Federal judge blocks 2nd Kentucky abortion law within days
FRANKFORT, Ky. — For the second time in days, a federal judge on Wednesday issued an order temporarily blocking a new Kentucky law aimed at imposing more restrictions on abortion. U.S. District Judge David J. Hale granted another temporary restraining order sought by the American Civil Liberties Union in its...
Pa. mother describes role in daughter’s murder, dismemberment
PHILADELPHIA — In a calm, emotionless voice, Sara Packer described watching her boyfriend murder her 14-year-old daughter, Grace, in 2016. She admitted to participating in the crime — the kidnapping, rape, killing, dismemberment and disposal of an adopted child she said she thought of as “a nonentity.” Packer said she...
Jimmy Carter gets new title: Oldest living former president
ATLANTA — When Jimmy Carter left office in 1981, the return home to Plains, Ga., was not easy. His once-flourishing farming business was more than $1 million in debt, and he faced the prospect of selling the land his family had been on for 150 years. Then a friend pointed...
Militant groups use New Zealand mosque shootings to spread hate
Militant groups are using the attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, to spread a message of hate, pushing a narrative that says the West is at war with Islam and Muslims worldwide, security officials and experts say. Al-Qaida, the Islamic State and other groups have cited the massacre,...
One dead in officer-involved shooting at State College apartment complex
A State College police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday at the Marvin Gardens apartment complex on Old Boalsburg Road in the borough, authorities said. The name of the deceased wasn’t immediately released. Borough and Pennsylvania state police rushed to the residential property around 2 p.m. as nearby public...
Trump says Islamic State territory in Syria nearly eliminated
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday the last pocket of the Islamic State’s land in Syria will be liberated by U.S.-backed forces “by tonight.” Trump has previously announced the defeat of the group, but sleeper cells of fighters have re-emerged. With no signs of fighting Wednesday, however, the long-running battle...
Stranded seafaring raccoon rescued by police, wildlife officialsVideo
BRADENTON, Fla. — A seafaring Florida raccoon found itself in a predicament Wednesday. The plucky little land mammal became stranded on a channel marker in Sarasota waters, according to the Sarasota Police Department. The department’s marine patrol unit received a request for help from Mote Marine Lab workers who noticed...
Reading Eagle files for bankruptcy protection, seeks buyer
READING — The family-owned company that has published the Reading Eagle newspaper for more than 150 years is filing for bankruptcy protection and seeking a buyer. The Reading Eagle Co., whose other properties include news-talk radio station WEEU and a weekly newspaper, said Wednesday it will continue to publish and...
Trump attacks John McCain again, saying he didn’t get ‘thank-you’ for approving funeral
WASHINGTON — President Trump continued Wednesday to attack the late Sen. John McCain, even as a growing number of Republican senators rose to McCain’s defense, calling him a war hero and a patriot — although most were careful not to criticize the president directly. During a White House event at...
Britain’s Theresa May asks EU for 3-month Brexit delay
LONDON — One thousand days after British voters said they wanted to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May conceded Wednesday that she now must ask EU leaders to delay Brexit for three months — because Parliament has failed to pass her unloved deal for departure. Standing in the...
Medicines for opioid addiction vastly underused, experts say
WASHINGTON — Medicines proven to treat opioid addiction remain vastly underused in the United States, the nation’s top medical advisers said Wednesday. Only a fraction of the estimated 2 million people addicted to opioids are getting the medications, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and...
German shorthaired pointer nips at heels of top dog breeds
NEW YORK — Labrador retrievers aren’t letting go of their hold on dog lovers, but German shorthaired pointers are tugging on the top ranks of doggy popularity, according to new American Kennel Club data. Labs topped the list for the 28th year in a row. Yet there’s been plenty of...
Pennsylvania hunters set 14-year record for deer harvest
Pennsylvania hunters posted their highest overall deer harvest in 14 years in 2018-19, but the buck harvest seemed to take a hit because of bad weather on opening day, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said. The game commission said hunters killed 374,690 white-tailed deer during the 2018-19 hunting season, which closed...
Iowa man charged with murder for allegedly killing girlfriend’s son by sitting on him
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Iowa police say a 2-year-old boy died after a man sat on the child for allegedly taking his cellphone. Pottawattamie County court records show 31-year-old Larry Murphy is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. He’s jailed on more than $1 million bail....
Penn State to collect $733K from Jerry Sandusky’s defunct charity
HARRISBURG — Penn State will collect hundreds of thousands of dollars left over from the defunct charity for youth founded by convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, settling claims from a threatened civil lawsuit. The university and the state attorney general’s office both confirmed this week that an agreement was reached...
Federal Reserve foresees no interest rate hikes in 2019
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday and projected no rate hikes in 2019, dramatically underscoring its plan to be “patient” about any further increases. The Fed said it was keeping its benchmark rate — which can influence everything from mortgages to credit cards to...
Ford shifts gears, boosts new jobs from 850 to 900
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is repackaging a previously announced $900 million manufacturing investment in the Detroit area, boosting the number of jobs added from 850 to 900. Most of the new workers will build a new generation of electric vehicle at Ford’s existing factory in Flat Rock, Mich., south...
Trump says tariffs on China could stay to ensure compliance
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says if the United States gets a trade deal with China, tariffs could stay in place for some time to ensure Beijing “lives by the deal.” Trump said Wednesday the White House was discussing keeping tariffs for a “substantial period of time,” adding that China...
Kansas artist carves out Beto O’Rourke image in Texas field
AUSTIN, Texas — The face of Beto O’Rourke has been temporarily enshrined in a Texas field as the former Democratic congressman runs for president. A 2-acre circle with an image of the El Paso politician’s face has been carved into a field near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The crop art also...
Happy birthday! Trump’s youngest son, Barron, turns 13
WASHINGTON — A teenager is calling the White House home again. President Donald Trump’s youngest child, Barron, turned 13 on Wednesday, the first day of spring break at the Maryland private school where he’s a seventh-grader. Barron and his mother, Melania Trump, are keeping to tradition and spending the break...
GOP senator says he’s fed up with Trump’s attacks on McCain
WASHINGTON — A Republican senator says that he’s had enough of President Donald Trump’s personal attacks on the late John McCain and that “the country deserves better.” Johnny Isakson of Georgia is quoted Wednesday as telling The Bulwark conservative news and opinion website that “nothing is more important than the...
Cops: Arizona woman disciplined her adopted kids with pepper spray
MARICOPA, Ariz. — Arizona authorities say a woman has been arrested on allegations of using pepper spray to discipline her seven adopted children and locking them for days inside a closet. A police report says Machelle Hackney’s adopted children had no food, water or access to a bathroom for days...
Lawsuit: Harvard ‘shamelessly’ profits from photos of slaves
BOSTON — Harvard University has “shamelessly” turned a profit from photos of two 19th-century slaves while ignoring requests to turn the photos over to the slaves’ descendants, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Tamara Lanier, of Norwich, Connecticut, is suing the Ivy League school for “wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation”...
Where are the happiest people? In Finland
HELSINKI — Finland has topped an index of the happiest nations for the second consecutive year, with researchers saying the small Nordic country of 5.5 million has succeeded in generating a happiness recipe for a balanced life not simply dependent on economic and material wealth. The World Happiness Report, produced...
Italy: Driver abducts schoolchildren, sets bus ablaze
MILAN — A bus driver in northern Italy abducted 51 schoolchildren and their chaperones Wednesday and took them on an hour-long drive, then set the vehicle on fire when he was stopped by a Carabinieri blockade, officials said. Officers broke the glass in the back door of the bus and...
