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...
Penn State professor to make appearance on ‘Jeopardy!’
Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (TNS) When Ariana Mikulski was growing up in Lansing, Mich., she remembers watching Alex Trebek get his start as a host on the quiz-style game show “Jeopardy!” Watching regularly with her family, Mikulski developed a passion for trivia and quizzes that grew into her...
Toledo police trading in patrol car for ice cream truck
TOLEDO, Ohio — Police officers in one Ohio city will be cruising neighborhoods in a new ride this summer — an ice cream truck. Toledo’s police chief says officers will be in the truck handing out ice cream to children as a way to build better relationships with the community....
Conservatives push Kris Kobach as Homeland Security chief
WASHINGTON — Outside allies of President Donald Trump have launched a public campaign urging him to nominate former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as his next secretary of Homeland Security. That’s despite the uphill battle Kobach would certainly face getting confirmed by the Senate. NumbersUSA, a group that seeks...
Liberal Democrats may block leadership-backed budget measure
WASHINGTON — Liberal Democrats are opposing a budget measure backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House party-leaders, saying not enough money is included for liberal priorities. The proposal would increase spending for both the Pentagon and domestic agencies. Progressives such as Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington are pushing for...
Cal U, Slippery Rock to launch new degree programs
Two Western Pennsylvania public universities are launching new programs in physical therapy, veterinary technology and educational leadership and administration as part of an effort to increase enrollment and serve workforce needs. Officials at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said California University of Pennsylvania will begin offering both associate...
David Dao, doctor dragged from United flight while screaming, breaks silence
Exactly two years after passenger David Dao was dragged, screaming, from his seat on a United Airlines flight, he has broken his silence, saying he has shed many tears over the incident. Dao’s case captured worldwide attention in 2017 when he was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight at Chicago’s...
New York City orders mandatory vaccines for some amid measles outbreak
NEW YORK — New York City has declared a public health emergency over a measles outbreak and ordered mandatory vaccinations for some people who may have been exposed to the virus. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the order Tuesday. It covers people who live in four ZIP codes in Brooklyn’s...
Barr to release redacted Mueller report within a week
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday he expects to release a redacted version of the special counsel’s Trump-Russia investigation report “within a week.” Barr told members of Congress at his first public appearance since receiving special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that his earlier projection of releasing a version...
Suspected Parkland gunman pens letters about having kids, naming them after guns
In love letters knotted with stick figures and smiley faces, Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz looks toward the future. “I really want kids. I think of it all the time, you know the joy they bring,” Cruz, 20, wrote on Halloween to Miley, one of his many online admirers whom...
Pennsylvania’s deer rifle season moved to Saturday after Thanksgiving
After more than 50 years of having the first day of deer rifle season start the Monday after Thanksgiving, the Pennsylvania Game Commission gave final approval to move opening day up to Saturday after the holiday. The board Tuesday voted 5-3 to approve the change. The commission gave a tentative...
Penn Township man remembered as hard-working, coolest dad around
The drummer meets the majorette. The drummer marries the majorette — and plays the drums at their wedding. Gary Kozain was a hard-working guy who sometimes liked to embarrass his two daughters while being the coolest dad around. His family has troves of good memories from Sundays spent together to...
Inside 12 days of turmoil that shook Homeland SecurityVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had had it. The flow of migrants at the southern border was surging. Another caravan appeared to be forming. And his government had run out of holding space, forcing the release of tens of thousands of families apprehended at the border. During a meeting with...
White House steps up attacks as Mueller report release nears
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took a victory lap after special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his Russia investigation. It may have been premature. The scramble to frame the investigation’s findings in the best political light is sure to be renewed in coming days when Mueller’s report is expected to be...
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Revealing the cause of fainting
Dear Mayo Clinic: I had a fainting spell the other day, which had never happened to me before in my 64 years. I don’t feel unwell, but a friend I was with at the time insists I should see my doctor. Is that necessary? What would they be looking for?...
Key to happiness? Get a dog
The well-respected survey that’s been a barometer of American politics, culture and behavior for more than four decades finally got around to the question that has bedeviled many a household. Dog or cat? In 2018, the General Social Survey for the first time included a battery of questions on pet...
Is 4 hours of sleep really enough?
“Sleep is overrated.” So proclaims Stephen Klasko, who throughout his life has taken pride in sleeping only four or five hours a night. Those extra few hours away from his pillow, he believes, have allowed him to write books, run marathons and achieve his lofty professional goals. An obstetrician and...
Health Happenings – Apr. 9, 2019
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host a blood drive 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. April 16 in Westmoreland County Community College Founders Hall, Youngwood campus, 145 Pavilion Lane, Hempfield. Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome • Vitalant, formerly Central Blood Bank, will host a blood drive 8 a.m.-2 p.m. April...
Milton man accused of using students to sell marijuana arraigned, jailed
More than 700 grams of marijuana was seized and a Milton resident faces felony drug and corruption of minors charges because police said he used two female Milton students to conduct drug transactions. Craig A. Lytle, 34, is jailed on $40,000 cash bail after appearing Sunday morning before Shamokin District...
Pennsylvania closes the nation’s oldest reform school amid child abuse probe
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania is closing the Glen Mills Schools, the oldest existing U.S. reform school, amid an investigation into child abuse and cover-ups at the Delaware County campus. The state Department of Human Services announced Monday that it was revoking Glen Mills’ license, having found evidence that its employees beat...
California Rep. Eric Swalwell joins 2020 Democratic presidential field
Eric Swalwell, a four-term San Francisco Bay Area congressman who has grown into a cable TV fixture as a slashing and unremitting critic of President Donald Trump, formally announced Monday his long-shot bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Fittingly, he chose national television as the venue to declare his intent,...
