Judge OKs suit aimed at halting Obama library in Chicago
CHICAGO — A federal judge gave the green light Tuesday to a parks-advocacy group’s lawsuit that aims to stop for good the delayed construction of former President Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center in a Chicago park beside Lake Michigan. Supporters of the project had hoped the court would grant...
Murrysville Army vet enjoyed fishing, camaraderie
Ronald Germanoski carried the lessons — and more importantly, the camaraderie — he learned in the Boy Scouts well into manhood. “When he was young, he was in the Boy Scouts, and he dropped out just a few merit badges shy of becoming an Eagle Scout,” said his son Brian,...
Storm prompts vehicle, speed restrictions on PA turnpike, interstates
State transportation officials will prohibit some commercial vehicles and all motorcycles and recreational vehicles from a section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Wednesday morning as a winter storm could bring a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to challenge travelers. Beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday, the following traffic will...
Mysterious attack claims lives of 6 llamas near Kentucky zoo
LOUISVILLE — Authorities believe a “large animal” is responsible for an attack that killed six llamas on a farm near a zoo in Kentucky. Louisville Llama Farm owner Caroline Willette tells the Courier Journal she awoke Monday morning to blood and tufts of wool spread around her property. Five llamas...
Man pleads guilty in rape, murder of Pennsylvania teen
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl, and the victim’s adoptive mother has agreed to plead guilty and serve a life sentence. Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges in the 2016 death of Grace Packer....
Smoking can damage eyesight by age 35, study suggests
Smoking cigarettes has long been known for its ability to damage eyesight, on top of the harm it causes to the lungs, heart, and other organs. But a new study suggests that smoking can impair vision far earlier than is commonly thought. Heavy smokers with an average age of 35...
Gettysburg College trustee quits over Nazi uniform photo
GETTYSBURG — A Pennsylvania college trustee apologized and announced his resignation Tuesday after a student found a 1980 yearbook photo in which the trustee wore a Nazi uniform at a fraternity event. Gettysburg College President Janet Morgan Riggs said in an email to the college community that Bob Garthwait decided...
Thousands rally in France to oppose recent anti-Semitic acts
PARIS — Rallies against anti-Semitism attracted crowds of thousands in Paris and other French cities Tuesday following a series of aggressive acts with Jewish targets, including a cemetery where about 80 gravestones were spray-painted with swastikas overnight. In the French capital, former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined a...
Pressure builds to get civilians out of last IS-held enclave
AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria — Dozens of trucks arrived Tuesday at the outskirts of a besieged enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, signaling renewed efforts to evacuate hundreds of civilians trapped in the militants’ last patch of territory along the Euphrates River. A spokesman for...
AP source: FBI had backup plan to save Russia probe evidence
WASHINGTON — The FBI developed a backup plan to protect evidence in its Russia investigation soon after the firing of FBI Director James Comey in the event that other senior officials were dismissed as well, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. The plan was crafted in the...
Flynn pushed to share nuclear tech with Saudis, report says
WASHINGTON — Senior White House officials pushed a project to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia despite the objections of ethics and national security officials, according to a new congressional report citing whistleblowers within the administration. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns that Saudi Arabia could develop nuclear...
Philadelphia man ID’ed in fatal fall near Vegas High Roller
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police have identified a man who fell to his death after entering an unauthorized area near an observation wheel on the Strip. The Clark County Coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that 23-year-old Stefan Quinton Jones-Green, of Philadelphia, suffered fatal injuries when he fell Friday. The cause...
West Virginia House tables bill that prompted teacher strike
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — This time the teachers’ strike was only hours old when lawmakers acted. Just as the strike began Tuesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates effectively killed a complex education bill that sent state teachers to the picket lines nearly a year after a nine-day strike closed schools....
Haiti probes U.S. men detained with weapons, no license plates
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Authorities in Haiti say five U.S. citizens are among eight men who have been detained with automatic weapons and other arms, and they are investigating whether anyone authorized their entry into the country. Prosecutor Paul Eronce Villard said Tuesday that the seven foreigners and one Haitian are...
Petition floats idea of selling Montana to Canada for $1 trillion
A person poked a little fun at Montana by proposing to sell the state to Canada for $1 trillion to pay off the U.S. national debt. Wait, maybe they’re on to something … Nah. The Change.org petition was started by a user named Ian Hammond for a group called “Christian...
Swiss rescue teams pull several people out after avalanche
GENEVA — Swiss mountain rescue teams pulled out several people who were buried in a mid-afternoon avalanche Tuesday at the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana and were searching for others, police said. Rescuers using helicopters “saved several people” after a search involving helicopters, according to spokesman Steve Leger of the...
3 men fatally shot at home in gated Los Angeles community
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police interviewed neighbors Tuesday as they investigated the shooting deaths of three men inside a home in a gated community. Firefighters responding to a 911 call found the gunshot victims at about 4 p.m. Monday and called police to the residence in the affluent Porter...
Scientists fine-tune method to save rhinos
CHORZOW, Poland (AP) — Only two northern white rhinos exist in the world: both are female and neither can bear calves. But scientists have not given up hope of saving the species from extinction. They succeeded last year in creating hybrid embryos using frozen northern white rhino sperm and eggs...
7 Syrian refugee children die in Canadian house fire
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Seven children, all members of a Syrian family who arrived in Canada about two years ago, died in an early morning fire Tuesday that witnesses said quickly engulfed a home in a Halifax suburb. A woman who lives next door said the children ranged in age...
Judge orders Roger Stone to court over Instagram post
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Roger Stone to appear in court to consider whether to revoke his bail after the Trump confidant posted a photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone,...
IUP professor working with former Gov. Ridge on Homeland Security book
A political science professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is collaborating with former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge on a new book on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “The third-largest federal agency was created in 14 months. That’s just a little mentally overwhelming,” Dr. Aleea Lynn Perry told The Penn,...
Public hearing set on Conneaut Lake Park’s proposed Camperland expansion
SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — A proposed expansion of Conneaut Lake Park’s Camperland campground is set for a public hearing later this month. Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park, the nonprofit corporation that oversees the amusement park’s operations, proposes to expand the campground by adding 57 recreational vehicle full hookup campsites amenities. Currently,...
Dog shoots man: German court rules owner not fit for license
BERLIN — A German court has ruled that a dog owner isn’t fit to carry a firearms license after his dog shot him with a rifle. The Munich administrative court on Tuesday dismissed the man’s appeal against an earlier decision by Bavarian authorities to withdraw his license to own a...
Poll: Rural/urban political divisions also split the suburbs
DENVER — America’s suburbs are today’s great political battleground, long seen as an independent pivot between the country’s liberal cities and conservative small towns and rural expanse. But it’s not that simple. It turns out that these places in-between may be the most politically polarized of all — and when...
Religious orders apologize for abuse cover-up before summit
VATICAN CITY — Catholic religious orders from around the world apologized Tuesday for having failed to respond when their priests raped children, acknowledging that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial and cover-ups. The two umbrella organizations representing the world’s religious orders issued...
