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...
To glam or not to glam soon after giving birth
NEW YORK — As Danielle Bayard Jackson was putting together her birthing team, she made sure to include a doula, all the details she wanted taken care of during delivery and how bright the lights should be for ambiance. She passed on the makeup artist. “I even looked up various...
Proposed Pa. gun registry bill given ‘no chance’ of passage
A proposed bill that would require most guns to be registered in Pennsylvania is given little chance of moving forward by politicos in the state. It also is, not unsurprisingly, opposed by gun rights groups and those who represent Western Pennsylvania in the state Legislature. “It’s not registration for public...
George H.W. Bush’s office set to close for final time
HOUSTON — Four months after the death of the former president, George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston is to close for the last time at 5 p.m. Friday. Bush Chief of Staff Jean Becker says “as one era ends, a new one is beginning.” In a statement issued Monday, Becker...
Ohio man on beer diet for Lent has lost 25 pounds
An Ohio man who is sustaining himself during Lent on a diet of beer is about halfway through his challenge and has dropped 25 pounds so far. Del Hall, who works at a brewery in Cincinnati and is Army veteran, has posted updates to social media throughout his beer fast....
Erie Diocese agrees to $2 million settlement with abuse victim
The Erie Catholic Diocese will pay $2 million to settle claims with a man who said he was sexually abused by former priest and convicted pedophile David L. Poulson. The abuse occurred when Poulson was serving at St. Michael’s Church in Fryburg, Pa., from 2002-10 and St. Anthony of Padua...
Trump ramps up attacks on media in aftermath of Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday ratcheted up his attacks on the media following the conclusion of a two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller that did not establish coordination between Trump and Russia on election interference. “The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the...
