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....
Uvalde rekindles school police officer’s looming fears
AURORA, Colo. — Tony Ramaeker averages around 14,000 steps a day as he walks around the Nebraska high school where he is assigned to work as a sheriff’s deputy, greeting students arriving in the morning, wandering the hallways to talk to them and watching out for those who might be...
Indiana House proposes new changes to Senate’s abortion ban
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House proposed new changes Tuesday to a state Senate-approved abortion ban, with additional exceptions to protect the health of the mother and adjusting the time frame when abortion would be permitted in cases of rape and incest. Republican Rep. Wendy McNamara, of Evansville, who sponsors the...
U.S. House Speaker Pelosi arrives in Taiwan, defying BeijingVideo
TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday, becoming the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island claimed by China, which quickly announced that it would conduct military maneuvers in retaliation for her presence. Pelosi arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force...
Russia brands Ukrainian steel plant defenders as terrorists
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Ukraine’s Azov Regiment a terrorist organization, a designation that could lead to terror charges against some of the captured fighters who made their last stand inside Mariupol’s shattered steel plant. Scores of Azov fighters are being prisoner held by Moscow since...
Kremlin says nuclear arms control talks hinge on U.S. goodwill
MOSCOW — The Kremlin said Tuesday that it’s ready for talks with the United States on nuclear arms control even as Moscow and Washington have remained locked in a tense standoff over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Commenting on U.S. President Joe Biden’s statement that Washington is open for talks on...
2 bodies found in burned vehicle in California wildfire zoneVideo
YREKA, Calif. — Two bodies were found inside a charred vehicle in a driveway in the wildfire zone of a raging California blaze that was among several menacing thousands of homes Monday in the Western U.S., officials said. Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger...
House lawmakers seek to question DHS watchdog staff on missing Secret Service texts
WASHINGTON — Leaders of two House panels want the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General to answer questions about what they say are possible attempts to cover up the loss of Secret Service texts tied to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter Monday, Committee on Oversight...
Arizona official refutes review that counted 282 dead voters
PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Monday his investigators found just one dead voter after thoroughly reviewing findings from a partisan review of the 2020 election that alleged 282 ballots were cast in the name of someone who had died. The finding by the Republican attorney general, who...
Greensburg-area dentist found guilty in wife’s death on 2016 African safari
DENVER — A wealthy dentist accused of fatally shooting his wife in the heart with a shotgun at the end of an African safari was found guilty of murder and mail fraud on Monday. A jury of six men and six women reached the verdict for Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph following...
Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought ‘justice’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he hailed as delivering “justice” while expressing hope that it brings “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...
Psychiatrist says Sandy Hook parents fear for their lives
AUSTIN, Texas — The parents of a Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim live with a complex form of post-traumatic stress disorder and a constant fear that followers of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will kill them, a psychiatrist testified Monday at Jones’ defamation trial. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, parents...
Minnesota man charged in deadly Wisconsin attack on tubers
HUDSON, Wis. — A 52-year-old Minnesota man was charged Monday in a stabbing attack on people who were tubing during the weekend on a river in western Wisconsin, including a teenager who was killed and four other people who were wounded. Nicolae Miu, of Prior Lake, Minn., is charged with...
Third-party candidates file to run for Pennsylvania governor, Senate
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania third-party candidates for governor and U.S. Senate have filed paperwork ahead of a Monday deadline to get on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, potentially making a crucial difference in the high-stakes races. Three parties — the Keystone Party, the Libertarian Party and the Green Party —...
Texas man who stormed Capitol with gun gets 87 months in prisonVideo
WASHINGTON — A Texas man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun helmet and body armor was sentenced on Monday to 87 months — more than seven years — in prison, the longest sentence imposed so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Prosecutors said Guy Reffitt...