Pennsylvania reports 725 new cases of coronavirus
Pennsylvania health officials on Sunday reported 725 additional covid-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 95,414. The data section of the state Department of Health’s website was down for maintenance Sunday and because of that only new cases were reported, according to a news release emailed Sunday evening. Earlier in...
Trump wears mask in public for first time during pandemic
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital on Saturday, the first time the president has been seen in public with the type of facial covering recommended by health officials as a precaution against spreading or becoming infected by the novel coronavirus. Trump...
4 more states added to Pennsylvania travel quarantine list
HARRISBURG, Pa. — State health officials in Pennsylvania have added four states — including neighboring Delaware — to the travel quarantine recommendation aimed at stemming the spread of covid-19 in the commonwealth. Officials said people who have traveled to Delaware, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma are being asked to self-quarantine for...
Trump, Biden try to outdo each other on tough talk on China
WASHINGTON — China has fast become a top election issue as President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden engage in a verbal brawl over who’s better at playing the tough guy against Beijing. The Trump campaign put out ads showing Biden toasting China’s Xi Jinping, even though Trump did just...
It’s Trump’s call on what the GOP convention will look like
WASHINGTON — After months of insisting that the Republican National Convention go off as scheduled despite the pandemic, President Donald Trump is slowly coming to accept that the late August event will not be the four-night infomercial for his reelection that he had anticipated. After a venue change, spiking coronavirus...
‘Moving target’: Schools deal with new plans, Trump demands
TOLEDO, Ohio — With little more than a month before millions of U.S. schoolchildren go back to class, much is still up in the air - and not just because of the surging number of coronavirus cases nationwide. Last week, President Donald Trump and his administration demanded schools fully reopen...
2 officers, suspect killed in Texas border town shootingVideo
MCALLEN, Texas — Two police officers were shot and killed Saturday by a suspect who later fatally shot himself in a South Texas border town after responding to a domestic disturbance call, authorities said. McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez identified the slain officers as Edelmiro Garza, 45, and Ismael Chavez,...
U.S. warns its citizens in China they risk ‘arbitrary’ arrest
WASHINGTON — The State Department warned U.S. citizens living in or traveling to China they may face arbitrary arrest, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing. “Exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than...
Toomey: Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence a ‘mistake’
Sen. Pat Toomey calls President Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence a “mistake.” In a statement released Saturday, Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said while Trump had the “legal and constitutional authority” to take the action, it should be used “judiciously and very rarely by any president.” “While I understand the frustration...
Audubon Society announces most fabulous bird photos of 2020Video
Each year, the National Audubon Society picks 10 award-winning photographs of birds. The contest, in its 11th year, honors images that “evoke the ingenuity, resilience and beauty of birds small and large, terrestrial and aquatic,” according to a recent Audubon Society press release. Photos are judged on technical quality, originality...
Buses pose particular challenge for Pa. schools’ pandemic plans
HARRISBURG — A proposal to construct plastic barriers around school bus drivers as a covid-19 mitigation tactic was shot down by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, a sign of one particular challenge — among many — schools face as they plan for a fall reopening. The state Education Department told...
Coronavirus deaths take a long-expected turn for the worse
NEW YORK — A long-expected upturn in U.S. coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West, according to data on the pandemic. The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months, and even remained down as states like Florida...
Fire destroys much of 249-year-old church in California
SAN GABRIEL, Calif. — A fire early Saturday destroyed the rooftop and most of the interior of a California church that was undergoing renovation to mark its upcoming 250th anniversary celebration. Fire alarms at the San Gabriel Mission rang around 4 a.m., and when firefighters responded to the historic structure...
Trump’s defiant help for Stone adds to tumult in Washington
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s intervention into a criminal case connected to his own conduct drew fierce rebukes Saturday from Democrats and a few lonely Republicans, with calls for investigations and legislation. But it remained to be seen if Trump’s most recent defiance of the conventions of his office to...
Dozens of U.S. Marines in Japan’s Okinawa get coronavirus
TOKYO — Dozens of U.S. Marines at two bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa have been infected with the coronavirus in what is feared to be a massive outbreak, Okinawa’s governor said Saturday, demanding an adequate explanation from the U.S. military. Gov. Denny Tamaki said he could say...
Widow condemns ‘barbaric’ death of driver beaten over masks
BAYONNE, France — The wife of a French bus driver savagely beaten after he asked four passengers to wear face masks aboard his vehicle called Saturday for “exemplary punishment” after he died of his injuries. The assault on Philippe Monguillot has scandalized France. President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday dispatched the...
Vintage Super Mario Bros. video game sells for $114,000
DALLAS — An unopened copy of a vintage Super Mario Bros. video game has been sold for $114,000 in an auction that underscored the enduring popularity of entertainment created decades ago. A bidder who wished to remain anonymous snapped up an early version of the pioneering Super Mario Bros. game...
Conservation groups upset by North Cascades grizzly decision
SPOKANE, Wash. — The forested mountains in and around North Cascades National Park in north central Washington state have long been considered prime habitat for threatened grizzly bears, so environmental groups are upset the Trump administration scrapped plans to reintroduce the apex predators there. U.S. Secretary of the Interior David...
813 new covid-19 cases reported in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 813 additional positive cases of covid-19, bringing the statewide total to 94,689. There were 17 new deaths reported bringing the total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania to 6,897. All 67 counties in the state have cases of covid-19. “As the entire...
Q&A: US government not as prolific an executioner as states
CHICAGO — Executions carried out by federal authorities have stopped, restarted and stopped again for long stretches since the first one in 1790, when U.S. marshals hanged a mariner in Maine for fatally shooting the captain of a slave ship. After a 17-year hiatus, the Trump administration wants to restart...
Foreign students weigh studying in person vs. losing visas
PHOENIX — International students worried about a new immigration policy that could potentially cost them their visas say they feel stuck between being unnecessarily exposed during the coronavirus pandemic and being able to finish their studies in America. Students from countries as diverse as India, China and Brazil told The...
Fay becomes post-tropical cyclone over eastern New York
MIAMI — A tropical storm that brought heavy rain to mid-Atlantic states and southern New England was downgraded twice Saturday morning as is moved over New York, forecasters said. Post-tropical cyclone Fay was about 30 miles south of Albany and had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, the National Hurricane...
Pandemic, racism compound worries about Black suicide rate
CHICAGO — Jasmin Pierre was 18 when she tried to end her life, overdosing on whatever pills she could find. Diagnosed with depression and anxiety, she survived two more attempts at suicide, which felt like the only way to stop her pain. Years of therapy brought progress, but the 31-year-old...
Virus surge visible across Texas: ‘The tsunami is here’
AUSTIN, Texas — Urgent calls for field hospitals. Cars lined up for hours at drive-thru testing centers. Bars boarded up and grocery stores enforcing masks. Texas today resembles the state in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Except now, the outbreak is far worse. Records for COVID-19-related deaths and...
‘Alien-like’ creature resembling ET discovered in ancient area of Pacific seafloor
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A marine creature that resembles the alien E.T. has been found growing in a prehistoric area of eastern Pacific seafloor rock. The “E.T. sponge” has been classified as a new species and genus, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday as it announced the discovery. The...
