Pennsylvania reports 504 new covid-19 cases, 20 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 504 new coronavirus cases and 20 new covid-19 deaths. The new numbers brings the total case count to 81,266 and 6,419 deaths. The state considers 631 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state...
Judge: Bolton can publish book despite efforts to block it
WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser John Bolton can move forward in publishing his tell-all book, a federal judge ruled Saturday, despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release because of concerns that classified information could be exposed. The decision from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a...
Pa. lawmakers review legislation to allow counting of mail-in ballots before Election Day
Lawmakers in the General Assembly are reviewing potential legislation that would allow election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, a provision that advocates say will be crucial in getting timely election results in November. While voting-by-mail election reforms have faced political pushback from Republicans...
Lawmakers use protest momentum to push state racial reforms
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The racial reckoning sweeping the country after the killing of George Floyd in police custody has generated momentum at state capitols for widespread reforms addressing a range of inequities. Lawmakers have floated proposals to address affirmative action, racial disparities in school funding and health care, criminal justice...
Shooting, protests test Atlanta’s image of Black prosperity
Police cars burned in the streets of Atlanta as protesters smashed windows and spray-painted graffiti outside CNN headquarters. Even during the national outcry over police brutality and racial injustice, Chassidy Evans struggled to understand why her hometown, with its legacy of peaceful resistance, had erupted in chaos. Then her uncle,...
Phoenix mandates wearing masks amid surge of virus cases
PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix on Friday approved a measure requiring people to use face masks in public to ward off the spread of the coronavirus as Arizona hit an all-time high for new daily cases. In an emergency meeting called by Mayor Kate Gallego, the City Council voted...
Trump crowd grows, clashes with protesters ahead of rally
TULSA, Okla. —Supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump continued to gather Friday in Tulsa, where Trump is scheduled to take the stage for the first of his signature rallies during the coronavirus pandemic. Verbal clashes sparked at times as hundreds of people converged amid a nationwide push for racial...
Man convicted of terror ties faces charges in Mumbai attacks
LOS ANGELES — A Chicago businessman who spent more than 10 years in prison for aiding terrorist groups has been arrested in Los Angeles to face murder charges in India for attacks in Mumbai in 2008 that killed more than 160 people, U.S. prosecutors said Friday. Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-born...
Memorial held for federal officer shot at US courthouse
PINOLE, Calif. — Family and friends mourning a federal law enforcement officer who was fatally shot while guarding a U.S. courthouse in Oakland voiced poignant pleas Friday for an end to the violence that cut short his life, saying America needs to overcome discrimination and hatred. David Patrick Underwood, 53,...
Georgia senators say hate crimes law should protect police
ATLANTA — Republicans in Georgia’s state Senate have added police as a protected class to proposed hate crimes legislation deemed essential by state leaders, complicating chances of its passage by lobbing a political grenade into the belly of the bill with little time left in the legislative session. The Senate...
Bond hearing set for ex-Atlanta cop charged in Rayshard Brooks’ death
ATLANTA — A bond hearing will be held Tuesday for the former Atlanta police officer charged with felony murder and other charges in Rayshard Brooks’ shooting death. Garrett David Rolfe, 27, surrendered Thursday, a day after Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced criminal charges in the case. After turning...
Summer vacationers weigh testing, quarantine or staying home
PORTLAND, Maine — Homebound travelers desperate to venture out for the first time since the pandemic are confronting a vacation landscape this summer that may require coronavirus tests for the family and even quarantines. States from Maine to Hawaii are trying to strike a balance between containing the new coronavirus...
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ends string of more than 100 daily covid-19 briefings
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrapped up a string of more than 100 daily briefings that became appointment viewing around the nation, alternatively informative, grave, jocular and combative, by declaring Friday that New York has “done the impossible” in taming the coronavirus. Cuomo appeared alone behind his desk during...
NAACP sues Pennsylvania over primary election access issues
Citing long lines at polls on primary day in Eastern Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Conference of the NAACP is suing the state, seeking to ensure additional protections for voter access are in place in time for the November presidential election. The suit, filed Thursday in Commonwealth Court, charges the state’s decision...
Gov. Wolf loosens restrictions in last of Pa.’s counties except Lebanon
Parts of Pennsylvania that were among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic will move next week into the less restrictive “green” zone for reopening businesses and restarting group activities, the Wolf administration announced Friday. The 12 counties going from yellow to green under Gov. Tom Wolf’s color-colored reopening system...
Tulsa mayor sets curfew around site of Trump’s weekend rallyVideo
TULSA, Okla. — The mayor of Tulsa has declared a civil emergency and set a curfew for the area around the arena where President Donald Trump plans to hold a campaign rally this weekend. In his executive order establishing a curfew around the BOK Center from 10 p.m. to 6...
Putin orders officials to fully clean Arctic fuel spill area
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government Friday to fully repair environmental damage from a massive fuel leak in the Arctic. A power plant in the Siberian city of Norilsk leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region, the worst such accident in decades. Putin...
Washington D.C. announces phase 2 reopening starting Monday
WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is moving ahead with the second phase of its reopening Monday, as city officials credited months of social restrictions with blunting an anticipated spike in COVID-19 infections. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that playgrounds, libraries, gyms and nail salons in Washington, D.C., will be able to...
AP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans support police protestsVideo
NEW YORK — Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality, a majority of Americans say they approve of recent protests around the country. Many think they’ll bring positive change. And despite headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in cities nationwide, the poll from...
Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting to be firedVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s mayor said Friday that one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Mayor Greg Fisher said interim Louisville police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while...
Sheriff’s office: 6 killed in fiery head-on crash in Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Six people were killed and one was seriously injured in a fiery head-on crash on a northeast Kansas highway, authorities said. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened around 6:40 p.m. Thursday when a Ford Fusion and another vehicle collided on U.S. 40 southwest of...
Momentum builds for making Juneteenth a federal holiday
There is a growing movement afoot to declare June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday. The date marks the day in 1865 when Union Gen. Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, informing former slaves of their freedom provided by the order President Abraham Lincoln issued on Jan....
Pennsylvania reports 526 new covid-19 cases, 38 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday reported 526 new coronavirus cases and 38 new covid-19 deaths, bringing the total case count to 80,762 and 6,399 deaths. The state considers 630 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state are in patients...
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health seeks $301M federal covid-19 grant
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health is pursuing a $301 million federal grant to strengthen its ability to respond to the covid-19 pandemic, and will earmark $100 million for local health departments if the grant is awarded. “This funding is essential to our future response to the covid-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania,” Secretary...
Germany, France, UK press Iran to provide atomic site access
BERLIN — The board of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Iran to provide inspectors access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material, the Russian representative said. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in...
