White House is distributing $5.8 billion from infrastructure law for water projects
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is distributing another $5.8 billion for water infrastructure projects around the country, paid for by one of its key legislative victories. The new allocations will go to projects in all 50 states, bringing the total awarded to states for water infrastructure...
White House promises ‘major sanctions’ on Russia in response to Alexei Navalny’s death
WASHINGTON — The U.S. plans to unveil a “major” sanctions package against Russia on Friday following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Joe Biden said. “I told you we’d be announcing sanctions on Russia. We’ll have a major package announced on Friday,” Biden told reporters Tuesday at the...
Supreme Court leaves in place the admissions plan at an elite Virginia public high school
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place the admissions policy at an elite public high school in Virginia, despite claims that it discriminates against highly qualified Asian Americans. A panel of the federal appeals court in Richmond upheld the constitutionality of a revamped admissions policy at the...
WikiLeaks founder Assange faces his last legal roll of the dice in Britain to avoid U.S. extradition
LONDON — Julian Assange’s lawyers opened a final U.K. legal challenge Tuesday to stop the WikiLeaks founder from being sent to the United States to face spying charges, arguing that American authorities are seeking to punish him for exposing serious criminal acts by U.S. authorities. Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said there...
The Vatican’s problematic process to address clergy sex abuse cases, explained
VATICAN CITY — One afternoon in mid-December, Pope Francis had a meeting that wasn’t on his official agenda or otherwise recorded, that underscored the utter dysfunction of the Catholic Church’s response to the global clergy sex abuse scandal. In the main reception room of the Vatican hotel where he lives,...
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says foreign aid delays are making life ‘very difficult’ on the front line
KYIV, Ukraine — Delays in weapons deliveries from Western allies to Ukraine are opening a door for Russian battlefield advances, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, making the fight “very difficult” along parts of the front line where the Kremlin’s forces captured a strategic city last weekend ahead of the war’s...
Biden heads to California to rev up his fundraising in anticipation of a costly rematch with Trump
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden heads to California on Tuesday looking to soak up more cash for his reelection bid during a three-day swing through the state. Going into the trip, Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that they had collected $42 million in contributions during January...
GOP Senate contenders aren’t shy about wanting Trump’s approval. But in Pennsylvania, it’s awkward
HARRISBURG — Since he became the single biggest force in Republican politics nearly a decade ago, Donald Trump has figured prominently in U.S. Senate races, using his massive public platform and loyal base of support to shape which GOP incumbents run for reelection and which contenders get nominated. This year,...
Israel orders new evacuations in northern Gaza, where UN says 1 in 6 children are malnourished
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israel ordered new evacuations from parts of Gaza City on Tuesday, as a study led by the U.N. children’s agency found that one in six children are acutely malnourished in the isolated and largely devastated north of the territory, where the city is located. The report...
Harvison Road bridge in Penn Township slated for summer removal
A bridge carrying Harvison Road over the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County’s Penn Township will be removed this summer, according to the turnpike commission. The commission announced in 2021 that it would remove the bridge as part of a $300 million-plus project to widen the toll highway between the Monroeville...
Astronomers find what may be the universe’s brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The...
Minnesota man who shot 2 officers and a firefighter wasn’t allowed to have gunsVideo
A man who died after fatally shooting two police officers and a firefighter in a wooded Minneapolis-area neighborhood wasn’t legally allowed to have guns after a previous assault conviction and was entangled in a yearslong dispute over the custody and financial support of his three oldest children, court records show....
Probe of illegal drugs delivered by drone at West Virginia prison nets 11 arrests
WELCH, W.Va. — Eleven suspects have been arrested in an investigation into illegal drugs allegedly delivered by drones into a federal prison in southern West Virginia. Another man under investigation who fled officers was later found dead, authorities said. McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy said his office was contacted in...
Wet winter storm hits California, closing regional airport and trapping people in swollen riversVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Another wet winter storm swamped California with heavy rainfall on Monday, flooding the runways at a regional airport and leading to several rescues on swollen rivers and creeks. The Santa Barbara airport, on the state’s central coast, closed Monday after as much as 10 inches of rain...
Waffle House shooting in Indianapolis leaves 1 dead, 5 injured, police say
INDIANAPOLIS — One woman was killed and five other people were wounded when an argument escalated to gunfire at a Waffle House restaurant in Indianapolis early Monday, police said. Officers responded to a report of a shooting at the restaurant around 12:30 a.m., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in...
Defense: Suspended judge didn’t shoot estranged boyfriend, is innocent of attempted murder, assault
HARRISBURG — The attorney representing a suspended magistrate judge in Pennsylvania says his client is not guilty of allegations that she shot her estranged boyfriend in the head as he slept earlier this month. Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight, 57, was charged last week in Dauphin County with attempted murder...
In post about dead Russian opposition leader Navalny, Trump talks of his own legal problems
NEW YORK — More than 72 hours after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny ‘s death in an Arctic penal colony, former President Donald Trump mentioned him by name for the first time in a post on his social media site that focused not on Navalny, but his own legal woes....
Suspect arrested on murder charges in deaths of 2 people in a Colorado college dorm
DENVER — A suspect was arrested Monday on murder charges over the shootings of two people who were found dead in a dorm room last week at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, police said. The Colorado Springs Police Department said they arrested Nicholas Jordan, 25, without incident on two counts...
What Shapiro’s budget pitch could do for Pa.’s rural communities
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. BELLEFONTE — As the populations of Pennsylvania’s rural counties shrink, officials hope future state spending can help slow projected losses by making investments that attract...
FAFSA delays prompt Pa. state-owned universities to extend enrollment deadlines
Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities are extending the deadline for thousands of prospective new students to review financial aid offers and decide whether to enroll for fall. The move is intended to mitigate delays being experienced nationwide with the U.S. Department of Education’s revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known...
Gaza Health Ministry says over 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel-Hamas war
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s assault in Gaza has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, the territory’s Health Ministry said Monday, marking another grim milestone in one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the...
Stalled U.S. aid for Ukraine underscores GOP’s shift away from confronting Russia
At about 2 a.m. last Tuesday, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin stood on the Senate floor and explained why he opposed sending more aid to help Ukraine fend off the invasion launched in 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I don’t like this reality,” Johnson said. “Vladimir Putin is...
Wisconsin’s Democratic governor signs his new legislative maps into law after Republicans pass them
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps into law on Monday that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court draw the lines. Democrats hailed the signing as a major political victory in...
Waffle House shooting in Indianapolis leaves 1 dead, 5 injured, police say
INDIANAPOLIS — A shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in Indianapolis early Monday morning killed a woman and wounded five other victims, police said. Officers responded to a report of a shooting at the restaurant on Lynhurst Drive around 12:30 a.m., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement....
Students and parents are frustrated by delays in hearing about federal financial aid for college
NEW YORK — For many students, the excitement of being accepted into their first-choice college is being tempered this year by a troublesome uncertainty over whether they’ll get the financial aid they need to attend. The financial aid decisions that usually go out with acceptance letters are being delayed because...
