Uber looks to raise up to $9B in initial public offering
NEW YORK — Uber is planning to sell 180 million shares for between $44 and $50 each, valuing the ride-hailing giant lower than previous estimates in a sign of that some of the excitement around ride-hailing has cooled. That would raise up to $9 billion for the San Francisco-based company,...
Trump to address a divided National Rifle Association
WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest gun rights organization played a pivotal role in President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. Three years later, the National Rifle Association is limping toward the next election divided and diminished. It’s a reversal that has stunned longtime observers and that is raising questions about the...
Report: Nearly 100,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from U.S. high schools each year
Nearly 100,000 undocumented immigrants are estimated to graduate from U.S. high schools every year, a new report says, although many do not have the same protection against deportation and other benefits that the “dreamers” do. The report, based on census data, was published by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, a...
Yemen’s al-Qaida branch vows revenge over Saudi executions
SANAA, Yemen — Al-Qaida in Yemen is vowing to avenge beheadings carried out by Saudi Arabia this week — an indication that some of the 37 Saudis executed on terrorism-related charges were members of the Sunni militant group. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is called, posted a...
Rod Rosenstein fires back at critics over Mueller report
NEW YORK — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein hit back hard against politicians and the press Thursday night, and warned that hacking and social media manipulation are “only the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Russian efforts to influence American elections. Speaking at the Public Servants Dinner of...
Judge gives U.S. 6 months to identify children split at border
SAN DIEGO — The federal government has six months to identify potentially thousands of children who were separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border early in President Trump’s term, a judge said Thursday. Trump administration officials said they had a goal of six months but opposed any deadline, saying...
Trump administration hits pause on offshore oil plans as a result of court ruling
A recent federal court decision appears to have struck a blow to President Trump’s plans to expand offshore oil and natural gas drilling across the U.S. continental shelf, with the aim of turning the United States into an energy-exporting behemoth. In his first interview since being confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet,...
Former FBI agent, Derry teacher remembered
As a young man, Michael G. Christoff was an FBI special agent in Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala. The former South Greensburg and Unity resident had risen from being a personal secretary to one of the FBI assistant directors during the reign of legendary Director J. Edgar Hoover to a...
Trump won’t make immigration adviser Stephen Miller available to Congress
WASHINGTON — The White House blocked adviser Stephen Miller from testifying before congressional committees on immigration and a staff shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security, prompting lawmakers on Thursday to demand internal communications on the topic from Homeland Security officials. In a letter dated Wednesday, the White House counsel...
DA: New York man ran prostitution ring out of parents’ basement
NEW YORK — A Long Island man ran a prostitution ring out of his elderly parents’ sprawling suburban home, enticing women with drugs and locking them in a basement where he forced them to use a bucket instead of a bathroom, prosecutors said Thursday. Raymond Rodio III, 47, used social...
Judges: Michigan must redraw congressional, legislative maps
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan must redraw dozens of congressional and legislative districts for the 2020 election because Republicans configured them to unconstitutionally guarantee their political dominance and dilute the power of Democratic voters, federal judges ruled Thursday. In a 3-0 ruling — which will be appealed — the panel gave...
Joe Biden spotted on Amtrak train after announcing presidential run
“Amtrak Joe” lived up to his old nickname Thursday when he took a modest train ride after becoming a 2020 candidate. Former Vice President Joe Biden was photographed riding an Amtrak train to New York just hours after his campaign announced his candidacy for president via an online video. BBC...
Massachusetts judge charged with helping man evade ICEVideo
BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge was indicted Thursday on charges that she helped a man who was living in the United States illegally evade an immigration agent by sneaking out the back door of a courthouse. District Court Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and onetime court officer Wesley MacGregor were...
PHEAA will tap surplus for student grants
Pennsylvania college students could receive up to $4,123 in need-based grants next year under the new grant formula the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) adopted Thursday. The agency that oversees state grant aid to more than 132,000 Pennsylvania students approved maintaining the grant cap at this year’s level for...
3 sought in $450K colonoscopy instruments theft at Pennsylvania hospital
Police say two men and a woman broke into a Philadelphia-area hospital and stole nearly a half-million dollars’ worth of colonoscopy instruments. Authorities say the trio had access to a secured area of Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, which is about 8 miles west of Philadelphia. The people walked out...
Mother, son killed in tornado in northern Louisiana
A tornado killed two people as it tore through the northern Louisiana city of Ruston early Thursday, sending trees into houses, ripping roofs off buildings and causing a local public university to cancel classes, officials said. A mother and son in Lincoln Parish, which Ruston lies in, were killed when...
Veteran held on attempted murder counts after car hits crowd in California
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A former Army sharpshooter with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder plowed his car at high speed into a group of pedestrians in a Silicon Valley suburb, injuring eight people, and then told authorities that he intentionally hit them, police said. Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, gave no...
Food poisoning remains persistent problem, U.S. report finds
NEW YORK — As recent illnesses tied to raw turkey , ground beef , cut melon and romaine lettuce suggest, U.S. food poisoning cases don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday that the frequency of several types...
George Conway launches ‘Deranged Donald’ nickname in Trump Twitter rant
The husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Thursday coined a new nickname for President Trump: Deranged Donald. George Conway started using the hashtag #DerangedDonald and it didn’t take long to start trending nationally on Twitter. “Deranged Donald is at back at it again. Deranged Donald can do things...
Remains of household cat to be launched into orbit around Earth
It will be a send-off like no other. The remains of a household cat named Pikachu, who died in January after a fight with diabetes, are slated to be launched into orbit around the Earth. Pikachu’s owner Steve Munt started a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of the space...
North Korea issued $2 million bill for comatose Otto Warmbier’s careVideo
BEIJING – North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017. The presentation of the invoice – not...
Auditor general: Billions in transportation funding diverted to Pennsylvania state police
Pennsylvanians pay the nation’s highest gas tax — 57.6 cents per gallon — and that money is supposed to help pay for road projects and general infrastructure improvement. An audit of the past six years, however, shows that more than $4 billion in PennDOT revenues from the state’s Motor License...
Mexico is now the largest U.S. trading partner
MEXICO CITY — President Donald Trump has threatened to rip up NAFTA. To shut the border with Mexico. To impose tariffs on the thriving car industry in Mexico. “They’re killing us on jobs and trade,” he said as a candidate. And yet, two years into his presidency, a strange thing...
South Carolina may use firing squad as death penalty workaround
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers are considering legislation that would add firing squads to the state’s existing execution methods. The House Criminal Laws subcommittee on Thursday approved a Senate proposal that also changes South Carolina’s default execution method to the electric chair. Lawmakers acted after prison officials told them...
5 things we don’t know about Boeing 737 Max crisis
Boeing’s first earnings report since two deadly crashes of its 737 Max jets showed that a worldwide grounding of the company’s flagship jet is taking a toll on its business. But it left unanswered many key questions about the crisis. The aerospace giant said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell...
