Death toll rises to 7 in Pa. chocolate factory explosionVideo
WEST READING — Almost 48 hours after an explosion at the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory in Berks County, all Frankie Gonzalez and his family could do on Sunday was pray. Pray that his sister Diana Cedeno, one of the people still missing Sunday morning, was found in the wreckage. Pray...
Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week
NEW YORK — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon. Where and when can you see them? The best day to catch the whole group...
Protests erupt in New York City — for ‘The Joker’
NEW YORK — Throngs of protesters gathered at the courthouse steps, chanting for freedom for their embattled hero. Police kept watch as passions flared and voices roared. Squad cars and television trucks encircled the commotion. It’s a scene New York City authorities have been bracing for as prosecutors consider an...
Trump, facing potential indictment, holds defiant Waco rally
WACO, Texas — Facing a potential indictment, Donald Trump took a defiant stance at a rally Saturday in Waco, disparaging the prosecutors investigating him and predicting his vindication as he rallied supporters in a city made famous by deadly resistance against law enforcement. With a hand over his heart, Trump...
Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases
CHICAGO — Rejon Taylor hoped the election of Joe Biden, the first U.S. president to campaign on a pledge to end the death penalty, would mean a more sympathetic look at his claims that racial bias and other trial errors landed him on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana....
Daunting recovery underway in tornado-devastated Mississippi
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — Help began pouring into one of the poorest regions of the U.S. after a deadly tornado wrought a path of destruction in the Mississippi Delta, even as furious new storms Sunday struck Georgia, where two tigers briefly escaped their badly damaged safari park. At least 25...
Biden’s pick to lead FAA withdraws amid shaky Senate support
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden’s choice to run the Federal Aviation Administration has withdrawn his nomination, a setback for the administration that comes after Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington appeared to lack enough support in the closely divided Senate. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confirmed Washington’s withdrawal in a...
Bank failures and rescue test Yellen’s decades of experience
WASHINGTON— Working against the clock to stop a developing banking crisis, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had until sunset on Sunday, March 12, to come up with a plan to calm the U.S. economy. She quickly turned to someone who had been through the fire before, and on a much larger...
Push to expand voting rights in U.S. for those held in jails
CHICAGO — The voting precinct could have been any one of hundreds throughout Chicago, except that these voters in the first round of the mayoral election were all wearing the same beige smocks. And the security at this polling place wasn’t intended to keep disrupters and campaigners out, but the...
Idaho governor signs firing squad execution bill into law
BOISE, Idaho — Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a bill allowing firing squads to execute death row inmates when lethal injection drugs are unavailable, making Idaho the fifth U.S. state to allow the execution method. The new law, which takes effect in July, will give the...
Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults and not just children can be victims of abuse when they are unable to...
Biden’s moves on Alaska drilling, TikTok test young voters
TEMPE, Ariz. — Recent moves by President Joe Biden to pressure TikTok over its Chinese ownership and approve oil drilling in an untapped area of Alaska are testing the loyalty of young voters, a group that’s largely been in his corner. Youth turnout surged in the three elections since Donald...
Pennsylvania chocolate plant blast kills 3, leaves 5 missing
WEST READING, Pa. — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed three people and left five people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight. Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after...
Coroner: 23 dead in tornado that ripped through Mississippi and Alabama
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — Powerful tornadoes tore through parts of the Deep South on Friday night, killing at least 23 people in Mississippi, obliterating dozens of buildings and leaving an especially devastating mark on a rural town whose mayor declared, “My city is gone.” The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said...
Teachers press school safety in wake of Denver shooting
DENVER — Colorado teachers flooded into the state Capitol Friday to press for better protections for students and school staff after a 17-year-old Denver student shot two administrators, fled to the mountains and killed himself. Roughly 1,500 teachers and their supporters called for improved school security, more mental health support...
A look at the U.S. military mission in Syria and its dangers
WASHINGTON — When an Iranian drone struck a U.S. base in northeastern Syria, killing a contractor and wounding several U.S. troops, it was just the latest in a growing number of attacks on American forces in Syria. But its lethality was rare. In most recent cases, no U.S. forces have...
Powder, threat sent to Manhattan DA investigating Trump
NEW YORK— A powdery substance was found Friday with a threatening letter in a mailroom at the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the latest security scare as the prosecutor weighs a potential historic indictment of former President Donald Trump, authorities said. New York City police and environmental protection...
Women have more power than ever in Pennsylvania’s legislature, but lawmakers say big hurdles remain
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 — When Emily Kinkead asked Lisa Bennington for advice on running for elected office, the former Pennsylvania state lawmaker gave...
Bezos’ rocket company pins crash on overheated engine nozzle
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An overheated rocket engine nozzle caused last year’s Blue Origin launch failure that has grounded flights for six months, the company said Friday. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin said it expects to resume its quick trips to space from West Texas sometime later this year....
DEA review gives short shrift to foreign corruption scandals
NEW YORK — After nearly two years and at least $1.4 million spent, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday released an external review of its overseas operations that gave short shrift to recent corruption scandals and offered a series of recommendations that critics dismissed as overly vague. Much of...
Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval
PHOENIX — Years ago, skateboarding was branded as a hobby for rebels or stoners in city streets, schoolyards and back alleys. Those days are long gone. Skateboarding, which has Native Hawaiian roots connected to surfing, no longer is on the fringes. It became an Olympic sport in 2020. There are...
House GOP passes parents’ rights bill in clash over schools
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Friday narrowly passed legislation to press a midterm campaign promise to give parents greater say in what’s taught in public schools even as critics complained the “parents’ rights” bill would fuel a far-right movement that’s resulted in book bans, restrictions aimed at transgender students and...
Amid massive demonstrations, Macron delays Charles’ visit
PARIS — Ongoing unrest across France and calls for a new round of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension plan persuaded officials to postpone a planned state visit next week by Britain’s King Charles III. Charles had been scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday to celebrate France and Britain’s...
Russian strikes in Ukraine kill 10 civilians, wound 20 more
KYIV, Ukraine — Long-range Russian bombardment killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 20 others in several parts of Ukraine on Friday, officials in Kyiv said, as a Kremlin official boasted that its forces were prepared to repel an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive this spring. Five people died in Kostiantynivka, in...
Trump lawyer in court after being forced before grand jury
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Donald Trump was back in court Friday after being ordered to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at the former president’s Florida estate. M. Evan Corcoran entered federal court in the District of Columbia early Friday morning, one...
