Covid falling in 49 of 50 states as deaths near 900,000
With the brutal omicron wave rapidly loosening its grip, new cases of covid-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of 50 states, even as the nation’s death toll closes in on another bleak round number: 900,000. The number of lives lost to the pandemic in the U.S. stood at...
GOP’s Pennsylvania election inquiry: Courts, conspiracies and more costs
A Republican inquiry into Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election inspired by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud has spawned several court cases as it expands into multiple courses of inquiry, grows in cost and shows signs it will drag well into 2022. The Republican pursuit has received a...
Val Arkoosh ends Senate campaign amid tough Democratic field
Val Arkoosh, a trained anesthesiologist who chairs the board of Pennsylvania’s third-most-populous county, on Friday ended her campaign for U.S. Senate, leaving a tough Democratic Party primary field. In a video message, Arkoosh stressed the importance of a Democrat winning the Senate seat being vacated by retiring two-term Republican Sen....
Congress questions independence of NFL’s Washington probe
An investigation into sexual harassment of women employed by Washington’s NFL franchise was not as independent as the team and the league claimed, members of Congress said Friday. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released documents that showed the league and the team, now known as the Commanders, agreed...
UK’s Boris Johnson ends week of turmoil in weakened position
This was the week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hoped to get a grip on his government after weeks of scandal. By Friday, he was struggling to hang on after a scathing report on lockdown-breaching parties and the departure of several top aides. Johnson was rocked Thursday by the resignation...
Ahmaud Arbery killer’s father retracts plea before hate crime trial
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — One of the three men convicted of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery has taken back his guilty plea ahead of their federal hate crime trial. Greg McMichael reversed course late Thursday after the trial judge rejected the terms of an agreement federal prosecutors had reached...
Strained U.S. hospitals seek foreign nurses amid visa windfall
With American hospitals facing a dire shortage of nurses amid a slogging pandemic, many are looking abroad for health care workers. And it could be just in time. There’s an unusually high number of green cards available this year for foreign professionals, including nurses, who want to move to the...
House to vote on bill to boost U.S. computer chip production
House Democrats are poised to approve legislation Friday that they say positions the United States to better compete with China economically and on the global stage by strengthening the domestic semiconductor industry, shoring up strained supply chains and bolstering international alliances. Criticizing China has become a bipartisan playbook in Washington,...
Greensburg diocese excited by 20% bump in Catholic school enrollment
Despite the past two years being hampered by the covid-19 pandemic, officials at the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg are encouraged by other trends that have emerged over the past 24 months — namely, a 20% bump in Catholic school enrollment across the diocese. “I think that’s outstanding,” said Bishop Larry...
Indiana teen sentenced to 100 years for killing 2 siblings
VERSAILLES, Ind. — A southeastern Indiana teenager has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for the suffocation deaths of his two young siblings months apart in 2017, when he was 13 years old. A Ripley County judge ordered the sentence Tuesday for Nickalas Kedrowitz. Jurors convicted him in August...
GOP now looks to censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, not oust them
SALT LAKE CITY — Republican officials meeting in Utah advanced a watered-down resolution Thursday that would formally censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their perceived disloyalty to former President Donald Trump but not seek to expel them from the party. The resolution’s passage through a subcommittee followed...
Gov. Wolf vetoes bill to prevent municipal firearms restrictions
HARRISBURG — A bill to help gun owners and gun-rights groups seek civil damages from governmental bodies that pass firearms restrictions was vetoed on Thursday by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. The legislation would have given a pathway to the courts for people adversely impacted by ordinances, rules or other actions...
Medicare opens up access to free at-home covid-19 tests
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, seeking to fill a frustrating gap in coverage for covid-19 tests, Thursday announced that people with Medicare will be able to get free over-the-counter tests much more easily in the coming weeks. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare will cover up to...
Last of GOP regional straw polls hand victories to Bartos, White for U.S. Senate, governor
The last of the regional straw polls of Pennsylvania Republican state committee members produced wins for U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Bartos and gubernatorial candidate Dave White on their home turf. The GOP committee members from the Southeast Caucus met on Wednesday night to hear from the candidates for these open...
Storm expected to glaze Pennsylvania, New England in iceVideo
A major winter storm that already cut electric power to about 350,000 homes and businesses from Texas to the Ohio Valley was set to leave Pennsylvania and New England glazed in ice and smothered in snow Friday, forecasters said. The storm disrupted flights at major hubs in the U.S. on...
Ex-Chicago officer who killed Laquan McDonald leaves prison earlyVideo
CHICAGO — Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke left prison on Thursday after serving less than half of his nearly seven-year sentence for killing Black teenager Laquan McDonald — an early release that was widely viewed as a setback in the city’s efforts to improve relations between its police...
Pennsylvania doctor accused of prescribing unproven covid-19 treatments fired by hospital
A Pennsylvania surgeon has been fired after being accused of prescribing unproven drugs to treat or prevent covid-19, possibly to people referred to her through social media. Dr. Edith Behr, a former surgeon with Phoenixville Hospital, is accused of issuing prescriptions for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, with the prescriptions possibly coordinated...
U.S. says new intel shows Russia plotting false flag attack
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has obtained intelligence indicating that the Russian government developed a plan to stage a false attack that would depict the Ukrainian military or its intelligence forces assaulting Russian territory to help establish a pretext for military action against Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said Thursday....
Tesla recalls over 800K vehicles for seat belt chime problem
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling more than 817,000 vehicles in the U.S. because the seat belt reminder chimes may not sound when the vehicles are started and the driver hasn’t buckled up. The recall covers the 2021 and 2022 Model S sedan and Model X SUV, as well as the...
Oil vessel explodes off Nigeria’s coast; casualties feared
ABUJA, Nigeria — An oil production vessel has exploded off the coast of Nigeria, an official of the Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited said Thursday, amid fears of the deaths of crew members. Ten crew were on board when the explosion occurred on Wednesday in Nigeria’s southwest Delta state,...
Ram trucks recalled to tighten loose windshield wiper nuts
DETROIT — Stellantis is recalling nearly 202,000 Ram heavy-duty pickups and chassis cabs to tighten a loose nut that can stop the windshield wipers from working properly. The recall covers certain Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and some 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs, all from the 2019 and 2020...
Sarah Palin resumes court battle with Times after covid illness
NEW YORK — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was back in a New York City courtroom Thursday, more than a week after the start of a trial in her libel lawsuit against The New York Times was postponed because she tested positive for covid-19. The trial was to begin in...
Jobless claims fall for 2nd straight week
WASHINGTON — Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits for the second week in a row after three straight weeks of increases. Jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 238,000 last week, from 261,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility,...
1 dead, others wounded in Northern California bus attack
OROVILLE, Calif. — A shooting on a Greyhound bus in Northern California killed one person and injured several others before the attacker was arrested inside a nearby Walmart, police said Wednesday night. Police received 911 calls shortly after 7:30 p.m. that someone was shooting inside a bus outside a convenience...
ISIS leader blows up self, family as U.S. attacks Syria hideoutVideo
ATMEH, Syria — The leader of the Islamic State group blew himself up along with members of his family as American forces raided his Syria hideout Thursday, the U.S. said — the second time in three years the United States has taken out a leader of the violent group that...
