New White House press secretary McEnany to hold 1st briefing
WASHiNGTON — President Donald Trump’s new spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, is to face reporters for the first time in the White House Briefing Room on Friday, something her predecessor never did during a nine-month stint as press secretary. During past administrations, a White House press secretary holding a formal briefing would...
Biden denies former staffer’s sexual assault allegationVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday categorically denied allegations from a former Senate staffer that he sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, saying “this never happened.” Biden’s first public remarks on the allegation by former staffer Tara Reade come at a critical moment for the presumptive...
Kim Jong Un appears in public amid health rumors
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media said Saturday, ending an absence that had triggered global rumors that he was seriously ill. The North’s official Korean...
‘Unconscionable’ body overflow at Brooklyn funeral home prompts probeVideo
NEW YORK — It started with reports of a strange stench in Brooklyn. Police who investigated found another example of how the cornavirus has overwhelmed the city: A funeral home had resorted to storing dozens of bodies on ice in rented trucks. Now state officials say the funeral home could...
State appoints ‘temporary manager’ for covid-stricken Beaver nursing home
State officials have entered into an agreement to appoint a temporary manager at the Beaver County long-term care facility where more than 50 people have died from covid-19. The Long Hill Co., based in Shelton, Conn., became the temporary manager for the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in mid-April, according...
Alabama high school student names NASA’s first Mars helicopterVideo
NORTHPORT, Ala. — An Alabama high school student named NASA’s first Mars helicopter that will be deployed to the red planet later this summer. Ingenuity, the name submitted by Vaneeza Rupani, was selected for the 4-pound solar-powered helicopter, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday. The name coined by the...
This time, Mike Pence wears mask as he tours Indiana plantVideo
WASHINGTON — This time, he wore a mask. Vice President Mike Pence donned a face covering Thursday as he toured a General Motors/Ventec ventilator production facility in Indiana after coming under fire for failing to wear one earlier this week in violation of Mayo Clinic policy. The facility in Kokomo...
California governor orders Orange County beaches to close
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom closed beaches in Orange County on Thursday, overriding some local officials who had rejected his pleas to limit access as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the state. A memo to the state’s police chiefs on Wednesday indicated Newsom was preparing to close...
Police: South Carolina woman drove car with her 5-year-old child on hood
Rock Hill, S.C. — A woman who allegedly recorded a video of herself driving a car while her 5-year-old child was sitting on the hood of the vehicle was arrested in South Carolina. Thrista Miquisha Johnson turned herself in Tuesday when Rock Hill police learned about the video and issued...
Protesters, some armed, enter Michigan Capitol as House blocks extension of coronavirus emergency measuresVideo
Throngs of protesters, several of them armed, marched Thursday inside the Michigan Capitol as the House voted to block the state’s coronavirus emergency measures and authorized a lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s actions to fight the pandemic. The governor wanted lawmakers to extend her emergency declaration by 28 days....
U.S. Steel expects to lay off 2,700 workers
One of the biggest U.S. steelmakers is signaling how the coronavirus pandemic is set to inflict pain on blue-collar America. U.S. Steel Corp. expects to lay off about 2,700 employees as the virus forces the company to idle most of its blast furnaces. Even before lockdowns hit the economy, producers...
‘Is my dad alive?’: Outrage as deaths mount at veterans homeVideo
Desperate for information as coronavirus deaths mounted at the Massachusetts veterans home where her father lived, Susan Kenney drove there with her question written in big letters on her car window: “Is my dad alive?” He was. But not for long. Kenney’s father and 69 others who served their country...
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he tested positive for coronavirus
MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says he has tested positive for coronavirus and has told President Vladimir Putin he will self-isolate. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov will temporarily perform Mishustin’s duties. Mishustin, 54 was named prime minister in January. Also, the mayor of Moscow says he doesn’t...
West Virginia lifting stay-home order under eased benchmark
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Thursday said he is lifting the statewide stay-home order next week as part of his plan to ease coronavirus restrictions. The Republican said a new rule will go into effect Monday encouraging people to stay home but not requiring them to...
Army defends decision to have West Point graduation
WASHINGTON — The Army’s top leaders on Thursday defended their decision to bring 1,000 cadets back to the Military Academy at West Point for graduation, where President Donald Trump is slated to speak, saying that despite the coronovirus risk students would have had to return anyway to prepare for their...
Police: Shooting at Cuban Embassy is ‘suspected hate crime’
WASHINGTON — A man armed with an assault rifle was arrested after opening fire outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington early Thursday, his bullets tearing holes into the walls and pillars near the front entrance in what authorities suspect was a hate crime. The gunfire broke out around 2 a.m....
Few new restrictions as Georgia’s shelter-at-home order ends
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will allow his statewide shelter-in-place order to expire at midnight Thursday but is extending his emergency powers to June 12 and telling the elderly and medically fragile to stay at home until then. The first-term Republican governor had already carved sizable loopholes in his...
You can skip mortgage payments for 6 months. But many fear what comes after that
In March, like millions of others, Thomas Taylor saw his income plummet. The global pandemic left the 42-year old furloughed from his two bartending jobs and staring down a $2,600 monthly mortgage payment on his condo in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Taylor reached out to his mortgage company for help but...
Russian prime minister says he tested positive for coronavirus
MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Thursday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, becoming the highest-ranking Russian official known to have gotten infected. Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin during a video call that he would self-isolate but planned to stay in touch on key policy...
Pelosi: $1 trillion needed to avert state, city layoffs from coronavirus
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday up to $1 trillion is needed to shore up state and local governments for coronavirus costs, a stunning benchmark for the next aid package that’s certain to run into opposition from Senate Republicans. Pelosi said the “heroes” fund would help prevent layoffs...
Trump tweets raise speculation about potential Flynn pardonVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted his support for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, raising speculation that a pardon may be coming after Flynn’s lawyers released internal FBI documents they claim show the FBI was trying to entrap him. Trump has long said he is considering...
Trump harshly blames China for coronavirus pandemic; a lab ‘mistake’?Video
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday speculated that China could have unleashed the coronavirus on the world due to some kind of horrible “mistake,” and his intelligence agencies said they are still examining a notion put forward by the president and aides that the pandemic may have resulted from...
Surf’s down in California: Governor set to close beachesVideo
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will order all beaches and state parks closed starting Friday after people thronged the seashore last weekend despite his social distancing order that aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Eric Nuñez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said a...
Tuition freeze, early retirement incentives approved for Pa. state universities
Citing financial challenges families are facing in the coronavirus pandemic, officials with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education froze tuition for the second consecutive year. The move is the first time in the state system’s 38-year history that it has frozen tuition two years in a row. Base tuition...
Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates
WASHINGTON — Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has agreed to let former primary rival Bernie Sanders keep hundreds of delegates he would otherwise forfeit by dropping out of the presidential race in a deal designed to avoid the bitter feelings that marred the party in 2016 and helped lead to...
