Yale and a student group are settling a mental health discrimination lawsuit
Yale University and a student group announced Friday that they’ve reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit that accused the Ivy League school of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw. Under the agreement, Yale will modify its policies regarding medical leaves of absence, including...
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeals extension of pretrial detention in Russia
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a Moscow court’s decision to extend his pretrial detention in Russia until the end of November, according to documents on the court’s website. The American journalist was arrested in March during a work trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, almost 2,000 kilometers...
University of Pittsburgh is equipping many classrooms with ‘panic buttons’
The University of Pittsburgh says it is installing panic buttons in numerous classrooms ahead of Monday’s fall semester start, among other upgrades, after active shooter hoaxes in April drew heavily armed police to campus and terrified students. The changes follow a “major review of the procedures, policies and tools” for...
White man fatally shoots 3 Black people at Florida store, kills himself
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A masked white man fatally shot three Black people inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately African-American neighborhood on Saturday, in an attack where he used a gun painted with a swastika, officials said. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed...
Alabama wants to be the 1st state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe only nitrogen
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated...
Judge asks if poverty qualifies for Biden policy letting migrants from 4 countries into U.S.
HOUSTON — A federal judge on Friday questioned whether living in poverty would be enough to qualify someone for a key immigration policy from President Joe Biden that allows a limited number of people from four countries in the Americas to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. The program allows...
7 tornadoes confirmed as Michigan storms down trees and power lines; 5 people killed
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — At least seven tornadoes touched down in Michigan as part of severe storms powered by strong winds that killed five people, while downing trees, tearing roofs off buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power, officials said. The National Weather Service on Friday said...
Early Apple computer that helped launch $3T company sells at auction for $223,000
BOSTON — One of the first personal computers built by Apple and signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak has sold at auction for more than $223,000. The Apple-1 has been restored to a fully operational state and came with a custom case with a built-in keyboard, according to Boston-based RR...
Police doing welfare check find 5 family members fatally shot in Ohio home
LAKE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Police performing a welfare check at an Ohio home found five family members inside who had died from gunshot wounds, including three children. The bodies were found around 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Lake Township, according to Uniontown police. They were identified as Jason Dunham, 46, and...
New York man sentenced to 3 months in prison for threats to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A New York man will serve three months in prison for making threatening phone calls to Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Joseph Morelli, 51, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Syracuse after pleading guilty in February to threatening Greene in several calls to her...
Fire at a Texas prison forces inmates to evacuate, but no injuries are reported
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Fire broke out Friday morning at a state prison in Texas, forcing more than 650 inmates to evacuate but injuring no one, an official said. The inmates were moved to other areas of the prison in Huntsville, about 65 miles north of Houston, according to Amanda Hernandez,...
Spain busts record 9.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador
MADRID — Spanish customs agents and National Police said Friday they confiscated the country’s biggest cocaine haul to date of 9.5 tons hidden in a banana freight container originating from Ecuador. The drug was found Wednesday in the southwestern port of Algeciras in a refrigerated container among a cargo shipment...
Taiwan’s VP accuses China of attempting to influence upcoming elections
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections accused China on Friday of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting. William Lai, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Taipei, said China “will be hoping to interfere in the elections with...
Federal judge: West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice...
Penn State football’s academics rank at the bottom of Big Ten after worst score in a decade
This story first appeared in Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA’s State College regional bureau featuring the most important news and happenings in north-central Pennsylvania. STATE COLLEGE — Penn State’s football team’s academic rating plummeted to its lowest point in more than a decade, placing the...
Maui County sues utility, alleging negligence over fires that ravaged Lahaina
HONOLULU — Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric Company on Thursday over the fires that devastated Lahaina, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the...
3 dead, 6 wounded after a retired police officer opens fire at a Southern California biker barVideo
TRABUCO CANYON, Calif. — The cover band at the historic Southern California biker bar had just launched into their next song when the gunman walked in and opened fire. Some froze, others ran as the bullets flew inside busy Cook’s Corner, which was holding its weekly spaghetti night on Wednesday....
U.S. intelligence says an intentional explosion brought down Wagner chief Prigozhin’s plane
WASHINGTON — A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that the plane crash presumed to have killed Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was intentionally caused by an explosion as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday eulogized the man who staged the biggest challenge to his 23-year rule. One of the U.S....
Alex Murdaugh friend pleads guilty to helping steal from dead maid’s family
KINGSTREE, S.C. — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh ‘s old college buddy has pleaded guilty to a second set of charges for helping the disgraced South Carolina attorney steal millions of dollars of insurance settlements from the sons of Murdaugh’s dead housekeeper. Cory Fleming, a 54-year-old former attorney, wasn’t immediately sentenced...
Ukraine marks Independence Day, vows to keep fighting Russia as it remembers fallen
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Thursday marked its second Independence Day since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with officials vowing to keep up their fight to drive out the Kremlin’s forces and local people remembering their fallen loved ones. The national holiday coincided with the war’s 18-month milestone, giving a somber mood...
7-year-old girl suffers fatal fall from moving pickup in Pa.
An incident involving a moving pickup truck resulted in the death of a 7-year-old girl. It all happened around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Jolly and Harvard roads in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, where the young girl and four other children were playing outside when a man from...
In poll, Pa. voters say Trump committed ‘serious crime’ yet he’s still tied with Biden
A new poll shows President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump are neck-and-neck among Pennsylvania voters in a possible rematch even though a majority consider Trump’s actions to overturn the 2020 election a “serious crime.” The Franklin & Marshall College poll, conducted Aug. 9 to 20, has Biden leading...
Trump surrenders at Atlanta jail on election charges, then is quickly released on $200,000 bondVideo
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump surrendered Thursday on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, a brisk 20-minute booking that yielded a historic first: a mug shot of a U.S. ex-president. He was released on $200,000 bond and headed back to the airport for...
5 takeaways from the GOP debate: DeSantis’ not-so-big night, Trump’s absence
WASHINGTON — Eight Republican presidential candidates faced off Wednesday night in Milwaukee at the first primary debate, which was hosted by Fox News. Former President Donald Trump, the overwhelming front-runner, did not attend, opting instead to release a counter-programmed interview with Tucker Carlson. Here are some takeaways: Trump, the ‘elephant...
Authorities say at least 4 dead in shooting at California biker bar
TRABUCO CANYON, Calif. — Three people were killed in a shooting Wednesday at a Southern California biker bar and the shooter also died, Orange County Sheriff’s officials said. The shooting was reported at around 7 p.m. at Cook’s Corner in rural Trabuco Canyon in Orange County. Another six people were...
