1 Pennsylvanian dead, a dozen others arrested in Capitol chaos
One Pennsylvanian died and at least a dozen others were among those who were arrested Wednesday night amid violence and chaos in Washington, D.C. Thousands of PresidentTrump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as legislators gathered to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s election win. Four people died: One woman was shot, and...
Founder of site Trumparoo among dead at Capitol
One of the people who died of a medical emergency during the storming of the Capitol was the founder of a pro-Trump social media site called Trumparoo and had coordinated transportation for several dozen people from Pennsylvania to Washington. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 50-year-old Benjamin Phillips drove there in...
Biden picks Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labor secretary
President-elect Joe Biden will select Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his labor secretary, according to a source familiar with the decision, choosing a former union worker who shares his Irish American background and working-class roots. Walsh, 53, has served as the Democratic mayor of Boston since 2014. When he took...
One-third of America’s rivers have changed color since 1984
America’s rivers are changing color — and people are behind many of the shifts, a new study said. One-third of the tens of thousands of mile-long river segments in the United States have noticeably shifted color in satellite images since 1984. That includes 11,629 miles that became greener, or went...
Order to turn off bodycams part of Andre Hill investigation
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Whether an officer who instructed other officers to turn off their body cameras in the aftermath of Andre Hill’s death violated policy is part of a wide-ranging investigation into Hill’s killing, a city spokesperson said Thursday. The instruction was captured on another officer’s body camera footage the...
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigns after Capitol riot
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is resigning effective Monday, becoming the highest ranking member of President Donald Trump’s administration to resign in protest after the pro-Trump insurrection at Capitol. In a statement Thursday, Chao, who is married to Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, said the violent attack on the Capitol “has...
1,000 Pennsylvania National Guard members being activated to help in Washington D.C.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday that approximately 1,000 Pennsylvania National Guard members have been activated to support the District of Columbia National Guard and local authorities through the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher Miller signed orders Thursday activating the National Guard from Virginia,...
Race double standard clear in rioters’ Capitol insurrection
Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. Chemical dispersants. Rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat with largely peaceful crowds and some unruly vandals and looters. More than 14,000 arrests. The U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021: Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Several weapons...
Explainer: Transfer of power under 25th Amendment
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s role in inciting violence at the Capitol and his refusal to acknowledge his election defeat is prompting some lawmakers to urge his removal from office through the 25th Amendment. The amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a...
U.S. registering highest deaths yet from the coronavirus
The U.S. registered more covid-19 deaths in a single day than ever before — nearly 3,900 — on the very day the mob attack on the Capitol laid bare some of the same, deep political divisions that have hampered the battle against the pandemic. The virus is surging in virtually...
As Arizona becomes world covid hot spot, focus put on governor
As Arizona experienced periodic spikes in covid-19 cases since last spring, Gov. Doug Ducey frequently resisted calls to take strong measures. He has declined to institute a statewide mask mandate, allowed school districts to mostly make their own choices and allowed businesses to stay open. All of those choices by...
Pa. sees highest covid case count in 3 weeks
Pennsylvania has nearly 10,000 new covid cases, according to the state Department of Health. There were 9,698 covid cases and 265 new deaths reported Thursday. Of the newly reported deaths, 103 are from January, 161 are from December and one is from November. The new numbers bring total cases to...
Identical twins aren’t perfect clones, research shows
WASHINGTON — If you’re an identical twin who’s always resisted being called a clone of your sibling, scientists say you have a point. Identical twins are not exactly genetically the same, new research shows. Scientists in Iceland sequenced DNA from 387 pairs of identical twins — those derived from a...
Boston Marathon bomber sues over ballcap, showers in prison
BOSTON — Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has sued the federal government for $250,000 over his treatment at the Colorado prison where he is serving a life sentence. Tsarnaev, 26, calls his treatment in the handwritten suit filed Monday “unlawful, unreasonable and discriminatory.” He cites the confiscation of a white...
Insurrection marks moment of reckoning for Republicans
The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was both stunning and predictable, the result of a Republican Party that has repeatedly enabled President Donald Trump’s destructive behavior. When Trump was a presidential candidate in 2016, Republican officials ignored his call to supporters to “knock the crap out” of protesters. Less than...
Facebook bans Trump through Biden inauguration, maybe longerVideo
Facebook will bar President Donald Trump from posting on its system at least until the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. In a post Thursday morning, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the risk of allowing Trump to use the platform is too great, following his incitement of a mob that later...
Split court tosses Pennsylvania victims’ rights amendment
HARRISBURG — A divided state court on Thursday threw out a victims’ rights state constitutional amendment that voters apparently passed by a wide margin, ruling it bundled too many changes together. Commonwealth Court in a 3-2 decision said state officials may not tabulate the votes for the so-called Marsy’s Law...
Pentagon activates 6,200 National Guard members to secure Biden inauguration
The Defense Department has formally activated roughly 6,200 members of the National Guard from six northeastern states to help support the Capitol Police and other law enforcement in Washington in the wake of the deadly riot Wednesday that rocked the U.S. Capitol. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller signed orders activating...
1st covid-19 variant case identified in Pennsylvania
The first case of the covid-19 variant initially seen in the United Kingdom last month has been identified in Pennsylvania, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Thursday. “Public health experts are still in the early stages of working to better understand this new variant, how it spreads and how...
Late night hosts react with shock, anger to Capitol attack
Late night TV talk show hosts expressed anger and frustration at the violence at the U.S. Capitol, offering somber monologues that pleaded for unity even as some aimed pointed barbs at those they held responsible for the mobs’ actions. “It was a terrible day in the history of this country,”...
Ex-Chief of Staff Mulvaney quits administration in protest of Trump’s incitement of Capitol riot
Mick Mulvaney, a former acting White House chief of staff, resigned Thursday from a diplomatic post in protest of President Trump’s incitement of the rioters who stormed the Capitol. Mulvaney, a staunch Trump loyalist, quit his post as special envoy for Northern Ireland over the president’s shameful handling of the...
How quickly do I need a 2nd covid-19 vaccine shot?
The first covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. require two doses a few weeks apart. People should get some degree of protection within two weeks of the first shot, with the second shot bringing about the vaccine’s full protection. For the vaccine by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, the second shot is...
Here’s who objected, supported certification of Pennsylvania’s electors
Members of Congress confirmed Joe Biden’s presidential win early Thursday morning, but not without first deliberating on proposals aimed to discredit the results of the contentious 2020 presidential election. The U.S. Congress voted on proposals that objected electoral votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona, key battleground states. Both proposals were rejected....
Rep. Conor Lamb’s ‘lies’ accusation causes late-night stir in CongressVideo
It’s not what Rep. Conor Lamb had originally planned to say to his fellow U.S. House members. But Lamb’s “the truth hurts” speech early Thursday caused a stir on the House floor, with some Republican congressmen rushing toward the Democrats in a pique of anger.Lamb, a Democrat from Mt. Lebanon,...
Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing
BAGHDAD — An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for outgoing President Donald Trump in connection with the killing of an Iranian general and a powerful Iraqi militia leader last year, Iraq’s judiciary said. The warrant was issued by a judge in Baghdad’s investigative court tasked with probing the Washington-directed drone...
