Police: 1 dead, 15 injured in North Carolina gas explosion
DURHAM, N.C. — A gas explosion that partially collapsed a North Carolina building and set it ablaze Wednesday morning killed one person and injured 15 others, police said. Police cars blocked the streets near the explosion and a thick acrid smoked hung over a shopping district near downtown Durham and...
Trump says only 1 person is in charge of immigration: Him
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says there’s only one person in charge of his immigration policy: Him. Asked by reporters Wednesday whether he had considered tapping his influential aide, Stephen Miller, to lead the Department of Homeland Security given Miller’s focus on the issue, Trump was ready with praise —...
Scientists unveil first image of black hole, internet sees a doughnut
Scientist on Wednesday shared the first image of a black hole, but all Twitter could see was a doughnut, or a fantasy overlord. The image of the black hole was captured using eight radio telescopes around the world. The black hole in a galaxy called M87 that is about 53...
Trump says he won’t deliver tax returns to Congress
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is facing an imminent congressional deadline for his administration to provide his tax returns but he says he “won’t do it” while he’s under audit by the IRS. Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Wednesday that “I would love to give them, but...
CCAC to open new Film Center at South Campus
Aspiring film technicians will have a new option to consider with the grand opening Thursday of the Community College of Allegheny County’s new Film Center. The Center, which will house CCAC’s expanding film technician program, is located at CCAC’s South Campus in West Mifflin. It includes a film studio, sound...
Scientists reveal first image ever made of black hole
WASHINGTON — Scientists on Wednesday revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, depicting its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself in a cosmic funhouse effect. Assembling data gathered by eight radio telescopes around the world, astronomers created the picture showing the violent neighborhood around a...
Twitter removes Trump video for use of ‘Dark Knight’ score
WASHINGTON — Twitter removed a campaign video posted by President Donald Trump after Warner’s Bros. Pictures complained about the use of the score from its 2012 movie “The Dark Knight Rises.” Trump on Tuesday tweeted the video, which featured images of Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton juxtaposed with images...
Pa. lawmakers to honor victims of Tree of Life synagogue massacre
HARRISBURG — Victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack that killed 11 people last year will be remembered during a memorial service in the Pennsylvania Capitol. The unusual joint session Wednesday will bring together the House and the Senate for prayers and speeches about the Oct. 27 shooting at the Tree...
Greater Latrobe foundation plans inaugural dinner
The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation will celebrate its seven years of supporting school district programs at the organization’s first annual Loyal & True Dinner. Set for May 13 in The Conference Center at Saint Vincent College’s Fred Rogers Center, the 6 p.m. dinner will highlight the impact of...
Charges dropped against man accused of abandoning pet fish
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Charges have been dropped against a North Carolina man accused of leaving his pet fish behind without food when he was evicted. New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David told news outlets Tuesday that 53-year-old Michael Hinson is no longer charged with animal cruelty and abandonment. He...
Trump order would make it harder to block pipelines
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will announce an executive order during a trip to Texas on Wednesday that could make it harder for states to scuttle pipelines and other energy projects based on concerns about their impact on water quality. Trump has made it a priority to expand energy development,...
Barr to testify before Senate as Mueller report looms
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr is returning to Capitol Hill for a second time this week as lawmakers, the White House and the American public anxiously await his release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report. Barr will speak to a Senate appropriations subcommittee Wednesday, the second of two...
Eying Supreme Court, abortion foes promote tough state bans
Emboldened by the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court, anti-abortion lawmakers and activists in numerous states are pushing near-total bans on the procedure in a deliberate frontal attack on Roe v. Wade. Mississippi and Kentucky have passed laws that would ban most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected...
Netanyahu appears to edge toward re-election in Israeli vote
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be headed toward re-election early Wednesday, as exit polls and partial results showed him edging ahead of his main competitor in a tight race that was seen as a referendum on the long-serving leader. Both Netanyahu and former military chief Benny...
Woman lived to 99 with most organs on wrong side of body
SALEM, Ore. — Rose Marie Bentley was an avid swimmer, raised five kids, helped her husband run a feed store, and lived to the ripe age of 99. It was only after she died that medical students discovered that all her internal organs — except for her heart — were...
Trump picks Stephen Miller, setting up potential clash with Kushner on immigrationVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s choice of Stephen Miller to lead on immigration sets up a potential policy clash with one of the most influential people in the White House, the president’s son-in-law. The move comes as Trump, focused on challenges in securing the border, sent Jared Kushner back to the...
Lori Loughlin, husband, others hit with money laundering charge
BOSTON — Federal prosecutors added money laundering to the list of accusations against actress Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and 14 other prominent parents Tuesday in the college admissions bribery case, increasing the pressure on them to plead guilty as other parents have agreed to do. Loughlin,...
Police: Uber driver tried to burglarize passenger’s home
SAN MATEO, Calif. — Police in Northern California say an Uber driver has been arrested for trying to break into the home of a passenger he had dropped off at the San Francisco airport, then burglarizing a neighbor’s home. The San Mateo Police Department said Monday that officers arrested 38-year-old...
Steven Mnuchin isn’t sure who will decide whether to hand over Trump’s tax returnsVideo
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he did not know if the agency’s legal department was reviewing whether he or IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig should be the one to make the decision on whether to hand over President Trump’s tax returns to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard...
New gun law takes effect as more change debated
Pennsylvania’s first new gun law in 14 years takes effect Wednesday, even as lawmakers debate other proposed changes that could affect gun owners. In the future, the new Act 79 gives gun owners who are subject to a final protection from abuse order or a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence...
Police follow gun background checks in Pennsylvania
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, says the rest of the nation needs the kind of oversight on failed background checks on gun buyers Pennsylvania has had for more than two decades. Toomey is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the FBI to notify state and local police across the...
Putin outlines Russia’s ambitious Arctic expansion programVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday put forward an ambitious program to secure Russia’s foothold in the Arctic, including efforts to build new ports and other infrastructure facilities and expand an icebreaker fleet. Speaking at the Arctic forum in St. Petersburg attended by leaders of Finland, Iceland,...
Pa. lawmakers try to stop plan to switch paratransit funding from counties to private brokers
State lawmakers Tuesday moved to delay — and eventually kill, they hope — a planned funding change that could severely reduce subsidized rides to doctors offices and other medical appointments for the poor and elderly in Pennsylvania. Two pending bills, one each in the Senate and House, would postpone a...
Horses race in Nepal capital to keep devils away
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s president, top officials and diplomats gathered recently at army grounds in central Kathmandu for an annual horse festival that marks the slaying of the Hindu Gurumapa demon. Soldiers race the horses and show off warfare techniques believed to keep devil spirits away through the pounding...
Sen. Pat Toomey wants local cops informed of failed firearms background checks
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, is taking another run at the nation’s gun laws. This time, he has put his name on a bill that would attempt to close what he sees as a loophole that allows thousands of people who attempt to buy a gun illegally to walk...
