Florida Democrats choose Rep. Crist to challenge DeSantis
MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist won the Democratic nomination for governor in Florida on Tuesday, putting him in position to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis this fall in a campaign that the Republican incumbent is eyeing as the first step toward a potential White House run. U.S. Rep. Val Demings...
After delay, Biden readies student loan help, payment pause
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to announce his long-delayed move to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for many Americans and extend a pause on payments to January, according to three people familiar with the plan. Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide...
More than 100 classified Trump docs recovered back in January
WASHINGTON — The National Archives and Records Administration recovered more than 100 documents bearing classified markings, totaling more than 700 pages, from an initial batch of 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, according to newly public government correspondence with the Trump legal team. The numbers make clear the...
Former Louisville cop pleads guilty in Breonna Taylor case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former Louisville police detective who helped falsify the warrant that led to the deadly police raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Federal investigators said Kelly Goodlett added a false line to the warrant and later conspired with another detective...
Officers won’t face any charges in Rayshard Brooks shooting
MORROW, Ga. — Two white Atlanta police officers who clashed with Rayshard Brooks acted reasonably during the 2020 encounter that ended with the 27-year-old Black man’s fatal shooting, a specially appointed prosecutor said Tuesday in announcing his decision not to pursue charges against the pair. Pete Skandalakis, executive director of...
Paul Pelosi gets 5 days in jail, 3 years of probation in DUI
SAN FRANCISCO — The husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor driving under the influence charges related to a May crash in California’s wine country and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation. Paul Pelosi already served two days in...
Pfizer covid shots appear 73% effective in children under 5
Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine was 73% effective in protecting children younger than 5 as omicron spread in the spring, the company announced Tuesday. Vaccinations for babies, toddlers and preschoolers opened in the U.S. in June after months of delay. Only about 6% of youngsters ages 6 months through 4 years had...
2 men convicted in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, delivering swift verdicts in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists. The result...
On eve of Ukraine’s national day, fears Russia will pounce
KYIV, Ukraine — On the eve of Ukraine’s independence day and Russia’s invasion of its neighbor reaching the six-month mark, warnings that Moscow might try to spoil the national holiday by attacking significant government and civilian targets caused unease in the war-weary country Tuesday. The United States reinforced the worry...
Guatemala follows money in migrant smuggling investigations
GUATEMALA CITY — When Guatemalan investigators raided the home of the alleged leader of a migrant smuggling ring in mountains near the Mexican border, they found some $51,000 in coins, nearly 100 slot machines and late-model vehicles purchased with cash. They arrested David Coronado Pérez and nine others, three of...
Whistleblower accuses Twitter of cybersecurity negligence
A former head of security at Twitter alleged that the company misled regulators about its poor cybersecurity defenses and its negligence in attempting to root out fake accounts that spread disinformation, according to a whistleblower complaint filed with U.S. officials. The revelation could create serious legal and financial problems for...
Luxurious 1,200-year-old mansion found in southern Israel
JERUSALEM — Archaeologists unearthed a lavish 1,200-year-old estate in Israel’s desert south that offers a unique glimpse of life for wealthy residents of the Negev region, the country’s antiquities authority said Tuesday. The discovery in the Bedouin town of Rahat dates to the early Islamic period in the 8th or...
Poll: Most in U.S. say they want stricter gun laws
CHICAGO — Most U.S. adults want to see gun laws made stricter and think gun violence is increasing nationwide, according to a new poll that finds broad public support for a variety of gun restrictions, including many that are supported by majorities of Republicans and gun owners. The poll by...
Man fired shots at Pa. Walmart because someone laughed at him, police say
A Harrisburg man said he started firing a gun inside a busy Dauphin County Walmart on Sunday evening because his pride was hurt, court documents said. Luis D. Jose, 27, shot a man around 5:17 p.m. in the electronics section of the Walmart in Swatara Township, police said. As shots...
Court orders release of memo about Russia probe from Justice Department to Barr
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department must release a 2019 memo advising then-Attorney General Bill Barr on how to handle the conclusion of the Mueller investigation and the department’s decision not to charge Donald Trump, a federal appeals court ruled. The 3-0 decision Friday, by a panel of judges of...
Freezing state officials’ pay this year ‘is the right thing to do,’ Pa. lawmaker says
Pennsylvania’s rank-and-file lawmakers could see their salaries rise above $100,000 in December, but some members are seeking legislation to freeze or eliminate the automatic pay raises they receive. House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove, R-York County, said he supports a pay freeze to ensure — at least this year...
Colorado GOP senator becomes Democrat, cites vote falsehoods
DENVER — Citing alarm toward the Republican Party’s widespread embrace of 2020 election conspiracies, a moderate GOP Colorado state senator has switched his affiliation to Democrat, enhancing that party’s prospects to retain its majority in the chamber in the November midterms. Kevin Priola, who represents Adams County in Denver’s suburbs,...
Trump seeks special master to review Mar-a-Lago documents
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge Monday to halt the FBI’s review of documents recovered from his Florida estate earlier this month until a neutral special master can be appointed to inspect the records. The request was included in a federal lawsuit, the first...
Donald Trump to rally for Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania
Former President Donald Trump will appear at a rally on Sept. 3 in Wilkes-Barre to boost Republican candidates Mehmet Oz and state Sen. Doug Mastriano in their key midterm election campaigns. The rally at Mohegan Sun Arena comes a little more than two months before Election Day in a race...
Heavy rain floods streets across Dallas-Fort Worth areaVideo
DALLAS — Heavy rain across the drought-stricken Dallas-Fort Worth area on Monday caused streets to flood, submerging vehicles as officials warned motorists to stay off the roads and water seeped into some homes and businesses. “The Dallas-Fort Worth area was pretty much ground zero for the heaviest rain overnight,” said...
New space telescope shows Jupiter’s auroras, tiny moons
The world’s newest and biggest space telescope is showing Jupiter as never before, auroras and all. Scientists released the shots Monday of the solar system’s biggest planet. The James Webb Space Telescope took the photos in July, capturing unprecedented views of Jupiter’s northern and southern lights, and swirling polar haze....
Commonwealth Court orders Pa.’s health department to release information on medical marijuana program
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 — A panel of Commonwealth Court judges has ordered the Wolf administration to reveal how many medical marijuana patients have...
Atlanta police: 2 killed, 1 shot in Midtown neighborhood
ATLANTA — A woman shot and killed two people and wounded a third Monday at two different locations in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood and was later taken into custody at the city’s airport, police said. Atlanta police said they did not immediately know what prompted the attack, but they believe the...
Family sues Georgia sheriff over drug raid that killed woman
WOODBINE, Ga. — The family of a woman killed by gunfire last year as Georgia sheriff’s deputies executed a drug warrant at her cousin’s home announced a federal lawsuit Monday against the sheriff and others, claiming the deadly raid violated the slain woman’s civil rights. Attorneys for the family of...
Attorney: Florida school shooter was a ‘damaged person’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s lead attorney, his Valentine’s Day 2018 massacre of 17 people didn’t begin when he stepped into a building at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire with his AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Public defender Melisa McNeill told the jury...
