Police cameras show confusion, anger over DeSantis’ voter fraud arrestsVideo
TALLAHASSEE — When police went to arrest Tony Patterson outside his Tampa home in August, he couldn’t believe the reason. “What is wrong with this state, man?” Patterson protested as he was being escorted to a police car in handcuffs. “Voter fraud? Y’all said anybody with a felony could vote,...
2 killed when small plane crashes into eastern Ohio car dealershipVideo
MARIETTA, Ohio — A small plane crashed into a car dealership parking lot early Tuesday near the border of Ohio and West Virginia, killing two people on board and sparking a large fire. The crash of the 1974 Beechcraft Air King E90 in Marietta, Ohio, was reported about 7:15 a.m.,...
11 more crash deaths are linked to automated-tech vehicles
DETROIT — Eleven additional people were killed in U.S. crashes involving vehicles that were using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year, according to newly released government data, part of an alarming pattern of incidents linked to the technology. Ten of the deaths involved vehicles made by...
Are you a mosquito magnet? It could be your smell
NEW YORK — A new study finds that some people really are “mosquito magnets” and it probably has to do with the way they smell. The researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin that are tied to smell....
Ukraine’s power, water supplies under Russian attack again
KYIV, Ukraine — Airstrikes cut power and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians on Tuesday, part of what the country’s president called an expanding Russian campaign to drive the nation into the cold and dark and make peace talks impossible. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly one-third of Ukraine’s...
K.C. man charged in deadly sword attack on brother after fight over oven being shut off
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 38-year-old man has been charged in the fatal stabbing of his younger brother who was found on the front porch of the family’s Kansas City home with a sword in his chest, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors have...
Winning $494M lottery ticket sold in city battered by Ian
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A winning lottery ticket worth a share of a $494 million Mega Millions jackpot was purchased in a southwest Florida city hammered by Hurricane Ian late last month. Florida lottery officials on Monday said one of the two winning tickets was purchased at a 7-Eleven in Fort...
Bulldozer crushes 81-year-old man to death in Lancaster County
An 81-year-old tree worker was pronounced dead after a bulldozer ran him over Monday in Lancaster County, authorities said. Walter Shirk of Ephrata was working in a wooded area of a West Cocalico Township farm when he was killed around 3:15 p.m., according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. Ephrata...
Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will promise Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that codifies Roe v. Wade — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress for Biden to sign abortion protections into law. It’s the first time Biden has prioritized...
At $85 million, MacKenzie Scott gives Girl Scouts its largest-ever individual donation
NEW YORK — Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $84.5 million to Girl Scouts of the USA and 29 of its local branches, the 110-year-old organization said Tuesday, calling it a vote of confidence. “Her support of our organization means honestly just as much as the donation,” Sofia Chang, CEO of GSUSA,...
Comcast will boost internet speeds in Northeast states
For the second time this year, Comcast will boost internet speeds on its most popular Xfinity customer plans, the cable giant announced Monday. Comcast is facing continued competitive pressure from rivals, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Google Fiber, to increase speeds. This summer, Comcast announced that it had lost residential...
Liz Truss’ waning power brings political plots, and jokes
LONDON — Powerless, humiliated, labeled a “ghost” prime minister and compared unfavorably to a head of lettuce — this is not a good week for Liz Truss. Britain’s prime minister was scrambling to recover her grasp on power Tuesday after her economic plans were ripped up and repudiated by a...
Astronaut James McDivitt, Apollo 9 commander, dies at 93
WASHINGTON — James A. McDivitt, who commanded the Apollo 9 mission testing the first complete set of equipment to go to the moon, has died. He was 93. McDivitt was also the commander of 1965’s Gemini 4 mission, where his best friend and colleague Ed White made the first U.S....
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
WASHINGTON — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has...
House panel: Trump’s bills to Secret Service ‘exorbitant’
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times during his presidency, including two charges for more than $1,100 per room, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee. The...
Remains found in Oklahoma river belong to 4 missing men
OKMULGEE, Okla. — Four Oklahoma men who were last seen riding their bicycles more than a week ago were shot and dismembered, police said Monday, and a man considered a person of interest has since disappeared. Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said the bodies found late last week in the...
GOP goes to court again over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots
HARRISBURG — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s...
Trump’s CDC changed covid reports under political pressure, panel finds
The CDC bowed to the Trump administration’s demands to change the editorial process of its weekly scientific journal after warnings from then health secretary Alex Azar to “get in line,” a House investigation found. The pressure faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change the Morbidity and...
Police: Campaign signs in Bucks County found booby-trapped with razor blades
NEWTOWN — Political signs in southeastern Pennsylvania have been found booby-trapped with razor blades, which resulted in sliced fingers for one resident, police said. Upper Makefield Township police said Sunday that a campaign sign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro was placed without permission on someone’s property, and while trying...
Max needs your vote for Animal Kingdom — and to fight a terrible feline disease
Max needs your vote! The proud resident of Lower Burrell is in stiff national competition to win the Animal Kingdom contest, a branch of America’s Favorite Pet. He’s now in the semifinals. If he wins, the $10,000 prize will be donated to research to cure FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) —...
Pa. Election Day 2022: A complete guide to the Nov. 8 election
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 — On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will make their way to polling places to decide the governor’s race and U.S. Senate...
Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely
NEW YORK — A Connecticut jury’s ruling this week ordering Alex Jones to pay $965 million to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims he maligned was heartening for people disgusted by the muck of disinformation. Just don’t expect it to make conspiracy theories go away. The appetite for such hokum...
Clean Water Act at 50: environmental gains, challenges unmet
Lifelong Cleveland resident Steve Gove recalls when the Cuyahoga River symbolized shame — fetid, lifeless, notorious for catching fire when sparks from overhead rail cars ignited the oil-slicked surface. “It was pretty grungy,” said the 73-year-old, an avid canoeist in his youth who sometimes braved the filthy stretch through the...
Explainer: Killer drones vie for supremacy over Ukraine
They are precise, small in size, able to engage a target in relatively large numbers like a swarm of wasps and above all, they’re cheap. In Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drones have cemented their reputation as a potent, hard-to-stop and cost-effective weapon to seek out and destroy targets while simultaneously...
Application site launches for Biden student debt cancellation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department has begun accepting applications for President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation — a plan that makes 43 million Americans eligible for at least some debt forgiveness. Borrowers were notified late Friday that an early, “beta launch” version of a new online form was made...
