Search on for burial site of America’s first published poet
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Anne Bradstreet was the North American continent’s first published poet, yet her legacy has largely been lost to time. Now, professors and students at Merrimack College in Massachusetts are trying to pinpoint her burial site while at the same restoring her legacy and what they say...
Heiress hoax scores woman celebrity treatment, and charges
NEW YORK — Anna Sorokin traveled in celebrity circles and tossed $100 tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was. But behind the jet-set lifestyle and pricey threads, prosecutors say, was a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a...
Trump buoyant at luncheon while Pelosi urges focus on policy
WASHINGTON — An exuberant President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Capitol Hill, emboldened by the end of the special counsel’s Russia probe, even as Democrats pressed insistently for Robert Mueller’s full report and Justice Department officials said more information could be released in “weeks, not months.” Trump strode...
Trump’s 2020 machine a far cry from fly-by-night 2016 effort
WASHINGTON — In 2016, President Donald Trump compared Hillary Clinton’s campaign to the lumbering federal bureaucracy. Now he’s building one of his own. From an office tower across the Potomac River from Washington, from the bowels of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters on Capitol Hill and from field offices across...
FAA to revamp aircraft construction oversight, official says
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to significantly revamp its oversight of airplane construction this summer after questions were raised about how it manages inspections done by the industry, according to testimony prepared for a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. The testimony by Calvin Scovel III, the Transportation Department’s inspector general...
Dismissal of Smollett case brings backlash, more questions
CHICAGO — Prosecutors still insist Jussie Smollett faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in the hopes that the attention would advance his acting career. The “Empire” star still says he was assaulted by two men late at night in downtown Chicago. But with little explanation, authorities on Tuesday abruptly...
State Rep. Metcalfe to host meeting with climate change skeptic
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, will host an informational meeting at the state capitol Wednesday featuring a presentation from geologist and climate-change skeptic Gregory Wrightstone. Wrightstone is the author of “Inconvenient Facts, The science that Al Gore doesn’t want you to...
3 Philadelphia dental clinics closed because of infection risk
PHILADELPHIA — Three dental offices in Philadelphia have been closed for what city health officials say was improper reprocessing and sterilization of dental equipment, along with lapses in injection safety practices. Patients of the Trieu Family Dental Clinics are also urged to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C,...
Women need better information on breast implants, FDA panel says
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Members of a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee scrutinizing the safety of breast implants urged the agency on Tuesday to take steps to ensure that patients have a clearer understanding of the risks — which includes a rare cancer that is linked to several deaths...
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max makes emergency landing in Florida
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 on its way to storage was forced to make an emergency landing Tuesday afternoon shortly after departing Orlando, Fla. Southwest Flight 8701 took off from Orlando International Airport at 2:50 p.m. and returned to the airport about 10 minutes later, after pilots reported...
Trump opposes further disaster aid for battered Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s opposition to further disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico hardened on Tuesday as he told GOP allies at a Capitol Hill meeting that the U.S. island territory has gotten too much rebuilding money compared with mainland states like Florida and Texas. Trump’s ardent opposition to additional...
Pennsylvania students to rally for free tuition
State officials pushing proposals to reduce student debt and offer free tuition at public colleges and universities in Pennsylvania are scheduled to rally Wednesday morning in Harrisburg. A spokesman for Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, said Hughes is expecting hundreds of students from Pennsylvania’s 14-state-owned universities to join lawmakers, university faculty...
Deep cuts to Special Olympics student programs are warranted, Betsy DeVos saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday defended deep cuts to programs meant to help students and others, including eliminating $18 million to support Special Olympics, while urging Congress to spend millions more on charter schools. “We are not doing our children any favors when we borrow from their...
New online program seeks to interest girls in cybersecruity
Pennsylvania is among 27 states participating in a new effort to bridge the gender gap in cyber security. The free online program, Girls Go CyberStart, seeks to engage girls in grades 9-12 in the world of cybersecurity, where women make up 20 percent of the workforce in a growing industry,...
Herkules, WCCC partner in new machinist apprenticeship program
A new apprenticeship program will link an Armstrong County machine manufacturer with Westmoreland County Community College, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday. The machinist apprenticeship, recently approved by the state Department of Labor & Industry’s Office of Apprenticeship & Training, will be based at Herkules USA Corp. in Ford City and...
Democrats cry foul as Trump calls for striking down ‘Obamacare’Video
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions uninsured and re-ignite a winning political issue for Democrats. The administration, in a terse filing Monday with the court in New Orleans, said it...
Maker of OxyContin reaches $270M settlement in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY — The maker of OxyContin and the company’s controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation’s deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. It is the first settlement to come out of...
Murder, DUI counts added in Philly crash that killed 3
PHILADELPHIA — A driver arrested after a south Philadelphia crash that killed three people, including two members of a Mummers organization, is now facing third-degree murder charges. Twenty-nine-year-old Keith Campbell was originally charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated assault after the Jan. 2 crash. Anthony Voci of the district attorney’s...
Kids get measles vaccine after New York county declares emergency
NEW YORK — Some parents who had resisted having their children vaccinated reluctantly brought them in for a measles shot Wednesday as a state of emergency took effect in a county in New York City’s northern suburbs. Rockland County enacted the emergency order Tuesday night to fight a measles outbreak...
Pa. Democrats, Muslim lawmaker decry opening prayer as divisive
HARRISBURG — The first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives said Tuesday she was offended by a colleague’s decision to open a voting session with a prayer a day earlier that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.” Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of Philadelphia said...
Spanish Basque Ball players use hands to hit ball
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Their hands protected by layers of tightly bound tape, the players take turns swatting a small, hard ball at speeds that reach 115 kilometers (71.4 miles) per hour. They are playing a match of Pelota Vasca, or “Basque Ball,” a sport popular to its native Basque...
House fails to override Trump veto of his border emergency
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House fell short Tuesday in its effort to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, handing him a victory in his effort to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved. Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly...
El Chapo seeks new trial, citing jury misconduct
NEW YORK — Defense attorneys asked a federal judge Tuesday to grant a new trial to the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo, saying jurors improperly followed media coverage of the sensational drug conspiracy case. Joaquin Guzman’s defense team said in court filings that jurors repeatedly disregarded instructions to...
Suit-sizing issue causes NASA to nix 1st all-female spacewalk
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has nixed the first all-female spacewalk over a spacesuit size issue. Astronaut Anne McClain was supposed to float out of the International Space Station this Friday with newly arrived Christina Koch. But McClain pulled herself from the lineup because there’s not enough time to get...
Jussie Smollett’s attorneys say all criminal charges dropped
CHICAGO — Attorneys for “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that charges alleging he lied to police about a racist and homophobic attack have been dropped. Smollett attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes said in a statement that Smollett’s record “has been wiped clean.” Smollett was indicted on 16...
