Tennessee GOP members move to oust 3 Democrats after gun protest
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Republican lawmakers took the first steps Monday to expel three Democratic members from the GOP-dominant House for their role in a recent gun control protest at the state Capitol. Resolutions have been filed against Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they led chants from...
4 found dead in hotel area of Mexico’s Cancun beach resort
MEXICO CITY — Authorities in the Mexican resort of Cancun said Monday they have found four dead bodies in the city’s hotel zone near the beach. There was no immediate information on the nationalities or identities of the victims. The announcement of the deaths came less that a week after...
More severe weather forecast for battered South, MidwestVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — While residents across parts of the South and Midwest pummeled by deadly storms and wildfires sifted through the wreckage of their homes Monday, forecasters warned of more severe weather and fire danger in the days ahead across much of the same region. The fierce storms that spawned...
Spending in Wisconsin Supreme Court race tops $42 millionVideo
MADISON, Wis. — Spending on the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race has topped $42 million, nearly triple the previous national record for a court race, with the Democratic-backed candidate having a roughly $6 million advantage, according to a report released on Monday just before polls opened. The winner in...
Nashville police: School shooter planned attack for monthsVideo
NASHVILLE — As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol as a result of a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months. Police have...
Nashville police: School shooter planned attack for months
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol following a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months. Police have not established...
Pa. faces staffing shortage as health coverage for thousands on the line
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 — The offices in Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services that help people keep their Medicaid benefits are facing staffing challenges...
Unlike in Trump case, Secret Service kept this one secret
WASHINGTON — The last time Secret Service agents escorted a U.S. leader to face criminal charges, they kept their mission a secret — even from their own bosses. It was Oct. 10, 1973, and just a few agents knew the history they would make in ensuring that Vice President Spiro...
Disney-DeSantis war of words heats up at annual meeting
ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney CEO Bob Iger on Monday said any retaliatory actions by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort is not only “anti-business but anti-Florida.” Answering a question during an online shareholders’ meeting, Iger...
DeSantis signs bill to carry concealed guns without a permit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Floridians will be able to carry concealed guns without a permit under a bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Monday, giving the governor another legislative victory as he prepares a campaign for president. The governor signed the bill in a private ceremony in his office. His only...
Lawyers screen potential jurors in Idaho slain kids’ trial
BOISE, Idaho — As the trial of a woman charged in three killings in what prosecutors say was a doomsday-focused plot began Monday, attorneys asked potential jurors if they would have trouble being impartial after viewing autopsy photos of children. “This is a case that deals with murder. This is...
NASA’s 1st moon crew in 50 years includes 1 woman, 3 menVideo
NASA on Monday named the four astronauts who will fly around the moon late next year, including the first woman and the first African American assigned to a lunar mission. The first moon crew in 50 years — three Americans and one Canadian — was introduced during a ceremony in...
Jailed U.S. reporter’s defense appeals his arrest
MOSCOW — Lawyers for an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal arrested in Russia on espionage charges have appealed his arrest, a court in Moscow announced Monday. Evan Gershkovich, 31, was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city. It was the first time a U.S. correspondent had been...
Nation awaits unveiling of criminal charges against Trump at historic arraignmentVideo
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s return to New York City continued this week with the news media in a frenzy, demonstrators poised to protest and a new chapter in history being written before the nation’s eyes. Trump, 76, is expected to appear before State Supreme Court Judge Juan...
Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old student files $40 million lawsuit
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia teacher who was shot and seriously wounded by her 6-year-old student filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $40 million in damages from school officials, accusing them of gross negligence and of ignoring multiple warnings the day of the shooting that the boy was armed and in...
Hard cleanup: Montana train derailment spills beer and clay
PARADISE, Mont. — Crews could face a difficult cleanup task after a 25-car train derailment spilled powdered clay and cases of beer beside a scenic western Montana river, leaving some cars off the tracks in a narrow, century-old tunnel with limited access, officials said. “It’s a terrible spot to get...
Members of Congress on TikTok defend app’s reach to voters
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina has used it to explain the complex fight over raising the debt limit. Rep. Robert Garcia of California has used it to engage with members of the LGBTQ+ community. And Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has used it to give an overview...
Finland to join NATO military alliance this week, chief says
BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Finland will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels. Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its...
Zelenskyy to visit Warsaw to meet with Poles, Ukrainians
WARSAW, Poland — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will pay a visit to Warsaw this week that will include talks with political leaders and a meeting with regular Ukrainians and Poles, Polish officials announced on Monday. Zelenskyy will be accompanied by his wife, Olena Zelenska, for the visit, scheduled for Wednesday....
Ex-principal of Jewish school found guilty of sexual abuse
MELBOURNE, Australia — The former principal of a Jewish girls school in Australia was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing two students, ending a nine-year legal battle that strained relations between the Australian and Israeli governments while antagonizing Australia’s Jewish community. Malka Leifer, 56, a Tel Aviv-born mother of eight,...
Pitt on verge of naming new chancellor; vote expected at Monday trustees meeting
University of Pittsburgh trustees have called a special meeting for Monday and are expected to vote on a resolution to name a successor to Chancellor Patrick Gallagher. The 11 a.m. main campus meeting inside Alumni Hall’s Connolly ballroom is to be livestreamed and will include “Remarks of the Chancellor Elect,”...
Trump to deliver remarks Tuesday night after his arraignment
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks Tuesday night in Florida after his scheduled arraignment in New York on charges related to hush money payments, his campaign announced Sunday. Trump will hold the event at his Mar-a-Lago club after returning from Manhattan, where he is expected to...
Explosion in Russian cafe kills prominent military bloggerVideo
An explosion tore through a cafe in Russia’s second-largest city Sunday, killing a well-known military blogger and strident supporter of the war in Ukraine. Some reports said a bomb was embedded in a bust of the blogger that was given to him as a gift. Russian officials said Vladlen Tatarsky...
Blinken: Russia must immediately free 2 detained Americans
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, the State Department said Sunday. In...
Trump indictment ends decades of perceived invincibility
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump steps before a judge this coming week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges. It will also be a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,”...