Pa. state government employees are slowly returning to the office after pandemic year
The pace of the return to the office is starting to pick up across Pennsylvania’s state government offices but signs point to a more liberal use of teleworking as a side effect of the covid-19 era. Remote working could be here to stay in some state agencies. A year of...
Pa. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. pushes police reforms aimed at dealing with those with disabilities
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and other Pennsylvania lawmakers are sponsoring legislation aimed at reducing the chance police encounters with those with disabilities or mental health issues will end tragically. Casey, D-Pa., is sponsoring what he’s dubbed the Law Enforcement Education and Accountability for People with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative. It...
List of candidates for next Columbus police chief down to 9
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s capital city has narrowed the list of candidates for the job of police chief to nine, all of them from outside the agency as promised by the Columbus mayor. City officials, including Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr., were interviewing candidates this week with the goal...
Judge backs aggravating factors in Chauvin trial, clears way for longer prison term
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge has ruled that there were aggravating factors in the death of George Floyd, paving the way for the possibility of a longer sentence for Derek Chauvin, according to an order made public Wednesday. In his ruling dated Tuesday, Judge Peter Cahill found Chauvin abused his...
Israel steps up Gaza offensive, kills senior Hamas figuresVideo
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel on Wednesday pressed ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas military figures and toppling a pair of high-rise towers housing Hamas facilities in a series of airstrikes. The Islamic militant group showed no signs...
House GOP ousts Trump critic Liz Cheney from top post
WASHINGTON — House Republicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as the chamber’s No. 3 GOP leader on Wednesday, punishing her after she repeatedly rebuked former President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Meeting behind closed...
Public service in the U.S.: Increasingly thankless, exhausting
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — He scurries through his apartment, downing a quick mug of coffee, brushing his teeth, feeding his pet rabbit, Auggie, before leaving. Not so long ago, Bill Mathis would have headed to his high school classroom to discuss great literature like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The...
U.K. government’s plan to toughen voter ID rules draws criticism
LONDON — The British government has announced contentious plans to toughen election voting rules by requiring photo identification at polling stations, a move it says will protect the democratic system against electoral fraud. But opponents and civil liberties groups say the law proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government...
U.K.’s Johnson backs public inquiry into handling of pandemic
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that an independent public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic will be held next year. He told lawmakers Wednesday that the inquiry will have wide-ranging statutory powers and that the government has a responsibility to learn lessons from the...
Police: Dunkin’ employee in Florida fatally punched customer who used racial slur
TAMPA, Fla. — Police said a Dunkin’ store employee fatally punched a 77-year-old customer in Florida after the employee said the man repeatedly used a racial slur against him. The victim, a man who police did not name, was punched May 4 and died Friday. That led to a manslaughter...
Sen. Susan Collins grills CDC Director Rochelle Walensky over covid transmission guidelinesVideo
For Sen. Susan Collins, it was more than just a numbers game. Collins, the Republican senior senator from Maine, questioned CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday during a Senate Health Committee about a New York Times newsletter that said a statistic in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline...
Gas stations report shortages as pipeline shutdown continuesVideo
CHAMBLEE, Ga. — More than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers, as the shutdown of a major pipeline by a gang of hackers entered its fifth day Tuesday. Government officials acted swiftly to waive...
W.Va., Pa. men charged in police assault on Jan. 6 to remain behind bars
Two men charged in the assault of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, must remain behind bars while they await trial, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan denied pretrial release for George Tanios and Julian Khater, calling...
Lawsuit: New Jersey Hindu temple forced laborers from India to work for $1.20 per hour
FBI agents were at the sprawling site of a Hindu temple Tuesday as a lawsuit filed in federal court alleged workers from marginalized communities in India were lured to the U.S. and forced to work long hours for just a few dollars per day to help build the temple. The...
Citizen group appeals to Commonwealth Court to overturn Murrysville fracking ordinance
The Murrysville Watch Committee, a citizen group seeking to overturn the municipality’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, had its appeal heard this week by the state’s Commonwealth Court. The hearing began with attorney John Smith, representing the Watch Committee, requesting that Commonwealth Court Judge Drew Crompton recuse himself from the proceeding....
Judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy case in blow to gun group
DALLAS — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case, leaving the powerful gun-rights group to face a New York state lawsuit that accuses it of financial abuses and aims to put it out of business. The case was over whether the NRA should be allowed...
Pentagon chief during Jan. 6 riot defends military response
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s acting defense secretary during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots plans to tell Congress that he was concerned in the days before the insurrection that sending troops to the building would fan fears of a military coup and could cause a repeat of the deadly Kent...
Prosecutor plans to seek death penalty in Georgia spa shootings
ATLANTA — A man accused of killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was indicted Tuesday on murder charges, and a prosecutor filed notice that she’ll also seek hate crime charges and the death penalty. A Fulton County grand jury...
Ransomware gang threatens release of DC police records
A Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate that stole data from the Washington, D.C., police department says negotiations over payment have broken down, with it rejecting a $100,000 payment, and it will release sensitive information that could put lives at risk if more money is not offered. The extortion threat comes amid a...
Prosecutor plans to seek death penalty in Georgia spa shootings
ATLANTA — A man accused of killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was indicted Tuesday on murder charges, and a prosecutor filed notice that she’ll also seek hate crime charges and the death penalty. A Fulton County grand jury...
Pennsylvania Republicans’ plans for election reform take shape in new report
PHILADELPHIA — As Republican lawmakers across the country have moved to tighten voting laws following former President Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election, Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature has waited to act during months of hearings. Now Republicans in Harrisburg are making their first moves, with the state House GOP releasing...
Sean Parnell expected to announce run for Pennsylvania Senate seat
HARRISBURG — Sean Parnell, a decorated Army veteran and regular guest on Fox News programs who became a favorite of former President Donald Trump, is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat. Parnell, who unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in...
Wolf: Indoor, outdoor event spaces in Pa. can increase capacity next week
Pennsylvania officials will increase capacity limits for indoor and outdoor event spaces Monday, though neither type can operate at full capacity yet. Gov. Tom Wolf said in a release Tuesday that occupancy limits for indoor events can increase to 50% and capacity for outdoor events can increase to 75% of...
AP source: Biden to tap Rahm Emanuel for ambassador to Japan
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to nominate former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, according to a person familiar with the president’s decision. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday,...
New survey of U.S. Jews reveals worries, strengths, divisions
A comprehensive new survey of Jewish Americans finds them increasingly worried about antisemitism, proud of their cultural heritage and sharply divided about the importance of religious observance in their lives. The survey, released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, estimated the total Jewish population in the country at 7.5 million...
