sex abuse, accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage relative over the course of two years. Stephen Bratton is accused of subjecting the relative to inappropriate touching...
McKeesport man arrested in Brooklyn house blaze that injured more than a dozen
NEW YORK — Authorities say a man is facing attempted murder and arson charges in connection to a blaze that tore through a home and spread to two others, injuring more than a dozen residents and first responders. Police say the 41-year-old from McKeesport, was arrested Saturday. He had not...
RAGÚ pasta sauce recalled due to possible plastic contaminants
Five varieties of RAGÚ pasta sauce have been recalled because they may contain pieces of plastic. Mizkan America, Inc., announced the voluntary recall Saturday and asks consumers to check their refrigerator and pantry for the jars affected by the recall. Any recalled sauce should be thrown away. Consumers should look...
June’s Strawberry Moon rises as Father’s Day sets
It’s time to pick the strawberries … at least according to the lunar cycle. Sunday night at sunset the last full moon of the spring - the Strawberry Moon - with rise and then crest Monday morning at 4:30 a.m. in the Eastern time zone. The name Strawberry Moon comes...
Police: 4 family members shot, killed in Iowa
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa— Relatives discovered the bodies of four family members, including two children, with gunshot wounds at their home in central Iowa, police said. The bodies were discovered Saturday morning at the home in West Des Moines, The Des Moines Register reported. Authorities identified the victims as 44-year-old...
Israel moves to name Golan settlement after Trump
RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights — The Trump name graces apartment towers, hotels and golf courses. Now it is the namesake of a tiny Israeli settlement in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet convened in this hamlet Sunday to inaugurate a new settlement named after President Donald...
Utah veteran turning 101 gets over 5,000 birthday cards
OREM, Utah — When John Frey’s family requested 101 birthday cards to celebrate the World War II veteran’s 101st birthday in Utah, they were expecting to get 500 at most. At a celebration on June 8, a day after his birthday, Frey ended up with well over 5,000 cards, the...
Summer camp is newest front in battle with measles outbreak
ALBANY, N.Y. — The battle to contain the worst U.S. measles outbreak in 27 years has a new front: summer camp. Vaccinations have been made mandatory this summer for campers and staff in several counties north of New York City that annually fill up with kids from the Orthodox Jewish...
Alabama orders ‘chemical castration’ of some child molesters
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Some Alabama sex offenders who abuse young children will have to undergo “chemical castration” while on parole, under a new law, but the requirement has prompted legal concerns and it appears to be rarely used in some states that allow it. The procedure uses medications that block...
4 years in, Trump fondly recalls Trump Tower campaign launch
NEW YORK — It was the escalator ride that would change history. Four years ago on Sunday, Donald Trump descended through the pink marble and brass atrium of Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president , the first step on a journey few believed would take him all the...
Target says registers are fixed at all stores after Saturday’s outage
Everyone planning to make a Target run today can breathe a sigh of relief — the retail giant’s registers are back up and running after a brief outage Saturday. Target officials released a statement assuring shoppers the store’s registers are fully back online in all stores. “The temporary outage earlier...
He never expected to be a single dad. Then a gunman in Virginia Beach made him one
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It was just the two of them now, so they needed to figure out their own evening routine. Pat Gallagher was speed-walking from room to room in his red-brick ranch home, chasing after his only child, Patrick, as the toddler’s 7 p.m. bedtime approached. The 22-month-old...
Hong Kong leader delays unpopular extradition bill, but activists want more
SINGAPORE — A sense of futility pervaded the throngs of protesters in Hong Kong this past week. Many said they chose to demonstrate out of principle, not because they believed they could prevent the passing of an extradition bill that would have left them largely at the mercy of the...
O.J. Simpson in his first tweet: ‘I got a little getting even to do’
The video starts with a shot of O.J. Simpson’s open-mouthed grin. As he wanders through a yard, the camera trained a few inches from his face, Simpson begins his narration. “Hey, Twitter world,” the former football star says, “this is yours truly.” The introductory video was posted on Simpson’s new...
‘We are trapped’: Zimbabwe’s economic crunch hits passports
HARARE, Zimbabwe — With Zimbabwe’s economy in shambles and political tensions rising, leaving the country seems the best option for many who are desperate for jobs. But those dreams often end at the passport office, which doesn’t have enough foreign currency to import proper paper and ink. A passport now...
What’s so bad about processed foods? Scientists offer clues
NEW YORK — Chips, soda and frozen pizzas tend to be full of salt, sugar and fat, but now scientists are trying to understand if there’s something else about such processed foods that might be bad for us. Already, the spread of cheap packaged foods has been linked to rising...
Conservationists say endangered beetle species found in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When she saw the plump orange-and-black insect crawling on the rotting rat corpse, Andrea Malek didn’t know whether to cry, laugh or scream in celebration. After a double take, she did all three. It was a discovery 45 years in the making. Sitting at the bottom of...
Clairton air quality remains an ongoing concern
John Macus fell in love with his fixer-upper on First Street in Jefferson Hills, just over the Clairton border, when he moved in about nine years ago. The backyard was perfect for his two dogs, with plenty of space for his exercise equipment, too. “You know it’s there, it’s a...
Trump rules will remake U.S. health insurance markets
NEW YORK — President Trump’s attempt to transform American health insurance is almost complete. Twenty months ago, frustrated after attempts to repeal Obamacare fell apart in the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump pledged to use executive power to do what Congress failed to legislate. An executive order set in motion regulations to...
Murrysville photographer never stopped capturing moments
David Adams loved photography, so much so that even after his job at local newspapers came to an end, he continued to work in the field. “He just took prom pictures last month at Spectrum Charter School in Monroeville,” his wife Bonnijean said. “He just liked the interaction. He was...
Target stores’ registers are down across the country
Registers at Target stores across the country were down Saturday afternoon, bringing checkout lines to a standstill and sending shoppers to Twitter to vent their frustrations. The company said on Twitter that it was “aware of a systems issue” in its stores and was working to resolve it. It was...
Passengers subdue chaotic man on board Turkish Airlines jet
ANKARA, Turkey — Passengers on a Turkish Airlines jetliner flying to Sudan had to subdue a man who started screaming a few minutes after takeoff and began smashing an oxygen mask box and then a cabin window before pushing flight attendants aside and rushing toward the cockpit. Associated Press photographer...
Off-duty LA cop discharged gun during deadly Costco shooting
CORONA, Calif. — An off-duty Los Angeles police officer among three people injured during a shooting inside a Costco Wholesale, killing one person, discharged his firearm inside the store, authorities said Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether the unidentified officer was the only person who fired shots inside the...
Pennsylvania hunting licenses go on sale starting Monday
Pennsylvania hunting licenses for the 2019-20 season go on sale starting Monday, according to the state game commission. Beginning June 17, hunters can buy most licenses online, which will take up to 10 business days to arrive by mail. Licenses also can be purchased in person. Here is a link...
Audubon intervenes to protect ocean monument for puffins
PORTLAND, Maine — The National Audubon Society is getting involved in a lawsuit over the future of a national monument in the ocean off New England because of the area’s importance to seabirds, especially colorfully beaked puffins. Fishing groups sued in federal court against creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts...
