Police: Scranton woman admits to having sex with 14-year-old boy
A Scranton woman faces charges after police investigated reports about her having sex with a 14-year-old boy. After initially denying the accusations, Leanora Propes, 39, 529 S. Third Ave., admitted to police she had intercourse with the victim, investigators wrote in charging papers. Her boyfriend, Glenn James Marr, 34, is...
Indonesia’s top airline seeks to cancel order for 49 Boeing Max 8s
JAKARTA, Indonesia — In a blow for Boeing, Indonesia’s flag carrier is seeking the cancellation of a multibillion dollar order for 49 of the manufacturer’s 737 Max 8 jets, citing a loss of confidence after two crashes in the past six months. It is the first announcement of a cancellation...
Tyson recalls chicken strips due to metal fears
WASHINGTON — Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is recalling more than 69,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips because they may be contaminated with pieces of metal. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday the products were produced on Nov. 30, 2018, and have a best if used by date of Nov. 30,...
2 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan, NATO says
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan on Friday while carrying out an operation, the U.S.-led NATO coalition said. No details were provided, and their names will not be disclosed until 24 hours after their next of kin are notified, according to Department of Defense policy. But...
Alabama prison shuts off water to cells, hunger strike ends
ATMORE, Ala. — The Alabama Department of Corrections says a hunger strike by inmates protesting solitary confinement at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility has ended after authorities shut off the water to their prison cells. Corrections spokesman Bob Horton told the Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday that the water was...
94-year-old WWII veteran finally gets high school diploma
SHREWSBURY, Mass. — A 94-year-old World War II veteran has received his high school diploma — 74 years after he would have gotten had he not enlisted. Paul Snow says he felt “naked” from all the attention he received Thursday during a ceremony at St. John’s High School, but says...
Pompeo: Perhaps Trump is, like Bible’s Esther, meant to save Jewish people from Iran
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested it is “possible” that President Donald Trump is meant to save the Jewish people, responding to an interview question whether Trump is a new Esther, a biblical character who convinced the king of Persia not to destroy the Jews. The comments came during Purim,...
Kushner’s lawyer told lawmakers Trump’s son-in-law uses WhatsApp for official business, Cummings said
WASHINGTON - House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Thursday that an attorney for Jared Kushner told him in December that the president’s son-in-law uses the encrypted messaging application WhatsApp for official business, including with people overseas. Cummings described the Dec. 19 discussion with Kushner lawyer Abbe Lowell in...
R Kelly defense emerges, including saying accusers are lying
CHICAGO — R. Kelly yelled through tears in a recent TV interview before an audience numbering in the millions, saying he’s in a fight for his life to disprove sexual abuse charges. That fight will ultimately be waged in court, with an audience numbering just 12 jurors. While the day...
35 years in prison: Man exonerated in rape case and freed
BATON ROUGE, La. — A man convicted of a 1982 rape in Louisiana’s capital city walked free Thursday after 35 years in prison, following his exoneration using an updated fingerprint database. The Innocence Project, which works to free wrongly convicted defendants, said Archie Williams was freed after his conviction was...
Hungry wolves may get new home at Isle Royale National Park
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A U.S.-Canadian team prepared Thursday for another mission to relocate gray wolves to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan from a second Lake Superior island, where the predators are in danger of starvation after gobbling up a caribou herd. The targeted pack is on Michipicoten Island...
Jury convicts Georgia man for role in teacher’s 2005 slaying
ABBEVILLE, Ga. — A jury on Thursday convicted a Georgia man of concealing the death of a teacher whose slaying remained a mystery for more than a decade after her body was burned to ash and bone fragments in a rural pecan orchard. Bo Dukes was the first of two...
Hogan: Trump challenge now ‘doesn’t make any sense at all’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — While Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan isn’t completely ruling out a potential primary challenge to President Donald Trump, he said Thursday that currently “it doesn’t make any sense at all.” Hogan spoke to reporters Thursday with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Hogan friend who is in...
Western Pa. dialysis patients receive packages during awareness campaignVideo
Hundreds of dialysis patients in Western Pennsylvania received special care packages from the National Kidney Foundation as part of the Drive for Dialysis project to generate awareness about kidney disease. Among the items they collected March 14 — World Kidney Day — was a water bottle with measurements to help...
$38 million of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. customs officials say drug dogs have sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades inside a shipping container. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags. Customs and Border Protection’s Area...
PA Turnpike Commission ‘on the path to bankruptcy,’ auditor general says
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is headed down the “road to ruin,” state officials warn. Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton stood stony-faced Thursday next to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, said the cross-state toll road is “on the path to bankruptcy” absent legislative action. It’s not corruption or mismanagement, but rather Act 44...
Suspect in mob boss slaying could face lethal Mafia justice
NEW YORK — As Anthony Comello sits in jail on murder charges, he may have more than legal problems to worry about — namely, whether the Mafia is going to get its hands on him. The man he is accused of killing was the reputed boss of New York’s Gambino...
Cummings: Ivanka Trump not preserving all official email
WASHINGTON — A top House Democrat says Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a powerful White House aide, is not preserving all of her official email communications as required by federal law. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says in a letter that Trump’s...
ACLU: Black man detained while moving into his own home
TONGANOXIE, Kan. — The American Civil Liberties of Kansas has asked for a state investigation after a black man was detained by local police while moving into his own home. The ACLU said Thursday that Karle Robinson was held at gunpoint and handcuffed as he moved into a home he...
Trump says public should see ‘ridiculous’ Mueller report
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller’s report should be released to the public, even as he disparaged its very existence as “ridiculous.” “Let it come out, let people see it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “Let’s see whether or not it’s legit.” Mueller is expected...
Men find ice-cold beers in field after cleaning up Nebraska flood wreckage
In its life span, the fridge had been through a fire and a flood, but from far away it didn’t look so bad. Just a small black box, lying in the middle of a wet and muddy Nebraska field. It struck Gayland Stouffer as unusual. Stouffer wondered how it got...
$625M jackpot at stake in Saturday’s Powerball
DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery officials say the Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $625 million. The jackpot on Saturday would be the seventh-largest in U.S. history, with an estimated lump sum payout of $380.6 million before taxes. The odds of winning are extremely long, at 1 in 292.2...
National Guard called in after Texas petrochemicals facility fire
HOUSTON — National Guard troops have been called in and residents were told to stay inside after elevated levels of benzene were detected early Thursday near a Houston-area petrochemicals storage facility that caught fire this week. Harris County officials said the Guard and hazardous materials teams have established perimeters around...
Man faces 20 years in prison for threats against Obama, Waters
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Federal prosecutors say a central New York man faces up to 20 years in prison for threatening to kill former President Barack Obama and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. According to Syracuse.com , a jury convicted Stephen Taubert on Wednesday. The charges stemmed from phone calls, including racial...
Kentucky governor says he exposed his children to chickenpox
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview that he deliberately exposed his children to chickenpox so they would catch the highly contagious disease and become immune. During a Tuesday interview on Bowling Green radio station WKCT, Bevin said his children were “miserable for a few...
