University of Chicago clears a pro-Palestinian demonstration as MIT confronts a new encampment
CHICAGO — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses across the U.S. — and increasingly, in Europe. Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, the Rhode...
Jayne Anne Phillips’ novel ‘Night Watch,’ Eboni Booth’s drama ‘Primary Trust’ among Pulitzer winners
NEW YORK — Stories of race, slavery and the Civil War, real and invented, were winners this year for the Pulitzer Prizes. Jayne Anne Phillips’ “Night Watch,” a mother-daughter saga set in a West Virginia asylum right after the war, was cited for fiction. Jacqueline Jones received the history prize...
Greensburg council to vote on body-worn camera grant, event approval process
Greensburg is expected to outfit its police force with its first set of body-worn cameras. City council will vote next week to accept a $140,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to purchase 27 body-worn cameras — one for each of its police officers, said Chief...
Bernie Sanders says Gaza may be Joe Biden’s Vietnam — but he’s ready to battle for him over Trump
WASHINGTON — In April, Bernie Sanders repeatedly stood shoulder to shoulder with President Joe Biden, promoting their joint accomplishments on health care and climate at formal White House events while eviscerating Donald Trump in a widely viewed campaign TikTok video. Then just last week, Sanders was bluntly warning that the...
After deadly Oklahoma tornado, forecasters warn Midwest residents to brace for storms
OKLAHOMA CITY — Several Midwest states were bracing for dangerous storms Tuesday as tornadoes spun through parts of Michigan, one day after a powerful twister roared through a small Oklahoma town, killing at least one person and destroying dozens of homes. The National Weather Service said some tornadoes were spotted...
Ukraine says it foiled a Russian spy agency plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top military and political figures, Ukraine’s state security service said Tuesday. Two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which protects top officials, were detained on suspicion of enacting the plan drawn...
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
NEW YORK — Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump’s hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later. Jurors...
Denial and uncertainty are looming over a Biden-Trump rematch 6 months out from Election Day
WILMINGTON, N.C. — This North Carolina voter is nervous. Will Rikard, a 49-year-old father of two, was among several hundred Democrats who stood and cheered for Joe Biden as the first-term president delivered a fiery speech recently about the billions of dollars he has delivered to protect the state’s drinking...
Crews search central Pa. waterways for Pittsburgh area woman police say was killed
The search for a missing Western Pennsylvania woman last seen in the Harrisburg area and deemed a homicide victim was concentrated Friday along two creeks in northern York County. Susquehanna Township police sent out a thank you via Crimewatch on Monday that expressed “its sincere gratitude for the agencies, organizations,...
A gene long thought to just raise the risk for Alzheimer’s may cause some cases
WASHINGTON — For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene. Scientists have long known a gene called APOE4 is one of many things that can increase people’s risk for Alzheimer’s, including simply getting...
Greene won’t move against Johnson just yet
WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene delayed moving to oust Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday night and will instead continue to talk with him following a nearly two-hour meeting between the two and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., earlier in the day. With House Democratic leadership vowing to vote to table...
House Republicans are ready to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over Biden audio
WASHINGTON — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over the unredacted audio of an interview that was conducted as part of the special counsel probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents....
Pa. Senate Republicans propose ‘historic’ tax cut to counter Democrats’ desire to spend more
Senate Republicans are proposing a historic tax cut for Pennsylvanians that includes taking the personal income tax back to 2003 levels and lower electric bills. An amendment offered Monday afternoon to a bill granting a tax credit to volunteer emergency medical technicians was approved on 11-5 party-line vote by the...
Liberal icon Bernie Sanders is running for Senate reelection, squelching retirement rumors
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced Monday he will run for reelection this year, squelching speculation that the 82-year-old progressive icon might retire at a time when the Democratic Party is anxious about the advancing age of its top leaders. Hailing from a Democratic stronghold, Sanders’ decision virtually guarantees that...
Boeing 787 employees falsified inspection records; FAA opens probe
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened a new investigation into a potential manufacturing quality lapse on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner after Boeing admitted that inspection records on work at the wing-to-body join were falsified at the jet’s final assembly site in South Carolina. Boeing informed the FAA in...
Pulitzer Prizes in journalism awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and others
NEW YORK — The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize in feature photography Monday for its coverage of global migration through Latin America to the U.S., while The New York Times and the Washington Post each won three Pulitzer Prizes for their work in 2023. The Times and Reuters news...
How often does Gov. Josh Shapiro use Pennsylvania’s state plane?
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The two-engine, eight-seat Beechcraft King Air 350i took off from a small regional airport across the Susquehanna...
An American soldier was arrested in Russia and accused of stealing, U.S. officials say
WASHINGTON — An American soldier visiting a girlfriend in Russia’s port city of Vladivostok was arrested on charges of stealing from her and remains in custody, according to several U.S. officials. U.S. officials said Monday the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in...
PennWest trustees recommend 2 presidential candidates
PennWest University trustees on Monday forwarded the names of two presidential hopefuls – one from Utah and the other from Tennessee – to the State System of Higher Education, which will pick the institution’s next president later this month. They are:Jon Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs/professor at...
Hamas accepts Gaza cease-fire; Israel says it will continue talks but launches strikes in Rafah
JERUSALEM — Hamas announced its acceptance Monday of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Still, Israel said it would continue negotiations. The high-stakes diplomatic moves...
Biden speaks with Netanyahu as Israelis appear closer to Rafah offensive
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Monday morning a White House official said, as Israel appeared closer to launching an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah — a move staunchly opposed by the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. A National Security Council spokesperson...
Columbia University cancels main commencement after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests
NEW YORK — Columbia University is canceling its large university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled its campus and others across the U.S., but it will hold smaller school-based ceremonies this week and next, the school announced Monday. “Based on feedback from our students, we have...
Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch because of valve issue on rocket
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on the rocket Monday night. The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer,...
Trump fined $1,000 for gag order violation in hush money case as ex-employee recounts reimbursements
NEW YORK — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined him $1,000 on Monday and warned that future gag order violations could send him to jail, while jurors heard detailed testimony for the first time about the financial reimbursements at the center of the case. The testimony...
On D-Day, 19-year-old medic Charles Shay was ready to give his life, and save as many as he could
BRETTEVILLE-L’ORGUEILLEUSE, France — On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic who was ready to give his life — and save as many as he could. Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he’s about to take part in the 80th anniversary commemorations...
