A dad’s anguish outside Texas school while shooting unfolded
UVALDE, Texas — Javier Cazares raced to his daughter’s school when he heard there was a shooting, leaving his truck running with the door open as he ran into the school yard. In his rush, he didn’t bring his gun. He spent the next 35 to 45 agonizing minutes scanning...
Coal ash workers dying as lawsuit over illnesses drags on
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In 2013, the first of more than 200 workers who labored to clean up the nation’s worst coal ash spill filed a suit against the contractor, blaming Jacobs Engineering for illnesses they believe were caused by exposure to heavy metals and radioactive particles in the ash. Nearly...
Ronnie Hawkins, rockabilly singer and key figure in formation of the Band, dies at 87
Ronnie Hawkins, the rowdy rockabilly singer who was instrumental in the formation of the pioneering Americana group the Band, died on Sunday. He was 87. His wife, Wanda, confirmed his death to the Canadian Press; she didn’t reveal the cause of death but said he’d been in poor health. The...
Police: 6 wounded in shooting in Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Police in Tennessee said six people were wounded during an exchange of gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga business district. At least one person of interest was detained shortly after the shooting Saturday night, police spokesperson Jeremy Eames said Sunday in a news release. The statement did not...
Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul arrested for DUI in California
Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, was arrested late Saturday and charged with driving under the influence in California, booking records show. The arrest was made in Napa County, Calif., and the 82-year-old Paul was booked early Sunday morning. He was hit with...
1st of 2022, Hurricane Agatha heads for Mexico tourist townsVideo
MEXICO CITY — The first hurricane of the season formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast Sunday and rapidly gained power ahead of an expected strike along a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns. Hurricane Agatha could make landfall at close to major hurricane force Monday in the area near...
Agency: 1 dead, 7 injured in Oklahoma festival shooting
TAFT, Okla. — Authorities said one person was killed and seven were injured in a shooting early Sunday at an outdoor festival in eastern Oklahoma, with a witness describing frantic people running for cover as the gunfire erupted. Two juveniles were among those shot at the Memorial Day event near...
Gun sales, permits surged during the pandemic in Philly and Pennsylvania
In Uvalde, Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, after picking up two powerful, AR-15-style rifles ordered through an online seller shortly after his 18th birthday — something that would have also been perfectly legal in Pennsylvania. Here, over the last two years, more...
Justice Department to review response to Texas school shooting
UVALDE, Texas — The Justice Department said Sunday it will review the law enforcement response to the Texas school shooting, an unusual federal look back prompted by questions about the shifting and at times contradictory information from authorities that have enraged a community in shock and sorrow. Department spokesman Anthony...
Russians storm city, shell east Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits
POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian troops traded blows in fierce close-quarter combat Sunday in an eastern Ukrainian city as Moscow’s soldiers, supported by intense shelling, attempted to gain a strategic foothold to conquer the region. Ukraine’s leader made a rare frontline visit to the city of Kharkiv as he...
Uvalde tells Biden to ‘do something’; he pledges ‘we will’
UVALDE, Texas — President Joe Biden sought Sunday to comfort a city grieving the killings of 19 elementary school pupils and two teachers at the hands of a lone gunman. Faced with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service to meet privately with the families, Biden responded:...
Governors diverge on gun control, school security efforts
As the U.S. mourns the victims of its latest mass shooting — 19 elementary school students and two teachers gunned down in Texas — Democratic governors are amplifying their calls for greater restrictions on guns. Many Republican governors are emphasizing a different solution: more security at schools. The divide among...
As U.S. mourns shootings, NRA in turmoil but influence remains
HOUSTON — For a brief moment in 2012, it seemed like a national stalemate over guns was breaking. Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old gunman, had forced his way into a Connecticut elementary school and massacred 26 people, mostly children, with an AR-15-style rifle. Flags flew at half-staff. A sporting goods chain...
Christian nationalism on the rise in some GOP campaigns
PITTSBURGH — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise. Mastriano opened his remarks by evoking Scripture: “God...
Air travelers face cancellations over Memorial Day weekend
Airline travelers are not only facing sticker shock this Memorial Day weekend, the kickoff to the summer travel season. They’re also dealing with a pileup of flight cancellations. More than 1,200 flights were canceled as of 2 p.m EST Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. That followed more than...
FBI records on search for fabled Pennsylvania gold raise more questions
A scientific analysis commissioned by the FBI shortly before agents went digging for buried treasure suggested that a huge quantity of gold could be below the surface, according to newly released government documents and photos that deepen the mystery of the 2018 excavation in remote western Pennsylvania. The report, by...
Hundreds protest outside NRA convention in Texas days after massacre in Uvalde
HOUSTON — Hundreds of people protested for gun control outside the annual National Rifle Association convention here Friday, days after the country’s latest mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, chanting, “Protect our kids, not guns!” and hoisting signs that read, “No more thoughts and prayers,” and, “Your hobby isn’t worth our...
High-profile GOP primary losses could make Pitt funding a target in Pa. budget process
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 primary defeat of one of Harrisburg’s top budget negotiators and the potential loss of another could embolden a...
Official: Girl told 911 ‘send the police now’ as cops waited
Students trapped inside a classroom with a gunman repeatedly called 911 during this week’s attack on a Texas elementary school, including one who pleaded, “Please send the police now,” as officers waited more than an hour to breach the classroom after following the gunman into the building, authorities said Friday....
Biden renews sanctions license for Chevron in Venezuela
MIAMI — The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation. The license issued Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department allows the California-based Chevron and other U.S. companies to perform only basic upkeep of wells...
Students who survived Texas school attack describe scene
UVALDE, Texas — A young survivor of the massacre at a Texas elementary school said she covered herself with a friend’s blood and pretended to be dead while she waited for help to arrive. Miah Cerrillo, 11, told CNN that she and a friend called 911 from her dead teacher’s...
‘Relentless’: Russia squeezes Ukrainian strongholds in east
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Russia-backed separatists claimed they captured a railway hub city in eastern Ukraine as Moscow’s forces pushed to gain more ground Friday by pounding another Ukrainian-held area where authorities say 1,500 people have died since the start of the war. With Russia’s offensive in Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region...
Oz declares ‘presumptive win’ in Pa. GOP’s U.S. Senate primary
Dr. Mehmet Oz has seen enough, and he isn’t waiting for a recount. Sitting on a 910-vote lead in preliminary, unofficial tallies from Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary race as of Friday morning, Oz declared himself the presumptive winner in a new video release in which he took a definitive turn...
Here’s why scientists aren’t ‘crazy scared’ about monkeypox
The monkeypox outbreak has captured the attention of an anxious public that’s struggling to emerge from the covid-19 pandemic and is on high alert for the next virus that might upend our lives. Fortunately, professionals are a lot calmer about monkeypox than the armchair pundits. “In the last couple of...
Iran seizes 2 Greek tankers in Persian Gulf as tensions rise
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized two Greek oil tankers Friday in helicopter-launched raids in the Persian Gulf, officials said. The action appeared to be retaliation for Athens’ assistance in the U.S. seizure of crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker this week in the Mediterranean Sea over violating Washington’s crushing sanctions...
