Ivanka Trump receives 1st dose of Pfizer vaccine
WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump has received her first covid-19 shot and is encouraging others to get vaccinated as quickly as they can. Two people familiar with Ivanka Trump’s plans say she was eligible to get vaccinated along with other White House staff when she worked as a senior adviser, but...
Stinging report raises new questions about Capitol securityVideo
WASHINGTON — Shields that shattered upon impact. Weapons too old to use. Missed intelligence in which future insurrectionists warned, “We get our president or we die.” As Congress pushes for a return to normalcy months after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, a damning internal report about the deadly...
No. 2 House Republican says GOP would act against Rep. Matt GaetzVideo
WASHINGTON — The No. 2 House Republican leader said Wednesday that party leaders would “take action” against Rep. Matt Gaetz if the Justice Department formally moves against the Florida lawmaker, who is under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking. The remarks by Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana made him the...
Pa. courts warn of phone scam seeking money by threatening to list people as sex offenders
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts in Harrisburg is warning state residents of a new phone scam in which callers threaten to place victims on the state’s sexual offender registry if they don’t immediately forward unpaid court fines or fees. “We wanted to get the word out there as soon...
Unaccompanied children from border arrive in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — About 150 unaccompanied children found at the southern border of the U.S. have arrived in northwestern Pennsylvania and will be housed at a dormitory at the Pennsylvania International Academy. The children landed Tuesday night at Erie International Airport and were screened by a physician, dentist and nurse, the...
Biden to detail pullout plans for last troops in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is about to announce his plans to withdraw remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan, declaring that the Sept. 11 attacks “cannot explain” why American forces should still be there 20 years after the deadliest terror assault on the United States. His plan is to pull out...
Prosecutors: No charges for officer in fatal Capitol riot shooting
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors will not charge a police officer who shot and killed a woman as she climbed through the broken part of a door during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Authorities had considered for months whether criminal charges were appropriate for the Capitol Police...
Missouri town decides to keep ‘Savages’ mascot, ditch logo
SAVANNAH, Mo. — Leaders of a nearly all-white northwest Missouri school district have narrowly voted to keep the high school’s “Savages” nickname but will phase out the use of Native American imagery. The Savannah R-3 Board of Education’s 4-3 vote on Tuesday night came after months of dueling petitions and...
Cardiac arrest and drugs, not low oxygen, caused Floyd’s death, defense expert says
MINNEAPOLIS — A pathologist testifying for the defense in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin told the court Wednesday that George Floyd died of a cardiac arrest combined with drug use, and not low oxygen as several prosecution witnesses have claimed. Dr. David Fowler also testified...
Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff dies in prison at 82
NEW YORK — Bernard Madoff, the infamous architect of an epic securities swindle that burned thousands of investors, outfoxed regulators and earned him a 150-year prison term, died behind bars early Wednesday. He was 82. Madoff’s death at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, was confirmed by his...
Pennsylvania’s shrinking delegation will mean hard decisions
HARRISBURG — There may be nothing more nerve-wracking for a member of Congress than redistricting, when the once-a-decade redrawing of district boundaries injects a dose of uncertainty into their political careers. In Pennsylvania, redrawing the districts to correspond with population shifts identified by the 2020 census will have a particularly...
Minnesota cop will be charged in shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A prosecutor said Wednesday that he will charge a white former suburban Minneapolis police officer with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright in a shooting that ignited days of unrest and clashes between protesters and police. The charge against former Brooklyn Center police...
1 dead, 6 rescued, 12 still missing from capsized shipVideo
PORT FOURCHON, La. — The Coast Guard searched for 12 people missing off the coast of Louisiana on Wednesday after finding one crew member dead and pulling six survivors from rough seas when their commercial platform vessel capsized in hurricane-force wind. Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson said wind was 80...
Maryland trooper shoots, kills teenager who had airsoft gun
LEONARDTOWN, Md. — A Maryland State Police trooper responding to a pair of 911 calls shot and killed a teenager who was pointing what investigators determined was an airsoft gun at him, authorities said Tuesday. The shooting occurred after state police received two 911 calls about someone acting suspicious, Superintendent...
Report: Former Florida official has been cooperating with feds since last year in Matt Gaetz sex trafficking probeVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Joel Greenberg, the disgraced former Seminole County tax collector facing a slew of federal charges, has been cooperating with investigators since last year and has revealed alleged paid sex encounters involving himself and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Greenberg began talking to...
Hill mourns Capitol Police Officer Billy EvansVideo
When Abigail Evans saw her mom was crying, she draped her arm around her back and scooted closer to her as the two held hands, simultaneously clutching a Capitol Dome toy. Abigail, 7, and her brother Logan Evans, 9, watched as congressional leaders and President Joe Biden lauded their late...
Missouri House lawmaker resigns after child abuse accusations
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri House leaders on Tuesday said they told law enforcement officials that they’re concerned a resigning lawmaker accused of sexually and physically abusing his children years ago may pose a risk to other kids. House Speaker Rob Vescovo and the leader of the House Ethics Committee in...
White Wisconsin officer who shot Jacob Blake returns to duty
KENOSHA, Wis. — A white police officer from Wisconsin who was investigated and cleared for shooting and injuring a Black man during a domestic dispute has returned from administrative leave, officials said Tuesday. Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey was not charged in the August 2020 incident that left Jacob Blake Jr....
Leaders of GM, Ford among objectors to Michigan voting restrictions
LANSING, Mich. — The leaders of three-dozen major Michigan-based companies, including General Motors and Ford, on Tuesday objected to Republican-sponsored election bills that would make it harder to vote in Michigan and other states. The businesses issued a joint statement saying they are united for principles such as equitable access...
IRS chief expects new child payments to start this summer
WASHINGTON — It’s a strain, but the head of the IRS said Tuesday he expects to meet the July 1 deadline in the new pandemic relief law for starting a groundbreaking tax program aimed at reducing child poverty. That means new advance monthly payments of as much as $300 per...
‘Prime suspect’ arrested in Kristin Smart’s disappearance in 1996
LOS ANGELES — The “prime suspect” was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in the 25-year-old disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart. Paul Flores, 44, who was the last person seen with Smart on the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo before she vanished in 1996,...
San Diego Zoo employee bitten by venomous snake
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego Zoo employee was hospitalized Monday after being bitten by a venomous snake, officials said. The incident occurred as the wildlife care specialist was caring for the African bush viper in a non-public area, the zoo said. Native to parts of western and central Africa,...
Video shows Black player forced to sit near banana peels in hazing incident
A Black football player at a northwest Illinois high school is seen on video sitting down in a locker littered with banana peels after a teammate threatens to break his knees if he doesn’t comply. Moline Police Chief Darren Gault called the incident at Moline High School a “disturbing racist...
Pa. State Police to alter fitness standards that kept out women
The Pennsylvania State Police will pay more than $2 million into a compensation fund and are changing physical fitness standards to settle a lawsuit over how the agency’s trooper-hiring practices ruled out otherwise qualified women. The U.S. Justice Department announced the proposed settlement Tuesday of litigation that was launched seven...
Michigan police shocked by convicted murderer’s release
DETROIT — A Detroit-area man who was convicted of killing his first wife and whose second wife died under suspicious circumstances was granted an early release from prison after he argued that the risk of catching covid-19 behind bars endangered his life. Federal prosecutors fought to keep Roger Sweet locked...
