Price of a Forever stamp is going up again
The price of First-Class postage is going up again. On Friday, the U.S. Postal Service said the price of a Forever stamp will increase by 2 cents on Jan. 21. The stamp will go from 66 cents to 68 cents. The price hike notice was filed with the Postal Regulatory...
Nearly 1,000 migrating songbirds perish after crashing into windows at Chicago exhibition hall
David Willard has been checking the grounds of Chicago’s Lakefront Exhibition Center for dead birds for 40 years. On Thursday morning he found something horrible: Hundreds of dead songbirds, so thick they looked like a carpet. Nearly 1,000 songbirds perished during the night after crashing into the McCormick Place Lakeside...
Auto workers stop expanding strikes against Detroit 3 after GM makes battery plant concession
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union said Friday it will not expand its strikes against Detroit’s three automakers after General Motors made a breakthrough concession on unionizing electric vehicle battery plants. Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that additional plants could be added to the...
Amazon launches test satellites for its planned internet service to compete with SpaceX
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Amazon launched the first test satellites for its planned internet service on Friday as a rival to SpaceX’s broadband network. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket blasted off with the pair of test satellites, kicking off a program that aims to improve global internet coverage with...
Georgia will be 1st state with medical marijuana in pharmacies
ATLANTA — Georgia soon will become the first state in the nation to offer medical marijuana products at independent pharmacies, state officials said. The Georgia Board of Pharmacy began accepting applications this week, and nearly 120 pharmacies have agreed to provide medication from Botanical Sciences, one of the state’s two...
Surge of hiring in September defies predictions, points to U.S. job market’s enduring resilience
WASHINGTON — An unforeseen burst of hiring last month has lifted hopes that the economy will prove durable once again, even as an array of threats lie ahead. Businesses across the U.S. economy ramped up their hiring in September, defying surging interest rates, financial market turmoil, the ongoing threat of...
Can a spotlight on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce help the NFL draw more Gen Z and female fans?
Eager as the National Football League has been to cater to the recent public fixation with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, it’s certainly not taking any credit for creating the outsized storyline that has emerged around the pop superstar and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. “Not orchestrated by the...
NY appeals court declines to halt Trump’s civil fraud trial while he contests a pretrial ruling
NEW YORK — A New York appeals judge declined Friday to halt Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, rebuffing the former president’s request to postpone it while he fights a pretrial ruling that could strip him of control of such assets as Trump Tower. The appellate judge agreed that control over...
Police find at least 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home under investigation
CAÑON CITY, Colo. — Police said Friday they have found at least 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home under investigation for improper handling of remains. Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said they are coordinating with other agencies to determine if there is any wrongdoing. The Return to Nature Funeral...
Police issue arrest warrant for 19-year-old acquaintance in death of Philadelphia journalist
PHILADELPHIA — Police said Friday that they have issued an arrest warrant for a 19-year-old acquaintance in the death of a Philadelphia journalist who went from sleeping on the street to working for the mayor to writing urgent columns on the city’s most pressing social issues. Josh Kruger, 39, was...
Police bodycam video shows arrest of suspect in 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur
LAS VEGAS — Newly released police body camera video shows officers arresting Duane “Keffe D” Davis on suspicion of murder in the 1996 shooting of Tupac Shakur off the Las Vegas Strip. Davis, 60, was walking near his home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on Sept. 29 when...
After apparent shark attack, stunned friends mourn ‘full of life’ kiteboarder
Friends and family identified the man missing in a possible shark attack off Point Reyes National Seashore as Felix Louis Syl N’jai, a native of Gambia who grew to call California home and became an avid kiteboarder. N’jai, 52, hasn’t been seen since friends saw him pulled underwater at Wildcat...
Who might replace McCarthy as House speaker? What are Republicans already demanding for their vote?
WASHINGTON — For Republicans, it’s a question with no clear answer: Who becomes House speaker after Kevin McCarthy? It’s not at all certain that any of the GOP candidates will be able to round up enough votes — 218, if all lawmakers are present and voting — to ascend to...
Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting women’s oppression
Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of her tireless campaigning for women’s rights and democracy and against the death penalty. Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars. “This prize is first...
Penn-Trafford approves purchase of new administration building, security cameras
Penn-Trafford school administrators will get new offices in Bushy Run Corporate Park after the board agreed this week to spend $1.7 million on a new building there. The current administration building is located on Harrison City-Export Road less than a mile away from the high school. The building — which...
Russian strike on cafe kills 51, Ukrainian officials say, as Zelenskyy seeks more Western supportVideo
HROZA, Ukraine — A Russian rocket blast turned a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine into rubble Thursday, killing at least 51 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in the war in months, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials in Kyiv. Rescuers searched for survivors...
Not having a House speaker is threatening these key areas
WASHINGTON — Work in Congress has ground to a halt as Republicans search for a new speaker, threatening Ukraine aid and delaying consequential business legislation. Among the items now stalled are a measure to extend federal banking protections to marijuana companies operating in states where the drug is legal and...
Gov. Shapiro offers first public remarks about the sexual harassment claims involving a former top aide
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday voiced his commitment to a “healthy, safe, professional work environment” for employees who work for his administration as he struggles to address a sexual harassment complaint involving a former top aide. Shapiro, in his first public remarks about the matter, declined to comment directly about...
Trump ‘temporarily’ drops lawsuit against former lawyer-turned-witness Michael Cohen
NEW YORK — Donald Trump has dropped his $500 million lawsuit against Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer who is now a key witness in a criminal case against him, Cohen and a Trump spokesperson said Thursday night. But the former president did not waive his right to sue...
Ex-treasurer for Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to conspiracy, tells of bogus loan and fake donorsVideo
NEW YORK — The ex-treasurer for U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Thursday to a fraud conspiracy charge and implicated the indicted New York Republican in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors. Nancy Marks, who was a close aide to Santos...
Sen. Bob Casey’s campaign touts strong start to 2024 fundraising
U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. is staring down the barrel of the toughest re-election he’s ever faced, and he’s trying to raise funds like he knows it. The Casey campaign on Thursday announced a top-line number of $3.2 million in contributions through the just-completed third quarter reporting period, which...
Pennsylvania chocolate factory fined for failing to evacuate before fatal natural gas explosion
WEST READING — A Pennsylvania chocolate factory was fined more than $44,000 by the federal workplace safety agency on Thursday for failing to evacuate before a natural gas explosion that killed seven people. R.M. Palmer Co. did not heed warnings from employees about a natural gas leak, according to the...
Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new U.S. House districts chosen by federal judges
MONTGOMERY — Federal judges on Thursday selected new congressional lines for Alabama to give the Deep South state a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The judges stepped in to pick a new congressional map after ruling that one drawn by Alabama illegally diluted...
Donald Trump may visit the Capitol to address Republicans as they pick a new speaker
WASHINGTON — Former President and GOP front-runner Donald Trump is in talks to visit Capitol Hill next week as Republicans debate who should be the next speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy’s stunning ouster, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The trip would be Trump’s first to...
Report of fatal New Jersey car crash fills in key gap in Menendez federal bribery investigation
BOGOTA, N.J. — The then-future wife of powerful U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, killed a man with her car in December 2018 and was sent from the scene without being charged, according to new details that match an auto “accident” that prosecutors cite in their sweeping federal indictment of...
