FBI’s Christopher Wray denounces threats following search of Trump home
OMAHA, Neb. — The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called...
17-year-old killed in wood chipper accident in Lehigh County is identified
A 17-year-old from Coplay died Tuesday when he was partially pulled into a commercial wood chipper in North Whitehall Township. Isiah M. Bedocs was pronounced dead at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, according to a news release from Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio. An autopsy, completed Wednesday morning, showed the...
Deputy coroner: House explosion in southern Indiana kills 3
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Three people were killed Wednesday when a house exploded in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, authorities said. Dave Anson, chief deputy coroner for Vanderburgh County, told The Associated Press that the identities of the people who died would not be released until the next of kin...
‘Self-professed’ white supremacist gets jail for Jan. 6 riot
A Maryland man described by the FBI as a “self-professed” white supremacist was sentenced on Wednesday to four months of incarceration for storming the U.S. Capitol while wearing a court-mandated device that tracked his movements, court records show. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly also sentenced Bryan Betancur to one year...
In Mississippi, a trespasser, a killing and DEA meddling
CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. — U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Harold Duane Poole was waiting with his semiautomatic service rifle — and an explanation — when deputies arrived at his sprawling wooded property on a warm spring night last year and found a bullet-riddled body near the driveway. A veteran of...
Suspect in Albuquerque Muslim killings denies involvement
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When pulled over by New Mexico police, the suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community — and told authorities he was so unnerved by the violence that he was...
What’s next for Alex Jones after $49M Sandy Hook verdict?
DALLAS — The nearly $50 million defamation verdict against Alex Jones for his years of lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is far from a final reckoning. Jones’ attorneys plan to appeal and try to lower the price tag a Texas jury put on his false claim that...
Biden signs ‘burn pits’ help for vets; a personal win tooVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, whose elder son Beau died of cancer years after deploying to Iraq, signed legislation on Wednesday expanding federal health care services for millions of veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from huge “burn pits.” “We owe you,” Biden said. “You’re the...
Lower prices offer Americans slight reprieve from inflationVideo
WASHINGTON — Falling prices for gas, airline tickets and clothes gave Americans a little bit of relief last month, though overall inflation is still running at close to its highest level in four decades. Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, down...
Iranian operative charged in plot to murder John BoltonVideo
WASHINGTON — An Iranian operative has been charged in a plot to murder former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton in presumed retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed the country’s most powerful general, offering $300,000 to “eliminate” the Trump administration official, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Shahram Poursafi, identified...
Stacey Abrams tests positive for covid, has mild symptoms
ATLANTA — Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has covid-19, her campaign said Wednesday. Abrams campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd said Abrams tested positive for the respiratory illness Wednesday morning after giving a public speech on the economy Tuesday night in Atlanta. Abrams tests daily for covid, Floyd said, and had...
Russian oil shipments to central Europe expected to resume
PRAGUE — Oil shipments from Russia through a critical pipeline to several European countries should resume soon after a problem over payments for transit was resolved, Slovakia’s Economy Minister Richard Sulik said on Wednesday. “I expect the oil shipments to resume in hours,” Sulik said. Russian state pipeline operator Transneft...
Beluga whale lost in French river euthanized during rescue
PARIS — A beluga whale that became a French celebrity after a wrong turn took it up the Seine River had to be euthanized Wednesday after experiencing health complications during an urgent rescue operation, authorities said. The sparkling white marine mammal appeared deep inside France last week, having accidentally veered...
Wildfire in southwestern France: 6,000 people evacuated
PARIS — Firefighters were battling a wildfire in southwestern France on Wednesday in a region known for its pine forests that was ravaged by flames last month. The blaze forced the evacuation of about 6,000 people and destroyed at least sixteen houses. A major highway near the city of Bordeaux...
USPS to request rate increase due to inflation, DeJoy says
WASHINGTON — Inflation is going to add over $1 billion to the U.S. Postal Service budget, necessitating a request for another rate increase in January, but the service is well prepared for the November election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday. The Postal Service has already delivered about 40 million...
Donald Trump ‘took the Fifth.’ What does it actually mean?
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump showed up Wednesday for questioning under oath in New York’s civil investigation into his business practices. But he quickly made clear he wouldn’t be answering. The ex-president issued a statement saying he had done nothing wrong but was invoking the Fifth Amendment’s protection...
Trump says he took the 5th Amendment in New York investigationVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he testified under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general’s long-running civil investigation into his business dealings, the former president said in a statement. About an hour after arriving at Attorney General Letitia James’ Manhattan offices, Trump...
Police: New Jersey hospital executive had weapons stockpile in hospital closet
SECAUCUS, N.J. — The marketing director of a northern New Jersey hospital is facing weapons charges after a bomb threat yielded what police said was a cache of weapons in the hospital. According to police in Secaucus, the bomb threat — which later was determined to be bogus — was...
Pa. elections official blames spreadsheet for state’s mistake in certifying a county’s election results
A top elections official said that “human error” in tracking the results of the primary election on May 17 led Pennsylvania to inadvertently certify a county’s vote counts that the state deems to be inaccurate. The embarrassing revelation came in a filing before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, where the state...
2 super PACs are pouring tens of millions into Pennsylvania for Oz and Fetterman ads
Pennsylvania was already expected to have one of the most expensive Senate races in the country. Now two super PACs are spending big bucks booking TV time. The Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC focused on reclaiming the Senate, will pour an additional $9.5 million into promoting Mehmet Oz’s...
Nebraska woman charged with helping daughter have abortion
OMAHA — A Nebraska woman has been charged with helping her teenage daughter end her pregnancy at about 24 weeks after investigators uncovered Facebook messages in which the two discussed using medication to induce an abortion and plans to burn the fetus afterward. The prosecutor handling the case said it’s...
Pa. Rep. Scott Perry says FBI took his cellphone after Trump property search
U.S. Rep. Scott Perry said his cellphone was seized Tuesday morning by FBI agents carrying a search warrant. The circumstances surrounding the seizure were not immediately known. Perry, though, has been a figure in the congressional investigation into President Donald Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol...
Minnesota jail officers of color barred from guarding Derek Chauvin win $1.46 million settlement
MINNEAPOLIS — The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners settled a racial discrimination lawsuit Tuesday that would award eight correctional officers nearly $1.46 million. The officers filed the lawsuit after a jail superintendent barred officers of color from guarding Derek Chauvin because their race might be “liability” around him. The former...
Congress can get Trump tax records, federal appeals court rules
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court sided Tuesday with a House committee seeking access to former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, rejecting Trump’s contention that Congress was overstepping. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with a lower court judge’s decision...
Fulton County judge orders Rudy Giuliani to testify before grand jury next weekVideo
ATLANTA — A Fulton County judge is directing Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney to former President Donald Trump, to appear before a special purpose grand jury next week unless he can provide more detailed medical explanation from his doctor about why he must further delay his testimony. The comments from...
