Ex-West Virginia staffer disputes making anti-Muslim comment
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former West Virginia Capitol staffer is disputing anti-Muslim comments a lawmaker said she made in response to an Islamophobic display outside the House of Delegates chamber. Anne Lieberman issued a statement Sunday on Facebook, two days after she resigned as House sergeant at arms. Lieberman said...
Warnings, transportation restrictions issued as snow nears
PHILADELPHIA — Forecasters issued weather warnings and transportation officials announced vehicle restrictions on some roadways as another round of winter weather descended on Pennsylvania. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for much of eastern Pennsylvania with heavy wet snow and sleet and accumulations of four to eight...
Senate seems to have votes to reject Trump’s wall move
WASHINGTON — Opponents of President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border appear to have enough Senate votes to reject his move, now that Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky has said he can’t go along with the White House. The House has voted to derail the action,...
John Bolton claims North Korea summit was not a failure
National security adviser John Bolton on Sunday defended President Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the president was right not to make a deal that wasn’t in the best interests of the United States. “I don’t agree at all that it was a failed summit,”...
U.S. stands in way of Bashar Assad rejoining Arab fold
Efforts by Arab states to re-engage with Syrian President Bashar Assad, now that he has prevailed in the civil war, have been put on hold after a push by the United States to deter its allies from renewing ties with his government. A decision late last year by the United...
First lull in Kashmir since latest India-Pakistan escalation
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan — Residents near the disputed boundary in divided Kashmir region said Sunday it was quiet overnight, their first lull since a dangerous escalation between Pakistan and India erupted last week bringing the two nuclear-armed rivals close to full-out war. Many villagers used the calm in Pakistani-held Kashmir to...
Associated Press fact check: Trump’s epic CPAC speech is laced with fabrication
WASHINGTON — President Trump uttered a dizzying number of false statements in his epically long weekend speech, to an audience that didn’t seem to mind at all. He got the unemployment rate wrong. He misstated his winning margin in the election. He reprised some of his most frequently told fictions...
30,000 pounds of beef recalled because of possible contamination
About 30,000 pounds of beef shipped nationwide are being recalled for possible contamination. Washington Beef, LLC is recalling several lots of ground beef products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Saturday. The ground beef was produced on...
Ivanka Trump jokes being president’s daughter is ‘hardest job in the world’
Ivanka Trump tried to bring some humor to being the president’s daughter, joking it’s the “hardest job in the world.” She spoke at the 134th annual Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner in Washington D.C., the white-tie, get-together of journalists, media members, officials and politicians, on Saturday night. President Trump, who...
Invectives old and new fill Trump’s marathon speech at CPACVideo
OXON HILL, Md. — In a slashing speech packed with braggadocio and grievance, President Donald Trump denounced Democrats as the party of “the socialist nightmare,” relitigated his crowd sizes back to the inauguration and took on “sick,” ”lunatic” and “dirty” foes at every turn, earning him the unvarnished adoration of...
Milestone: Capsule with dummy aboard docks at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A sleek new American-built capsule with just a test dummy aboard docked smoothly with the International Space Station on Sunday in a big step toward putting the U.S. back in the business of launching astronauts. The white, bullet-shaped Dragon capsule, developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company...
Underground fire at Arkansas dump raises health concerns
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — More than seven months after residents first noticed a fire at an illegal dumping site in northwest Arkansas, it’s still smoldering, sending noxious smoke throughout the town and seeping into homes, with costs to extinguish the fire estimated at tens of millions of dollars. Chris Nelson,...
Pa. state rep. Fred Keller becomes favorite in U.S. House election
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Republican state lawmaker survived four rounds of voting Saturday to become the heavy favorite to fill an open congressional seat in northern Pennsylvania. Rep. Fred Keller beat 13 other candidates during closed-door voting at an event hall in Williamsport where 202 party conferees sorted through the...
Rescuing Pa. nuclear power plants could come with conditions
HARRISBURG, Pa. — With nuclear power plant owners seeking a rescue in Pennsylvania, a number of state lawmakers are signaling that they are willing to help — with conditions. Giving nuclear power plants what opponents call a bailout to ensure they stay open could mean a politically risky vote to...
House to query 60 Trump officials in obstruction probe
WASHINGTON — Declaring it’s “very clear” President Donald Trump obstructed justice, the chairman of the House committee in charge of impeachment says the panel is requesting documents Monday from more than 60 people from Trump’s administration, family and business as part of a rapidly expanding Russia investigation. Rep. Jerrold Nadler,...
Trump likes ‘actings,’ experts say permanent staff is better
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has been to Europe, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Mexican border as part of his bid to land the job permanently. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was one of just two top advisers to join President Donald Trump for dinner with...
North Carolina Democrats see opportunity in do-over election
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.C. — A ballot-fraud scandal that brought down a Republican candidate and led North Carolina to order a do-over congressional election could give the Democrats a strong shot at taking back a seat that has been held by the GOP since John F. Kennedy was in the White House....
New Orleans police: Driver in deadly crash likely impaired
NEW ORLEANS — Police suspect a driver was impaired when he killed two people and injured seven others, most of them riding bikes, on a busy New Orleans thoroughfare as large crowds gathered in the city for Mardi Gras. Police spokesman Andy Cunningham said in statement Sunday morning that authorities...
S. Korea, U.S. end springtime military drills to back diplomacy
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea and the U.S. are eliminating their massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises in what they call an effort to support diplomacy aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis. The decision announced by both countries Sunday came after President Donald...
Construction worker turned nurse passed down career to kids
Mark Capets was a construction worker before he became a registered nurse — a profession he passed on to his children. “A lot of it is that my dad liked to fix things and take care of people. I have a lot of those same traits,” said his daughter, Erin...
At least 23 dead as tornadoes, severe storms ravage South
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — A tornado roared into southeast Alabama and killed at least 23 people and injured several others Sunday, part of a severe storm system that caused catastrophic damage and unleashed other tornadoes around the Southeast. “Unfortunately our toll, as far as fatalities, does stand at 23 at the...
Overdose deaths in Pittsburgh region decline sharply
After several years of slow-but-steady increases and two years of sharp climbs, drug overdose deaths in Southwestern Pennsylvania declined by more than 40 percent last year. Preliminary reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first quarter of 2018 suggest it is a trend that has spread...
Legalized sports betting unlikely in 3 largest U.S. states
Over the past decade, teams from California, Florida or Texas have competed in more than half the championship series in the four major professional sports — including every NBA final. That may be no surprise, considering the three states account for 27 percent of all franchises in those leagues. The...
2 Sacramento cops who shot Stephon Clark won’t face charges
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The two Sacramento police officers whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black man last year prompted nationwide protests will not face criminal charges, prosecutors announced Saturday. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said Officers Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet used lethal force lawfully. The officers have...
Bernie Sanders returns to N.Y. roots, says he can defeat Trump
NEW YORK — Bernie Sanders kicked off his presidential campaign Saturday miles from the rent-controlled apartment where he grew up in Brooklyn and forcefully made the case that he is nothing like fellow New Yorker Donald Trump, proclaiming himself the Democrat best prepared to beat the incumbent in 2020. “My...
