Leaders struggle to make sense of fatal attack on Calif. synagogue
POWAY, Calif. — The rabbi who led a service on the last day of Passover suffered a gunshot wound to his hands and two others endured shrapnel wounds as political, civic and religious leaders across the country struggled to make sense of another fatal attack on a house of worship...
South Africa marks Freedom Day, recalls apartheid’s end
KWA-THEMA, South Africa — Calls for more jobs for South Africa’s black majority and respect for the rights of the LGBTI community marked Freedom Day celebrations Saturday commemorating the 25th anniversary of the end of apartheid. Singing and dancing punctuated one gathering of about 3,500 on the outskirts of Johannesburg....
Flooding feared in Mozambique after Cyclone Kenneth
PEMBA, Mozambique — Mozambique’s government urged many people to immediately seek higher ground Saturday in the wake of Cyclone Kenneth, fearing flooding and mudslides in the days ahead as heavy rain lashed the region. At least five people were killed, the government said. Mozambique’s disaster management agency said one person...
Aftermath of violence reveals signs of further Sri Lanka terror plans
SAINTHAMARUTHU, Sri Lanka — They arrived a day or two after the Easter Sunday bombings and moved into a low-slung house behind a high wall and black metal gate, unloading boxes from a pale gray minivan. But the neighbors in the seaside town of Sainthamaruthu soon began to suspect something...
N. Korea says U.S. pressuring South to impose sanctions
HONG KONG — North Korea accused the U.S. of pressuring South Korea to follow a policy of implementing sanctions against the regime, its state media reported. The Korean Central News Agency report said there is a “serious situation of tension being created” on the peninsula amid halted denuclearization talks with...
Oliver North out as NRA president after leadership dispute
INDIANAPOLIS — Oliver North announced Saturday he would not serve a second term as National Rifle Association president, making it clear he had been forced out by the gun lobby’s leadership after his failed attempt to remove the NRA’s longtime CEO in a burgeoning divide over the group’s finances and...
Mom says Oklahoma police shot 3 of her kids
HUGO, Okla. — The mother of three children wounded when Oklahoma police fired at a man in a pickup who was suspected of robbing a restaurant says two of her kids suffered head wounds and the third was shot in the face. “My 4-year-old daughter was shot in the head,...
Trump playing defense in Rust Belt during re-election bid?
As his 2020 campaign gears up, President Trump is putting an early focus on the three Rust Belt states that sent him to the White House after Republican losses in midterm elections showed his support in the region is fading. Despite dominant fundraising, an established campaign organization and the power...
Authorities break up cockfighting ring at Philadelphia home
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say they broke up a cockfighting ring when they raided a Philadelphia home, making nearly two dozen arrests. Roughly 40 roosters and chickens were found in the home Friday night, including some that were dead. Authorities say officers chased down several suspects who tried to flee the...
Finders keepers? Police say no way after $30K spills on road
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Police in Michigan are appealing to people to surrender their instant riches after a box with $30,000 fell off the back of a truck. Authorities in Grand Haven say drivers stopped Thursday to pick up cash for themselves. Only $2,500 was immediately recovered and returned to...
Trump’s executive privilege strategy could mean messy fight
WASHINGTON — Since George Washington’s time, presidents have used executive privilege to resist congressional inquiries in the name of protecting the confidentiality of their decision-making. President Donald Trump threatened this past week to broadly assert executive privilege to block a number of current and former aides from testifying, including some...
Active West Newton retiree had passion for Croatian roots
Michaelene Nohavicka was full of life, and the life she lived was a full one. “Even at 70, she was still going like crazy,” said her daughter, Beth Lengvarsky. Retirement, following a series of careers, found Mrs. Nohavicka still a dynamo of energy. A driving force at the former Yukon...
State laws highlight war over drug pricing
WASHINGTON — Recent laws in several states that protect drugmakers’ contributions toward patients’ prescription copays are highlighting an escalating battle in the larger war on drug pricing. In the past month, Arizona, Virginia and West Virginia became the first states to enact laws restricting insurance companies from excluding most drug...
1 dead, 3 injured in Calif. synagogue shooting exactly 6 months after Pittsburgh
POWAY, Calif. — A gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle walked into a suburban San Diego County synagogue and opened fire on the congregation Saturday, killing one person and wounding three in an attack that authorities believe was motivated by hate. A 19-year-old white male was arrested in connection with...
NFL Draft wreaks havoc on bachelorette parties in Nashville
Apparently it isn’t a good idea to host a bachelorette party at the same time and place as the NFL Draft. Who knew that Nashville is the destination spot for bachelorette parties in the country? What a lot of women who planned on making this a weekend to remember are...
Oliver North says he won’t serve 2nd term as NRA president
INDIANAPOLIS — Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North said Saturday that he will not serve a second term as the president of the National Rifle Association amid inner turmoil in the gun-rights group. In a statement read to members of the group Saturday, North said he believes a committee should be...
2020 candidates to pitch working-class credentials to union
LAS VEGAS — A half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates will descend on Las Vegas on Saturday to pitch themselves to one of America’s largest unions as champions of workers and kitchen-table issues. The daylong forum is organized by the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Service Employees International...
Infighting erupts at NRA convention, threatening leadership
INDIANAPOLIS — The National Rifle Association was plunged into deeper internal turmoil Friday amid an effort by opponents of top executive Wayne LaPierre to drive out the man who has long been the public face of the gun-rights group. LaPierre sent a letter to board members Thursday outlining that the...
Police: 3 children shot as Oklahoma police fire at suspect
HUGO, Okla. — Three children were wounded in a police shooting Friday in Oklahoma when an officer fired at a man in a truck who was suspected of robbing a restaurant earlier in the month, according to state investigators. Brook Arbeitman, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,...
Evidence found, prosecutors seek freeze in Flint water case
DETROIT — Prosecutors on Friday asked a judge for a six-month timeout in the criminal case against Michigan’s former health director after finding a “trove of documents” related to the Flint water crisis in the basement of a state building. The 23 boxes included a file titled “phones/wiped” with the...
Over 1,000 quarantined in measles scare at LA universities
LOS ANGELES — More than 1,000 students and staff members at two Los Angeles universities were quarantined on campus or sent home this week in one of the most sweeping efforts yet by public health authorities to contain the spread of measles in the U.S., where cases have reached a...
Washington passes bill to become first state to compost human bodies
It may soon be legal for the dead to push daisies, or any other flower, in backyard gardens across Washington state. The state legislature recently passed a bill that, if signed by the governor, allows human bodies to be composted - and used for mulch. As the nation ages, U.S....
Lancaster County Amish population grows despite urban sprawl
LANCASTER, Pa. — The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities. Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish. U.S....
Death sentence upheld in Pennsylvania troopers’ ambush
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court Friday upheld the death sentence and conviction of a sniper who killed a state trooper and wounded another in a nighttime ambush outside their barracks in a heavily wooded area. The state Supreme Court’s decision upholds lower court decisions in the case of Eric Frein,...
Elite service members compete for ‘Best Ranger’
FORT BENNING, Ga. — There’s tough, there’s Army Ranger tough and then there’s the toughest of the tough, the handful named Best Ranger. Earlier this month, 106 elite members of the U.S. military spent 60 grueling hours competing as two-member teams for the Best Ranger title. Sleep-deprived and sometimes soaking...
