Defrocked cardinal McCarrick to remain in church housing for now
When Theodore McCarrick was defrocked Saturday, becoming the first cardinal ever removed from the priesthood because of sexual abuse, he lost his right to the support he has enjoyed his entire adult life — housing and income provided by the Roman Catholic Church. But McCarrick, who is 88 and has...
Philippines says 136 people have died in measles outbreak
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine health secretary said Monday that 136 people, mostly children, have died of measles and 8,400 others have fallen ill in an outbreak blamed partly on vaccination fears. A massive immunization drive that started last week in hard-hit Manila and four provincial regions may contain the...
Travelers beware: Va. lawmakers approve use of speed cameras
Virginia lawmakers have approved legislation to allow the commonwealth’s first speed-camera program, a significant shift for the state, which has been slow to embrace technology that has long been used by law enforcement in neighboring Washington, D.C., Maryland and elsewhere in the national. The legislation, if signed by Gov. Ralph...
Sex abuse survivors to meet with Vatican summit organizers
VATICAN CITY — The organizers of Pope Francis’ summit on preventing clergy sex abuse will meet this week with a dozen abuse victims who have descended on Rome to protest the Catholic Church’s response to the crisis and demand an end to decades of cover-up by church leaders, officials said...
Florida student charged with misdemeanor after refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance
A Florida student is facing misdemeanor charges after a confrontation with a teacher that began with his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and escalated into what officials described as disruptive behavior. The student, a sixth-grader at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Florida, east of Tampa, refused to...
Man burns to death after using portable toilet outside Baltimore Ravens stadium
A man is dead after apparently catching fire inside a portable toilet in a parking lot outside M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore City Fire Department reported on social media that three of the bathrooms units were engulfed in flames. BCFD on scene in the 1100blk of Russell St....
Priest’s family life gave him unique perspective
The Rev. Donald Trexler was a family man before he was a Catholic priest, but his experience as a father and husband informed his 21 years of ministry in the Diocese of Greensburg. Rev. Trexler grew up a devout Catholic and remained so as an adult, while working as a...
D.C.’s many prankster activists turn anger into street theater
WASHINGTON — In the nation’s capital, it can be hard for protesters to stand out. Fifty people — or even 500 — holding signs and shouting hardly merits a second glance in this city of protests. That’s why Washington activists have to get creative. There’s an ethos of performative prankster-style...
Sailor in iconic V-J Day Times Square kiss photo dies at 95
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The ecstatic sailor shown kissing a woman in Times Square celebrating the end of World War II has died. George Mendonsa was 95. Mendonsa’s daughter, Sharon Molleur, told The Providence Journal Mendonsa fell and had a seizure Sunday at the assisted living facility in Middletown, Rhode Island,...
New York City aims to stop hairstyle discrimination
NEW YORK — New York City doesn’t want people to have their hairstyles held against them, and it has unveiled novel anti-discrimination guidelines. The city Human Rights Commission released the guidelines Monday. The New York Times first reported the guidelines and says they’re believed to be the first such measures...
Disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner released from prison
AYER, Mass. — Disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from federal prison after being convicted of having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2017. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows the 54-year-old New York Democrat is currently in the custody of its Residential Re-entry Management...
Ohio lawmakers studying error that could ban some guns
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A mistake in writing up an Ohio bill could inadvertently ban several types of already legal guns and must be fixed quickly, gun rights advocates say. At issue is legislation approved by lawmakers last year that allows off-duty police officers to carry firearms and phases in pre-emption...
Senate panel to probe claim that Rod Rosenstein raised possibility of Trump ouster
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday that his panel will investigate former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe’s assertion that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein raised the possibility of ousting President Trump through the 25th Amendment, calling the statement “beyond stunning.” Graham was responding to comments made by...
Chicago police seek follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett
CHICAGO — Chicago police said Sunday they’re still seeking a follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett after receiving new information that “shifted” their investigation of a reported attack on the “Empire” actor. The trajectory of the investigation “shifted” after detectives questioned two brothers about the attack and released them late Friday...
Aurora shooter’s permit was revoked but gun wasn’t seized
AURORA, Ill. — An initial background check failed to detect a felony conviction that should have barred the man who killed five co-workers and wounded six others at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant from buying the gun. Months later, a second background check of Gary Martin found his 1995 aggravated...
‘Taking their last breath’: ISIS hides among Syrian civilians
BAGHOUZ, Syria — From a self-proclaimed caliphate that once spread across much of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group has been knocked back to a speck of land on the countries’ shared border. In that tiny patch on the banks of the Euphrates River, hundreds of militants are hiding...
Report: Former Maine governor Paul LePage spent $22K on Trump hotel stays
AUGUSTA, Maine — Documents obtained by a Maine newspaper show the state’s former Republican governor and his staff spent at least $22,000 in public money at a hotel owned by the family of President Trump. The Portland Press Herald reports Sunday that former Gov. Paul LePage and staff paid for...
Expectations high for pope’s sex-abuse conference, but some brace for disappointment
In what could be a defining moment for his papacy, more than 100 top Catholic bishops from around the world will travel to the Vatican Rome this week for a conference aimed at dealing with the issue of clergy sex abuse. Pope Francis is the first church leader to convene...
NYC’s Chinatown welcomes Year of the Pig with vibrant parade
NEW YORK — Drums, dragons and dancers paraded through New York’s Chinatown on Sunday to usher in the Year of the Pig in the metropolis with the biggest population of Chinese descent of any city outside Asia. Confetti and spectators a half-dozen or more deep at points lined the route...
Authorities remove cougar from tree outside California home
HESPERIA, Calif. — Firefighters have rescued a very big cat — a mountain lion — from a tree outside a home in the Southern California desert. The homeowner called authorities Saturday after spotting the animal near the edge of the San Bernardino Mountains. San Bernardino County firefighters found the large...
Marco Rubio warns Venezuelan soldiers to let aid enter
CUCUTA, Colombia — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is warning Venezuelan soldiers that they would commit a “crime against humanity” if they block the entry of U.S. aid that is being channeled through rivals of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The Florida Republican on Sunday visited the border town of Cucuta, where...
Taliban claim they can’t attend Pakistan talks because of blacklist
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban has postponed an unscheduled round of peace talks with the United States set for Monday in Pakistan saying “most” members of their negotiating team are unable to travel because they’re on the U.S. and United Nations’ blacklists. The statement Sunday offered no other details. It...
Work-release inmates help rescue Florida baby locked in SUV
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Some work-release inmates made a Valentine’s Day rescue when a Florida couple accidentally locked their baby inside their SUV. Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kevin Doll told WFLA-TV the parents could not afford a locksmith, and the father intended to break a window. That’s when...
Uncertainty shadows Pennsylvania’s debate over nuclear power
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four decades after Three Mile Island became shorthand for America’s worst commercial nuclear power accident, financial rescues of nuclear power plants are stirring the highest levels of government. In Pennsylvania, nuclear power plant owners have been working for two years to build support for the kind of...
Tradition of nonpartisan selection of judges may end in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa was in the forefront of a national effort to reduce partisanship in the courts nearly 50 years ago when it decided to stop electing judges and instead rely on nominations by a panel of citizens and lawyers. In all, about three dozen states adopted similar...
