Philly officer convicted of manslaughter in Black motorist’s deathVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A white Philadelphia police officer was convicted Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter and a weapons charge in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black motorist shot six seconds after the officer arrived on the scene. Officer Eric Ruch Jr. told jurors he feared for his life when he fired...
House passes election law overhaul in response to Jan. 6Video
WASHINGTON — The House has passed legislation to overhaul the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump’s failed attempt to remain in power. The bill, which is similar to bipartisan legislation moving through the...
Russian separatists release 10, including 2 US veterans
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two U.S. military veterans who disappeared three months ago while fighting Russia with Ukrainian forces were among 10 prisoners, including five British nationals, released by Russian-backed separatists after talks involving Saudi Arabia, relatives and government officials said Wednesday. Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27, went missing...
Regular private meetings among top Penn State trustees may be violating Pa.’s transparency law
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — For more than a decade, some of the most powerful members of...
Man pleads guilty to dousing ‘Bewitched’ statue in red paint
SALEM, Mass. — A man will be sentenced to 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to vandalizing the “Bewitched” statue by dousing the Salem, Massachusetts tourist attraction with red paint over the summer. The 32-year-old resident was originally sentenced to a year in jail, but a Salem district court...
Home Depot workers petition to form 1st store-wide union
NEW YORK — Home Depot workers in Philadelphia have filed a petition with the federal labor board to form what could be the first store-wide union at the world’s largest home improvement retailer. The petition, filed with the National Labor Relations Board this week, seeks to form a collective bargaining...
Trump accused of vast fraud in lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James
New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company for fraud on Wednesday, alleging they padded his net worth by billions of dollars by lying about the value of prized assets including golf courses, hotels and his homes at Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago. Attorney General Letitia James...
U.S. home sales slipped, prices grew more slowly in August
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in August for the seventh month in a row, as sharply higher mortgage rates and rising prices made homebuying less affordable, further cooling the once red-hot housing market. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that existing home sales fell 0.4% last month...
Judge prepares for Alex Jones to take stand in Connecticut
WATERBURY, Conn. — The judge overseeing the Connecticut trial of Alex Jones said Wednesday she is prepared to handle any incendiary testimony from the Infowars host when he is called to the stand this week in a defamation lawsuit filed by people who lost relatives in the Sandy Hook school...
Biden: Russia ‘shamelessly violated’ UN Charter in UkraineVideo
UNITED NATIONS — President Joe Biden declared at the United Nations Wednesday that Russia has “shamelessly violated the core tenets” of the U.N with its “brutal, needless war” in Ukraine. He said the war is an affront to the heart of what the international body stands for as he looked...
Putin orders partial military call-up, sparking protestsVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists Wednesday, taking a risky and deeply unpopular step that follows humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine. The first such call-up in Russia since World War II heightened tensions with Ukraine’s Western backers,...
Russians rush for flights out amid partial reservist call-up
BELGRADE, Serbia — Large numbers of Russians rushed to book one-way tickets out of the country while they still could Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of military reservists for the war in Ukraine. Flights filled up quickly and the prices of tickets for remaining connections...
Ex-cop Lane gets 3 years in plea deal for aiding George Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd was sentenced Wednesday to three years. Thomas Lane is already serving a 2 1/2-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. When it comes...
Illinois Lottery: 2 claim $1.337B Mega Millions jackpot
CHICAGO — Two people who wish to remain anonymous have claimed a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot after a single ticket to the late July drawing was sold in a Chicago suburb, lottery officials said Wednesday. The Illinois Lottery said the prize was claimed by two individuals who had agreed...
Michelle Obama plans 6-city tour for ‘The Light We Carry’
NEW YORK — Michelle Obama plans a six-city tour this fall in support of her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” beginning mid-November in Washington. D.C. and ending a month later in Los Angeles. “I’m looking forward to making some new connections — and of course,...
Fauci tempers Biden’s declaration that pandemic is ‘over’
Not so fast, Mr. President. Outgoing presidential covid adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday walked back President Joe Biden’s assertion that the coronavirus pandemic was “over.” A lot depends on how we respond to current variables and future virus variants, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said during a fireside...
Mail ballot fight persists in key states, sure to slow count
HARRISBURG — Former President Donald Trump and his allies seized on the drawn-out processing and counting in Pennsylvania during the 2020 election to fuel his false claims that fraud cost him victory in the battleground state. Election officials worry that a replay could be on the horizon for November’s midterm...
Iran faces global criticism, protests over woman’s deathVideo
Iran faced international criticism on Tuesday over the death of a woman held by its morality police, which ignited three days of protests, including clashes with security forces in the capital and other unrest that claimed at least three lives. The U.N. human rights office called for an investigation. The...
Migrants sue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Martha’s Vineyard flightsVideo
BOSTON — Venezuelan migrants flown to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his transportation secretary Tuesday for engaging in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that the migrants were told they were...
Sen. Joe Manchin rails against ‘revenge politics’ on permit planVideo
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called “revenge politics,” as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy...
Arbiter in Trump documents probe signals intent to move quicklyVideo
WASHINGTON — The independent arbiter tasked with inspecting documents seized in an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home said Tuesday he intends to push briskly though the review process and appeared skeptical of the Trump team’s reluctance to say whether it believed the records had been declassified....
Video shows ‘unauthorized access’ to Georgia election equipmentVideo
ATLANTA — A Republican Party official in Georgia told a computer forensics team to copy components of the voting system at a rural elections office two months after the 2020 election and spent nearly all day there, contradicting her sworn deposition testimony about her role in the alleged breach of...
NTSB wants all new vehicles to check drivers for alcohol use
DETROIT — The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new vehicles in the U.S. be required to have blood-alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an intoxicated person from driving. The recommendation, if enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, could reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, one...
DA: 10 Middletown students face juvenile court charges in hazing case
MIDDLETOWN — A Pennsylvania prosecutor announced charges in juvenile court Tuesday against 10 students in connection with alleged hazing of high school football players that prompted cancellation of the team’s season. Dauphin County prosecutors said two Middletown players will face attempted sexual assault charges and eight others face other counts...
Judge holds gun ban for felony defendants unconstitutional
PECOS, Texas — A U.S. law banning those under felony indictments from buying guns is unconstitutional, a federal judge in West Texas ruled this week. U.S. District Judge David Counts, whom then-President Donald Trump appointed to the federal bench, dismissed a federal indictment against Jose Gomez Quiroz that had charged...
