Piper Laurie, 3-time Oscar nominee with film credits such as ‘The Hustler,’ ‘Carrie,’ dies at 91
Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a “more meaningful” life, died early Saturday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 91. Laurie died of old age, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, wrote via email, saying...
Calif. to follow other states in granting community college tuition break to Mexico residents
LOS ANGELES — Agustin Guzman spends hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic and crosses an international border just to get to his college classes. But it’s worth it. Though he’s a resident of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, he pays the same tuition as a student 4 miles away from Laredo, Texas, thanks to...
Gang violence traps more than 100 schoolchildren in Haiti for 2nd day
More than 100 Haiti students, some as young as 6, are trapped inside their Catholic school in downtown Port-au-Prince as a fresh round of violence continued to erupt between armed groups. Late Saturday, the students were looking at spending a second night at school. The students are among 400 children...
Poll: Hunter Biden investigations lead to ethical concerns about president
WASHINGTON — Ethical concerns are casting a shadow over President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection amid investigations into his son Hunter and an impeachment inquiry, with a poll showing 35% of U.S. adults believe the president himself has done something illegal. An additional 33% say they think the Democratic...
Man charged with pulling gun on pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Pa. Capitol steps
A Lebanon man who pulled up to a peaceful Palestinian rally in Harrisburg, shouted racial slurs and pointed a gun at attendees has been arrested, according to police. Richard Kevin Blandy, 56, faces a felony count of ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats and simple assault by...
As Israel readies invasion, U.S. charter plane carrying reservists heads to Tel Aviv
David Malka, a cryptocurrency venture capitalist based in Puerto Rico, was unfamiliar with the logistics of transporting supplies and army reservists into war zones before Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7. But Saturday morning, just a week after the conflict began, Malka was at Los Angeles International Airport loading...
3 dead in party shooting at Denver industrial storefront
DENVER — Three people are dead after a shooting early Saturday at a party in Denver, police said. Denver police were called to a party at an industrial storefront where officers found someone dead with gunshot wounds, police said. Another five shooting victims were taken to local hospitals, where two...
‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse begins its path across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil
PORTLAND, Ore. — A rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun that has millions across the Americas waiting with anticipation Saturday has at last appeared into view. With the presence of cloudy skies, a NASA livestream of the phenomenon reported it in Eugene, Oregon, shortly after 9:15 a.m. local...
Sen. Joe Manchin considers independent 2024 run, warns party system could be nation’s ‘downfall’
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has benefited from waiting to reveal where he stands as the swing vote in a chamber closely divided between Democrats and Republicans. He’s taken the same approach when it comes to the next phase of his political career: The moderate Democrat...
Proposed gag order on Trump in his federal election case is putting judge in tricky position
WASHINGTON — A proposed gag order aimed at reining in Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric puts the judge overseeing his federal election interference case in a tricky position: She must balance the need to protect the integrity of the legal proceedings against the First Amendment rights of a presidential candidate to...
Palestinians stream south in Gaza as Israel urges mass evacuation, conducts brief raids
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza on Saturday after the Israeli military ordered nearly half the population to evacuate south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel. Israel renewed calls on...
Fierce fighting persists in Ukraine’s east as Kyiv reports nonstop assaults by Russia on a key city
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials reported intense combat, characterized by relentless assaults by Russian forces, as the ongoing attack on an eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka entered its fifth consecutive day on Saturday. “The enemy has not stopped either assaulting or shelling positions” around Avdiivka, city head Vitalii Barabash said...
911 calls from deadly Lahaina wildfire reveal terror and panic in rush to escape
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Trapped in their cars, in homes or on the beach as flames, black smoke and embers swirled around them, people in the historic Maui town of Lahaina called 911, the one number that might send help or tell them what to do, where to go. A man...
Pa. seeks to expand public awareness of Indigenous culture, history
BETHLEHEM — Pennsylvania’s absence of federally recognized tribal nations means there’s been an incomplete picture of its Native American culture and history, officials said Friday as they announced a grant-funded program designed to change that. The Pennsylvania Tourism Office, in partnership with Lehigh University’s Institute for Indigenous Studies and with...
Republicans pick Jim Jordan as nominee for House speaker, putting job within the Trump ally’s reach
WASHINGTON — Republicans chose firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker during internal voting Friday, putting the gavel within reach of the staunch ally of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Electing Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, to the powerful position second in line...
Best Buy plans to phase out sales of physical DVD movies in the coming months
NEW YORK — Best Buy is saying goodbye to movie-watching with physical discs. The consumer electronics retailer plans to phase out its DVD and Blu-ray sales by early 2024 — with physical movies set to be sold in-stores and online as they are today through the holidays, Best Buy confirmed...
Black student disciplined over hairstyle hopes to ‘start being a kid again’
For over a month, Darryl George, a Black high school student in Texas, spent each school day sitting by himself in punishment over his hairstyle. This week, he was sent to a separate disciplinary program, where he’s been told he will spend several more weeks away from classmates. In an...
NASA spacecraft launched to mysterious and rare metal asteroid in 1st mission of its kindVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet’s core,...
GOP quickly eyes Trump-backed hardliner Jim Jordan as House speaker but not all Republicans back him
WASHINGTON — Increasingly desperate Republicans convened behind closed doors again Friday as the endless search for a House speaker drags deeper into a second week leaving the GOP majority spiraling into chaos for the foreseeable future. Attention swiftly turned to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Trump-allied Judiciary Committee chairman and founder...
Weekend weather could make partial eclipse tough to watch in Western Pa.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor Kenneth Coles had only one word to sum up the forecast for Saturday’s partial eclipse: dismal. “Clouds and rain is what they’re calling for right now,” Coles said. “But if we get a hole in the clouds — and we’re always hopeless optimists about that...
Man admits stealing ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers from museum in 2005, but details remain mystery
MINNEAPOLIS — A man charged in the museum heist of a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in the “The Wizard of Oz” pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that could keep him out of prison due to his failing health, but only cleared up some of the...
Ford recalls over 238,000 Explorers to replace axle bolts that can fail after U.S. opens investigation
DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 238,000 Explorers in the U.S. because a rear axle bolt can fail, potentially causing a loss of drive power or allowing the SUVs to roll away while in park. The recall comes after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into the problem after...
Teacher dies, 2 wounded in stabbing in France; antiterror police investigating
PARIS — A man armed with a knife killed a teacher at the high school in northern France he once attended and critically wounded another teacher and a security guard Friday, authorities said, an attack being investigated as potential terrorism amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and...
7 killed, 16 injured as a van overloaded with migrants crashes in southern Germany
BERLIN — A van packed with migrants crashed at a highway junction in southern Germany on Friday after the driver accelerated to avoid a police check, killing seven people and injuring 16, authorities said. A police patrol noticed the overloaded vehicle on the A94 highway east of Munich at about...
Biden is talking about green energy and jobs in Pennsylvania again. Will his message break through?
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is returning to Pennsylvania to use the critical battleground state again as a backdrop for some of his favorite political themes, championing steep increases in public works spending and detailing how bolstering green energy can spur U.S. manufacturing. This time, he’ll be in Philadelphia to...
