Legal experts predict Mueller Report will trigger new laws
Robert Mueller’s 448-page tome may leave an indelible stamp on American politics as Congress sorts through legal loopholes that allowed foreign powers unprecedented entry to presidential politics, a pair of local legal experts predicted. Duquesne University President Ken Gormley, a legal scholar who penned best sellers on the Watergate and...
Mueller report: ‘This is the end of my presidency,’ Trump said after special counsel appointment
WASHINGTON — Public at last, special counsel Robert Mueller’s report revealed to a waiting nation Thursday that President Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller’s removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. Trump was largely thwarted by those...
Police official: Short-circuit likely caused Notre Dame fire
PARIS — Paris police investigators think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, a police official said Thursday as France paid a daylong tribute to the firefighters who saved the world-renowned landmark. A French judicial police official told The Associated Press that investigators made an...
‘A good day’: Trump claims victory with Mueller report out
WASHINGTON — Before the world glimpsed the redacted version of the special counsel’s report, President Donald Trump tried once more to frame the moment as a political victory. The 448-page report does include an account of how the president attempted to seize control of the investigation into Russian interference in...
Rod Rosenstein stared blankly during Attorney General William Barr’s news conference
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein joined Attorney General William Barr at the podium Thursday for Barr’s news conference to talk about Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s report on Russia interference into the 2016 election. At the news conference, Barr stated what he said was the “bottom line” of the report: No...
Read the full report: Mueller includes Trump’s written responses
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report includes President Donald Trump’s written responses submitted in the Russia probe. Trump’s responses are being released by Attorney General William Barr without redactions and comprise 12 pages. Trump told Mueller he had no recollection of several key events in Mueller’s probe, including a...
With redacted Mueller report imminent, Trump celebrates with ‘Game of Thrones’ tweet
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is celebrating the upcoming release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s 2016 election interference. The report is due to be released on Thursday. In the hours before its publication, Attorney General William Barr outlined the findings of the report...
PSU study: Fake smiling at work can lead you to drink more off the job
Faking it at work can drive a person to drink. That’s what Penn State researchers found out in a new study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. The PSU team — along with researchers from the University at Buffalo — looked into the drinking habits of people who...
Watch live: Trump speaks to veterans after Barr report
WASHINGTON — After nearly two years of waiting, America is getting some Trump-Russia answers straight from Robert Mueller. But first: Another declaration of “no collusion” by President Donald Trump’s attorney general. Eager to get in a last word ahead of the public release of the special counsel’s report, Attorney General...
America about to see Mueller report; Barr gets in first word
WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly two years of waiting, America is getting some Trump-Russia answers straight from Robert Mueller. Eager to get in a first word ahead of the public release of the special counsel’s report, Attorney General William Barr on Thursday laid out in advance what he said was...
‘We don’t get over it’: Pain of mass shootings stretches on
PARKLAND, Fla. — Alex Rozenblat can still hear the cries of a wounded boy calling for help as she hid from the gunfire that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. Talking to therapists at the school in Parkland, Florida, didn’t help. Each session had a...
Wild bee species critical to pollination on the decline
CONCORD, N.H. — More than a dozen wild bee species critical to pollinizing everything from blueberries to apples in New England are on the decline, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of New Hampshire wanted to understand if the documented declines hitting honeybees and bumblebees were also...
Poll: Church membership in U.S. plummets over past 20 years
NEW YORK — The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50% last year, according to a new Gallup poll. Among major demographic groups, the biggest drops were recorded...
NYPD: Man with gas cans arrested at St. Patrick’s church
NEW YORK — Just days after flames ravaged the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, a New Jersey man was arrested Wednesday night after entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, according to the New York Police Department. The unidentified 37-year-old man had pulled...
Central Florida cities among fastest growing in US
ORLANDO, Fla. — When it came to population growth last year, cities in central Florida grew by stadiums. Metro Orlando grew by 60,000 residents last year, almost as large as the number of people who can fit into the city’s Camping World Stadium, where college football bowl teams face off...
Legionnaires’ disease found in adjacent California prisons
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Legionnaires’ disease bacteria that killed one inmate and sickened another is more widespread than expected in a California state prison, officials said Wednesday, citing new test results. Preliminary results found the bacteria in the water supply at a prison medical facility in Stockton and at two neighboring...
Florida House OKs bill requiring parental abortion consent
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Legislation that would require consent from a parent or guardian before a girl under 18 could obtain an abortion passed the Florida House on Wednesday night after a lengthy debate and amid questions about its constitutionality. The Republican-led House voted 69-44 largely along party lines for the...
Warren, in Utah, pledges changes in national-monument policy
SALT LAKE CITY — Backed by dramatic mountain peaks, Elizabeth Warren stopped in Utah on Wednesday to discuss her public-lands plan, including a promise to restore broader protections for two of the state’s high-profile national monuments if elected president. It’s a move that would not endear her to the state’s...
Parole granted for driver in deadly 1981 Brink’s heist
ALBANY, N.Y. — Former left-wing revolutionary Judith Clark was granted parole Wednesday after serving more than 37 years behind bars for her role as getaway driver in a 1981 Brink’s armored truck robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. “You were wrong. Your behavior was criminal....
Couple accused of forcing day laborer into sex at gunpoint
PHOENIX — A Phoenix couple are accused of forcing a Mexican day laborer into sex at gunpoint and filming another encounter to blackmail him. Jorge Murrieta, 45, and Brenda Acuna-Aguero, 39, were arrested last week on suspicion of sexual assault, aggravated assault and unlawful recording of a person, according to...
Idaho governor has unfettered chance to cut state rules
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s governor now has sweeping authority to eliminate thousands of state-approved rules without public participation or lawmaker oversight. That’s because the state Legislature, which is controlled by Gov. Brad Little’s fellow Republicans, failed to pass a bill approving 8,200 pages containing 736 chapters of rules and regulations...
Pennsylvania government watchdog to probe teen’s murder
A Pennsylvania state government watchdog agency has launched an investigation into the horrific case of a 14-year-old girl who had extensive contact with the child welfare system before her 2016 rape, torture and murder, a lawmaker who requested the review announced Wednesday. The Office of State Inspector General has agreed...
O’Rourke urges Virginia Democrats to move beyond Richmond scandals
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke came to northern Virginia on Wednesday to whip up enthusiasm for Virginia’s General Assembly elections, hoping to re-energize blue voters buffeted by scandals in Richmond. During the final leg of a two-day state tour, the former congressman from Texas said a Democratic takeover this fall...
After Notre Dame, support for torched black churches swells
NEW ORLEANS — The crowdfunding campaign to raise money for three African American churches gutted by arson in Louisiana began a week ago, but donations surged after flames engulfed the roof of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and the outcry provoked a conversation about the disparate reactions to the tragedies....
Despite recusal, prosecutor told deputy Smollett overcharged
CHICAGO — Despite recusing herself from the case, Chicago’s top prosecutor weighed in on the allegations against Jussie Smollett last month, telling a deputy that she believed her office had overcharged the “Empire” actor, according to newly released texts and emails. The text message exchange unfolded more than two weeks...
