Shorter weeks, longer days? Pennsylvania poised to give schools flexibility on minimum requirements
HARRISBURG — A bill that would give Pennsylvania school districts greater flexibility to have shorter school weeks or longer days, as long as students meet an annual minimum of instructional time, is headed to the governor’s desk for his approval. The legislation passed both chambers unanimously. It changes Pennsylvania law...
Seven Springs slopes to open this weekend, close for week
Area snow sport fans need wait no longer as Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset County will open its slopes this weekend. The slopes will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, according to Anna Weltz, senior communications manager...
Judge in Trump election case pauses court deadlines as appeal is heard on presidential immunity
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington will be put on hold while the former president further pursues his claims that he is immune from prosecution, a judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, agreed in a three-page order to pause...
Testimony ends in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, but the verdict isn’t expected until next month
NEW YORK — After 10 weeks, 40 witnesses and bursts of courtroom fireworks, testimony wrapped up Wednesday in former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial. But a verdict is at least a month away. Closing arguments are set for Jan. 11, and Judge Arthur Engoron has said he hopes...
A common abortion pill will come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s how the drug works
Medication abortion is the preferred method of ending pregnancy in the U.S., and one of the two drugs used — mifepristone — will now go in front of the U.S. Supreme Court next year. Demand for the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol has grown as states have imposed bans or...
Appeals court denies Trump’s ‘presidential immunity’ argument in defamation lawsuit
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has ruled that former President Donald Trump gave up his right to argue that presidential immunity protects him from being held liable for statements he made in 2019 when he denied that he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. A three-judge panel of...
The Supreme Court will rule on limits on a commonly used abortion medication
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to take up a dispute over a medication used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, its first abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade last year. The justices will hear appeals from the Biden administration and...
Hunter Biden defies Republican subpoena in visit to the Capitol, risking contempt of Congress charge
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden on Wednesday defied a congressional subpoena to appear privately for a deposition before Republican investigators who have been digging into his business dealings, insisting outside the U.S. Capitol that he will only testify in public. In a rare public statement, the Democratic president’s son slammed a...
Safer eyedrops will require new FDA powers and resources, experts say
WASHINGTON — When you buy eyedrops at a U.S. store, you might assume you’re getting a product made in a clean, well-maintained factory that’s passed muster with health regulators. But repeated recalls involving over-the-counter drops are drawing new attention to just how little U.S. officials know about the conditions at...
House set for key vote on Biden impeachment inquiry as Republicans unite behind investigation
WASHINGTON — The House is pushing toward a vote Wednesday to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden as Republicans rally behind the charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president. The vote...
Expansion of Pennsylvania permits to grow, sell medical marijuana headed to governor’s desk
A bill that will allow more of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana growers and processors to also act as retailers — and vice-versa — fully cleared the legislature on Tuesday and will head to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. Despite some legislators’ predictions earlier this year that the bill could — or should...
Harvard board keeps president as leader of Ivy League school following antisemitism backlash
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard President Claudine Gay will remain leader of the prestigious Ivy League school following her comments last week at a congressional hearing on antisemitism, the university’s highest governing body announced Tuesday. “Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our...
Zelenskyy pleads for Ukraine aid at Capitol and White House, says to U.S.: Our fight is yoursVideo
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told America his country was fighting for “our freedom and yours” as he made an impassioned plea Tuesday for Congress to approve more assistance to fight Russia’s invasion. But prospects for additional U.S. aid to Ukraine appeared seriously delayed, if not in grave doubt,...
Donald Trump’s lawyers again ask for early verdict in civil fraud trial, judge says ‘no way’
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers rested his defense Tuesday and sought anew to immediately end the New York civil fraud trial that threatens the former president’s real estate empire. The judge said “there’s no way I’m going to grant that.” Trump’s lawyers — thwarted in a similar bid last...
Florida GOP looks to remove Christian Ziegler as chair, analysts say
ORLANDO, Fla. — Embattled Florida Republican Party chair Christian Ziegler faces a vote on Sunday to remove him from his $120,000 a year job as a result of rape allegations lodged against him and the admission that he and his wife had a three-way affair. So far he has steadfastly...
U.N. General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The vote also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel. The vote in the 193-member world body...
Auto union boss urges New Jersey lawmakers to pass casino smoking ban
ATLANTIC CITY — Shawn Fain, the international president of the United Auto Workers union who recently won large raises for his workers, is taking aim at a new target: New Jersey lawmakers who are delaying votes on a bill to ban smoking in Atlantic City’s casinos. The head of the...
Georgia election worker suing Rudy Giuliani tells jurors his lies made her fear for her life
WASHINGTON — Scared for her life after Rudy Giuliani and other Donald Trump allies falsely accused her of fraud, Georgia election worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss told jurors Tuesday she seldom leaves her home, suffers from panic attacks and battles nightmares brought on by a barrage of threatening and racist messages....
New York’s high court orders new congressional maps as Democrats move to retake control of U.S. House
ALBANY — New York’s highest court on Tuesday ordered the state to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections, giving Democrats a potential advantage in what is expected to be a battleground for control of the U.S. House. The 4-3 decision from the New York Court of Appeals...
13 cold, stunned sea turtles from New England given holiday names as they rehab in FloridaVideo
JUNO BEACH, Fla. — This Rudolph will not be leading his pals Blitzen, Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid through the Christmas Eve sky, but maybe he will lead them back out to sea one day. For now the seven Ridley’s sea turtles and six of their pals have been...
George Santos attorney expresses optimism about plea talks as expelled congressman appears in court
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Former U.S. Rep. George Santos ’ lawyer expressed optimism about plea negotiations in Santos’ criminal fraud case Tuesday, successfully fending off prosecutors’ attempts to speed up the the ousted congressman’s trial. In Santos’ first court appearance since he was expelled from Congress earlier this month, his...
How the 2016 election could factor into the case accusing Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 race
WASHINGTON — To hear his lawyers tell it, Donald Trump was alarmed by Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, motivated as president to focus on cybersecurity and had a good-faith basis four years later to worry that foreign actors had again meddled in the race. But to federal prosecutors, 2016...
Kentucky woman seeking court approval for abortion learned her embryo no longer has cardiac activity
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A pregnant woman in Kentucky who filed a lawsuit demanding the right to an abortion has learned her embryo no longer has cardiac activity, her attorneys said Tuesday. The plaintiff’s attorneys signaled their intent to continue the challenge to Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban, but did not immediately...
As Navalny vanishes from view in Russia, an ally calls it a Kremlin ploy to deepen his isolation
MOSCOW — The loss of contact with Alexei Navalny at the prison colony where the opposition leader was being held likely signals a Kremlin effort to tighten his isolation while President Vladimir Putin runs for reelection over the next three months, Navalny’s spokeswoman said Tuesday. Worries about Navalny spread Monday...
Russia blasts southern Ukraine region; hackers strike Ukrainian phone, internet services
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine came under heavy attacks from the air and from cyberspace Tuesday, local officials said, as nearly 600 Russian shells, rockets and other projectiles rained down on a southern region and unidentified hackers knocked out the phone and internet services of the country’s biggest telecom provider. One...
