Liquor Control hearing to address Pennsylvania’s taproom tax
A public hearing examining a new beer tax in Pennsylvania is set for Tuesday at the Spoonwood Brewing Company in Pittsburgh. The hearing, hosted by state Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Upper St. Clair, will look into the state Department of Revenue’s recent tax bulletin, which requires breweries to collect the state’s...
Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin appear on course for summit
TOKYO — Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un may finally be ready to meet for the first time, as Russia seeks to extend its influence and North Korea tries to hedge its bets after the failed summit with President Trump. The potential of closer ties between Putin and Kim carries...
Pa. House approves tougher rules on child sexual abuse reporting
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House is approving tougher penalties for people who don’t report suspicions about repeated child sexual abuse and it’s clarifying that nondisclosure agreements can’t prevent people from talking to police in child molestation investigations. Lawmakers on Wednesday voted for a proposal that could also eliminate the statute...
U.S. recession looks less likely in 2020, boosting Trump’s chances of re-election
WASHINGTON — A noticeable shift has taken place on Wall Street and among many economists and business leaders in recent weeks: Fears of an imminent recession have faded and been replaced with cautious optimism, especially about 2020, a trend that bodes well for President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election....
NTSB investigates American Airlines flight tipped by wind
NEW YORK — Federal safety officials are investigating an American Airlines flight in which the plane tipped in strong wind and a wingtip hit a runway marker during takeoff from New York’s Kennedy Airport. The pilots cut short the flight to Los Angeles and landed back at JFK about 30...
Young woman ‘infatuated’ with Columbine is found dead
LITTLETON, Colo. — A young Florida woman who traveled to Colorado and bought a shotgun for what authorities feared would be a Columbine-inspired attack just days ahead of the 20th anniversary was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide after a nearly 24-hour manhunt. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader said...
Scientists spur some activity in brains of slaughtered pigs
NEW YORK — Scientists restored some activity within the brains of pigs that had been slaughtered hours before, raising hopes for some medical advances and questions about the definition of death. The brains could not think or sense anything, researchers stressed. By medical standards “this is not a living brain,”...
Woman sues over melon linked to U.S. salmonella outbreak
INDIANAPOLIS — A Kentucky woman is suing an Indiana-based company that issued a recall last week for melon products linked to a salmonella outbreak. Tammy France, 50, of Louisville alleges in her federal lawsuit that she spent a week hospitalized with salmonella poisoning after eating pre-cut melon made by Caito...
60 people charged in illegal-prescription opioid crackdown
CINCINNATI — Federal authorities said Wednesday they have charged 60 people, including 31 doctors, for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other dangerous drugs. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman of Cincinnati described the action as the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers. Robert...
Fox News to host town hall meeting with Amy Klobuchar
NEW YORK — Sen. Amy Klobuchar has agreed to become the second Democratic presidential candidate to hold a town hall meeting on Fox News Channel. Fox’s announcement comes two days after Sen. Bernie Sanders participated in a similar meeting on Fox. It reached 2.55 million viewers, more than any other...
US astronaut to spend 11 months in space, set female record
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA astronaut will spend nearly a year at the International Space Station, setting a record for women. Station astronaut Christina Koch will remain on board for about 11 months, until February — approaching but not quite breaking Scott Kelly’s 340-day U.S. record. “One month down....
Trauma for cops after school shootings is largely unstudied
LITTLETON, Colo. — The first SWAT team members to see the horror in the Columbine High School library had to step around bodies and ignore a wounded student’s plea for help as they searched for shooters they didn’t know had already died by their own hands. As member Grant Whitus...
Pet deer kills man and injures wife in rural Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia— A man was killed and his wife critically injured on Wednesday when they were attacked by their pet deer on a rural Australian property, police said. The 46-year-old man entered the stag’s enclosure in the morning at Moyhu in Victoria state, Police Sergeant Paul Pursell said. “His wife...
Ben Affleck, Susan Sarandon, other stars donate to 2020 Dems
WASHINGTON — From Ben Affleck and Susan Sarandon to Anna Wintour and Willie Nelson, celebrities lined up to give money — and a dash of star power — to their favorite Democratic presidential candidates ahead of this week’s first quarter fundraising deadline. For months, candidates in the crowded field of...
Tattoo links body found in river to woman beheaded a year earlier
The canine had been inked in black and white, with wild eyes and jagged teeth that gave it the look of a snarling wolf. “Sheepdog,” a banner below said in block letters. The cryptic tattoo was one of the only clues police had to work with. On April 7, 2018,...
Fashion capital New York considers banning sale of fur
NEW YORK — A burgeoning movement to outlaw fur is seeking to make its biggest statement yet in the fashion mecca of New York City. Lawmakers are pushing a measure that would ban the sale of all new fur products in the city where such garments were once common and...
Police: Man accused of throwing iguana in restaurant
PAINESVILLE, Ohio — Police say an unruly customer at a restaurant in Ohio pulled an iguana from under his shirt, swung it around and threw it at the manager. Painesville police were called to the Perkins restaurant around noon Tuesday. Police say they apprehended the suspect a few blocks away...
U.S. to allow lawsuits over properties seized by Castro’s Cuba
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up pressure on Cuba, the Trump administration will allow lawsuits against foreign companies doing business in properties seized from Americans after the island’s 1959 revolution, a senior administration official said. The move marks a change in more than two decades of U.S. policy on Cuba. President...
$1 billion raised to rebuild Paris’ Notre Dame after fire
PARIS — Nearly $1 billion has already poured in from ordinary worshippers and high-powered magnates around the world to restore the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, after the French president set a controversial five-year deadline to get the work done. Construction teams brought in a huge crane and a...
Trump administration to withhold bail from asylum seekers in latest border crackdown
Migrants who come to the United States seeking asylum may instead wind up jailed indefinitely while they wait for their claims to be processed, the Trump administration ruled Tuesday in its latest crackdown at the border. Attorney General William Barr’s written decision, a policy reversal, applies to migrants who have...
L.A. Archdiocese agrees to $8M payment in sex abuse case
LOS ANGELES — For more than a year, some at San Gabriel Mission High School had expressed concerns about Juan Ivan Barajas. Officials received reports about suspicious behavior between the athletic director and students at the all-girls campus from a coach and a parent, as well as in at least...
Lawmakers hope to change Pennsylvania’s rules on police shootings
HARRISBURG — A group of Democrats in the General Assembly said Tuesday shootings by police show the need to change the rules for when Pennsylvania officers can use deadly force and to reform their oversight and training. Members of the Legislative Black Caucus outlined a legislative agenda that would also...
Columbine threat by woman with gun shuts Denver-area schoolsVideo
LITTLETON, Colo. — Denver-area public schools will be closed Wednesday as authorities search for a young Florida woman who flew to the city and bought a gun after becoming “infatuated” with the mass shooting at Columbine High School. The FBI said Sol Pais, 18, is “considered to be extremely dangerous”...
Trump vetoes measure to end U.S. involvement in Yemen war
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday vetoed a bill passed by Congress to end U.S. military assistance in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. In a break with the president, Congress voted for the first time earlier this month to invoke the War Powers Resolution to try to stop U.S. involvement...
Husband of fallen U.S. soldier deported to Mexico, then allowed backVideo
PHOENIX — The husband of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan was deported to Mexico last week and then allowed back to Arizona after the move sparked outrage. The Arizona Republic first reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 30-year-old Jose Gonzalez Carranza last week. Gonzalez Carranza came to...
