Alec Baldwin sues to ‘clear his name’ in movie set killing
LOS ANGELES — Saying he wants to clear his name, Alec Baldwin on Friday sued people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun that he was using when it fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a 2021 filming accident in New Mexico. Baldwin filed a cross-complaint in Superior Court...
Josh Shapiro will be Pa.’s next governor — and it promises to be his biggest challenge yet
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 — Democrat Josh Shapiro won big in Tuesday’s election, outperforming John Fetterman at the top of the ticket — and...
Laurel Highlands Workforce, Opportunity Center opens in Hempfield, looks to expand
When members of the Laurel Highlands Workforce and Opportunity Center board were looking for a model, they didn’t have to look far. “We’re a replication site for Manchester Bidwell in Pittsburgh, which has been around for 50 years,” CEO Greg Daigle said. “When it comes to adult training, you go...
Wall Street rallies for best week since June on rate hopes
NEW YORK — Wall Street piled more gains Friday onto its mammoth rally from a day earlier to close out its best week since the summer. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% a day after soaring 5.5% for its best day in more than two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...
Twitter Blue signups unavailable after raft of fake accounts
Twitter’s relaunched premium service — which grants blue-check “verification” labels to anyone willing to pay $8 a month — was unavailable Friday after the social media platform was flooded by a wave of imposter accounts it itself had approved. It’s the latest whiplash-inducing change to the service where uncertainty has...
Pennsylvania weighs the extra revenue as another neighbor approves marijuana
While Pennsylvania lawmakers debate whether to legalize recreational marijuana, its neighbors have started to greenlight it. The midterm elections have seen Democratic gains on the state and federal level in the commonwealth, and now Maryland voters have approved cannabis legalization. Maryland becomes the third border state to legalize it, following...
World marks Armistice Day as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages
BRUSSELS — Across the world, nations paid respect with moments of silence and solemn ceremonies for their fallen soldiers in World War I and ever since on an Armistice Day pierced by the rumblings of Russia’s war in Ukraine that showed again that peace is all too often elusive. On...
Dems maintain narrow leads in Arizona Senate, governor races
PHOENIX — Democrats maintained their narrow leads in key Arizona contests on Thursday, but the races for U.S. Senate and governor were still too early to call with about a fifth of the total ballots left to be counted. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly led Republican Blake Masters by 5.6 percentage...
Warnock, Walker pivot to overtime in Georgia Senate contest
ATLANTA — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker pivoted to a decisive extra round of their Senate race Thursday with blistering attacks, while party leaders and donors around the country geared up for a four-week campaign blitz that could determine control of the chamber for the next...
Biden tightens methane emissions rule amid push for more oil
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to reduce methane emissions, targeting the oil and gas industry for its role in global warming even as President Joe Biden has pressed energy producers for more oil drilling to lower prices at the gasoline pump. Biden was set to announce...
UN, Russia hold talks on extending wartime grain deal
GENEVA — Top Russian and U.N. officials held talks in Switzerland on Friday to try to iron out the extension of a deal allowing Ukrainian grain shipments and Russian food and fertilizer exports, with just over a week left before the wartime agreement meant to ease a global food crisis...
Famed painting ‘The Scream’ targeted by climate activists
COPENHAGEN — Norwegian police said two people tried in vain Friday to glue themselves to Edvard Munch’s 1893 masterpiece “The Scream” at an Oslo museum and no harm was reported to the painting of a waif-like figure appearing to scream. Police said they were alerted by the National Museum of...
Trump lawyers sanctioned by judge on Clinton conspiracy suit
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers who accused Hillary Clinton and dozens of other people of engaging in a conspiracy to harm his reputation were sanctioned by a federal judge who excoriated them for filing a “frivolous,” politically motivated lawsuit. Alina Habba, one of Trump’s most outspoken attorneys, and other lawyers...
Federal judge in Texas strikes down Biden loan-forgiveness plan
FORT WORTH, Texas — A U.S. judge in Texas on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to provide millions of borrowers with up to $20,000 apiece in federal student-loan forgiveness — a program that was already on hold as a federal appeals court in St. Louis considers a separate lawsuit...
Trump Organization executive says he helped colleagues dodge taxes
NEW YORK — One of Donald Trump’s top moneymen admitted Thursday to breaking the law to help fellow Trump Organization executives avoid taxes on company-paid apartments and other perks, including by preparing misleading tax returns and failing to report the benefits to tax authorities. Senior Vice President and Controller Jeffrey...
Penn State trustees set to vote on proposed $95M residence hall project at University Park
The sixth and final phase of work on Penn State University’s largest main campus residence complex is one step closer to moving forward now that a trustee committee has endorsed the proposed $95.3 million project. Penn State’s full Board of Trustees is scheduled to act on a project called East...
Close races put Pennsylvania House majority control in limbo
HARRISBURG — Partisan control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives remained up in the air Thursday, two days after 101 Democrats and 100 Republicans were elected, leaving two races in swing districts still unresolved. Both of the seats are held by Republicans in the General Assembly session that ends later...
Mastriano yet to concede Pa. governor’s race 2 days after Shapiro declared winner
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 — Republican Doug Mastriano had yet to concede Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election nearly two days after it was called for Democrat...
Trump loyalist Boebert’s reelection bid could go to recount
DENVER — Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s race remained extremely tight on Thursday and could be headed for a recount in the GOP firebrand’s bid for reelection against Democrat Adam Frisch, a former city councilmember from the upscale ski town of Aspen, Colorado. Boebert has fallen behind expectations in the...
After much searching, Pa. treasurer returns Army medals found in safe deposit box
Pennsylvania’s treasury department often comes into possession of military medals, usually from safe deposit boxes of people who died. Sometimes the treasury has a hard time finding anyone who welcomes return of the medals. But a successful search concluded Thursday, as state Treasurer Stacy Garrity delivered a batch of medals...
Wall Street surges, Dow up 1,200 points on cooling inflation
NEW YORK — Wall Street surged to its best day since April 2020 as markets cheered a government report that inflation cooled more than expected last month. The S&P 500 jumped 5.5% Thursday and the Dow rose nearly 1,200 points as traders took the data as a sign the worst...
Alex Jones ordered to pay $473M more to Sandy Hook families
HARTFORD, Conn.— Infowars host Alex Jones and his company were ordered by a judge Thursday to pay an extra $473 million for promoting false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school massacre, bringing the total judgment against him in a lawsuit filed by the victims’ families to a staggering $1.44...
Tweets with racial slurs soar since Musk takeover, report says
Instances of racial slurs have soared on Twitter since Elon Musk purchased the influential platform, despite assurances from the platform that it had reduced hateful activity, a digital civil rights group reported Thursday. Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that the number of tweets containing one of...
Section of destroyed shuttle Challenger found on ocean floor
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger has been found buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic, more than three decades after the tragedy that killed a schoolteacher and six others. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center announced the discovery Thursday. “Upon first hearing...
1 dead, over a dozen sick from outbreak tied to deli meat
A food poisoning outbreak tied to deli meat and cheese has sickened 16 people, including one who died, U.S. health officials said Wednesday. Most were hospitalized and one illness resulted in the loss of a pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many reported eating meat or...
