Colorado gay club shooting suspect held without bail
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The alleged shooter facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub was ordered held without bail in an initial court appearance Wednesday as the suspect sat slumped over in a chair. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, could...
Officials say 4 Philly high school students shot near school
PHILADELPHIA — Four students were injured in an apparent drive-by shooting shortly after their Philadelphia high school let out early for the day late Wednesday morning, a city schools spokesperson said. City police said a 15-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder and thigh, a 15-year-old girl was shot in...
Doubts about candidates tipped the scales in tightest races
ATLANTA — Casting his vote this month in one of the most politically competitive states in the U.S., Seung Lee happily backed Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection. But when it came to the other top Republican on the ballot, Senate candidate Herschel Walker, he was uneasy. Walker “doesn’t know...
7 Michigan State football players charged in Michigan tunnel melee
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Seven Michigan State football players are charged in the postgame melee in Michigan Stadium’s tunnel last month, according to a statement Wednesday from the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. The most serious charge is against Khary Crump, who faces a felony count of felonious assault. The charges...
Dominican Republic expels 1,800 children to Haiti: UNICEF
HAVANA — Dominican authorities have expelled at least 1,800 unaccompanied Haitian migrant children this year, sending them back to their crisis-stricken country, UNICEF said. The Dominican Republic denied the claim, which came Tuesday amid the government’s intensifying crackdown on migration in response to a cholera outbreak and ongoing gang violence...
High mortgage rates send homebuyers scrambling for relief
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates are more than double what they were a year ago, so many homebuyers are looking for ways to put off some of the pain for a few years. The trend has driven adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, to the highest usage in over a decade. A...
U.S. sending Ukraine $400 million in ammunition, generators
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is sending another $400 million in ammunition and generators to Ukraine, the White House announced Wednesday, and is pulling the gear from its own stockpiles to get the support to Kyiv as fast as possible as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy sources and winter sets...
Twin blasts shake Jerusalem, killing teen and wounding 18
JERUSALEM — Two blasts went off near bus stops in Jerusalem at the height of morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing a Canadian-Israeli teenager and injuring at least 18, in what police said were attacks by Palestinians. The first explosion occurred near a typically crowded bus stop on the edge...
Taliban lash 12 people before stadium crowd in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban lashed three women and nine men in front of hundreds of spectators in a provincial sports stadium Wednesday, signaling the religious extremist group’s resumption of a brutal form of punishment that was a hallmark of their rule in the 1990s. The office of the governor of...
Power outages in Ukrainian cities
KYIV, Ukraine — Authorities reported power outages in multiple cities of Ukraine, including parts of Kyiv, and in neighboring Moldova after renewed strikes on Wednesday struck Ukrainian infrastructure facilities. Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession, suggesting a barrage of strikes. In several regions, authorities reported strikes on critical infrastructure....
Report: Explosion near Syrian capital kills Iranian colonel
BEIRUT — An explosion in Syria has killed an official with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the force said on its website Wednesday, blaming Israel for the killing. The force identified the officer killed as Col. Davoud Jafari, who it said was working for the Guard’s aerospace division. The statement warned...
‘Bodies drop’ as Walmart manager kills 6 in Virginia attack
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Walmart manager pulled out a handgun before a routine employee meeting and began firing wildly around the break room of a Virginia store, killing six people in the nation’s second high-profile mass shooting in four days, police and witnesses said Wednesday. The gunman was dead when...
Supreme Court OKs handover of Trump tax returns to Congress
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the imminent handover of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight. The court, with no noted dissents, rejected Trump’s plea for an order that would have prevented the Treasury Department from...
Biden to extend student loan pause as court battle drags on
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration will extend the pause on federal student loan payments while the White House fights a legal battle to save his plan to cancel portions of the debt. “It isn’t fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief...
Protected bike lane bill named for Pittsburgher vetoed over late GOP amendments
Pittsburgh officials have tried for years to make streets safer for cyclists by installing bike lanes protected by parked cars. Those efforts recently hit a snag after Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a road safety bill because of an amendment added to it. After cyclist and University of Pittsburgh staffer Susan...
Slippery Rock University narrows presidential search to 4 finalists
Four finalists have emerged in the search for Slippery Rock University’s next president, with the short list including current and former campus leaders in Colorado, Minnesota, Texas and West Virginia. A panel seeking a successor to President William Behre identified the four finalists Tuesday and said each will be on...
Russia’s Gazprom threatens Europe’s natural gas supply
Russian energy giant Gazprom has threatened to reduce natural gas supplies through the last pipeline heading to Europe via Ukraine, saying the amount it’s supplying for Moldova is not ending up in the former Soviet republic. Gazprom says the gas company of Europe’s poorest country, Moldovagaz, paid for part of...
Inflation gives pay raise gift to top Pennsylvania officials
HARRISBURG — Inflation is gift-wrapping another big salary increase for hundreds of Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials in 2023, including boosting rank-and-file lawmakers and district judges into six-figure territory. For many of these positions, it’s the biggest increase since the 1990s, when lawmakers passed legislation to...
Indonesian rescuers search through rubble of quake; 268 dead
CIANJUR, Indonesia — Indonesian rescuers used jackhammers, circular saws and sometimes their bare hands Tuesday to shift the rubble of flattened buildings as they searched for the dead and missing from an earthquake that killed at least 268 people. With many missing, some remote areas still unreachable and more than...
‘Stock up on blankets’: Ukrainians brace for horrific winter
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine could face rolling blackouts through March because Russian airstrikes have caused “colossal” damage to the power grid, officials said. To cope in the harsh winter, authorities are urging Ukrainians to stock up on supplies and evacuate hard-hit areas. Sergey Kovalenko, the CEO of private energy provider...
Gathering again? Tips for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving
For families who settled for smaller gatherings and remote blessings during the height of the pandemic, this Thanksgiving looks like the return of the big bash. More folks are getting together this year, with the American Automobile Association predicting holiday travel will be nearly back to prepandemic levels. If that’s...
Thanksgiving might bring changes in holiday-travel habits
The Thanksgiving travel rush was back on this year, as people caught planes in numbers not seen in years, setting aside inflation concerns to reunite with loved ones and enjoy some normalcy after two holiday seasons marked by COVID-19 restrictions. Changing habits around work and play, however, might spread out...
‘It’s the reflex’: Veteran helped disarm gunman at gay clubVideo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When army veteran Rich Fierro realized a gunman was spraying bullets inside the club where he had gathered with friends and family, instincts from his military training immediately kicked in. First he ducked to avoid any potential incoming fire, then moved to try to disarm the...
Benninghoff to step down from Pa. House Republican leadership
More fall-out from the tumultuous 2022 election cycle hit Pennsylvania’s General Assembly Monday with the news that current House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, will not seek a Republican leadership position for the 2023-24 term. For state House Republicans, that means at least two of the current top three...
Rage and sadness as Colorado club shooting victims honored
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hundreds of people, many holding candles and wiping away tears, gathered in a Colorado Springs park to honor those killed and wounded when a gunman opened fire on a nightlife venue that for decades was a sanctuary for the local LGBTQ community. Monday night’s vigil came...
