Alex Jones concedes Sandy Hook attack was ‘100% real’Video
AUSTIN, Texas — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones testified Wednesday that he now understands it was irresponsible of him to declare the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre a hoax and that he now believes it was “100% real.” Speaking a day after the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed...
Dolly Parton among Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy winners
NEW YORK — Country superstar Dolly Parton, who made a big donation to help fund coronavirus vaccine research in 2020, is among this year’s Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients. Also being honored are Dallas entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, from the Oklahoma investment...
Pelosi says U.S. will not abandon Taiwan as China protests
TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan after a visit that heightened tensions with China, saying Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in her delegation showed they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island. Pelosi, the first U.S. speaker to visit the island...
Los Angeles OKs sweeping ban on homeless camps near schools
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers during a meeting that was disrupted by protesters who said it criminalizes homelessness. The council voted 11-3 to vastly broaden an existing ban on sitting, sleeping or camping...
Spain is latest nation with reports of nightclub needle jabs
MADRID — Police in Spain are investigating about 50 reported cases of women getting pricked with medical needles while at nightclubs or parties, a trend that previously came to the attention of authorities in other European countries. So far, Spanish police have not confirmed any cases of sexual assault or...
Primary night takeaways: Abortion backlash in Kansas, Greitens’ collapse
WASHINGTON — In one of the biggest days of this year’s primary campaign season, voters rejected a measure that would have made it easier to restrict abortion rights in red-state Kansas and repudiated a scandal-tarred former governor seeking a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri. Meanwhile, a Republican congressman who voted...
Former special education teacher from West Virginia gets 10 years in abuse caseVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former special education teacher in West Virginia was sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison Tuesday for abusing several students. Nancy Boggs was sentenced in Kanawha County Circuit Court stemming from incidents last September at Holz Elementary School in Charleston, news outlets reported. “You turned...
Kansas voters protect abortion rights, block path to ban
TOPEKA — Kansas voters on Tuesday protected the right to get an abortion in their state, rejecting a measure that would have allowed their Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten abortion restrictions or ban it outright. The referendum in the conservative state was the first test of U.S. voter sentiment about abortion...
Hessian remains unearthed at Revolutionary War battle site near PhiladelphiaVideo
NATIONAL PARK, N.J. — Researchers believe they have uncovered in a mass grave in New Jersey the remains of as many as 12 Hessian soldiers who fought during the Revolutionary War, officials announced Tuesday. The remains, found at the site of Fort Mercer and the 1777 Battle of Red Bank,...
Senate approves bill to aid veterans exposed to toxic burn pitsVideo
WASHINGTON — A bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol. The bill now goes...
U.S. sues Idaho over abortion law, cites medical treatmentVideo
BOISE — The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit that challenges Idaho’s restrictive abortion law, arguing that it conflicts with a federal law requiring doctors to provide pregnant women medically necessary treatment that could include abortion. The federal government brought the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state’s “criminal prohibition...
Pa. Supreme Court upholds no-excuse mail voting ahead of midterms
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 — The state Supreme Court has upheld Pennsylvania’s mail ballot law, preserving for the time being a popular voting method...
Penn State avoids questions over handling of sex extortion of student athletes
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 — More than two weeks after unsealed search warrants revealed at least one...
Judge won’t delay Oath Keepers’ trial over Jan. 6 hearings
Members of the far-right Oath Keepers’ extremist group charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will face jurors this fall after a judge on Tuesday denied defense attorneys’ bid to delay the high-profile trial until next year. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath...
Inflation is hitting ACA health insurance plans in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvanians who plan to shop later this year on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange are unlikely to find shelter from the inflation that has engulfed other areas of the economy, according to a preview offered Monday by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The insurance department said health insurers requested a...
Bonus property tax and rent rebate arriving soon for eligible Pennsylvanians
Older and disabled Pennsylvanians who qualify for the state’s property tax and rent rebate program have been waiting for word on when they can expect their one-time bonus rebate to arrive. On Tuesday, the state Department of Revenue announced it anticipates the extra rebates will begin being mailed or sent...
Ahmaud Arbery pursuer seeks leniency in hate crimes sentence
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The white man who initiated the neighborhood chase that resulted in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery is asking a federal judge to show leniency when he’s sentenced next week for a federal hate crime conviction. While Greg McMichael deserves “a substantial period of incarceration,” his defense...
8 Pa. congress members endorse GOP’s Doug Mastriano for governor
HARRISBURG — Eight of Pennsylvania’s representatives to the U.S. House, all Republicans who voted against certifying the state’s electoral results in the 2020 presidential election, formally endorsed state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the gubernatorial election. U.S. Reps. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, Mike Kelly, Lloyd Smucker, John Joyce, Fred Keller, Dan Meuser,...
Justices uphold Pennsylvania’s 2019 mail-in voting expansion
HARRISBURG — A wide expansion of mail-in voting in Pennsylvania survived a legal challenge on Tuesday before the state Supreme Court in a case brought by some of the same Republican state representatives who voted for the legislation nearly three years ago. Millions of state voters have chosen to cast...
Even simple exercise may help aging brain, study hints
New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older Americans with mild memory problems. Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit. But the government-funded study marks the longest test of whether exercise makes any difference once memory starts to slide...
Kansas 1st state to vote on abortion since Roe’s demise
Kansas on Tuesday was holding the nation’s first test of voter feelings about the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, with people throughout the state deciding whether to allow their conservative Legislature to further restrict or ban abortion. The referendum on the proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas...
Stephen King testifies for government in books merger trial
WASHINGTON — Bestselling author Stephen King gingerly stepped up to the witness stand Tuesday in a federal antitrust trial. Tracing his own history, he laid out a portrait of a publishing industry that has become increasingly concentrated over the years while richly rewarding his creative endeavors. “My name is Stephen...
Sandy Hook dad says Alex Jones made his life a ‘living hell’Video
AUSTIN, Texas — Fighting back tears and finally given the chance to confront conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the parents of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting described being put through a “living hell” of death threats, harassment and ongoing trauma over the last decade caused...
Bishop accused in lawsuit of abusing child decades ago
BOSTON — A former parishioner at a Massachusetts church has filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused as a child more than 30 years ago by a Roman Catholic priest who is now an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The plaintiff, identified in court documents as John...
After the rain comes the heat in flooded Kentucky towns
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The rain that unleashed massive floods in Appalachian mountain communities was diminishing on Tuesday, leaving survivors to face a new threat: baking in the heat as they try to recover. “It’s going to get really, really hot. And that is now our new weather challenge,” Kentucky Gov....
