Penn State, Pitt, others get hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds, but tracking it is a challenge
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — Each year, Pennsylvania’s legislature sends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to...
Borrowers disappointed with Supreme Court ruling striking down student loan relief
Out of cellphone range and running low on hope, Annie Quinn kept refreshing her phone while traveling through rural Maryland on Friday, bracing for what nine U.S. Supreme Court justices would decide about her financial future. The news, as she feared, wasn’t good. When her phone signal returned, Quinn, 38,...
Recovering Titan with the Odysseus underwater robot was complex, dangerous, emotional
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When Edward Cassano and his colleagues arrived in the remote stretch of ocean where the Titan submersible had gone missing, they quickly learned that they would have to do what other deep-sea experts had already tried unsuccessfully: to find the lost sub in some of the most...
Here’s how to keep cool and stay safe during a heat wave
LAS VEGAS — Scorching heat across the U.S. already has caused more than a dozen deaths in Texas alone and led to mounting misery for millions of people from the Pacific Northwest to the South. And the official end of summer is still months away. Here’s a guide on how...
State Department failed to plan or respond fast enough in Afghanistan collapse, new U.S. report finds
WASHINGTON — The State Department failed to do enough planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, according to a Biden administration review of the department’s performance during the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies. The review repeatedly blames the administrations of both former President Donald Trump...
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to Jim Crow-era Mississippi bans blocking some felons from voting
JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will not stop Mississippi from removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies — a practice that originated in the Jim Crow era with the intent of stopping Black men from influencing elections. The court declined to reconsider...
‘Watermelon snow’ piques curiosities in Utah after abnormally wet winter
LOGAN, Utah — High up in the mountains, amid pinyon pine and quaking aspen trees, the remaining remnants of the winter’s snow is dotted with hues of pinks, purples and oranges. Hikers, campers and church youth groups journeying by grasp it in their palms and liken it to flavored snow...
Georgia launches Medicaid expansion in closely watched test of work requirements
ATLANTA — Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive...
Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light didn’t support her during backlash
Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney says she felt abandoned by Bud Light after facing “more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined” over her partnership with the beer giant. In a video posted Thursday to Instagram and TikTok, she said she “was waiting for the brand to reach out...
Supreme Court to decide if some judges have gone too far in striking down gun restrictions
WASHINGTON — A year after its sweeping gun rights ruling, the Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether judges are going too far in striking down restrictions on firearms. The justices will hear the Biden administration’s appeal of one such ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a federal law meant...
Cuban boy castaway Elián González becomes a lawmaker
HAVANA — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States. Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with...
Rep. George Santos appears in federal court on fraud, money laundering charges
NEW YORK — Prosecutors said Friday that they have turned over more than 80,000 pages of materials to U.S. Rep. George Santos’ lawyers in the federal fraud and money laundering case against him. The documents weren’t publicly released, as is common during this stage of a case. The barely five-minute...
Indiana Supreme Court upholds abortion ban, says state constitution gives only limited protections
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s abortion ban doesn’t violate the state constitution, removing a major hurdle to enforcing the ban Republicans approved last summer. The court’s decision overturns a county judge’s ruling that the ban likely violates the state constitution’s privacy protections, which she...
Student loan payments start again soon. Supreme Court’s ruling means higher bills for many
WASHINGTON — In a good month, Celina Chanthanouvong has about $200 left after rent, groceries and car insurance. That doesn’t factor in her student loans, which have been on hold since the start of the pandemic and are estimated to cost $300 a month. The pause in repayment has been...
5.8 magnitude earthquake shakes Indonesia’s main island, damaging several buildings
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — A strong earthquake shook parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Friday, damaging several buildings and prompting panic. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.8 quake was centered 84 kilometers (52 miles) southwest of Bambanglipuro, a village in...
French president urges parents to keep teens at home, faults social media as rioting spreads
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron urged parents Friday to keep teenagers at home and proposed restrictions on social media to quell rioting spreading across France over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver that has resulted so far in the arrests of 875 people. After a second crisis...
Supreme Court rejects plan to wipe out $400B in student loans; Biden vows ‘fight is not over’
WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to cancel or reduce student loans for millions of Americans. The 6-3 decision, with conservative justices in the majority, said the Biden administration overstepped its authority with the plan, and it leaves...
Supreme Court rules for designer who doesn’t want to make wedding websites for gay couples
WASHINGTON — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled on Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. One of the court’s liberal justices wrote in a dissent that the decision’s effect is to...
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy meets Greta Thunberg and others to address the war’s effect on ecology
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Thursday with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the 16-month-old Russian invasion. The meeting in the Ukrainian capital came as fighting continued around the country. The governor of...
Affirmative action is out in higher education so what’s next for college admissions?
Colleges across the country will be forced to stop considering race in admissions under Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling, ending affirmative action policies that date back decades. Schools that have relied on race-conscious admissions policies to build diversity will have to rethink how they admit students. It’s expected to result in...
Trump, DeSantis among 2024 GOP hopefuls set to appear at the Moms for Liberty gathering
PHILADELPHIA — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, are scheduled to speak Friday at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a two-year-old group that has fiercely opposed instruction related to race and gender identity in the nation’s classroom....
DeSantis signs controversial ‘radioactive roads’ bill lobbied by fertilizer giant Mosaic
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that will allow the Florida Department of Transportation to study the use of phosphogypsum, a mildly radioactive byproduct of the phosphate manufacturing process, in road construction. The measure — dubbed the “radioactive roads” bill by critics — was lobbied by Tampa-based...
Judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to toss out defamation claims by columnist
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s claims that absolute presidential immunity and free speech rights shield him from the defamation claims of a New York columnist were rejected Thursday by a federal judge. The writer, E. Jean Carroll, can continue to press claims that Trump owes her at least...
Changing their tune? Pennsylvania lawmakers consider replacing the state’s official song
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania may soon be changing its tune. A proposal to establish a new state song got a positive vote Thursday in the House of Representatives, although there was some discord. The resolution to establish an independent commission to review the history, solicit suggestions from the public and make...
Trump ‘standing order’ to declassify documents not found by DOJ, Intelligence agency
A “standing order” that former President Donald Trump has claimed authorized him to instantly declassify documents removed from the Oval Office could not be found by either the Justice Department or Office of Director of National Intelligence. The disclosure by the agencies was made in response to a Freedom of...
