Pa. House at a standstill as deadline nears to get relief for child sex abuse survivors on May ballot
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 — Pennsylvania’s closely divided state House has recessed indefinitely, throwing the chamber’s agenda, including a number of far-reaching constitutional amendments,...
Biden team finds more docs with classified markings
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s legal team has discovered additional documents containing classification markings in a second location, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The revelation comes days after an attorney for the president said Biden’s lawyers had discovered a “small number” of classified...
House Democrats ask ethics panel to probe Santos’ financial disclosures
WASHINGTON — Two New York Democratic House members filed a complaint Tuesday with the House Ethics panel against fellow Empire State Rep. George Santos, a Republican who has found himself mired in scandal since winning his seat in November. Reps. Dan Goldman, a freshman like Santos, and Ritchie Torres, who...
Pitt to close English Language Institute
For almost six decades, international students have come to a University of Pittsburgh institute to improve their English and, in many cases, they would eventually teach the language to others. Most who have enrolled in the university’s English Language Institute are in Pittsburgh to immerse themselves in intensive, noncredit training...
Feds outline new plan for inmates to pay victim restitution
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is proposing changes to how it runs federal prisoners’ deposit accounts in an effort to make sure victims are paid restitution, including from some high-profile inmates with large balances. The new rule was published in the federal register Tuesday. It would automatically put 75% of...
U.S. study: 1 year of road crashes cost society $340 billion
DETROIT — Traffic crashes in the U.S. cost society $340 billion in one year, or just over $1,000 for each of the country’s 328 million people, according to a study by safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it studied crashes in calendar year 2019 that killed an...
‘Diamond,’ of conservative duo Diamond and Silk, dies at 51
RALEIGH, N.C. — Lynette Hardaway, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and one half of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk, has died, according to the pair’s Twitter account. She was 51. Hardaway, known by the moniker “Diamond,” carved out a unique role as a Black...
Sarah Huckabee Sanders sworn in as Arkansas governor
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was sworn in as Arkansas governor Tuesday, becoming the first woman to hold the office in the state and portraying herself as part of a new generation of leaders. Sanders took the oath of office as the state’s...
Legal recreational marijuana sales start in Connecticut
MONTVILLE, Conn. — Connecticut’s first round of recreational cannabis sales for adults 21 and older began Tuesday at seven existing medical marijuana establishments across the state, less than two years after Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation making Connecticut the latest state to legalize retail sales. As many as 40 dispensaries,...
Capitol riot far-right internet personality gets 60 days
WASHINGTON — A far-right internet personality who streamed live video while he stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to two months of imprisonment for joining the mob’s attack on the building. Anthime Gionet, known as “Baked Alaska” to his social media followers, declined to address the court before...
‘What madness looks like’: Russia intensifies Bakhmut attack
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, months-long battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow’s wider war. “Everything is completely destroyed. There...
Forest lizards genetically morph to survive life in the city
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Lizards that once dwelled in forests but now slink around urban areas have genetically morphed to survive life in the city, researchers have found. The Puerto Rican crested anole, a brown lizard with a bright orange throat fan, has sprouted special scales to better cling...
Mega Millions swells to $1.1B after 3-month losing trend
DES MOINES, Iowa — After nearly three months of lottery losing, will someone break the trend Tuesday night and win a $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot? Regardless of how long it takes, the odds of winning the top lottery prize don’t change, and they’re formidable at 1 in 302.6 million....
Global economy is at risk of recession
WASHINGTON — The global economy will come “perilously close” to a recession this year, led by weaker growth in all the world’s top economies — the United States, Europe and China — the World Bank warned Tuesday. In an annual report, the World Bank, which lends money to poorer countries...
Callers keep flooding 988 mental health, suicide helpline
HYATTSVILLE, Md. — When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or “suicidio” Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so...
Powell: Fed has only narrow role to play on climate change
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve has only a limited role to play in combating climate change, Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, a stance that puts him at odds with environmental activists who have pushed central banks worldwide to take steps to restrict lending to energy companies. “Without explicit congressional legislation,...
Biden, López Obrador, Trudeau meet in Mexico City for summit
MEXICO CITY — President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday pledged their resolve to promote prosperity for people throughout the hemisphere as they opened wide-ranging talks about the fragile security situation in Haiti, North American trade, political unrest in Brazil and more on the sidelines of...
Jury chosen to hear Proud Boys Jan. 6 sedition trial
WASHINGTON — A jury has been chosen for the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the far-right extremist group charged with plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power by attacking the U.S. Capitol after the 2020 election. Jurors are expected...
Trump executive Allen Weisselberg gets 5-month jail sentence
NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg, a longtime executive for Donald Trump ‘s business empire whose testimony helped convict the former president’s company of tax fraud, was sentenced Tuesday to five months in jail for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks. Weisselberg, 75, was promised that sentence in August...
Feds propose ‘student loan safety net’ alongside forgiveness
WASHINGTON — The White House is moving forward with a proposal that would lower student debt payments for millions of Americans now and in the future, offering a new route to repay federal loans under far more generous terms. President Joe Biden announced the repayment plan in August, but it...
Safety agency to consider ban on gas stoves amid health fears
A federal agency says a ban on gas stoves is on the table amid rising concern about harmful indoor air pollutants emitted by the appliances. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to take action to address the pollution, which can cause health and respiratory problems. “This is a hidden...
California deluge forces mass evacuations, boy swept awayVideo
LOS ANGELES — As another powerful storm walloped California, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters Monday on the state’s central coast and an entire seaside community that is home to Prince Harry, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities was ordered to evacuate on the fifth anniversary of deadly mudslides...
Chief: 6-year-old shot Virginia teacher during class lesson
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — In the moments before a 6-year-old Virginia boy shot his teacher, there was no fight, no physical struggle and no warning, authorities said Monday. “What we know today is that she was providing instruction. He displayed a firearm, he pointed it and he fired one round,”...
DOJ reviewing potentially classified documents at Biden center
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is reviewing a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute, the White House said Monday. Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said “a small number of documents with classified markings” were discovered as Biden’s...
Having elected House speaker, Republicans try governingVideo
WASHINGTON — Electing the House speaker may have been the easy part. Now House Republicans will try to govern. Speaker Kevin McCarthy passed his first test Monday evening as the Republicans approved their rules package for governing House operations, typically a routine step on Day One that stretched into the...
