1 officer convicted, 1 acquitted in death of Elijah McClain
BRIGHTON, Colo. — Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer Thursday and acquitted another of charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide...
Pennsylvania counties tell governor, lawmakers it’s too late to move 2024’s primary election date
HARRISBURG — Counties in Pennsylvania have told Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers that it is too late to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date if counties are to successfully administer the election. In a letter, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania said there is no longer enough...
U.S., Qatar agree to prevent disbursal of recently unfrozen Iranian funds as Israel-Hamas war ragesVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Qatar have reached an agreement that the Qataris will not act on any request from Tehran for the time being to access $6 billion in Iranian funds that were unblocked as part of a prisoner swap last month, a U.S. official said Thursday. The move,...
Florida judge scolds prosecutors as she delays hearing for co-defendant in Trump classified documents case
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A judge on Thursday scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against Donald Trump as she postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for one of the former president’s co-defendants had a conflict of interest. U.S District Judge Aileen Cannon admonished prosecutors for “wasting...
Man arrested after 5 drug task force officers were shot and wounded in MinnesotaVideo
PRINCETON, Minn. — Five drug task force officers were shot and wounded Thursday while serving a search warrant near the Minnesota city of Princeton and a suspect was arrested, authorities said. Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck said at a news conference that the officers announced their arrival at the suspect’s...
Redistricting case has historic connection to South Carolina campaign
In the 19th Century, Black Civil War hero Robert Smalls of South Carolina lost reelection to the House after the state legislature redrew his district to dilute the voting power of Black citizens. Now, nearly 150 years later, his great-great-grandson, Michael B. Moore, is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge...
Wisconsin Republican leader won’t back down from impeachment threat against Supreme Court justice
MADISON, Wis. — The Republican leader of Wisconsin’s Assembly refused to back down Thursday from possibly impeaching a newly elected liberal state Supreme Court justice over her refusal to step aside in a redistricting case, even after two former conservative justices advised him against the unprecedented move. Assembly Speaker Robin...
PennWest interim president says new university has hit ‘enrollment floor,’ will rebound
PennWest University charges the same tuition and recruits heavily from the same region as fellow state-owned institutions Slippery Rock University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, yet PennWest’s enrollment plunged again while its two peers have grown. In an interview with the Tribune-Review, PennWest leaders, including interim President R. Lorraine “Laurie”...
A new indictment charges Sen. Menendez with being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have rewritten their indictment against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife to charge them with conspiring to have him act as an agent of Egypt and Egyptian officials. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, accuses Menendez of...
Social Security benefits will increase by 3.2% in 2024 as inflation moderates
WASHINGTON — Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year’s historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, means the average recipient will receive more than $50 more every month beginning in January, the...
Trump’s criticism of Israel’s Netanyahu draws strong condemnation from GOP rivals
MIAMI — Several of former President Donald Trump ‘s Republican rivals denounced him on Thursday for lashing out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days after Hamas’ deadly attack, a rare moment in which multiple competitors directly criticized the GOP front-runner. Trump at a rally Wednesday night said Netanyahu “let...
25 years after Matthew Shepard’s death, LGBTQ+ activists say equal-rights progress is at risk
It’s been 25 years since Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, died six days after he was savagely beaten by two young men and tied to a remote fence to meet his fate. His death has been memorialized as an egregious hate crime that helped fuel the...
Israel orders the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern part of Gaza, the U.N. says
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military on Friday directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 people — about half of the territory’s population — within 24 hours, a U.N. spokesman said. This could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed...
U.S. jobless claims remain at historically low 209,000, a sign of continuing labor market strength
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at historically low levels in another sign that the U.S. job market remains strong in the face of higher interest rates. Unemployment claims stayed at 209,000 for the week ending Oct. 7, the Labor Department...
Syria says Israeli airstrikes hit airports in Damascus and Aleppo, damaging their runways
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit the international airports of the Syrian capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, damaging their runways and putting them out of service. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that no one...
Nominated to be House speaker, Steve Scalise is left searching for GOP votes to win the gavel
WASHINGTON — Having won the nomination to be the next House speaker, Rep. Steve Scalise is heading straight into a familiar Republican problem — skeptical GOP colleagues are reluctant to give their support, denying him the majority vote needed to win the gavel. On Thursday, the House will open at...
$1.73 billion Powerball jackpot goes to lucky lottery player in California
ST. LOUIS — A player in California won a $1.73 billion Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, ending a long stretch without a winner of the top prize. The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive...
Westmoreland, Allegheny emergency units practice hazard response with Norfolk Southern’s ‘safety train’
More than 100 Westmoreland and Allegheny County first responders spread across the Norfolk Southern train yard in North Versailles for a safety training Wednesday night. Members of the counties’ emergency response and hazmat units, wearing neon vests and jackets, surrounded Norfolk Southern’s “safety train,” a nine-part train used to simulate...
Social media is awash in misinformation about Israel-Gaza war, but Elon Musk’s X is the most egregious
While Twitter has always struggled with combating misinformation about major news events, it was still the go-to place to find out what’s happening in the world. But the Israel-Hamas war has underscored how the platform now transformed into X has become not only unreliable but is actively promoting falsehoods. Experts...
Late schoolteacher with affinity for W&J College gives record $50 million gift
Anica Donnan Rawnsley taught school as a young adult, and while she never attended Washington & Jefferson College, she developed an affinity for the place early on through family members who enrolled there and graduated. Now, months after her passing, she has made gift of approximately $50 million to W&J...
Biden says the FTC’s proposed ban on junk fees will help families and ‘honest’ businesses
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a proposed rule by the Federal Trade Commission to ban any hidden and bogus junk fees, which can mask the total cost of concert tickets, hotel rooms and utility bills. Biden has made the removal of these fees a priority of his...
Scalise is the GOP’s pick to be the House speaker but he faces an uncertain path. What happens next?
WASHINGTON — Now that House Republicans have chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker, the race is on to secure the 217 votes he will need on the House floor to win the gavel and officially take the place of the ousted Kevin McCarthy. The GOP conference...
Ex-NFL player Sergio Brown arrested in Southern California in connection to mother’s slaying
Former NFL player Sergio Brown was arrested in Southern California in connection with the death of his mother, authorities said, as he tried to reenter the United States from Mexico just weeks after the 73-year-old woman was found slain behind her suburban Chicago home. Brown, 35, was detained Tuesday afternoon...
Huge rocket motors arrive at Los Angeles museum for space shuttle Endeavour displayVideo
LOS ANGELES — Two giant rocket motors required to display the retired NASA space shuttle Endeavour as if it’s about to blast off arrived Wednesday at a Los Angeles museum, completing their long journey from the Mojave Desert. The 116-foot-long (35.3-meter) motors, which look like giant white cylinders, were trucked...
Ukraine President Zelenskyy at NATO defense ministers meeting seeking more support to fight Russia
BRUSSELS — For the first time, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined a meeting of more than 50 defense leaders from around the world Wednesday to make a personal pitch for military aid, in the face of lagging political support in the U.S. and new pressure on allies to send weapons...
