Senators to hear opening arguments as Trump fumes over trial
WASHINGTON — Opening arguments begin Wednesday in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial after an emotional first day that wrenched senators and the nation back to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s attorneys sought to halt the trial on constitutional grounds, but lost that bid on Tuesday. Their...
Poll: A third of U.S. adults skeptical of covid shots
NEW YORK — About 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the covid-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging news if the U.S. hopes to achieve herd immunity and vanquish the outbreak. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for...
Police beg for help, senators flee in Trump trial video
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors unveiled chilling new security video in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial Wednesday, showing the mob of rioters breaking into the Capitol, smashing windows and doors and searching menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as overwhelmed police begged on their radios for help. In...
Trump fumes, GOP senators baffled by legal team’s debutVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump fumed that his attorneys’ performance on the opening day of his second impeachment trial was a disaster, as allies and Republican senators questioned the strategy and some called for yet another shakeup to his legal team. Trump, who was watching the proceedings in Washington...
Attorney-at-paw? Filter makes lawyer look like cat in courtVideo
ALPINE, Texas — A West Texas judge has a word of caution to those attending court hearings via Zoom: Always check for filters before logging on. Judge Roy Ferguson’s warning comes after an attorney accidentally joined a Tuesday video conference of a civil forfeiture court hearing while using a Zoom...
Michigan GOP Leader Mike Shirkey calls Capitol riot a ‘hoax from day one’Video
LANSING, Mich. — A Republican legislative leader in Michigan apologized Tuesday after falsely claiming supporters of President Donald Trump were not involved in the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol, having called it a “hoax.” Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, of Clarklake, made the remarks last Wednesday while meeting with...
Senate agrees to hear Trump case, rejecting GOP argumentsVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial opened Tuesday with graphic video showing the former president whipping up a rally crowd to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” against his reelection defeat, followed by images of the deadly attack on Congress that came soon after. In an...
Colorado cops fired over photos tied to Elijah McClain not reinstated
DENVER — Three suburban Denver officers fired over photos reenacting a neckhold like the one police used on Elijah McClain before the Black man died in 2019 won’t get their jobs back, officials said Tuesday. The Aurora Civil Service Commission issued a decision Tuesday upholding the firings of Officers Erica...
Pennsylvania tool lets you know when it’s your turn to get covid vaccine
The Pennsylvania Department of Health launched another new online tool to help with covid-19 vaccine information, and residents now can sign up for alerts as to when they’re eligible. The website, called Your Turn, first will determine whether a person is eligible for the vaccine and, if they aren’t, give...
Ohio officer charged in Andre Hill’s death posts bail, is freedVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The fired Ohio police officer charged with fatally shooting Andre Hill posted bail and was released from jail Tuesday hours to an audience of protesters after a judge reduced his bond from $3 million to a third of that. Former Columbus police Officer Adam Coy was freed...
Black farmers unconvinced by Tom Vilsack’s ‘root out’ racism vow
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — President Joe Biden’s nomination of Tom Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department received a chilly reaction from many Black farmers who contend he didn’t do enough to help them the last time he had the job. Vilsack, a former Iowa governor who served eight years as...
Jill Biden promises free access to community college
WASHINGTON — Jill Biden is promising free access to community college and training programs, saying the schools will be an important part of Biden administration efforts to rebuild the economy. A longtime community college professor and advocate, the first lady said people struggling to get by during the coronavirus-induced economic...
Skier survived avalanche by clinging to tree before saving 2
SALT LAKE CITY — A skier caught in an avalanche that killed four people in Utah survived by clinging to a tree through the onslaught of rushing snow and later helped save two people, a forecaster investigating the slide said Tuesday. The avalanche on Saturday initially buried six skiers from...
Ex-Wisconsin pharmacist pleads guilty to vaccine tampering
MADISON, Wis. — A former Wisconsin pharmacist pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to charges that he tried to spoil dozens of vials of covid-19 vaccine. Federal prosecutors charged Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton, in late January with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products. He pleaded guilty...
WHO team: Coronavirus unlikely to have leaked from China lab
WUHAN, China — The coronavirus most likely first appeared in humans after jumping from an animal, a team of international and Chinese scientists looking for the origins of covid-19 said Tuesday, saying an alternate theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab was unlikely. A closely watched visit by...
1 dead, 4 wounded in shooting at Minnesota health clinic; 67-year-old suspect jailed
BUFFALO, Minn. — A 67-year-old man unhappy with the health care he’d received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday, killing one person and wounding four others, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying, authorities said. All five victims...
Watch live: Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial opens in SenateVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial opened Tuesday in the Senate with graphic video of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the defeated former president whipping up a rally crowd — “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol!” — as he encouraged a...
Pa. reports 4,088 additional covid cases, 149 deaths
Pennsylvania on Tuesday continued its current trend of reporting less than 5,000 additional covid-19 cases, per the state Department of Health. There were 4,088 covid cases added, bringing total cases to 876,913 in the state. There have been 33,689 cases reported in February to this point. Since Jan. 31, there...
Pickup driver survives 70-foot plunge off highway in MilwaukeeVideo
A pickup truck, that was traveling east on the Interstate 94 Zoo Interchange outside of Milwaukee, Wisc., hit a pile of snow on the right side of the ramp, forcing it over the barrier wall to fall 70 feet onto the highway below, reported WISN 12 ABC. The incident was...
Biden to visit Wisconsin next week in 1st official trip
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit Wisconsin next week for his first official trip as president beyond his home state of Delaware. Biden is set to visit Milwaukee next Tuesday, according to the White House, and will participate in a CNN town hall there. While the Biden administration did...
Former Nazi guard, age 100, charged as accessory to murder
BERLIN — German prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder on allegations he served during World War II as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin, authorities said Tuesday. The man is alleged to have worked...
Arab spacecraft enters orbit around Mars in historic flightVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause when word came that...
U.S. hiring plunged in December even as job openings ticked up
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in December, particularly industries slammed by the pandemic such as restaurants and hotels, as virus infections soared and governments responded with tighter restrictions. The number of available jobs rose slightly and layoffs fell, according to the Labor Department’s Tuesday report, known...
Democrats propose $1,400 payments as part of Biden virus relief
WASHINGTON — House Democrats proposed an additional $1,400 in direct payments to individuals as Congress began piecing together a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package that tracks President Joe Biden’s plan for battling the pandemic and reviving a still staggering economy. Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee would expand tax...
Iran may pursue nuclear weapon, intel minister warns West
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s intelligence minister has warned the West that his country could push for a nuclear weapon if crippling international sanctions on Tehran remain in place, state television reported Tuesday. The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its...