Connellsville native among 7 victims in massive chocolate factory explosion in Pa.
PHILADELPHIA — The Berks County Coroner’s Office on Wednesday released the names of the remaining victims of the explosion at the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory in West Reading that killed seven people. The remaining five were identified as: Susan H. Halvonik, 63, a Connellsville native who lived in Upper Providence...
U.S. Navy deploys more chaplains for suicide prevention
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Virginia — On Navy ships docked at this vast base, hundreds of sailors in below-deck mazes of windowless passageways perform intense, often monotonous manual labor. It’s necessary work before a ship deploys, but hard to adjust to for many already challenged by the stresses plaguing young adults...
A college in upheaval: War on ‘woke’ sparks fear in Florida
SARASOTA, Fla. — Professors at the New College of Florida are using personal email because they’re afraid of being subpoenaed. Students are concerned, too. Some fear for their physical safety. Many worry their teachers will be fired en masse and their courses and books will be policed. It’s increasingly hard...
University bus crashes in Kenya, killing 14 people
NAIROBI, Kenya — Fourteen people, including students, have died after a university bus collided with a passenger vehicle in Kenya, west of the capital, on Thursday. Police say 12 people died on the spot and two others succumbed on the way to the hospital. The bus had 30 people on...
House GOP pushes sprawling bill to ‘unleash’ American energy
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are set to approve a sprawling energy package that seeks to undo virtually all of President Joe Biden’s agenda to address climate change. The massive GOP bill up for a vote Thursday would sharply increase domestic production of oil, natural gas and coal, and ease permitting...
Vatican: Pope improving since hospitalization with infection
ROME — Pope Francis has shown a “marked improvement” following intravenous antibiotics for a bronchitis infection and could be released from the hospital in the coming days, the Vatican and his doctors say. The 86-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, ate breakfast, read...
Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charge
Russia’s security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release. Evan Gershkovich was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg while...
9 killed in Army Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kentucky
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk helicopters in Kentucky, a military spokesperson said. Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said Thursday morning that the deaths happened the previous night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission. A statement from...
West Virginia bans marriage for children age 15 or younger
CHARLESTON — West Virginia will no longer allow children under 16 to marry, after the governor signed a compromise bill Wednesday. The law signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice continues allowing children ages 16 and 17 to get married with restrictions. Under the new law, those minors must get parental...
Idaho law could criminalize helping minors get abortions
Idaho lawmakers are considering making it illegal for an adult to help a minor procure an abortion without parental consent. The measure would create a new crime of “abortion trafficking,” barring adults from obtaining abortion pills for a minor and “recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor.” To sidestep violating...
Florida Gov. DeSantis’ board says Disney stripped them of power
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World said Wednesday that their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers. The current supervisors...
Fishermen plead guilty in cheating scandal
CLEVELAND — Two men charged with cheating in a fishing tournament last year, including one Mercer County resident, pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Chase Cominsky, 36, of Hermitage, and Jacob Runyan, 43, of Ashtabula, Ohio, each pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating, a fifth-degree felony,...
Crews work to recover 3 barges that got loose on Ohio RiverVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Crews were working Wednesday to remove three remaining barges that got loose on the Ohio River, including one carrying methanol. A total of 10 barges got loose early Tuesday on the river near Louisville, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said. Most were recovered, but the U.S...
Tennessee man gets 25 years in roadside killing of Butler County native
NASHVILLE — The man who shot and killed a Tennessee nurse as she was driving to work two years ago was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, according to the Nashville district attorney’s office. In January, a jury found Devaunte Hill guilty of murder in the death of...
Making education in Pa. ‘look different’ focus of Senate budget hearing
With a nearly 800-page Commonwealth Court ruling that declared Pennsylvania’s school funding system unconstitutional hanging over the General Assembly’s heads, Pennsylvania’s Acting Education Secretary Khalid Mumin said he sees that as an opportunity to do right by students. “It’s impressed upon us that we do — and I believe we...
Fetterman expected back to Senate in April
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman will return to the Senate in April, two months after the freshman Democrat sought inpatient treatment for clinical depression, a person close to Fetterman said Wednesday. The person, who was not authorized to discuss Fetterman’s plans and spoke on condition of anonymity, said...
GOP lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican lawmakers in Kentucky on Wednesday swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill regulating some of the most personal aspects of life for transgender young people — from banning access to gender-affirming health care to restricting the bathrooms they can use. The votes to override...
Ohio lawmakers OK rail safety rules after train derailment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rail safety measures proposed after the February train derailment and toxic chemical burn in East Palestine are closer to becoming law in Ohio, as part of a nearly $13.5 billion transportation budget that cleared the Legislature on Wednesday. A compromise budget plan that chiefly funds work on...
Congress approves measure to toss Biden’s water protections
WASHINGTON — Congress on Wednesday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as a burden on business, advancing a measure that President Joe Biden has promised to veto. Republicans have targeted the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams,...
Senate votes to repeal 2 Iraq military authorizations
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would repeal two decades-old authorizations to use military force against Iraq after supporters of the legislation had fended off floor efforts to amend it, including proposals that would have singled out Iran as a threat in the Middle East. Sens....
Mel King, who helped ease Boston’s racial strife, dies at 94
BOSTON — Longtime Boston civil rights activist Mel King, whose 1983 campaign for mayor helped the city begin to repair some of the racial divisions sparked during the school busing crisis, has died. He was 94. King served in the state Legislature for nearly a decade before becoming the first...
Elián González, elected to office in Cuba, says he wants to help improve relations with U.S.
More than two decades after he was returned to Cuba from the United States following a diplomatic crisis and a custody battle between his father and his Miami relatives, Elián González says his election on Sunday to Cuba’s National Assembly puts him in a position to help improve the strained...
Trump grand jury poised to take pre-planned hiatus from case
NEW YORK — The Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money paid on Donald Trump’s behalf is scheduled to consider other matters next week before taking a previously scheduled two-week hiatus, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. That means a vote on whether or not to indict the former...
Pope to be hospitalized for days with respiratory infection
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis was hospitalized with a respiratory infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the Rome hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said. The 86-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, doesn’t have...
China threatens to retaliate if McCarthy meets Taiwan leader
BEIJING — China threatened retaliation on Wednesday if U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwan’s president during her upcoming trip through Los Angeles. President Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon on a tour of the island’s diplomatic allies in the Americas which she framed as a chance to...
