West Virginia University to require coronavirus tests before return
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University will require testing of all students, faculty and staff for the coronavirus before they can return to campus for the start of fall classes. The university said Wednesday that in setting Aug. 19 as the start of fall classes students must wear masks on...
Obama steps out as nation confronts confluence of crisesVideo
Former President Barack Obama is taking on an increasingly public role as the nation confronts a confluence of historic crises that has exposed deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities in America and reshaped the November election. In doing so, Obama is signaling a willingness to sharply critique his successor, President Donald...
‘Nonlethal’ crowd-control methods can cause serious injury, deathVideo
As protests continue in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes, reports and social media videos are proliferating of the “nonlethal” methods being used to quell rallies. According to reports, peaceful...
White House: Trump church visit akin to Churchill WWII roleVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s visit to a nearby church where he held up a Bible was a “leadership moment” akin to Winston Churchill’s inspection of bomb-damaged London during World War II, a comparison that drew swift condemnation from the author of a new...
Wolf lifts stay-at-home order, renews disaster declarationVideo
The stay-at-home order that has governed life in Pennsylvania since early March will expire at day’s end Thursday as the entire state moves into the yellow and green reopening phases, Gov. Tom Wolf said. But Wolf said he will renew the 90-day disaster declaration that was set to expire along...
Rod Rosenstein says he wouldn’t approve Russia warrant nowVideo
WASHINGTON — Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told lawmakers Wednesday that he would not have approved an FBI surveillance application for a former Trump campaign aide during the Russia investigation had he known at the time about the problems that have since been revealed. Rosenstein’s comments amounted to a...
Study: No evidence hydroxychloroquine prevents healthy from getting covid-19Video
A clinical study evaluating whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent covid-19 infections in people at risk of getting the virus found that it isn’t more effective than a placebo, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The conclusion of the study, which was carried out in...
Gov. Wolf joins protesters; Philadelphia under curfew againVideo
HARRISBURG — Philadelphia will be under curfew again for a fifth straight night Wednesday, as Gov. Tom Wolf marched in Harrisburg with demonstrators protesting police violence against black people and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd. Wolf, with officials from Harrisburg, marched from the Capitol steps to a...
Walmart drops ammunition, firearms on display in some stores
NEW YORK — Walmart says it has removed ammunition and firearms from displays at some of its stores in the wake of the killing of George Floyd that has set off sometimes violent demonstrations against police brutality and injustice against African Americans. “As a responsible seller of hunting and sporting...
Prosecutors charge 3 more officers in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors on Wednesday expanded their case against the police who were at the scene of George Floyd’s death, charging three of the officers with aiding and abetting a murder and upgrading the charges against the officer who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck to second-degree murder. The most...
Active-duty troops deployed to D.C. region start to leave
WASHINGTON — Active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capitol are beginning to return to their home base, after two days of more peaceful demonstrations in Washington, D.C., senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The officials said that about...
Nation’s streets calmest in days; police credit curfews
MINNEAPOLIS — Protesters marched Wednesday in peaceful pleas to end police brutality, after a calmer night in cities across America void of the violence of recent days, as demonstrators heightened calls for justice in the killing of George Floyd. Curfews and efforts by protesters to contain earlier flare-ups of lawlessness...
New Mexico close to historic all-female U.S. House delegation
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — New Mexico has moved closer to possibly sending a historic delegation of all women of color to the U.S. House. According to unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary, Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Latina, won a seven-way race to capture her party’s nomination for the Democratic-leaning seat...
Parents, educators, experts talk to kids on race amid unrest
NEW YORK — As an African American parent, Cassandre Dunbar in Charlotte, North Carolina, always knew she and her husband would have “the talk” with their son, the one preparing him for interactions with law enforcement. But she never dreamed it would be necessary at 5 years old. “I thought...
Philadelphia to be under curfew for 5th straight nightVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia will be under curfew again for a fifth straight night Wednesday. City officials said the curfew will extend from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday. During that time, people will only be allowed to leave their homes to work at essential businesses or to seek medical attention...
Wall Street’s rally rolls into Day 4 on reopening hopes
Stocks are rising again Wednesday on optimism that the economy can climb out of its current hole more quickly than earlier feared. The S&P 500 was up 1.1% in midday trading, heading for its fourth straight gain as lockdowns loosen around the world and raise hopes for a coming economic...
Man charged with assault after thrown pickle hits highway worker
POWNAL, Vt. — A Massachusetts man is facing an assault charge after he allegedly threw a large pickle from a moving vehicle that hit a Vermont highway worker, police said. The incident occurred just before 6 p.m. Monday on U.S. Route 7 in Pownal near the border crossing into Massachusetts....
In protests, police using rubber bullets that can kill, blind or maim for life
In cities across the country, police departments have attempted to quell unrest spurred by the death of George Floyd by firing rubber bullets into crowds, even though five decades of evidence shows such weapons can disable, disfigure and even kill. In addition to rubber bullets — which often have a...
No crowds delight art lovers in Italy at reopened museumsVideo
FLORENCE, Italy — The Uffizi Galleries, the most-visited museum in Italy, is open after three months of covid-19 lockdown, delighting art lovers who don’t have to jostle with throngs of tourists thanks to new social distancing rules. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the government-ordered...
‘Comeback kid’? West Virginia governor gets unlikely boost from coronavirus
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Before the coronavirus upended the world, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was in trouble. His own party rebelled against him. Federal prosecutors investigated him. Embarrassing lawsuits loomed. But now some believe that the Republican governor has been able to use his daily virus news conferences to stabilize...
Trump administration moves to block Chinese airlines from U.S.Video
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved Wednesday to block Chinese airlines from flying to the United States in an escalation of trade and travel tensions between the two countries. The Transportation Department said it would suspend passenger flights of four Chinese airlines to and from the United States starting June...
75 new coronavirus deaths, 511 new cases reported in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 75 new covid-19 deaths and 511 new cases Wednesday. That brings the state’s total case count to 73,405, with 5,742 deaths. The state considers 617 patients as probable cases, but they are not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state are...
Statue of divisive Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo is removed
A crane lifted a long-polarizing statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo from its home outside a public building in the wee hours of Wednesday, whisking it away after recent protests against police brutality hastened its removal. As National Guard troops deployed for the protests watched, the crane lifted the...
Scientists learn how tiny critters make ocean ‘snot palaces’
Master builders of the sea construct the equivalent of a complex five-story house that protects them from predators and funnels and filters food for them — all from snot coming out of their heads. And when these delicate mucus homes get clogged, the tadpole-looking critters — called giant larvaceans —...
Army: Defense Secretary Mark Esper reverses plan to send active-duty troops home
WASHINGTON — In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The...
