U.S. study finds 1 in 10 get long covid after omicron, starts identifying key symptoms
WASHINGTON — About 10% of people appear to suffer long covid after an omicron infection, a lower estimate than earlier in the pandemic, according to a study of nearly 10,000 Americans that aims to help unravel the mysterious condition. Early findings from the National Institutes of Health’s study highlight a...
Covid-19 pill Paxlovid gets full FDA approval
WASHINGTON — Pfizer received full approval on Thursday for its covid-19 pill Paxlovid that’s been the go-to treatment against the coronavirus. More than 11 million prescriptions for Paxlovid have been dispensed since the Food and Drug Administration allowed emergency use in late 2021. The emergency status was based on early...
Pa. State troopers more likely to do optional searches for Black, Hispanic drivers than white ones
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Black and Hispanic drivers were slightly more likely to face discretionary searches during traffic stops in Pennsylvania last year, according to...
Target on the defensive after removing LGBTQ+-themed products
NEW YORK — Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. Now that status is tarnished after it removed some LGBTQ+-themed products and relocated Pride Month displays to the back of stores in certain Southern locations in response to online complaints and in-store confrontations that it...
Baby boomers push nation’s median age to almost 39 as fewer children are born
The United States grew older, faster, last decade. The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures from the most recent...
Federal rule could remove chocolate milk option in some Pa. schools
Young students could soon be without chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milks as an option at school cafeterias, if a federal proposal is approved, and some Pennsylvania officials are cautioning against the potential change. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently proposed banning flavored milk as a cafeteria option for elementary and middle...
Man shot roommate after accusing him of eating the last Hot Pocket, police say
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say. Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested on assault charges Sunday after he accused his roommate of eating their last Hot Pocket and attacked him,...
DeSantis launches GOP presidential campaign in Twitter announcement plagued by glitchesVideo
MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday with a Twitter announcement plagued by technical glitches, stepping into a crowded Republican primary contest that will test his strength against former President Donald Trump and criticism that he’s not ready for the national stage. The 44-year-old...
Capitol rioter who propped feet on Pelosi’s desk in photo sentenced to over 4 yearsVideo
WASHINGTON — An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in a widely circulated photo from the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison. Richard “Bigo” Barnett became one of the faces of the Jan. 6...
Pennsylvania high court appears split over plan to force power plants to pay for carbon emissions
HARRISBURG — Justices on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court indicated Wednesday that they are likely to have split opinions on whether a governor has the right to force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, or whether he first needs approval from a Legislature that refuses to go...
Fuzzy falcon chicks who nest at Michigan State football stadium get tracking bands
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Newly fitted with tracking bands, four peregrine falcon chicks named Pickles, Muhammad, Egbert and Swooper have a nest in one of the best seats — make that perches — at Michigan State University’s football stadium. Scientists and college students on Wednesday carefully attached metal tracking bands...
1 year after Uvalde shooting, investigation of police response continues
AUSTIN, Texas — A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing as Wednesday marks one year since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde. The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over...
Amanda Gorman’s poem for Biden’s inauguration banned by Florida school
MIAMI — A poem written for President Joe Biden’s inauguration has been placed on a restricted list at a South Florida elementary school after one parent’s complaint. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, poet Amanda Gorman vowed to fight back. Her poem, “The Hill We Climb” was challenged by the...
Rapper Fetty Wap sentenced to 6 years in prison for drug-trafficking scheme
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — As friends and family looked on, rapper Fetty Wap on Wednesday apologized for his actions and said he was “exactly where I’m supposed to be,” before a judge sentenced him to six years in federal prison for his role in a New York-based drug-trafficking scheme. The...
Yellowstone baby bison put to death after visitor picks it up, leading herd to reject it
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park officials killed a newborn bison because its herd wouldn’t take the animal back after a man picked it up. The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday. The unidentified man pushed...
Debt ceiling explained: Why it’s a struggle in Washington and how the impasse could end
WASHINGTON — Pushing to strike a debt ceiling deal, the Republican negotiating team headed Wednesday to the White House for more discussions with the sides still far apart. Time is short: There are just days left before the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. The White...
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton likely broke laws, Republican investigation findsVideo
AUSTIN — A Republican-led investigation on Wednesday accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of committing multiple crimes in office — including felonies — during an extraordinary public airing of scandal and alleged lawbreaking that plunged one of the GOP’s conservative stars into new political and legal risk. For more than...
Haley commits to federal abortion ban but says it’s unlikely without more Republicans in Congress
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday pledged to sign a federal ban on abortion but noted that passing one would be highly unlikely without more Republicans in Congress. Although Haley didn’t say how many weeks a federal ban should encompass, her commitment to signing one is...
1st seditious conspiracy sentences in Jan. 6 attack to be handed down
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and members of his antigovernment group will be the first Jan. 6 defendants sentenced for seditious conspiracy in a series of hearings beginning this week that will set the standard for more punishments of far-right extremists to follow. Prosecutors will urge the judge...
Game Commission: 2 children attacked by bear in Northeastern Pennsylvania
A bear attacked two children on Monday in Luzerne County, causing non-life threatening injuries and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is now investigating the incident. The attack occurred while the children were playing in the driveway of their home in Wright Township in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The game commission said there are...
Montana 1st to ban those in drag from reading to children in schools, libraries
HELENA, Mont. — Montana has become the first state to specifically ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries, part of a host of legislation aimed at the rights the LGBTQ+ community in Montana and other states. Bills in Florida and Tennessee also...
Abortion debates happening this week in U.S. courts and statehouses
Lawmakers in South Carolina passed an abortion ban while a judge in Montana was weighing restrictions there in the latest developments in the shifting landscape of law since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion. Here’s what to know. Back to...
U.S. gay rights group issues Florida travel advisory for anti-LGBTQ+ laws
ORLANDO, Fla. — The largest LGBTQ+ rights organization in the U.S. joined other civil rights organizations Tuesday in issuing a travel advisory for Florida, warning that newly passed laws and policies may pose risks to minorities, immigrants and gay travelers. The Human Rights Campaign joined the NAACP, the League of...
Do not call: States sue telecom company over billions of robocalls
PHOENIX — Attorneys general across the U.S. joined in a lawsuit against a telecommunications company accused of making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the national Do Not Call Registry. The 141-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael...
Germany cracks down on climate activists after Scholz calls protest group ‘nutty’
BERLIN — German police raided 15 properties linked to the Last Generation climate activist group Wednesday, seizing assets as part of an investigation into its finances in a sign of growing impatience with disruptive protest tactics also seen in other European countries. Members of the group have repeatedly blocked roads...
