Knights of Columbus groups serve local communities despite controversial namesake
The legacy of 15th-century Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus has sparked controversy in recent years, but there remain about 100 Knights of Columbus councils in Western Pennsylvania. “When you join the Knights of Columbus, you swear to do charitable works,” said Albert Borgony, grand knight for a Westmoreland council....
U.S. will send a carrier strike group to Eastern Mediterranean in support of Israel
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday he has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel after the attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,000 dead on both sides. Americans were reported to be among those...
Clergy burnout is a growing concern in polarized churches. A summit offers coping strategies
STILLWATER, Minn. — Every morning, the Rev. Karna Moskalik goes through a “grounding” routine that involves prayer, Bible reading, positive affirmations, and meditations about the best outcomes for the day’s tasks, as well as lighting a perfumed candle and walking through each space of her Lutheran church. “I always feel...
Toddlers with developmental delays are missing out on help they need. It can hurt them long term
CHICAGO — Alexander watches Paw Patrol with fervor, bowls his baby brother over with hugs and does everything with gusto. What the 3-year-old West Chicago toddler can’t do yet is speak more than a few words. His balance is wobbly and he isn’t able to let his preschool teachers know...
Powerball jackpot up to $1.55 billion as lottery losing streak continues
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion after no one matched the game’s six numbers Saturday and won the giant prize. The numbers drawn Saturday night were: 47, 54, 57, 60, 65 and red Powerball 19. The $1.55 billion prize is for a sole...
Israel declares war and bombards Gaza as fighting rages for 2nd day after Hamas attack
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli government formally declared war Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for its surprise attack, as the military tried to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The toll passed...
Powerful earthquake, aftershocks kill dozens in western Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — A powerful magnitude-6.3 earthquake followed by strong aftershocks killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, the country’s national disaster authority said. The United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead but later said the figure was still being verified. Local authorities gave an estimate of...
Trump asks Iowans to help him ‘win big’ in caucuses to set general election tone
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Donald Trump on Saturday called for a show of strength in Iowa, arguing before big audiences that dominating in the Republican presidential caucuses in January would signal to voters across the country his strength in the November election next year. “We have to win big,” Trump...
Republican field blaming Biden for dealing with Iran after Hamas’ attack on Israel
WATERLOO, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump and other GOP contenders tried to lay blame on the Biden administration after Hamas militants launched the deadliest attack on Israel in decades, citing a $6 billion transfer to Iran that administration officials insisted Saturday had yet to be spent. Hamas’ surprise early...
Massive fentanyl pill mill busted in Bronx, 50 pounds of drugs seized
NEW YORK — The blacked-out windows of a Bronx apartment weren’t enough to hide the lethal fentanyl mill operating inside. Four accused drug dealers were busted and charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and narcotics distribution after one of the largest fentanyl seizures in New York history, with more than...
Witnesses to FBI hunt for Civil War gold in Elk County dispute its story
PENFIELD — In the heart of Pennsylvania elk country, Eric McCarthy and his client, Don Reichel, woke before sunrise to scour the forest for so-called “brown gold,” a rack of freshly shed antlers to add to Reichel’s collection. One hill over, a team of FBI agents also was hunting for...
Immigration among Biden’s biggest problems in bid for reelection
MIAMI — The ad sounds like something out of the GOP 2024 playbook, trumpeting a senator’s work with Republicans to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S., getting tough on Chinese interests helping smugglers, and noting how he “wrote a bill signed by...
House speaker race pits Trump-backed Jordan against Scalise
WASHINGTON — The bitter battle between Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for the U.S. House speakership culminates a long-simmering personal rivalry that grew along with the fractures in the Republican party. Their tensions will be on display next week as Republicans hold a divisive fight for the...
5 things to know about Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel
JERUSALEM — Without warning Saturday, Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers attacked Israel by air, land and sea. Millions of Israelis in the country’s south awoke to the searing sound of incoming rockets and the inevitable thud of impact. Air raid sirens wailed as far north as Tel Aviv. Israel’s anti-rocket interceptors...
Hurricane center ups odds for next tropical system in Atlantic
ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center has increased odds a tropical wave in the Atlantic could become the busy season’s next tropical depression or storm. The system that emerged off the lower latitudes of the west of coast of Africa has been producing a large area of disorganized showers...
Biden condemns ‘appalling assault’ by Hamas as Israel’s allies express anger and shock
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday decried the “appalling assault” by Hamas militants and his administration pledged to ensure Israel has “what it needs to defend itself” after the surprise attack that drew worldwide condemnation and anger from Israel’s allies. Biden made clear in a call with Israeli Prime...
Deaths rise to 47 after an icy flood swept through India’s Himalayan northeast
GANGTOK, India — Rescuers found more bodies overnight as they dug through slushy debris and ice-cold water in a hunt for survivors after a glacial lake burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan northeast, washing away houses and bridges and forcing thousands to flee. Officials said the hundreds of rescuers...
Pair of earthquakes kill at least 15 in western Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes have killed at least 15 and injured nearly 40 others in Herat province in Afghanistan, according to Mohammad Abdullah Jan, spokesman for the country’s national disaster authority. At least five powerful earthquakes struck the city around noon, Herat city resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said....
Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead in fighting, retaliation
JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday, killing dozens and stunning the country. Israel said it is now at war with Hamas and launched...
Biden administration backs strong rules to close digital divide
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt strong rules to redress historic shortfalls that have left some communities lacking adequate broadband service. The position sets up a possible clash with large broadband providers that have warned the FCC, which is set to produce rules by...
Man accused of killing 10 at Colorado supermarket ruled competent to stand trial
BOULDER, Colo. — A judge ruled Friday the man accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in a 2021 rampage is mentally competent to stand trial. The decision allows the prosecution of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa to move forward. Judge Ingrid Bakke ruled Alissa, who has schizophrenia, is...
Some see presidential aspirations in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s school voucher support
HARRISBURG — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally. That suddenly changed over the summer. Pennsylvania...
Voter rolls are new battleground, including in Pa., as intimidation fears grow
SANTA FE, N.M. — A group has been impersonating government officials, harassing New York residents at their homes and falsely accusing them of breaking the law, state officials have warned. But what sounds like a scam aimed at people’s pocketbooks is actually part of a shakedown with a much different...
Rudy Giuliani slapped with $500K lien on Palm Beach condo for unpaid taxes
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani has been hit with a nearly $550,000 lien on his Palm Beach condo for unpaid taxes. Court records show the IRS attached a $549,435.26 lien to the penthouse apartment for failure to pay 2021 taxes, the Daily Mail first reported Friday. The lien means Giuliani...
4 members of Fla. family sentenced for selling dangerous fake covid-19 cure
MIAMI — A Florida man and his three adult sons were sentenced Friday for selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake covid-19 cure through their online church. A federal judge in Miami sentenced Jonathan Grenon, 37, and Jordan Grenon, 29, to 12 years and seven months in prison, while...
