An emerging threat: Drug mix of xylazine, fentanyl
The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine. The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation Wednesday, the first time the office has used it...
Democrats, GOP convention picks show Midwest’s political influence
CHICAGO — Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 by breaking up the famed electoral “blue wall,” snatching the Midwestern battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Pennsylvania, from Democrats. He lost the White House four years later when those same states flipped to Joe Biden. Both parties...
Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes loses bid to stay out of prisonVideo
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been rebuffed in her attempt to stay out of federal prison while she appeals her conviction for the fraud she committed while overseeing a blood-testing scam that exposed Silicon Valley’s dark side. In an 11-page ruling issued late Monday, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila...
Video shows Louisville police under fire from bank shooterVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police body camera video released Tuesday shows Louisville officers being fired upon as they arrive at the bank where five people were killed and the harrowing minutes while officers confront the shooter and work to rescue a wounded colleague. Two patrol officers who responded to the shooting...
Dominion allowed to discuss general threats in Fox defamation trial
WILMINGTON, Del. — The judge presiding over a voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News for airing bogus allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election indicated Tuesday he would allow jurors to hear some testimony about threats directed at the company, but only to a point. Delaware Superior...
Police: Louisville shooter targeted bank co-workers
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The bank employee who opened fire at his Louisville workplace targeted people he knew with a rifle that was bought legally a week earlier, police said Tuesday. Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference that bank employee Connor Sturgeon, 25, bought the...
Manhattan DA sues Rep. Jim Jordan over Trump indictment inquiryVideo
NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday, an extraordinary move as he seeks to halt a House Judiciary Committee inquiry that the prosecutor contends is a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him over his indictment of former President Donald Trump. Bragg, a...
Lawsuit: Pa. chocolate factory ignored warning before deadly blast
A Pennsylvania candy-maker ignored warnings of a natural gas leak at its chocolate factory and bears responsibility for a subsequent explosion that killed seven workers and injured several others, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The family of Judith “Judy” Lopez-Moran, a 55-year-old mother of three, filed what their lawyers...
Abortion questions intensify in U.S. courts, legislatures
New court rulings could spark more change for U.S. abortion policy, which has been in flux since last June when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion. Courts are considering big changes, including some with broad implications, as state legislatures enact more restrictions or outright bans. Here’s...
U.S. organ transplant system overhaul: What will it mean for Pennsylvanians waiting?
For nearly 40 years, organ transplants in the United States have been directed by a single nonprofit called the United Network for Organ Sharing — UNOS. Critics say UNOS has come to be plagued by problems including outdated technology, wasted organs and lack of transparency. In March, the Biden administration...
Ex-firefighter from Pa. gets prison for Jan. 6 extinguisher attack
Robert Sanford, 57, a retired firefighter from Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, a town southwest of Philadelphia, threw a fire extinguisher at police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison. Sanford struck two police officers in the head with the fire extinguisher that...
With STDs on the rise, this morning-after-style pill may help
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials released data Tuesday showing how chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases have been accelerating, but doctors are hoping an old drug will help fight the sexually transmitted infections. Experts believe STDs have been rising because of declining condom use, inadequate sex education and reduced testing...
Free covid testing will fade with U.S. health emergency in May
WASHINGTON — When the covid-19 public health emergency ends in the U.S. next month, you’ll still have access to a multitude of tests but with one big difference: Who pays for them. For the first time, you may have to pick up some or all of the costs, depending on...
Israeli Holocaust memorial criticizes deal with Poland
JERUSALEM — Israel’s national Holocaust memorial has criticized a new agreement renewing Israeli school trips to Poland, saying it recommends a number of “problematic sites” that distort history. Yad Vashem issued its statement weeks after Israel and Poland announced a breakthrough agreement meant to repair ties that had been badly...
Ohio train derailment highlights waste disposal predicament
When word surfaced that soils and liquids laced with chemicals from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment were being sent to southeastern Michigan for storage, local residents and politicians were livid. “People were seeing pictures of what happened in Ohio — the smoke plumes, wildlife dying,” said Jordyn Sellek, director...
Attorneys outline complex plot in trial of slain kids’ mom
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho prosecutors have suggested motives, showed graphic photos and described a complicated plot involving efforts to cast out evil spirits in the triple murder trial of a woman accused in the deaths of her two kids and a romantic rival. On Tuesday, a detective who helped unearth...
What we know about victims of the Louisville bank shooting
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tributes were growing Monday for the five people slain in a shooting at a Louisville bank, with friends sharing details of their lives and mourners gathering at vigils. Details were also emerging about some of the wounded, including a rookie officer who was just recently sworn in....
FBI issues warning about ‘juice jacking’ when using public charging stations
Travelers using public cellphone charging stations at airports - and other places - have been warned by the FBI to be wary of using them. Your information could be a victim of “juice jacking” by those stations available to the public in places including airports, hotels and shopping centers. Earlier...
Florida fight over baby boxes part of bigger culture war
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Safe Haven Baby Boxes and A Safe Haven for Newborns are two charities with similar names and the same goal: providing distressed mothers with a safe place to surrender their unwanted newborns instead of dumping them in trash cans or along roadsides. But a fight between...
Dalai Lama apologizes after video shows him kissing boy
DHARAMSALA, India — Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama apologized Monday after a video showing him kissing a child on the lips triggered criticism. A statement posted on his official website said the 87-year-old leader regretted the incident and wished to “apologize to the boy and his family, as well...
Some U.S. states stock abortion medications after court ruling
BOSTON — A growing number of states led by Democratic governors are stockpiling doses of drugs used in medication abortions, amid fears that a court ruling could restrict access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. Massachusetts has purchased enough doses of the drug mifepristone —...
Biden ends covid national emergency after Congress acts
WASHINGTON — The U.S. national emergency to respond to the covid-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency. The national emergency allowed...
Will your next car be electric? New poll has mixed results
WASHINGTON — Many Americans aren’t yet sold on going electric for their next cars, a new poll shows, with high prices and too few charging stations the main deterrents. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults are at least somewhat likely to switch, but the history-making shift from the country’s century-plus...
Pa. Democrats aim to appeal to working-class voters with policy, symbolism, and some anger
Pennsylvania Democrats are trying to show they can be populists, too. When Gov. Josh Shapiro took office in January, he sent a symbolic message by using his first executive order to end the four-year college degree requirement for most state government jobs. Sen. John Fetterman campaigned as a Democrat who...
Senate Democrats ask chief justice to probe Clarence Thomas’ luxury trips
WASHINGTON — All Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have called on Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate undisclosed luxury trips that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted from a wealthy Republican donor. The panel, the Democrats said in a Monday letter, would soon hold a hearing on the court’s...
