Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
WASHINGTON — Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina. There’s an 85% chance that the Atlantic hurricane season that starts in June will be above average in...
HPV vaccines prevent cancer in men as well as women, new research suggests
New research suggests the HPV vaccine is preventing cancer in men, as well as in women, but fewer boys than girls are getting the shots in the United States. The HPV vaccine was developed to prevent cervical cancer in women and experts give it credit, along with screening, for lowering...
Border bill fails Senate test vote as Democrats seek to underscore Republican resistance
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans again blocked a bill meant to clamp down on the number of migrants allowed to claim asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sought Thursday to underscore GOP resistance to the proposal. The legislation, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, was...
Ohio governor calls special session to pass legislation ensuring President Biden is on 2024 ballot
COLUMBUS — Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday that he is calling a rare special session of the General Assembly next week to pass legislation ensuring that President Joe Biden is on the state’s 2024 ballot. The special session was called for Tuesday. “Ohio is running out of time...
Worker charged with homicide in deadly shooting at linen company near Philadelphia
A deadly shooting at a linen company near Philadelphia was apparently spurred by an ongoing dispute the gunman had with a female colleague, authorities said Thursday. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Wilbert Rosado-Ruiz, 61, has been charged with several counts including homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He...
Baltimore’s former top prosecutor spared prison for mortgage fraud and perjuryVideo
GREENBELT, Md. — A former Baltimore city prosecutor who achieved a national profile for charging police officers in a Black man’s death was spared any prison time in her sentence Thursday for perjury and mortgage fraud. Marilyn Mosby’s sentence includes 12 months of home confinement, 100 hours of community service...
Supreme Court finds no bias against Black voters in a South Carolina congressional district
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ‘s conservative majority on Thursday preserved a Republican-held South Carolina congressional district, rejecting a lower-court ruling that said the district discriminated against Black voters. In dissent, liberal justices warned that the court was insulating states from claims of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. In a 6-3 decision,...
Remember last year’s Memorial Day travel jams? Chances are they will be much worse this year
You didn’t think summer travel would be easy, did you? Highways and airports are likely to be jammed the next few days as Americans head out for Memorial Day weekend getaways and then return home. AAA predicts this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8...
Louisiana Legislature approves bill classifying abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances
BATON ROUGE — Two abortion-inducing drugs could soon be reclassified as controlled and dangerous substances in Louisiana under a first-of-its-kind bill that received final legislative passage Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by the governor. Supporters of the reclassification of mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as “abortion...
Political consultant behind fake Biden robocalls faces $6 million fine and criminal charges
CONCORD, N.H. — A political consultant who sent artificial intelligence-generated robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden’s voice to voters ahead of New Hampshire’s presidential primary faces a $6 million fine and more than two dozen criminal charges. The Federal Communications Commission said the fine it proposed Thursday for Steven Kramer is...
Norfolk Southern will pay $15 million fine as part of federal settlement over Ohio derailment
The federal government agreed to a modest $15 million fine for Norfolk Southern over last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and the railroad promised to pay more than $300 million to complete the efforts to improve safety that it announced after the crash and address community health concerns....
After Times Square controversy, breastfeeding billboards arrive in Philly
Drivers near Callowhill Street in Philadelphia and on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Plymouth Meeting and Lower Southampton can now see a billboard that was, for a time, deemed too controversial for Times Square. With pregnant belly out and breasts covered by her cookies, said to stimulate milk production, cookbook author...
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall as labor market continues to thrive
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remained historically low despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to loosen the labor market. Jobless claims for the week ending May 18 fell by 8,000 to 215,000, down from 223,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday....
Wind towers crumpled after Iowa wind farm suffers rare direct hit from powerful twister
OKLAHOMA CITY — A wind farm in southwest Iowa suffered a direct hit from a powerful tornado that crumpled five of the massive, power-producing towers, including one that burst into flames. But experts say fortunately such incidents are rare. Video of the direct hit on the wind farm near Greenfield,...
Pro-Palestinian protesters leave after Drexel University decides to have police clear encampment
PHILADELPHIA — Protesters packed up their belongings and left a pro-Palestinian encampment at Drexel University on Thursday after the school announced a decision to have police clear the encampment. University President John Fry said in a statement that he decided to have campus police and public safety officers join Philadelphia...
Russian missiles kill 7 in Ukraine’s 2nd-largest city where Moscow’s troops are pressing
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missiles slammed into Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of the country and killed at least seven civilians early Thursday, officials said, as Kyiv’s army labored to hold off an intense cross-border offensive by the Kremlin’s larger and better-equipped forces. At least 16 people were injured...
Strong winds topple stage at a campaign rally in northern Mexico, killing at least 9 people
SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico — A strong gust of wind toppled the stage at a campaign rally Wednesday evening in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, killing at least nine people — including a child — and injuring 63, the state’s governor said. The collapse occurred during an...
U.S. intelligence agencies’ embrace of generative AI is at once wary and urgent
ARLINGTON, Virginia — Long before generative AI’s boom, a Silicon Valley firm contracted to collect and analyze non-classified data on illicit Chinese fentanyl trafficking made a compelling case for its embrace by U.S. intelligence agencies. The operation’s results far exceeded human-only analysis, finding twice as many companies and 400% more...
How does this end? With Hamas holding firm and fighting back in Gaza, Israel faces only bad options
JERUSALEM — Diminished but not deterred, Hamas is still putting up a fight after seven brutal months of war with Israel, regrouping in some of the hardest-hit areas in northern Gaza and resuming rocket attacks into nearby Israeli communities. Israel initially made tactical advances against Hamas after a devastating aerial...
Forbes Road students take cybersecurity presentation to national business competition
This time last year, Forbes Road Career & Technology Center teacher George Karnbauer was keeping an eye on three of his students as they gave a cybersecurity presentation, making sure to jump in if he felt like something needed clarified or explained. Last month, Karnbauer sat in the audience as...
Iowa tornado killed 4 people, officials say
GREENFIELD, Iowa — Four people died and at least 35 were hurt in a tornado that devastated a small town in Iowa on Tuesday, officials said. It’s believed that the number of people injured is likely higher, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. The names of those killed...
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a close Trump ally, joins race to succeed Mitch McConnell as GOP leader
WASHINGTON — Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Wednesday that he will run for Senate Republican leader when Mitch McConnell steps down from the post, becoming the third Republican in the race. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the current No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn have...
Second flag carried by Jan. 6 rioters displayed outside house owned by Justice Alito, report says
WASHINGTON — A second flag of a type carried by rioters during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was displayed outside a house owned by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, The New York Times reported Wednesday. An “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside Alito’s beach...
UCLA police chief reassigned after handling of campus demonstrations prompted criticism
LOS ANGELES — The police chief at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been reassigned following criticism over his handling of recent campus demonstrations that included a mob attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment. Chief John Thomas was temporarily reassigned Tuesday “pending an examination of our security processes,” said Mary Osako,...
Pa. prison officials want $300M in added funding despite declining population, closures
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections wants more than $300 million in next year’s budget despite a declining population of incarcerated people and the...
