U.S. military grounds entire fleet of Osprey aircraft following a deadly crash off the coast of Japan
WASHINGTON — The military announced late Wednesday it was grounding all of its Osprey V-22 helicopters, one week after eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members died in a crash off the coast of Japan. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps took the extraordinary step of grounding hundreds...
Trump campaign staffer wanted rioting to obstruct Detroit vote counting, prosecutors say
DETROIT — Federal prosecutors alleged in a court filing Tuesday that a campaign employee of former President Donald Trump “encouraged rioting” to obstruct the counting of votes in Detroit after the November 2020 election. The revelation drew a direct connection between the frenzy that took place at Detroit’s riverfront convention...
Late Homer City astronaut and IUP graduate receives space mission name
Dr. Patricia Hilliard Robertson, a 1985 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, devoted her life not only to medicine but to the advancement of human spaceflight. She never made it into space herself, dying months shy of a mission. On Wednesday, the space industry became the latest to honor the...
Nevada grand jury indicts 6 fake Donald Trump electors
RENO, Nev. — A Nevada grand jury on Wednesday indicted six Republicans who submitted certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 presidential election in their state, making Nevada the third to seek charges against so-called “fake electors.” “We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go...
Las Vegas shooting suspect was a professor who recently applied for a job at UNLV
LAS VEGAS — The man suspected of fatally shooting three people and wounding another at a Las Vegas university Wednesday was a professor who unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed in...
How to watch the fourth Republican presidential debate and what to look for
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The number of candidates on stage is shrinking, but the fundamentals of Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate may be familiar to anyone who has watched the previous three meetings. No one has yet emerged as the clear Republican alternative to former President Donald Trump, whose lead is so...
Trump tells supporters, ‘Guard the vote.’ Here’s the phrase’s backstory and why it’s raising concern
Former President Donald Trump is urging supporters to “guard the vote” during next year’s election, a phrase that has set off alarm bells among pro-democracy advocates who say it signals permission to take extreme measures that could intimidate voters and threaten election workers. The phrase is a relatively novel one...
‘At the right place, at the right time’: Go Laurel Highlands recognizes 9 photo contest winners
For Connie Weyant, the photograph that placed her in the top nine of Go Laurel Highlands’ annual photo contest took years of patient waiting. Weyant, of Somerset, has been observing Somerset Lake for about eight years in search of a bald eagle. She’s received countless calls from friends, pointing her...
Ohio Republicans propose nixing home grow, increasing taxes in sweeping changes to legal marijuana
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Banning marijuana growing at home, increasing the substance’s tax rate and altering how those taxes get distributed are among vast changes Ohio Senate Republicans proposed Monday to a marijuana legalization measure approved by voters last month. The changes emerged suddenly in committee just days before the new...
Russia’s Putin is visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia, seeking to bolster Moscow’s Mideast clout
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in a lightning tour intended to raise Moscow’s profile as a Middle East power broker, even as his war in Ukraine grinds on. Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of...
FDA is inspecting plant in Ecuador that made lead-tainted fruit pouches
U.S. health officials have launched an inspection of a plant in Ecuador that made the cinnamon applesauce pouches linked to dozens of cases of acute lead poisoning in U.S. children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that contaminated cinnamon is the likely source of the lead. An FDA...
Fake Donald Trump electors settle civil lawsuit in Wisconsin, agree that President Biden won
MADISON, Wis. — Ten Republicans who posed as fake electors for former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and filed paperwork falsely saying he had won the battleground state have settled a civil lawsuit and admitted their actions were part of an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory, attorneys who...
GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California is resigning 2 months after his ouster as House speaker
LOS ANGELES — Two months after his historic ouster as House speaker, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California announced on Wednesday that he is resigning from his congressional seat and will leave by the end of the year. His announcement marked the stunning coming end of the House career of...
A pregnant Texas woman is asking a court to let her have an abortion under exceptions to state’s ban
AUSTIN, Texas — A pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis asked a court Tuesday to let her have an abortion, bringing what her attorneys say is the first lawsuit of its kind in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. Texas is one of...
Washington’s center of gravity on immigration has shifted to the right
WASHINGTON — It was a decade ago that Capitol Hill was consumed by an urgency to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, fueled in no small part by Republicans who felt a political imperative to make inroads with minority voters by embracing more generous policies. But nothing ever became law and...
Court filing gives rare look inside FBI seizure of Pa. Rep. Scott Perry’s phone in 2020 election probe
HARRISBURG — Just how hard did some Republican members of Congress work to keep Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss? A court case is providing a few tantalizing clues. Snippets and short summaries of texts and emails sent by Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, a top Trump...
Trump declines to rule out abusing power to seek retribution if he returns to the White House
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump declined to rule out abusing power if he returns to the White House after Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity asked him Tuesday to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric. The GOP presidential front-runner has talked about targeting his rivals —...
Heavy fighting in Gaza halts most aid delivery and leaves civilians with few places to seek safety
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday in intense fighting that has prevented the distribution of vital aid in much of the territory and brought some of the devastation and mass displacement seen in the north to the south. As the focus of...
Sheriff: Gunman’s parents among 6 dead in Texas attacks; he was earlier arrested for family assault
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas man suspected of killing his parents in San Antonio and four others in Austin in a violent trail of separate attacks had cut off his ankle monitor from a previous misdemeanor domestic violence arrest, authorities said Wednesday. The suspect, Shane James, 34, also had been...
A 2nd Trump administration will ‘come after’ people in the media in the courts, ally says
NEW YORK — A Donald Trump ally who worked in his Justice Department said Tuesday that if the former president is elected again, his administration will retaliate against people in the media “criminally or civilly.” Kash Patel, who was also chief of staff in the Defense Department and held a...
Biden says he might not have sought reelection if Trump weren’t running
President Joe Biden said he might not be running for a second term if former President Donald Trump were not seeking to return to the White House, arguing Trump poses a grave threat to American democracy. “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden, 81, told donors...
Atmospheric river soaks Pacific Northwest with record-breaking rain, unusually warm temperaturesVideo
PORTLAND, Ore. — An atmospheric river has brought heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, closing rail links, schools and roads as it shattered daily rainfall and temperature records in Washington state. Amtrak said Tuesday that no passenger trains will be running between Seattle and Portland,...
Trump’s defense at civil fraud trial zooms in on Mar-a-Lago, with broker calling it ‘breathtaking’
Former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial turned Tuesday to one of the topics that has vexed him most — the value of his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. Testifying for Trump’s defense, a Florida real estate attorney said the property could be sold as a home, notwithstanding...
Vote to name PennWest interim president to lead West Chester University could happen this month
PennWest University interim President Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky is one vote away from being named the next president of West Chester University in suburban Philadelphia, effective in July. The State System of Higher Education board of governors is expected to call a special meeting this month to select the 16th president...
With George Santos out of Congress, special election to fill his seat set for February
ALBANY, N.Y. — A special election to pick a successor to George Santos, the New York Republican who was expelled from the U.S. House last week, will be held on Feb. 13, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday. The race for a seat representing some Long Island suburbs and a small...
