News category, Page 459
Pa. House lawmakers could vote remotely during pandemic, but GOP says it’s time to restrict that rule
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 — In April, a firestorm erupted in Harrisburg after Philadelphia police issued an arrest warrant for a sitting state House lawmaker. Less than a...
Louisiana governor signs bill making abortion drugs controlled dangerous substances
NEW ORLEANS — First-of-its-kind legislation that classifies two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled and dangerous substances was signed into law Friday by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. The Republican governor announced his signing of the bill in Baton Rouge a day after it gained final legislative passage in the state Senate. Opponents...
NYC college officer suspended for telling pro-Palestinian protester ‘I support killing all you guys’
NEW YORK — A campus safety officer at a public college in New York City has been suspended after footage circulated online showing him cursing at pro-Palestinian protesters at a graduation ceremony and saying he supported killing them all, the school confirmed Friday. An unidentified protester filmed the officer during...
Young missionary couple from U.S. among 3 killed by gunmen in Haiti’s capital, police say
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A U.S. missionary couple was shot and killed by criminal gang members in Haiti’s capital after they were abducted while leaving a youth group activity held at a local church, according to a police official and a religious group. A third person also was killed during the...
Podcast: Pittsburgh’s ties to Oppenheimer and the Atomic Age
The promise — and peril — of the power of the atom cast long shadows over Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. TribLive News Editor Jon Silver talks about Pittsburgh’s ties to the Atomic Age and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer’s wife, Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, was born in...
Russia smashes train tracks in battered Ukrainian border region where children are being evacuated
KYIV, Ukraine — A nighttime Russian attack destroyed trains and tracks in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said Friday, and authorities organized the evacuation of children from the area as it is being pummeled by the Kremlin’s forces in a powerful new offensive. The overnight strike on rolling stock and...
Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the U.S., a new study says
For the first time, the number of Americans who use marijuana just about every day has surpassed the number who drink that often, a shift some 40 years in the making as recreational pot use became more mainstream and legal in nearly half of U.S. states. In 2022, an estimated...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: May 24
The following is a new feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz:...
Trump holds a rally in the South Bronx as he tries to woo his hometown
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump campaigned Thursday in one of the most Democratic counties in the nation, holding a rally in the South Bronx as he tries to woo minority voters days before a Manhattan jury will begin deliberations on whether to convict him of felony charges in...
‘Green blitz’: As election nears, Biden pushes slew of rules on environment, other priorities
WASHINGTON — As he tries to secure his legacy, President Joe Biden has unleashed a flurry of election-year rules on the environment and other topics, including a landmark regulation that would force coal-fired power plants to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. The limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fueled...
Prosecutors appeal dismissal of some charges against Trump in Georgia election interference case
ATLANTA — A Georgia prosecutor on Thursday appealed a ruling dismissing some of the criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and other defendants in an election interference case. The notice of appeal filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis does not say why an appeals court should reverse...
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,...
