Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson, first Black woman, to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday nominated federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman selected to serve on a court that once declared her race unworthy of citizenship and endorsed segregation. Introducing Jackson, Biden called her a “proven...
NATO leaders meet to reassure allies near Russia, Ukraine
BRUSSELS — U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts will seek Friday to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank that their security is guaranteed as Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine closes in on the capital Kyiv. With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealing for help, NATO members ranging...
German court convicts Catholic priest of abusing girls
BERLIN — A German court on Friday convicted a Catholic priest of sexual abuse of children in cases that spanned many years and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The Cologne state court also ordered the 70-year-old to pay three co-plaintiffs in the cases damages totaling $56,000, news agency...
Pope Francis voices concern in visit to Russian embassy in Rome
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis went to the Russian embassy in Rome on Friday to personally express his concern about the war in Ukraine, in an extraordinary papal gesture that has no recent precedent. Popes usually receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican. For Francis to travel a...
Ukrainian president expects conflict with Russia to intensify
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops bore down on Ukraine’s capital Friday while the president grimly predicted that the conflict would soon intensify, and fears of wider war in Europe triggered new international efforts to make Moscow stop, including direct sanctions on President Vladimir Putin. Amid reports of hundreds of casualties...
Mental issue raised in boy’s body in freezer case in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — A defense attorney said Thursday he wants a mental health evaluation for a Las Vegas man now jailed in protective custody after being accused of keeping a widow and her daughter captive at his home, killing the woman’s 4-year-old son and storing the boy’s body in a...
CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against covid-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday...
U.S. regulators lift in-person restrictions on abortion pillVideo
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday permanently removed a major obstacle for women seeking abortion pills, eliminating a long-standing requirement that they pick up the medication in person. Millions of American women will now be able to get a prescription via an online consultation and receive the...
Pa. officials address concerns about vaccination data
State health officials on Thursday said there should not be concern over the veracity of federal data they used to tout the state’s covid-19 vaccination rate among adults as 95%. In a release from Gov. Tom Wolf’s office Wednesday, officials celebrated the milestone that a spokesperson said was based on...
3 ex-cops convicted of rights violations in George Floyd killingVideo
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted Thursday of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2...
Biden has history with contentious Supreme Court hearings. Now he’s trying to avoid one
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden knows a thing or two about contentious Supreme Court hearings, having presided over a pair of the most heated confirmations that still reverberate in U.S politics. That experience is shaping the process of naming the first Black female justice in a bitterly divided Washington. Biden...
Parents of Michigan teen charged in school shooting to stand trial
A judge on Thursday ordered the parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four students at his Michigan high school to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. Rochester Hills District Court Judge Julie Nicholson said following the preliminary examination for Jennifer and James Crumbley that she found enough evidence...
Florida House passes GOP ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
TALLAHASSEE — Republicans in the Florida House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to limit discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, advancing a measure that has drawn widespread condemnation from LGBTQ activists and the White House. The House passed the bill on a party-line vote, with...
Pa. State Police push back on recommendation requiring independent probes when troopers kill, injure
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 — Independent investigations of deaths or injuries caused by Pennsylvania State Police would require a change to state law, the...
Wintry weather disrupts travel across the heartland
DALLAS — Freezing rain and drizzle is disrupting travel from Central Texas to the Great Lakes, with ice-glazed roads leading to hundreds of traffic accidents, including one in Kentucky that killed a toddler. Hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas...
Hundreds arrested as shocked Russians protest Ukraine attackVideo
MOSCOW — Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands Thursday to decry their country’s invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,702 people in 53 Russian cities were detained, at least 940 of them in Moscow. Hundreds of posts came pouring in condemning Moscow’s...
PHEAA to trim its workforce by 43 employees
The state’s student financial agency on Thursday advised 43 employees who work in its information technology area that March 11 will be their last day on the job. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency officials cited the decision to transition out of its role as a federal student loan servicer...
Biden hits Russia with new sanctions, says Putin ‘chose’ war
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, charging that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “chose this war” and that his country will bear the consequences of his action. The sanctions target Russian banks, oligarchs and high-tech sectors, Biden...
Officials say Ukraine no longer in control of Chernobyl site
KYIV, Ukraine — A presidential adviser says Ukraine lost control of the Chernobyl nuclear site, where Ukranian forces had waged a fierce battle with Russian troops. Adviser Myhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press that Ukrainian authorities did not know the current condition of the facilities at Chernobyl, the site of...
Contest seeks Pennsylvania’s best homebrewers
Are you a home beer brewer? If so, and if you believe you have a winning ale, you can put your drink to the test in a new statewide contest searching for the best homebrewed beer in Pennsylvania. The first-ever Breweries In Pennsylvania Homebrew Invitational will have five regional competitions,...
Balancing hopes, dreams and a low-paying college major
Humanities majors are more than a punchline. Not everyone can or wants to be a STEM major, and the world would be a poorer place if they were. To have great things to read, music that inspires, perspectives that challenge us — to have a sense of reward and meaning...
What’s behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked one of the biggest security crises in Europe since World War II by invading Ukraine, with barrages of missiles and artillery accompanying troops as they entered the country from multiple directions. Putin said he acted to protect civilians in separatist regions from Ukraine’s military,...
England ends all covid restrictions, including isolation law
LONDON — All government-mandated coronavirus restrictions in England were lifted Thursday, including the legal requirement for people who test positive for covid-19 to isolate at home. Officials say that those who tested positive will still be advised to stay at home for at least five days. But from Thursday they...
‘Reckless’ Amish buggy driver accused of DUI tells Pa. cops he ‘had a couple beers’
The horse-drawn buggy was being driven so recklessly the wheels were throwing sparks, Pennsylvania police said. When they pulled it over, the man driving it told police he “had a couple of beers,” resulting in his arrest for DUI. As WJAC-TV in Johnstown reports, the driver is identified as 20-year-old...
Man fatally shoots Texas officer working security at mall
HOUSTON — A Texas deputy constable working an off-duty security job at a Houston mall was fatally shot by a man who gained control of the officer’s own gun, police said. The suspect was shot by police and died at a hospital. Deputy Neil Adams was working a second job...
