Many trapped in Florida as Ian heads toward South Carolina
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through flooded streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and left millions in the dark. Hours after weakening to a tropical depression while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday...
NATO believes Baltic Sea gas leaks were sabotage
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — NATO said Thursday it would retaliate for any attacks on the critical infrastructure of its 30 member countries as it suggested that damage to two gas pipelines off Denmark and would-be member Sweden in international waters in the Baltic Sea is the result of sabotage. “Any deliberate...
Network nightly newscasts morph, adapt for the streaming age
NEW YORK — For more than half a century, ABC, CBS and NBC have aired evening newscasts each weeknight on television. This fall, the competition has spread to another medium. The launch of John Dickerson’s “CBS News Prime Time” in September means that all three news divisions have unique streaming...
Kremlin set to annex 4 regions of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” on living under Moscow’s rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin...
Mehmet Oz picks up key endorsement from national business organization for his ‘pro-growth’ views
When it comes to who should be a voice for Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for the next six years, the world’s largest business organization has chosen Republican candidate Mehmet Oz. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced it was endorsing Oz in the hotly contested race against Democrat...
Doug Mastriano said in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban should be charged with murder
Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, suggested in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban he proposed should be charged with murder, a position considered far outside the political mainstream. In a radio interview with WITF, Mastriano — then a state senator — was asked about legislation...
Sidney Powell’s claims against Dominion Voting tossed by judge
Former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell’s countersuit challenging a voting machine maker’s $1.3 billion defamation suit against her was dismissed by a federal judge. Powell, who widely spread a false conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems Inc. rigged the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump, claimed that the company was...
At least 6 people wounded in shooting at school in OaklandVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — At least six adults were wounded in a shooting at a school campus in Oakland on Wednesday, with at least some of the victims found inside the school, authorities said. The shooting took place around 12:45 p.m. at Rudsdale Newcomer High School, authorities said. The school serves...
Explainer: Doug Mastriano’s plan for Pennsylvania school choice
HARRISBURG — During his campaign, Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has alluded to proposals that would be a transformative overhaul of the state’s more than $30 billion K-12 education system, with public dollars eligible to fund students’ private education. Mastriano’s sometimes conflicting statements have overall shown an effort to...
Biden on ending hunger in U.S.: ‘I know we can do this’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday his administration’s goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by the end of the decade was ambitious but doable, if only the nation would work together toward achieving it. “I know we can do this,” Biden told an auditorium full of public health...
Europe ramps up energy security after suspected sabotage
BRUSSELS — European companies are ramping up security around pipelines and energy prices are climbing again as the suspected sabotage of two pipelines that deliver natural gas from Russia underscored the vulnerability of Europe’s energy infrastructure and prompted the EU to warn of possible retaliation. Some European officials and energy...
Ollie’s sets world record for largest bobblehead with 16-foot tall, oversized mascotVideo
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has joined the Guinness World Record books after revealing an oversized, bobblehead replica of Ollie, their beloved and long-time mascot. The company hosted the event at their Harrisburg store on 6295 Allentown Blvd. in celebration of its 40th birthday. The official measurements for the bobblehead stands at...
Clergy strive to reconcile politically divided congregations
One member of Rabbi David Wolpe’s diverse congregation left because Wolpe would not preach sermons criticizing Donald Trump. Scores of others left over resentment with the synagogue’s rules for combating covid-19. But Wolpe remains steadfast in his resolve to avoid politics when he preaches at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles....
Study: Heat wave led to unprecedented melt of Swiss glaciers
GENEVA — Switzerland’s glaciers are melting like never before, an academic study released Wednesday found, with their ice volume declining by 6% this year amid rising concerns about global warming and a summer heat wave that swept across Europe. The Swiss Academy of Sciences reported that the shrinkage of ice...
Russia poised to annex occupied Ukraine after sham vote
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia was poised Wednesday to formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held a Kremlin-orchestrated “referendum” — denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal and rigged — on living under Moscow’s rule. Armed troops had gone door-to-door with election officials to collect ballots in five...
Schools like Penn State self-police student-athlete endorsement deals
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. A unanimous 2021 Supreme Court decision opened the door to student-athletes earning money for their “name, image, and likeness” — often...
Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in early results of study
Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s. The drugmaker said...
People trapped, 2.5M without power as Ian drenches FloridaVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people as it dumped rain across the peninsula on Thursday. One of the strongest hurricanes...
How to apply for a Pa. property tax or rent rebate
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 — Pennsylvania’s rent and property tax rebate program — which helps older and disabled residents offset the rising cost of...
California murder suspect, teen daughter killed in shootout
LOS ANGELES — An abducted 15-year-old girl and her father — a fugitive wanted in the death of the teen’s mother — were both killed amid a shootout with law enforcement Tuesday on a highway in California’s high desert, authorities said. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus did not specify...
Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for wind, floodingVideo
HAVANA — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday, knocking out power to the entire country and leaving 11 million people without electricity, before churning on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters amid expectations it would strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm....
Capitol rioter Kyle Young a ‘one-man wrecking ball,’ gets 7-year term
DES MOINES, Iowa — A judge sentenced a Capitol rioter to seven years in prison Tuesday, calling the Iowa man a “one-man wrecking ball” who helped in a sustained assault on a police officer. Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Kyle Young in U.S. District Court in Washington to the long...
Teen killed, 4 wounded in shooting after football scrimmage at Philly area high school
PHILADELPHIA — A 14-year-old youth was killed and four other students wounded in a shooting near a northwest Philadelphia high school athletic field after a football scrimmage, authorities said. Police said players were walking off the field behind Roxborough High School after a scrimmage involving three schools when at least...
Mitch McConnell backs post-Jan. 6 revisions to elections lawVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he will “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection. The legislation would clarify and expand parts of the 1887 Electoral Count Act,...
Virginia students protest Gov. Youngkin’s transgender policiesVideo
McLEAN, Va. — Student activists held school walkouts Tuesday across Virginia to protest Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to the state’s guidance on transgender student policies, revisions that would roll back some accommodations. Beginning Tuesday morning, students streamed out of their classrooms to decry the model policies unveiled earlier...
