@POTUS resets as Twitter juggles presidential accounts
It’s a Twitter user’s worst nightmare: Wake up to find most of your followers gone. But that’s exactly what will happen on Wednesday to the official presidential accounts on Twitter. No, not realDonaldTrump — he’s already been banned for life. This is the fate awaiting lesser-known accounts such as POTUS,...
Trump frees former aides from ethics pledge, lobbying ban
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, in one of his final acts of office, released current and former members of his administration from the terms of their ethics pledge, which included a five-year ban on lobbying their former agencies. The ethics pledge was outlined in one of Trump’s first executive orders,...
On Day One, Biden to undo Trump policies on climate, virusVideo
In his first hours as president, Joe Biden will aim to strike at the heart of President Donald Trump’s policy legacy, signing a series of executive actions that reverse his predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden on Wednesday will end construction on Trump’s...
Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of othersVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon in the final hours of his White House term as part of a flurry of clemency action that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family. The last-minute...
Looking back at Trump’s strong connection with Western Pennsylvania
Outgoing President Trump’s frequent visits to Western Pennsylvania were emblematic of his time in office. He brought aspirational ideas. He made questionable claims. He galvanized supporters and detractors alike. He made his first official Pennsylvania campaign stop in Pittsburgh in April 2016. Trump, then the front-runner for the GOP nomination,...
Report: Trump expected to pardon former chief strategist Steve Bannon
President Donald Trump is reportedly going to pardon his former chief strategist as one of his final acts in office, according to CNN and Bloomberg News. BREAKING: Trump is likely to grant Steve Bannon a pardon, sources tell me, ending federal prosecution of the president’s former strategist for allegedly defrauding...
Biden immigration plan opposed by GOP, conservative groupsVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers and conservative groups opposed President-elect Joe Biden’s forthcoming immigration plan Tuesday as massive amnesty for people in the U.S. illegally, underscoring that the measure faces an uphill fight in a Congress that Democrats control just narrowly. In a further complication, several pro-immigration groups said they would...
Feds say charges over stolen Pelosi computer by Harrisburg woman being prepared
HARRISBURG — A woman accused of entering the U.S. Capitol illegally during the riot on Jan. 6 will likely be charged with stealing a computer from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a federal prosecutor said in court Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson in Harrisburg said he will...
Trump wishes new administration luck in farewell videoVideo
WASHINGTON — Trying to repair his tarnished legacy, President Donald Trump trumpeted his administration’s accomplishments and wished his successor luck in a farewell video as he spent his final full day in office preparing to issue a flurry of pardons in a near-deserted White House, surrounded by an extraordinary security...
Retired NYC firefighter surrenders in U.S. Capitol riot sweep
NEW YORK — A retired New York City firefighter and a state court employee were swept up Tuesday in the federal investigation of the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Former firefighter Thomas Fee surrendered to face charges in Washington of disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building without permission during...
Self-described ‘Oath Keepers’ militia members jailed on riot charges
CINCINNATI — Federal authorities said Tuesday that they’ve charged a leader in a paramilitary group with conspiracy and related counts after he and some of the group’s members helped storm the U.S. Capitol. Thomas Edward Caldwell, 65, of Virginia, was the first person to be charged with conspiracy as a...
Harris vice presidency marks several ‘firsts’
When Alyson Holt pursued a degree in electrical engineering, she was keenly aware of how few fellow students looked like her. “Women were 6% of the students,” said Holt, 48, of Murrysville. Holt came from a family full of technology careers — both grandfathers were engineers, and her grandmother and...
Mike Pence won’t attend Trump’s presidential sendoff
WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence is among those who will not be attending President Donald Trump’s sendoff event at Joint Base Andrews. A person familiar with Pence’s schedule cited “logistical challenges” in getting from the air base to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremonies on Wednesday. The person spoke on...
Biden marks nation’s covid grief before inauguration pompVideo
WASHINGTON — Hours from inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden paused on what might have been his triumphal entrance to Washington Tuesday evening to mark instead the national tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic with a moment of collective grief for Americans lost. His arrival coincided with the awful news that the U.S....
2 National Guard members made extremist statements about inaugurationVideo
WASHINGTON — Twelve U.S. National Guard members have been removed from securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration after vetting by the FBI, including two who made extremist statements in posts or texts about the Wednesday event, Pentagon officials said. There were no specific threats to Biden. Two U.S. officials told The...
Pharmacist accused of destroying vaccine charged
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Prosecutors have charged a Wisconsin pharmacist accused of intentionally spoiling covid-19 vaccine with misdemeanor property damage. Online court records indicate Steven Brandenburg was charged Tuesday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court. Police arrested him on Dec. 31 as part of an investigation into 57 spoiled vials of...
5 charged, 4 wounded in shootings in Poconos areaVideo
COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP — A series of shootings in a community in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains that left four people wounded led to charges against five people, authorities said. The shootings occurred Monday night in different areas of Coolbaugh Township, and authorities said some of the people injured apparently were victims of...
Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction
SAN FRANCISCO — The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday. An annual winter count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 2,000 butterflies, a massive decline from the tens...
U.S. soldier arrested in plot to blow up NYC 9/11 Memorial
A U.S. Army soldier was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges after he spoke online about plots to blow up New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and other landmarks and attack U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, authorities said Tuesday. Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on...
‘Shameful’: U.S. covid deaths top 400K as Trump leaves officeVideo
As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of covid-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.” Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality...
Trump expected to issue flurry of pardons on last full day
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was expected to spend his last full day in office issuing a flurry of pardons and bidding farewell to the American public from a near-deserted White House and surrounded by an extraordinary security presence outside. In one of his final acts as president, Trump was...
Trump in final parting shot hits Venezuela with sanctions
CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration issued a parting shot to Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday, announcing a sweeping round of stiff financial sanctions that target a network accused of moving oil on behalf of the president’s alleged frontman. The U.S. Treasury Department hit three individuals, 14 business entities...
Georgia certifies Democrats Warnock and Ossoff’s Senate wins
ATLANTA — Georgia’s secretary of state has certified the results of the two U.S. Senate runoff elections, paving the way for Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to be sworn in and for Democrats to take control of the chamber. They’ll take office just as the Senate considers whether to convict...
Josh Shapiro sworn into 2nd term as Pa. attorney general
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro promised to continue working toward justice for all residents on Tuesday as he was officially sworn into his second term in office. Throughout his 15-minute speech from the state Judicial Center in Harrisburg, Shapiro spoke about inequality in race and socioeconomic status and pledged to...
SAT doing away with optional essay, subject tests
NEW YORK — The College Board said Tuesday it will eliminate the optional essay from the SAT and do away with subject tests amid a changing college admissions landscape. “The pandemic has highlighted the importance of being innovative and adaptive to what lies ahead,” according to a statement from the...
