AI may breathe new life into Three Mile Island to supply power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy. The announcement by Constellation Energy comes...
Colorado supermarket shooter was sane when he killed 10 people, prosecutor says
BOULDER, Colo. — A mentally ill man carefully amassed the guns and ammunition to kill as many people as possible before pursuing and fatally shooting 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021, proving he knew exactly what he was doing, a prosecutor told jurors Friday. Ahmad Alissa’s decision to...
In-person voting begins for U.S. presidential contest, kicking off the sprint to Election Day
MINNEAPOLIS — In-person voting for this year’s presidential election began Friday, a milestone that kicked off a six-week sprint to Election Day after a summer of political turmoil. Voters lined up to cast their ballots in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities....
North Huntingdon athletes bring home hardware from international kickboxing competition
Two North Huntingdon athletes ranked internationally at the Junior World Kickboxing Championship in Budapest, Hungary, recently. Xander Eddy, 15, and Gabby Viola, 14, are the first athletes in the state to receive medals at the tournament, according to Bill Viola Jr. — coach and Gabby Viola’s father. “To have two...
Penn State removes student newspapers, sparking free speech debate
Penn State University removed dozens of newsstands from campus buildings that contained its student newspaper because nine of them displayed political ads above the newspaper rack itself: three for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and six promoting voter registration. Penn State administrators say the posters violated rules about advertising and...
U.S. will let more people take methadone at home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients...
‘Water is flooding everywhere’ as torrential rains sweep through West and Central Africa
ABUJA, Nigeria — Houses swept away to the very last brick. Inmates frantically fleeing the city’s main prison as its walls got washed away by water rising from an overflowing dam. Corpses of crocodiles and snakes floating among human bodies on what used to be main streets. As torrential rains...
Israel carries out targeted strike in Beirut after Hezbollah hits northern Israel with 140 rockets
BEIRUT — Israel hit a Beirut suburb with an airstrike Friday, not long after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets following a vow by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said. The Israeli...
Pennsylvania state senator sues critics of his book about WWI hero Sgt. York
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state senator and former GOP gubernatorial candidate whose support for Donald Trump drew him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has sued a Canadian university and nearly two dozen academics over criticism of him and his research into World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York....
Senate president partners with UPMC, Bayer, others to host breast cancer screenings
Because Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward is a breast cancer survivor, she said she knows the importance of screening for the disease. “When I went through my treatment, I could see firsthand some of the issues that women were facing,” said Ward, a Hempfield resident who was diagnosed with...
Bowhunting season begins Saturday for all of Allegheny County, small slices of western Westmoreland, opens Oct. 5 statewide
Justin Relihan has been bowhunting since he was 16 years old. The Butler resident began hunting at age 12 with a rifle, but quickly found he had more of a passion for using a compound bow. “I like the quietness of bowhunting,” said Relihan, 48. “There’s a lot less people....
‘Doomsday’ glacier set to melt faster, swell seas as world heats up
Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will “inexorably” accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists. The researchers warn the faster melting could destabilize the entire West Antarctic Ice sheet, leading to its eventual collapse. The massive glacier —...
Ohio sheriff condemned for saying people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded
An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency. Good-government groups called it a threat and urged him...
House eyes vote early next week on bipartisan CR
WASHINGTON — The House is gearing up to go first on a bipartisan stopgap funding package early next week after nailing down the particulars this weekend, lawmakers said Thursday. The measure would extend current funding levels, with some “anomalies” allowing for higher rates, likely through Dec. 13, a source familiar...
Postal Service chief frustrated at criticism but promises ‘heroic’ effort to deliver mail ballots
TOPEKA, Kan. — The head of the U.S. Postal Service expressed frustration Thursday with ongoing criticism by election officials of how it handles mail ballots while also seeking to reassure voters it’s ready to handle an expected crush of those ballots this fall. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told reporters...
Swing states pledge fair elections
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Top election officials from Georgia and other swing states met Thursday to assure the public their elections are fair and accurate. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger outlined a host of measures the state takes to ensure voting is secure. Election officials from Arizona, Michigan, North...
Flurry of polls shows Harris with slight lead over Trump in tight race in Pa.
With less than seven weeks to go before Election Day, a majority of polls released this week show Vice President Kamala Harris has eked out a slight lead in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, gained some favor among Pennsylvanians over the last couple...
U.S. warplanes, ships and troops ready in Middle East if conflict expands
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has kept an increased military presence in the Middle East throughout much of the past year, with about 40,000 forces, at least a dozen warships and four Air Force fighter jet squadrons spread across the region both to protect allies and to serve as a deterrent...
Titan submersible’s scientific director says the sub malfunctioned just prior to Titanic dive
The scientific director for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage testified Thursday that the sub malfunctioned just prior to the fatal dive. Appearing before a U.S. Coast Guard panel, Steven Ross told the board about a platform...
Penn State to pay $700K in gender discrimination case
Penn State University will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest to settle a U.S. Department of Labor case alleging gender pay discrimination against female staff and faculty, the parties announced. The amount will be shared among the women impacted. Penn State said the inequities found by the department were...
Alaska man charged with sending graphic threats to kill Supreme Court justices
WASHINGTON — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday. Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including...
Inmates stab correctional officers at a Massachusetts prison
LANCASTER, Mass. — Two correctional officers were stabbed by inmates at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts, and three others were injured as they responded, a spokesperson said. The five officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster were taken to hospitals after the confrontation Wednesday night, Scott Croteau, a spokesperson...
2 Georgia deaths are tied to abortion restrictions. Experts say abortion pills they took are safe
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak about abortion Friday in Georgia, where two women’s deaths have been tied to a state law that mostly bans the procedure after roughly six weeks. Amber Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat complications that occurred after she...
Veteran CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women gets 30 years in prison
WASHINGTON — A longtime CIA officer who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted more than two dozen women in postings around the world was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Wednesday after an emotional hearing in which victims described being deceived by a man who appeared kind, educated and part...
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will stay in jail after bail is denied for a second time
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs is staying locked up after a judge Wednesday rejected the hip-hop mogul’s proposal that he await his sex trafficking trial in the luxury of his Florida mansion instead of a grim Brooklyn federal jail. U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that Combs’ plan...
