Trump supporters’ threats to judge spur democracy concerns
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of federal judges face the same task every day: review an affidavit submitted by federal agents and approve requests for a search warrant. But for U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the fallout from his decision to approve a search warrant has been far from routine. He has...
Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty, testify against company
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s chief financial officer is expected to plead guilty to tax violations Thursday in a deal that would require him to testify about illicit business practices at the former president’s company, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Allen Weisselberg is charged with...
Children’s hospitals harassed over transgender care programs
BOSTON — Doctors and other staffers at Boston Children’s Hospital are being threatened with violence over its surgical program for transgender youths, administrators said, and other U.S. children’s hospitals are also being harassed online. Boston Children’s is home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United...
Giant sharks once roamed the seas, feasting on huge meals
NEW YORK — Today’s sharks have nothing on their ancient cousins. A giant shark that roamed the oceans millions of years ago could have devoured a creature the size of a killer whale in just five bites, new research suggests. For their study published Wednesday, researchers used fossil evidence to...
Pa. lawmakers are set to get huge raises next year
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 — Fiscal responsibility is an axiom in Harrisburg, but nearly none of Pennsylvania’s 253 state lawmakers seem to mind when...
Judge: Pharmacies owe 2 Ohio counties $650M in opioids suit
CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, claiming the way they distributed opioids to customers caused severe harm to communities and created a public nuisance. U.S. District...
Kids-for-cash judges ordered to pay more than $200M
Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 million...
Rudy Giuliani says he ‘satisfied’ obligation with Georgia grand juryVideo
ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he had “satisfied his obligation” after facing hours of questioning Wednesday before a special grand jury in Atlanta as a target of an investigation into attempts by former President Donald Trump and others to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. In an...
U.S. traffic deaths, once in decline, continue to rise in 2022
DETROIT — U.S. traffic fatalities began to climb two years ago and that deadly trend is continuing in 2022. Roadway deaths rose 7% during the first three months of the year to 9,560 people, the highest number for a first quarter in two decades, according to estimates by the National...
Wisconsin school board votes in favor of pride flag ban
WALES, Wis. — A Wisconsin school board voted in favor of a policy that prohibits teachers and staff from displaying gay pride flags and other items that district officials consider political in nature. The Kettle Moraine School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to keep a code of conduct in place that...
Scientists seek to develop hybrid coral reef off of Miami
MIAMI — Scientists and students from the University of Miami dove into the dark waters a few miles off the shores of Miami this week as part of an effort to develop hybrid reefs. The team from the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science was on a mission...
CDC director announces ‘reset’ aimed at speed, fixing flaws in agency
NEW YORK — The head of the nation’s top public health agency on Wednesday announced a shake-up of the organization, intended to make it more nimble. The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC leaders call it a “reset”— come amid ongoing criticism of the...
Man dies in shootout with would-be robber in Alabama woods
ASHLAND, Ala. — A Florida college student exploring the Alabama wilderness with his girlfriend was fatally wounded during a shootout with a would-be robber who appeared to be living with others in the woods, authorities said. Adam Simjee, 22, was shot to death in the Talladega National Forest near popular...
Pence tells GOP to stop lashing out at FBI over Trump searchVideo
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday implored fellow Republicans to stop lashing out at the FBI over the search of Donald Trump’s Florida home and denounced calls by some of the former president’s allies to defund the FBI, saying that was “just as wrong” as a...
U.S. retail sales were flat in July as inflation takes a toll
WASHINGTON — The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged last month as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates forced many households to spend more cautiously. Retail purchases were flat in July after having risen 0.8% in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. America’s consumers, whose spending accounts...
Couple arrested for having sex on Cedar Point ride, police say
In full view of four young girls, a couple allegedly had sex while on the Giant Wheel ride at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio. And, according to the girls, the couple “knew that they were watching and started laughing and continued their behavior.” The Sandusky Police Department has charged...
NASA’s moon rocket moved to launch pad for 1st test flight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its debut flight in less than two weeks. The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers. It took nearly 10 hours for the...
Florida court says 16-year-old in state care is too immature to choose abortion
Jane Doe 22-B, a 16-year-old in the care of Florida child welfare authorities, lacks the maturity to be allowed to terminate her 10-week-pregnancy, an Escambia County judge said. She will have to grow up fast: Under a ruling handed down by an appeals court Monday, Jane may be forced to...
Trump foe Liz Cheney defeated in Wyoming GOP primary; mulls 2024 bidVideo
CHEYENNE — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican adversary in Congress, soundly lost a GOP primary, falling to a rival backed by the former president in a rout that reinforced his grip on the party’s base. The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered Tuesday downbeat about her prospects,...
Doug Mastriano challenges Josh Shapiro to 2 debates, but only on his terms
State Sen. Doug Mastriano has proposed two debates in October with Attorney General Josh Shapiro, his Democratic rival for Pennsylvania’s governor’s office, but this particular offer appears to be dead on arrival. The Republican nominee’s proposed rules of engagement — cutting out all outside organizers and allowing debate questions only...
Western states hit with water cuts but rebuffs call for deeper onesVideo
SALT LAKE CITY — For the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the West endures more drought, federal officials announced Tuesday. The cuts planned for next year will force states to make...
New Scottish law makes period products free for all
LONDON — A law has taken effect in Scotland to ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone who needs them. The Scottish government said it became the first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products when its Period Products Act came...
Donald Trump’s angry words spur warnings of real violence
WASHINGTON — A man armed with an AR-15 dies in a shootout after trying to breach FBI offices in Cincinnati. A Pennsylvania man is arrested after he posts death threats against agents on social media. In cyberspace, calls for armed uprisings and civil war grow stronger. This could be just...
Georgia election data copied under direction of Trump attorney Sidney Powell
ATLANTA — A group of Donald Trump supporters copied a trove of sensitive Georgia election files in Coffee County after the 2020 presidential election, a breach that included data from an election server, voter check-in computers and ballot memory cards, according to documents produced in response to subpoenas. Trump attorney...
Wolf signs executive order discouraging LGBTQ conversion therapy
Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday used his pen to strip funding towards a controversial practice that is typically used on LGBTQ youth. Wolf signed an executive order directing state agencies to discourage the use of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a controversial practice of attempting to change a person’s sexual...
