Pennsylvania man accused of baiting cats with fishhooks
PLYMOUTH — A northeastern Pennsylvania man accused of baiting cats with food on fishhooks is facing animal cruelty charges. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says a stray cat was found April 8 in a vacant house with three fishhooks in its mouth. The cat was treated...
Residents describe terror, confusion during Alabama RV park shootingVideo
AUBURN, Ala. — Residents described moments of confusion and terror as a gunman fired on authorities Sunday at an Alabama mobile home park that is primarily home to college students and young couples. Residents on Tuesday said Arrowhead Park had been quiet and safe prior to the shooting that left...
Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada to resign amid text message scandal
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s embattled House Speaker Glen Casada announced Tuesday he plans to resign from his leadership post following a vote of no confidence by his Republican caucus amid a scandal over explicit text messages. The move is unprecedented in Tennessee’s modern political era. The last Senate speaker resignation came...
New laws bring confusion, uncertainty for abortion clinics
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Abortion clinics are facing protesters emboldened by a flurry of restrictive new state laws as they reassure confused patients that the laws have yet to take effect, abortion providers said. “We have actually had many people calling and say, ‘Are you open? Are you still seeing patients?...
Ken Cuccinelli joining Trump administration in immigration role
WASHINGTON — The former attorney general of Virginia, whose name had been tossed around for months for an immigration role, will be joining the Trump administration, according to a White House official. Ken Cuccinelli will be taking a position within the Department of Homeland Security, according to the person, who...
House Democrats grill HUD’s Ben Carson on plan to evict undocumented immigrants
WASHINGTON — HUD Secretary Ben Carson on Tuesday defended the Trump administration’s proposal to purge undocumented immigrants - and their U.S.-born children - from government subsidized housing, citing the years-long waiting list of millions of “legal citizens.” “It seems only logical that taxpaying American citizens should be taken care of...
Toddler dies after putting phone charger in mouth while plugged into wall
A phone charger killed a child Saturday in India. A three-year-old boy was electrocuted when he put a cell phone charger in his mouth, reports the Hindustan Times. The boy was visiting his grandmother with his mother in Uttar Pradesh’s Jahangeerabad when he found the charger plugged into the wall,...
Bomb-laden drone from Yemen rebels targets Saudi airport
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels attack a Saudi airport and military base with a bomb-laden drone, an assault acknowledged by the kingdom as Middle East tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The attack on the Saudi...
Dual briefings on Capitol Hill focus on Trump’s Iran policy
WASHINGTON — As questions mount over President Donald Trump’s tough talk on Iran, top national security officials headed to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to brief Congress. But skeptical Democrats sought out a second opinion, holding their own briefing with former Obama administration officials. The competing closed-door sessions Tuesday, unusual and...
Storms could bring more floods, tornadoes to Southern PlainsVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — A tornado touched down Tuesday near Tulsa International Airport, injuring at least one person and damaging about a dozen homes, amid storms in the Southern Plains that brought a deluge of rain and powerful wind, closing an interstate and flipping campers at a raceway. Storms could bring...
‘Arthur’ same-sex marriage episode not shown in Alabama
Fans of the beloved PBS show “Arthur” watched Arthur’s teacher, Mr. Ratburn, marry his partner in a same-sex wedding ceremony earlier this month. Fans, except for those in Alabama. Alabama Public Television chose not to air the episode titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone” and instead showed a rerun,...
Cholesterol improves in U.S. kids despite high obesity rates
CHICAGO — Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal. Overall, 7% of kids had high cholesterol in surveys from 2009 to 2016. That was down from 10% a decade earlier. In children, high...
‘Medicare for All’ plans would offer more than other nations
WASHINGTON — Generous benefits. No copays. No need for private policies. The “Medicare for All” plan advocated by leading 2020 Democrats appears more lavish than what’s offered in other advanced countries, compounding the cost but also potentially broadening its popular appeal. While other countries do provide coverage for all, benefits...
WWII plane rescued from boneyard to join D-Day anniversary
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Filled with paratroopers, a U.S. warplane lumbered down an English runway in 1944 to spearhead the World War II D-Day invasion with a message for Adolf Hitler painted in bright yellow across its nose: “That’s All, Brother.” Seventy-five years later, in a confluence of history and luck,...
What Westmoreland voters need to know for Tuesday’s primary election
Westmoreland County’s nearly 236,000 registered voters head to the polls Tuesday to select from among 483 candidates running in 443 races. Voters will cast primary ballots to nominate candidates for state judge, county offices including commissioner, judge and sheriff, as well as school boards, local city and borough councils and...
Carbs: How low can we go?
“Fruit has carbs? I had no idea,” a stunned patient told me recently. She’s not the only one who doesn’t have a complete understanding of carbohydrates — the focus of our current craze for low-carb foods. I find that many people who say they “don’t eat carbs” may not really...
SisterFriend founder looks to provide feminine products, educationVideo
A young girl walks into Rachel Short’s office at Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 School in Squirrel Hill. The school nurse knows what the student wants before either says a word. “I know ‘the look,’” Short says. “I nod my head, and she knows where to go for the supplies she needs.”...
Health Happenings
Blood drives — Noon-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Christ United Methodist Church, 201 Market St., Scottdale — Noon-6 p.m. Thursday, Excela Square, Norwin, 8775 Norwin Ave., Irwin — 1-5:30 p.m., Saturday, New Life Tabernacle, 851 S. Center Ave., Hunker — 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Monday, Excela Square at Frick, 508 South Church St.,...
When planning pre- and post-workout meals, listen to your body
I regularly exercise with a friend in the early morning. Before we meet in the dark, I chug a bit of green tea while she fits in two slices of whole grain toast with peanut butter. Is one of us better prepared for that workout? When I studied how the...
Justin Amash’s impeachment remark causes conundrum for fellow RepublicansVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Justin Amash’s declaration that President Trump has engaged in “impeachable conduct” has put his fellow Republicans in a bind: stuck between an angry president who often seeks to punish his critics and their reluctance to penalize one of their own. Trump privately has vented to associates about...
In Pennsylvania, Trump touts 2020 chances, swipes at BidenVideo
MONTOURSVILLE — President Trump voiced confidence Monday in his ability to win Pennsylvania in 2020 and took a new swipe at one of his leading Democratic rivals, telling rallygoers in the state that native son Joe Biden had abandoned them by representing Delaware in the Senate. The president’s visit to...
Michael Cohen: Trump lawyer told him to falsely claim Moscow project ended in early 2016
WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former longtime personal attorney, told a House panel during closed-door hearings earlier this year that he had been encouraged by Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow to falsely claim in a 2017 statement to Congress that negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in...
Destructive tornadoes, severe flooding expected in Oklahoma, TexasVideo
A dangerous severe weather outbreak is set to play out across the southern Plains Monday afternoon and night. Forecasters expect a swarm of tornadoes, widespread flash flooding, and a barrage of hail and wind. Western and central Oklahoma and parts of the Texas Panhandle are expected to be hardest hit....
Prosecutor: West Virginia woman admits threatening to kill TrumpVideo
WHEELING, W.Va. — A West Virginia woman has acknowledged that she threatened to kill President Trump. A prosecutor said Monday that 25-year-old Taryn Corrinne Henthorn of Middlebourne pleaded guilty in federal court in Wheeling. Authorities say Henthorn made the threat on Facebook and elsewhere in January. Henthorn faces up to...
Judge denies Trump bid to quash House subpoena for years of financial records
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday lost an early round of his court fight with Democrats when a federal judge ruled that the president’s accounting firm must turn over his financial records to Congress as lawmakers seek to assert their oversight authority. Trump called the 41-page ruling from U.S. District...
