Poll: Americans ease up on masks, coronavirus safeguards
Many Americans have taken significant steps back from once-routine coronavirus precautions, with less than half now saying they regularly wear face masks, avoid crowds and skip nonessential travel. Americans are letting down their guard even as experts warn a new wave of covid-19 cases is coming. A new poll from...
Pennsylvania legislators urge support for bill requiring insurance to cover donor breast milkVideo
Pennsylvania legislators will join community advocates Wednesday to promote a bill that would authorize insurance coverage for medically prescribed pasteurized donor breast milk to infants with serious health conditions. “Without human donor breast milk, I don’t know where my babies would be,” said Jessica Rhodes of West Mifflin. “The alternative...
Pa. Republicans eye greater control over redistricting in response to new political maps
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Republicans are moving to change how the state’s political...
FTC sues Intuit to stop ‘bait-and-switch’ TurboTax ads
The Federal Trade Commission is suing TurboTax maker Intuit, saying its ads for “free” tax filing misled consumers. Intuit says it will fight the suit. The consumer protection agency said Tuesday that millions of consumers cannot actually use the free tax-prep software option — two-thirds of tax filers in 2020....
Poll: Americans ease up on masks, virus safeguards
Many Americans have taken significant steps back from once-routine coronavirus precautions, with fewer than half now saying they regularly wear face masks, avoid crowds and skip nonessential travel. Americans are letting down their guard even as experts warn a new wave of covid-19 cases is coming. A new poll from...
Flamingo that escaped Kansas zoo in 2005 spotted in Texas
WICHITA, Kan. — One of two flamingos that escaped from a Kansas zoo during a storm 17 years ago has been spotted on the coast of Texas, wildlife officials said. The Coastal Fisheries division of Texas Parks and Wildlife confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the African flamingo —...
Kansas GOP lawmakers move to prevent local bans on plastic
TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican legislators in Kansas are trying to prevent cities and counties from banning, limiting or even taxing plastic bags, straws and food containers. A bill prohibiting such local bans cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature on Monday and is headed toward Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk. Kelly hasn’t publicly...
Gunmen attack train near Nigeria’s capital, kill some riders
ABUJA, Nigeria — Gunmen attacked a train near Nigeria’s capital on Monday night with explosives and gunfire, killing an unspecified number of the nearly 1,000 passengers on board, authorities and survivors told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The attackers used explosives to first blow up the rail track before opening...
Busch beer heiress enters Missouri U.S. Senate race
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Anheuser-Busch beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine on Tuesday announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate, shaking up what has been a low-profile Democratic primary in a solidly red state. Busch Valentine’s entrance into the race comes amid widespread calls from fellow Republicans for former Gov. Eric Greitens...
Jan. 6 panel missing roughly 8 hours of Trump’s phone calls
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has identified a roughly eight-hour gap in official records of then-President Donald Trump’s phone calls as the violence unfolded and his supporters stormed the building, according to a person familiar with the probe. The gap extends from...
FDA OKs another Pfizer, Moderna covid booster for 50 and up
Americans 50 and older can get a second covid-19 booster if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination, a chance at extra protection for the most vulnerable in case the coronavirus rebounds. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or...
All about Florida’s ‘Don’t say gay’ bill
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1557, officially named the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, into law on Monday. Critics of the measure, dubbed by opponents as the “Don’t say gay” bill, range from state Democrats to Hollywood celebrities to President Joe Biden. It’s been mentioned on...
U.S. consumers still confident, but outlook not as rosy
SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. consumer confidence bounced back in March and remains high, though consumers’ short-term outlook is not quite as rosy. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index — which takes into account consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their outlook...
Trump suit against Clinton part of longtime legal strategy
NEW YORK — When a Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic panned Donald Trump’s plans for a new Manhattan skyscraper, Trump responded by suing. When the tenants of a building he was trying to clear sued to halt their evictions, Trump slapped back by filing suit against the law firm representing the...
I-81 crash victim: ‘It was like shotgun blasts going off’
MINERSVILLE — Bill Wickwire knew he was in trouble when his car went into a slide Monday morning on Interstate 81 in Foster Township. On his way from the Isle of Palms in South Carolina to his home in New Hampshire, the 81-year-old Navy veteran slid off the highway amid...
Blinken in Morocco amid shifts in Mideast, North Africa diplomacy
RABAT, Morocco — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Morocco Tuesday to discuss recent shifts in the diplomatic dynamic in the Middle East and North Africa that could upend some of the region’s long-standing disputes. A day after an unprecedented gathering in Israel’s Negev Desert with the Israeli...
Shanghai lockdown tests ‘zero-covid’ limits, shakes markets
BEIJING — A two-phase lockdown of Shanghai’s 26 million people is testing the limits of China’s hard-line “zero-covid” strategy, which is shaking markets far beyond the country’s borders. China’s largest city on Tuesday entered the second day of the lockdown’s first phase, which includes the Pudong financial district and adjacent...
Relief for Kyiv? Russia vows to scale back near the capital
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia announced Tuesday it will significantly scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war came into view at the latest round of talks. Ukraine’s delegation at the conference, held in Istanbul, laid...
Jan. 6 committee votes to hold Dan Scavino, Pete Navarro in contemptVideo
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Monday night to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for their monthslong refusal to comply with subpoenas. The committee made their case that Navarro, former President Donald...
Nebraska lawmaker Bruce Bostelman apologizes for debunked litter box claimVideo
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats. Sen. Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican, repeated the false claim during a public, televised...
Gov. Ron DeSantis signs Florida ‘don’t say gay’ bill into lawVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rejecting criticism that it would harm the LGBTQ community, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday the controversial measure derided as the “don’t say gay” bill. “We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination,” DeSantis said...
Biden says remark on Putin’s power was about ‘moral outrage’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that he would make “no apologies” and wasn’t “walking anything back” after his weekend comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The president also insisted he’s not calling for regime change in Moscow. “I was expressing the moral outrage that...
Biden’s budget plan: Higher taxes on rich, lower deficits
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced a budget blueprint Monday that calls for higher taxes on the wealthy, lower federal deficits, more money for police and greater funding for education, public health and housing. In essence, it tries to tell voters what a diverse and at times fractured Democratic Party...
Judge: Trump likely committed crimes related to election
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday asserted it is “more likely than not” that former President Donald Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, ruling to order the release of more than 100 emails from Trump adviser John Eastman to the committee...
Pennsylvania interstate remains closed after deadly pileupVideo
POTTSVILLE — A stretch of an interstate highway in Pennsylvania remained shuttered Tuesday, a day after at least three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when tractor-trailers and other vehicles lost control and slammed into each other during a snow squall. Interstate 81 north remained closed...
