Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions
ATLANTA — Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law...
Pa. House OKs bill to expand property tax, rent subsidy for seniors, disabled
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill to increase the state’s property tax and rent subsidy for seniors and people with disabilities, plus raise the income eligibility cap to expand the program. The bill passed 194-9 and goes on to the state Senate. This...
Sheriff: Neighbor angry over playing children fatally shoots Florida motherVideo
OCALA, Fla. — A Florida mother was fatally shot through a door outside a neighbor’s home after what officials characterized on Monday as a 2 1/2-year feud over playing children. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference Monday that deputies responding to a trespassing call at an...
Lawyer: Rep. George Santos would go to jail to keep identities of bond cosigners secret
NEW YORK — Rep. George Santos’ lawyer said Monday the indicted New York Republican would risk going to jail to protect the identities of the people who cosigned the $500,000 bond enabling his pretrial release. The lawyer, Joseph Murray, urged a judge to deny a request by news outlets to...
USW petitions state labor board to unionize Pitt staffers
Monday’s petition by the United Steelworkers for a state-supervised election to unionize thousands of University of Pittsburgh staff is rooted in years of preparation, said Jesse Dubin, a program evaluator in Pitt’s school of pharmacy. Though the path to a vote could be complex and prolonged staff will benefit from...
Trump lawyers meet with Justice Department officials as charging decision nears in Mar-a-Lago caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump met with Justice Department officials on Monday as a decision nears on whether to bring criminal charges over the handling of classified documents at the former president’s Florida estate. The Trump lawyers two weeks ago requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland to...
California officials: Florida picked up asylum-seekers on Texas border and flew them to Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The state of Florida picked up asylum-seekers on the Texas border Monday and took them by private jet to California’s capital city at taxpayer expense for the second time in four days, California officials said, prompting allegations that migrants were misled and catching shelters and aid workers...
New Hampshire Gov. Sununu rules out 2024 presidential bid, warns that crowded GOP field helps TrumpVideo
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday that he will not seek the presidency in 2024, arguing that Republican candidates with “no path to victory must have the courage to get out” of their party’s increasingly crowded primary to stop former President Donald Trump. The 48-year-old governor, who has emerged...
Partisan stalemate keeps child sexual assault lawsuit window from advancing in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Child sexual abuse survivors pressed Pennsylvania lawmakers Monday to move ahead with opening a two-year window for them to file otherwise outdated lawsuits over their claims, but a partisan fight in the Legislature kept the proposal bottled up with no resolution in sight. Amid the stalemate, survivors renewed...
Oklahoma school board approves what would be the 1st taxpayer-funded religious school in U.S.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application...
Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who was convicted of spying for Russia, dies in prison
WASHINGTON — A former FBI agent who took more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to trade secrets with Russia and the former Soviet Union in one of the most notorious spying cases in American history died in prison Monday. Robert Hanssen, 79, was found unresponsive in his cell...
Pitt, Slovakian government officials look to expand academic collaboration
Not every college classroom rates a visit from a European country’s ambassador and his entourage. Then again, not many settings for teaching Slovak culture and language quite compare to the University of Pittsburgh’s Czechoslovak Room, one of 31 renowned Nationality Rooms on a campus that is home to the only...
Trump lawyers meet with Justice Dept. officials as charging decision nears
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump met with Justice Department officials on Monday as a decision nears on whether to bring charges over the handling of classified documents at the former president’s Florida estate. The Trump lawyers two weeks ago requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland to raise...
Norfolk Southern is 1st railroad to give all workers sick time but all see progress in labor talks
OMAHA, Neb. — Norfolk Southern became the first major freight railroad with deals to provide paid sick time to all of its workers Monday, but the other railroads are making progress with nearly 60% of all rail workers securing this basic benefit since the start of the year. All of...
Former Vice President Pence files paperwork launching 2024 presidential bid in challenge to Trump
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday declaring his campaign for president in 2024, setting up a challenge to his former boss, Donald Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Pence fleeing...
‘Bro, I can’t move,’ critically wounded officer told medics after being shot in Pittsburgh synagogue
Critically wounded Pittsburgh SWAT Officer Timothy Matson had just been carried down the stairs by two of his colleagues when SWAT Medic Justin Sypolt began to evaluate him. They put the largest member of the SWAT team — previously described as 6-foot-5, 315 pounds — in the Tree of Life...
Memorial for Las Vegas mass shooting takes shape as 5 potential designs revealed
LAS VEGAS — A series of white angel wings rise up from the earth bathed in a warm glow of light, their sweeping forms creating a long covered pathway surrounded by trees in a possible centerpiece for the memorial to modern America’s deadliest mass shooting. It’s one of five potential...
Russia says Ukraine is launching major attacks; Kyiv accuses Moscow of misinformation
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces were making a major effort to punch through Russian defensive lines in southeast Ukraine for a second day, a Moscow-installed official said Monday, as Russia’s Defense Ministry declared that it had foiled an assault in an illegally annexed region of the invaded country. Kyiv authorities...
Duquesne grad student studies intersection of ‘craft, church and a life of faith’ in Appalachia
When Gwendolen Jackson was growing up in Bridgeport, Ohio, across the river from Wheeling, W.Va., along the northwestern edge of Appalachia, it seemed like everyone she knew did some sort of crafting. She also grew up in a churchgoing family, and that seemed to go hand in hand with crafting....
No survivors found after plane that flew over Washington crashes in VirginiaVideo
WASHINGTON — A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region. Hours later, police...
Is it real or made by AI? Europe wants a label for that as it fights disinformation
LONDON — The European Union is pushing online platforms like Google and Meta to step up the fight against false information by adding labels to text, photos and other content generated by artificial intelligence, a top official said Monday. EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said the ability of a...
Biden set for critical talks on Ukraine this week with Denmark, UK
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is welcoming Denmark and Britain’s prime ministers this week to Washington for talks that will focus heavily on what lays ahead in the war in Ukraine —including the recently-launched effort to train, and eventually equip, Ukraine with American-made F-16s fighter jets Britain and Denmark are...
U.S. defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China
NEW DELHI — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday discussed upgrading partnership with India, a major arms buyer, and set a roadmap for cooperation for the next five years as both countries grapple with China’s economic rise and increased belligerence, officials said. Austin’s visit comes as India strengthens its...
67-year-old killed, toddler injured in Washington County crash
A 67-year-old man was killed and a 1-year-old child was hospitalized Sunday night as a result of a crash on Interstate 70 in Washington County. The Pennsylvania State Police reported the incident happened around 10:50 p.m. along the eastbound lanes of I-70 in Washington. According to a state police report,...
Pa. budget 2023: Your guide to what’s on the table, what comes next and how to follow along
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. HARRISBURG — June is budget negotiation month in Pennsylvania, when state lawmakers decide how to direct billions of tax dollars and...
