House passes $35-a-month insulin cap as Democrats seek wider billVideo
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation. Experts say the legislation, which passed 232-193, would provide significant relief...
Defrocked priest, 84, gets house arrest for lying to FBI
PHILADELPHIA — An 84-year-old defrocked priest was sentenced to five years of probation for lying to the FBI about whether he knew a former altar boy and his family. Robert Brennan, of Perryville, Md., was ordered to spend the first two years on house arrest. Under a plea agreement, he...
Federal judge strikes down parts of Florida election law; cites race
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge struck down portions of a Florida election law passed last year, saying in a ruling Thursday that the Republican-led government was using subtle tactics to suppress Black voters. The law tightened rules on mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods — changes...
5 fetuses found inside D.C. home of anti-abortion activistVideo
WASHINGTON — Police found five fetuses in the home of a self-proclaimed “anti-abortion activist” who was indicted this week on federal charges alleging that she was part of a group of people who blocked access to a Washington, D.C. reproductive health center. The Metropolitan Police Department says officers were responding...
Severe storms pummel South, killing at least 2 in FloridaVideo
A line of severe storms packing isolated tornadoes and strong wind ripped across the Deep South overnight — killing at least two in the Florida Panhandle, toppling trees and power lines and leaving homes and businesses damaged as the vast weather front raced across several states. In Florida, the Washington...
Deadly Interstate 81 pileup among Pennsylvania’s worst since 2001
The deadly, snow squall-induced pileup on Interstate 81 on Monday, which resulted in six confirmed deaths and an additional 24 people injured, ranks among the worst accidents of its kind in Pennsylvania since the start of the century. The 80-vehicle accident occurred around 10:35 a.m. in the northbound lanes of...
Explainer: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
DALLAS — President Joe Biden is again dipping into the nation’s petroleum stockpile to try to corral rising energy prices. The White House announced Thursday that Biden ordered the daily release of 1 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months. Biden will also...
Ukrainian communities in U.S. prepare to support refugees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the United States prepares to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s invasion of their country, existing communities in cities like Sacramento and Seattle are already mobilizing to provide food, shelter and support to those fleeing the war. The federal government hasn’t said when the...
Scientists finally finish decoding entire human genome
Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago. An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome — the set of instructions to build and sustain a human being —...
MMA returns to Monroeville with ‘Brawl in the Burgh 11’
It’s been a while since Andrew Evans needed to worry about being picked on at school. “I was an out-of-shape kid, and in ninth grade, I got really tired of it and decided to go down to an MMA gym and start training,” said Evans, 19. On April 16, the...
Russian forces leaving Chernobyl after radiation exposure
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops began leaving the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said Thursday as heavy fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other fronts. Energoatom, the operator, gave no immediate...
Biden to mark Transgender Day of Visibility with new actions
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is commemorating Transgender Day of Visibility by celebrating prominent transgender Americans and advocating against what his administration terms “dangerous anti-transgender legislative attacks” that have passed in statehouses across the country. Biden on Thursday is announcing new measures aimed at making the federal government more inclusive...
A key inflation gauge sets 40-year high as gas and food soar
WASHINGTON — An inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.4% in February compared with a year ago, with sharply higher prices for food, gasoline and other necessities squeezing Americans’ finances. The figure reported Thursday by the Commerce Department was the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982. Excluding...
More Americans apply for jobless benefits; layoffs still low
WASHINGTON — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at historic lows. Jobless claims rose by 14,000 to 202,000 for the week ending March 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s tally of 188,000 claims was the fewest since 1969. First-time applications for jobless...
Biden planning to tap oil reserve to control gas prices
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, according to two people familiar with the decision, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies...
Wisconsin judge orders Robin Vos held in contempt over election records
MADISON, Wis. — A judge on Wednesday has ordered that Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos be held in contempt for failing to produce emails and text messages related to the investigation he ordered into the 2020 presidential election. Dane County Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn, who last week told the Rochester Republican...
Putin ‘misinformed’ by his advisers on the war, White House says
WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin has been misinformed by advisers about his military’s performance in Ukraine and the effect of sanctions on his country’s economy, a White House spokeswoman said, citing unspecified U.S. intelligence. “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in...
Alex Jones faces fines for skipping Sandy Hook deposition
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge on Wednesday said Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be fined $25,000 to $50,000 per weekday until he appears for a deposition in a lawsuit brought by relatives of some victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Jones’ testimony is being...
More Republicans have died of covid-19. Does that mean the polls are off?
WASHINGTON — Doctors and demographers recently noticed another tragic example of how polarization shapes America: The pandemic has killed more people in the nation’s Republican enclaves than its Democratic strongholds. They explain the gap by pointing to Republican resistance to vaccines and the GOP’s more cavalier approach to combating the...
Forum gets tense in GOP’s sharp-elbowed U.S. Senate primaryVideo
HARRISBURG — The first public appearance between the highest-profile Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania quickly became chippy Wednesday, as themes playing out in millions of dollars in sharp-elbowed TV attack ads played out on a small forum stage. The campaign is one of this year’s premier Senate contests...
7 hurt in Arkansas tornado; Deep South braces for more stormsVideo
Severe storms that included at least two tornadoes injured several people, damaged homes and businesses and downed power lines in Arkansas and Missouri overnight as twisters and hurricane-force winds were forecast in much of the Deep South on Wednesday. No deaths were reported from the storms late Tuesday and early...
With at least 1 GOP vote, Ketanji Brown Jackson likely to be confirmed
WASHINGTON — Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday she will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, giving Democrats at least one Republican vote and all but assuring that Jackson will become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Collins met with Jackson a second time this week after...
Report: Great white shark killed California bodyboarder
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A bodyboarder was attacked by a great white shark in central California on Christmas Eve and died within minutes, official reports have concluded. Tomas Abraham Butterfield, 42, was bitten in the head, chest and shoulder in the Morro Bay attack and died from “complications of...
Prosecutors rest their case in Gov. Whitmer kidnap trial
A man accused of leading a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was “antigovernment” and believed officials were out to “line their own pockets,” his longtime companion testified Wednesday before prosecutors rested their case. Chastity Knight spoke to jurors on the 13th day of trial in federal court in...
The public could gain easy access to info about how Pa. lawmakers spend taxpayer money on perks
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 long-awaited transparency bill that would make legislative expenses accessible online for easy public viewing unanimously cleared a key...
