With new strategy, Pennsylvania State Police graduates large cadet class
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Police is graduating one of its larger classes, and it might be because of an effort to get prospective cadets accustomed beforehand to what 27 challenging weeks of academy training is like. The agency graduated 103 cadets in the 155th graduating cadet class Friday....
Michael Cohen’s prison reality: A bunk bed in barrack-style hall
NEW YORK — “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next. It’s not reality TV. It’s a federal prison 70 miles (113 kilometers) from New York City where white-collar and D-list scoundrels can do time while...
In ‘lawless’ world of service dogs, many families suffer
APEX, N.C. — All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings’ crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. And so a psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help the autistic child connect with other kids. To Glenn and Rachel Cummings, Mark Mathis seemed like a...
Teen swimmers pray for help, rescued by boat called the Amen
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A pair of Florida teens saw their prayers answered after becoming stranded about 2 miles from shore. News outlets report that 17-year-olds Tyler Smith and Heather Brown were swimming at Vilano Beach near St. Augustine during a senior skip day last month when strong currents pulled...
Trump defends health workers’ right to object to abortions
WASHINGTON — Advancing his anti-abortion agenda, President Donald Trump moved Thursday to protect health care workers who object to procedures like abortion on moral or religious grounds. Trump chose the National Day of Prayer to announce the new regulation. “Just today we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians,...
Unity man had zest for life, traveled Europe
Dwight Sarson’s graduation trip was an adventure to remember. He and his friend hitchhiked across Europe in 1972, traveling to Italy, Sweden, France, England and Germany, said his wife, Dana Santone Sarson. “They had a grand time,” traveling and living on bread and wine to save money, she said. “That...
West Virginia reaches $37 million opioid settlement with drug shipper McKesson
West Virginia and drug distributor McKesson announced a $37 million settlement of a lawsuit over the company’s role in the opioid epidemic Thursday, a record agreement for the state that leads the nation in drug overdose deaths. McKesson, the sixth-largest company on the Fortune 500 list, admitted no wrongdoing but...
Indiana woman accused of driving over boyfriend twice, killing him
CROWN POINT, Ind. — A northwestern Indiana woman accused of driving over her boyfriend twice with a car has been charged in his killing. Twenty-three-year-old Briana Rice of Hammond is charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, in the April 24 death of 25-year-old...
Poll shows most Americans want changes in how government works
After more than two years of the Donald Trump presidency, Andrea Petrusky is ready for some fundamental changes in the way the U.S. government works. “Right now we’re being shown all of the loopholes, the president being able to do all the things that no president should,” said Petrusky, 46,...
Reports of sexual assault in the military spike, survey reveals
WASHINGTON — Reports of military sexual assaults jumped by 13% last year, but an anonymous survey of service members released Thursday suggests the problem is vastly larger. The survey results found that more than 20,000 service members said they experienced some type of sexual assault, but only a third of...
Analysis: Trump falsely claims there was little religious freedom before his election
WASHINGTON — In his National Day of Prayer speech on Thursday, President Trump focused on how much the United States has changed since his election, particularly for people of faith. The president, who won a large majority of white evangelical Christians and white Catholic voters in 2016, spoke about how...
AG Barr skips House hearing; Nancy Pelosi accuses him of lyingVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr skipped a House hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Trump’s Justice Department. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr had already lied to Congress in other testimony and called that a “crime.” Democrats...
Stephen Moore, Trump ally, withdraws from contention for Fed seatVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump was dealt another setback in his bid to put a political ally on the Federal Reserve Board as plans to appoint Stephen Moore, a conservative commentator and economist, collapsed amid a backlash sparked by Moore’s past writings and statements that disparaged women and gender equity. Trump...
Someone did get to look at Trump’s tax returns: Deutsche Bank bankers
NEW YORK — Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to see his tax returns. Not the public. Not Congress. But at least one group has peered into the carefully guarded trove and could provide some insight — a team from Deutsche Bank AG. The bankers got a look before agreeing to...
St. Lucia quarantines Church of Scientology cruise ship as a result of measles case
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Authorities on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia said Thursday that they quarantined a cruise ship with some 300 people aboard after discovering a confirmed case of measles aboard. Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, the island’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press the ship was...
Auditor General urges state to invest in cybersecurity for school districts
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Thursday urged legislators to invest in helping school districts strengthen cybersecurity as part of the next state budget. DePasquale said that despite a 2017 survey by his office showing a majority of Pennsylvania school districts were concerned about the increased risk of cyber attacks, no...
Trump rolls back safety rules meant to prevent another Deepwater Horizon spill
The Trump administration has weakened offshore drilling safeguards put in place after a 2010 explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform killed 11 workers and triggered the largest ocean spill in U.S. history. Administration officials said the revised Well Control Rule announced Thursday in Louisiana, not far from the...
Government to house more immigrants in tents at the border
EL PASO, Texas — About 50 asylum seekers stood this week in a circle near a bridge between the U.S. and Mexico to hear an American attorney explain what would happen to them when they entered U.S. custody. The attorney, Jodi Goodwin, told them they would probably end up at...
Drug firm founder John Kapoor guilty of bribing doctors to push opioid
BOSTON — A pharmaceutical company founder accused of bribing doctors across the United States to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray was convicted Thursday in a case that exposed such marketing tactics as using a stripper-turned-sales-rep to give a physician a lap dance. John Kapoor, the 76-year-old former chairman of...
Pa. lawmaker’s ‘Nazi’ remark over pipeline fight draws criticism
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who opposes a gas pipeline project says she meant no harm when she said “Nazis were just doing their jobs too” in response to complaints that protesters were preventing workers from doing their jobs. Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, of Chester County, contended Wednesday that she...
Now you can get to an actual Sesame Street in NYC
New York City marked the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street Wednesday by making it an actual place. The city named the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway as Sesame Street to honor the long-running children’s series. Join us at the NEW Sesame Street — "A place where people, birds,...
Cocaine deaths up in U.S., and opioids are a big part of it
NEW YORK — Cocaine deaths have been rising in the U.S., health officials said Thursday in their latest report on the nation’s deadliest drug overdose epidemic. After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising around 2012. And they jumped by more than a third between 2016 and...
Students find 22 pounds of pot during post-Earth Day cleanup in Florida Keys
As part of a post-Earth Day cleanup, Coral Shores High School students volunteered to pick up litter in the Florida Keys and found a rather large item: a 22-pound bale of marijuana, according to the Miami Herald. Volunteers called local authorities and Border Patrol agents to pick up the marijuana...
Candidates needed for Irwin, North Irwin and Manor councils
Two boroughs — Irwin and North Irwin — should put out a “help wanted” sign to attract anyone willing to serve on council. Only one person — an incumbent in Irwin — is seeking his party’s nomination in the May 21 primary. There are three seats up for grabs in...
Franklin Regional senior’s tough decision? Choosing between elite collegesVideo
No one likes to make a difficult decision. But it helps when that decision is which of four of the most prestigious academic institutions in the United States to attend for college. As he considered his post-secondary education, Franklin Regional senior Bhav Jain had to choose among acceptance letters from...
