Latinos found jobs and cheap housing in a northeastern Pennsylvania city but political power has proven elusive
HAZLETON, Pa. — Latinos seeking jobs and affordable housing have transformed Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in recent decades, but a federal lawsuit argues the way representatives are elected to their local school board is unfairly shutting them out of power. Nearly two-thirds of students in the Hazleton Area School District are Hispanic,...
Judge considers dismissing indictment against Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge is considering Alec Baldwin’s request to dismiss a grand jury indictment against him at a scheduled court hearing Friday. The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, at a...
Trump will campaign in Minnesota after attending his son Barron’s graduation
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former President Donald Trump will head to Minnesota on a day off from his hush money trial for a Republican fundraiser Friday night in a traditionally Democratic state that he boasts he can carry in November. Trump will headline the state GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan dinner,...
Report: Justice Alito’s home flew flag upside down after Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ claims
WASHINGTON — An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported Thursday. A photo obtained and published by the newspaper shows the flag...
West Virginia miner dies in state’s 1st reported coal fatality of the year
CHARLESTON — A coal miner died Thursday after being injured while operating an excavator at a southern West Virginia mine, Gov. Jim Justice said. Virgil Paynter, of Lynco, was operating an excavator at the CM Energy Operations LP surface mine in Wyoming County, Justice said in a news release. The...
Severe storms kill at least 4 in Houston, knock out power in Texas and LouisianaVideo
HOUSTON — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Officials urged residents to keep off roads following Thursday’s...
White House blocks release of Biden audio as Republicans move ahead with Garland contempt charge
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday blocked the release of audio from President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel about his handling of classified documents, arguing that Republicans in Congress only wanted the recordings “to chop them up” and use them for political purposes. Hours later, the House...
Josh Shapiro, other governors seek return of residents held on popular vacation island
Gov. Josh Shapiro and the governors of Virginia and Oklahoma are calling on the leader of Turks and Caicos Islands to reconsider ammunition charges filed against a Pennsylvania man and two others being detained in the Caribbean territory. In a letter to the islands’ Gov. Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, the governors ask...
U.S. proposes ending new federal leases in nation’s biggest coal region
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the U.S. as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel. The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions...
Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Thursday formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift in generations of U.S. drug policy. A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some...
Teen who ate spicy tortilla chip died of high chile consumption and had a heart defect, autopsy says
BOSTON — A Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media died from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract and also had a congenital heart defect, according to autopsy results obtained by The Associated Press. Harris Wolobah, a 10th grader from the city...
Pa. man charged after threatening to behead President Joe Biden
A 37-year-old Luzerne County man was indicted by a federal grand jury after he made death threats toward President Joe Biden and his Cabinet members in April before an campaign event in Scranton, the Department of Justice said. Jordan Gee, of Nanticoke, is accused of posting multiple threatening videos online...
Texas governor pardons ex-Army sergeant convicted of killing Black Lives Matter protester
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon Thursday for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice. Abbott announced the pardon shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and...
The late Rev. Billy Graham is immortalized in a statue unveiled at the U.S. CapitolVideo
A bronze sculpture of the late Rev. Billy Graham was unveiled Thursday at the U.S. Capitol, with Christianity’s most prolific evangelist once known as “America’s Pastor” immortalized in the halls of Congress on behalf of his native North Carolina. Graham’s likeness, depicting the Charlotte-born minister with his archetypal gesture toward...
Harris accepts debate invite to face off with Trump’s VP pick, which may come at convention
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick this summer, the Biden campaign said Thursday, as the Republican said he might wait until his party’s convention in July to announce his selection. Harris’ team told the...
Michael Cohen pressed on his crimes and lies as defense attacks key Trump hush money trial witness
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers accused the star prosecution witness in his hush money trial of lying to jurors, portraying Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen on Thursday as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars. As Trump looked on, defense attorney Todd...
Bones found in 1989 in a Wisconsin chimney ID’d as man who last contacted relatives in 1970
MADISON, Wis. — Human bones found inside the chimney of a Wisconsin music store in 1989 have been identified as those of a man whose last known contact with relatives was in 1970, authorities said. The DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses genealogy to identify unknown persons, announced this...
From the Newsroom podcast: A look at Westmoreland’s register of wills battle
In Westmoreland County, commissioner Ted Kopas has called for the resignation or removal by impeachment of the Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton. Earlier this month, two judges found Hamilton in direct criminal contempt on three counts: disobedience or neglect by an officer of the court; official misconduct as an...
Supreme Court sides with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spurning a conservative attack
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a conservative-led attack that could have undermined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The justices ruled 7-2 that the way the CFPB is funded does not violate the Constitution, reversing a lower court. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion, splitting with his...
White House blocks release of Biden’s special counsel interview audio, says GOP is being political
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur that’s at the center a Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department told lawmakers on Thursday. It comes as the the House Oversight...
U.S. Navy flagship carrier USS Ronald Reagan leaves its Japan home port after nearly 9 years
YOKOSUKA, Japan — A U.S. Navy strike group’s flagship aircraft carrier left its Japanese home port on Thursday, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it served a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and other partners in the region....
U.S. military says Gaza Strip pier project is completed, aid to soon flow as Israel-Hamas war rages on
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The final, overnight construction sets up a complicated delivery process...
China and Russia reaffirm ties as Moscow presses offensive in Ukraine
BEIJING — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his effort to resolve the Ukraine conflict at a Beijing summit Thursday, where the two leaders reaffirmed a “no-limits” partnership that has grown deeper as both countries face deepening tensions with the west. Putin’s two-day state visit to...
Slovak politicians call for cooling political divisions after shooting of prime minister
BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia — Slovak politicians have called for calm in the Central European country after Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times by a would-be assassin on Wednesday, a rare instance of political violence that prompted soul-searching among leaders in the deeply divided society. Fico was in serious...
The Mirage casino, which ushered in an era of Las Vegas Strip megaresorts in the ’90s, is closingVideo
LAS VEGAS — The iconic Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip will shut its doors this summer, the end of an era for a property credited with helping transform Sin City into an ultra-luxury resort destination. The July 17 closure will clear the way for major renovations and construction...
