Biden’s big speech showed his uneasy approach to abortion, an issue bound to be key in the campaign
WASHINGTON — Reproductive freedom took center stage during Biden’s State of the Union address, but abortion rights advocates had mixed reactions, raising concerns about the president trying to capitalize on what will be a central campaign issue while avoiding using the word “abortion.” Abortion rights have proved to be a...
What to know about the SAVE plan, the income-driven plan to repay student loans
NEW YORK — More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August. President Joe Biden recently announced that he was canceling federal student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the plan, known as the SAVE plan. Forgiveness...
The diaries of presidents offer history in the raw — even the naked — and may have secrets to tell
WASHINGTON — Just before dawn one summer day in Washington, the president of the United States stripped naked on a rock by the river, plunged in and saw a dead man float to the surface. We know this about John Quincy Adams because he kept a diary for the ages....
Muslims spot Ramadan crescent moon in Saudi Arabia, meaning month of fasting starts Monday for many
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Officials saw the crescent moon Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food...
80 years after D-Day, a World War II veteran is getting married near beaches where US troops landed
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Harold Terens and his fiancee Jeanne Swerlin kissed and held hands like high school sweethearts as they discussed their upcoming wedding in France, a country the World War II veteran first visited as a 20-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces corporal shortly after D-Day. Terens, a gregarious...
Handling mental illness is complicated at all levels of criminal justice system
As Terrance Kurhansky’s case made its way through Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, it became clear to his attorney and the presiding judge that their options were limited, and none of them was ideal. Kurhansky, 83, was charged in 2019 with attempting to murder his neighbor. Police said he used a...
Jeannette art center promotes female artists through biennial exhibit
Every time art professor Maureen Kochanek teaches the women artists course at Seton Hill University, she concludes with the same statement. “In a perfect world, I wouldn’t teach this course,” she tells her students at the Greensburg school, explaining how female artists have been pushed to the periphery of the...
Biden: Netanyahu ‘hurting Israel’ by not preventing civilian deaths
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden said Saturday he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza. The U.S. leader expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack but...
Illegal homemade machine guns help fuel gun violence in U.S.
WASHINGTON — Eleven-year-old Domonic Davis was not far from his mom’s Cincinnati home when a hail of gunfire sprayed out from a passing car. Nearly two dozen rounds hurtled through the night at a group of children in the blink of an eye. Four other children and a woman were...
Biden-Trump rematch comes into view with dueling visits to Georgia
ATLANTA — The 2024 presidential election campaign picked up Saturday where the 2020 contest left off. Or, more precisely, in a place where it never actually ended. Georgia was so close four years ago that Republican Donald Trump finds himself indicted there for his push to “find 11,780 votes” and...
Boeing says it can’t find work records related to door panel that blew out on Alaska Airlines flight
SEATTLE — Boeing has acknowledged in a letter to Congress it cannot find records for work done on a door panel that blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon two months ago. “We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation,” Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice...
2 women drove man’s body to bank to withdraw his money, Ohio police say
ASHTABULA, Ohio — Two Ohio women have been accused of driving the body of a deceased 80-year-old man to a bank to withdraw money from his account before dropping his body off at a hospital. Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday in Ashtabula with gross...
Biden signs package of spending bills passed by Congress just hours before shutdown deadline
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $460 billion package of spending bills approved by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies. The legislation’s success gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year. The...
What to know about Shapiro’s proposed $10.3M agriculture innovation program
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. BELLEFONTE — An open-ended pitch by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to give...
Lead-tainted cinnamon has been recalled. Here’s what you should know
Several U.S. discount retailers recalled packages of ground cinnamon after federal health officials warned that they were contaminated with high levels of lead. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert for six brands of cinnamon, including those sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores. The move...
Insurer delays and denials hamper patients seeking at-home breathing machines
Lou Gehrig’s disease took away Grace Armant’s ability to speak, but the 84-year-old still has plenty to say about her insurance. UnitedHealthcare has rejected several requests from her doctors for coverage of a machine Armant needs to breathe as she deals with the fatal illness. “They are no good,” Armant...
Ship with Gaza aid preparing to inaugurate sea route from Cyprus to war-ravaged strip
LARNACA, Cyprus — A ship bearing humanitarian aid was making preparations to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza, the European Commission president said Friday as international donors launched a sea corridor to supply the besieged territory that is facing widespread hunger after five months of war. The opening of the...
2 killed including a 16-year-old in Russian artillery strikes in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities said two people including a teenage boy were killed Saturday in Russian artillery attacks and Russia reported it had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and destroyed a wave of drones over several regions. The attacks came as Russia is gaining momentum on the battlefield...
Helicopter carrying National Guardsmen, Border Patrol agent crashes in Texas, killing 3
LA GRULLA, Texas — A helicopter flying over the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas crashed Friday, killing two National Guard soldiers and a Border Patrol agent, the military said. Another soldier on board was injured. The UH-72 Lakota helicopter was assigned to the federal government’s border security mission when it went...
Time to ‘spring forward’: daylight saving time begins
Get ready to reset your clocks and lose an hour of sleep — daylight saving time is upon us. Clocks will spring forward an hour at 2 a.m. Eastern time Sunday, meaning one less hour of sleep for most people across the U.S. The change also means one more hour...
Biden, in hot mic moment, shows growing frustration with Netanyahu over Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying he and the Israeli leader will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.” The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Sen. Michael...
A simulated hotel front desk at Indiana University of Pennsylvania now includes a donor’s name
Donor names end up on all sorts of college and university real estate, from imposing classroom buildings, to lecture halls, to flower gardens and even benches. Indiana University of Pennsylvania has its share of those sorts of spots. It also has this: A hotel front desk simulation lab that —...
Congress passes 1st package of spending bills hours before shutdown deadline for key agencies
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies, a vote that gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year. The...
Program that allows 30,000 migrants from 4 countries into U.S. each month upheld by judge
HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Friday upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, dismissing a challenge from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden...
Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon study released Friday that examined reported sightings of UFOs over nearly the past century found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence, a conclusion consistent with past U.S. government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades. The study from...
