Majority in House votes to impeach President Trump on 2 chargesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors. The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the...
Appeals court: Part of ‘Obamacare’ invalid, more review neededVideo
NEW ORLEANS — The “individual mandate” of former President Barack Obama’s health care law is invalid, but other parts of the law need further review, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 2-1 ruling handed down by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans...
Study estimates that half of U.S. adults will be obese by 2030
There’s no way to sugarcoat this news: Nearly half of American adults will be obese within a decade and one-quarter will be severely so, a new report predicts. It corrects for a weakness in previous estimates that may have made the problem seem not as big as it really is....
Ailing former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers ordered freed from prison
NEW YORK — A former top executive sentenced to 25 years in prison in one of the largest corporate accounting scandals in U.S. history was ordered freed from prison Wednesday for medical reasons. U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni ordered the release of former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers after hearing...
Paul Manafort’s New York fraud case tossed over double jeopardy concern
NEW YORK — A New York judge threw out state mortgage fraud charges against Paul Manafort, ruling Wednesday that the criminal case was too similar to one that has already landed President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman in federal prison. The decision was a blow to what had widely been...
Proposed methane emissions rule passes Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board
A proposed rule aimed at reducing methane emissions from the state’s existing oil and gas operations overwhelmingly passed the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board this week by a vote of 18-1. The rule, drafted by the state Department of Environmental Protection and recommended by Gov. Tom Wolf, immediately drew praise from...
Former state rep will present ‘The State of Education in Pennsylvania’ in Murrysville
As education experts in Pennsylvania go, it’s tough to top Ron Cowell. In addition to 24 years as a state representative with 12 years on the House Committee on Education, Cowell has been president and executive director for the Education Policy and Leadership Center in Harrisburg since 1999. He has...
Germany bans so-called gay conversion therapy for minors
BERLIN — Germany is banning so-called gay conversion therapy for minors, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said Wednesday, saying the practice that purports to make patients straight has no scientific basis and often causes psychological harm. Merkel’s Cabinet also outlawed the use of conversion therapy with adults who have diminished decision-making...
FedEx driver kills man who shot him during robbery attempt
PHILADELPHIA — A man who attempted to rob a FedEx vehicle was shot and killed Tuesday night by the vehicle’s driver, who was also hit by gunfire but is recovering, police said. The shootout in Philadelphia started around 7 p.m. when a 27-year-old man attempted to rob the driver with...
Winning Mega Millions ticket worth $372M sold at Giant Eagle in Ohio
CLEVELAND — Someone in Ohio is going to have a wonderful life! A winning Mega Millions ticket worth $372 million was sold at a Giant Eagle supermarket in Mentor, a suburb of Cleveland. The winning numbers drawn on Tuesday, just eight days before Christmas, were: 22-30-53-55-56 +16. It’s the 20th...
What to watch as Trump impeachment moves to House floor
WASHINGTON — American history is happening in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats are driving President Donald Trump to the brink of impeachment Wednesday as the House takes up charges Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress in pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rivals and refusing to cooperate with the...
House marches toward Trump impeachment; he claims ‘assault’Video
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House marched toward a historic evening vote to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday, with Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting Congress must “defend democracy” by evicting him from the White House. Trump would be just the third American president to be impeached, a distinctive dark mark...
Greensburg woman loved to travel – Dec. 18, 2019
Peggy Jean Bell of Greensburg loved to travel with her husband, Tom, to places in the United States and around the world — Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Europe and South America, said her daughter, Cheryl Bell of Ashburn, Va. While she toured foreign lands and experienced the different cultures they...
Federal lawsuit seeks to stop Wisconsin voter purge
MADISON, Wis. — The fight over purging more than 200,000 voters registered in Wisconsin moved to federal court on Tuesday, with a new attempt to block the move in the narrowly divided swing state that’s key to President Donald Trump’s re-election efforts. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed...
Mississippi sheriff: Missing Domino’s Pizza employee found dead
CANTON, Miss. — A Domino’s Pizza employee who went missing four days ago was found dead Tuesday afternoon, authorities in Mississippi said. The body of Helerica “Latrice” Dortch, 31, was found near a rural intersection in Canton, Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker told WLBT-TV. Dortch was last seen Friday afternoon...
Whistleblower questions Mormon use of member donations
SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints defended Tuesday how it uses and invests member donations after a former church employee charged in a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the faith had improperly built a $100 billion investment portfolio using member donations that...
Teen ‘kidnapped’ off Bronx street staged hoax to get away from strict mom, cops sayVideo
NEW YORK — A 16-year-old girl who appeared to be kidnapped off a rainy Bronx street admitted to cops Tuesday she set the whole thing up to get away from her strict mom, a police source said. “It was staged,” the source said. The teen, Karol Sanchez, was being interviewed...
Ex-Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort hospitalized after suffering cardiac event in prison
Disgraced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was hospitalized late last week as a result of suffering a cardiac event in prison, according to his attorney. The attorney, Todd Blanche, declined to elaborate on the 70-year-old ex-Trump campaign chief’s condition, but told the Daily News he was still recovering Tuesday...
Rudy Giuliani brags about forcing out Trump’s Ukraine ambassador, Marie YovanovitchVideo
WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, is now openly admitting that he pushed President Donald Trump to dismiss the former ambassador to Ukraine — a key factor in the Democrats’ impeachment case against his boss. In a series of interviews ahead of the historic impeachment vote on Wednesday...
Trump angrily objects to impeachment, calls it ‘perversion’ and invokes ‘Salem Witch Trials’Video
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is angrily objecting to the House of Representatives’ articles of impeachment, accusing Democrats of “perversion of justice and abuse of power” in their effort to remove him from office. In a fiery letter Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the eve of his expected...
Game commission: Reducing deer population not likely to stem spread of Lyme disease
For Ryan Johnson, Pennsylvania’s white-tailed deer are more than just a potentially dangerous nuisance. “Deer in Pennsylvania are playing a huge part in ruining lives and costing people major money through accidents and disease,” said Johnson, of Norvelt. “Lyme disease is a big deal and doesn’t get the attention it...
Wedding crashers in California beat groom to death during his reception, police say
LOS ANGELES — A groom was beaten to death by two men who crashed his wedding reception, which was being held in a backyard east of Los Angeles, authorities said. Two suspects were arrested Sunday afternoon in the city of Chino, Calif., hours after the groom, 30-year-old Joe Steven Melgoza...
Firms to pay $386 million to settle price-fixing allegations
Thirteen large financial firms are agreeing to pay $337 million to settle claims by Pennsylvania’s treasury department and about a dozen other government agencies and pension funds accusing them of inflating the price of bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to proposed agreements filed in federal court....
Europe postpones launch of planet mission, seeks Soyuz fix
European space officials on Tuesday postponed the launch of a three-year mission to study planets in other solar systems shortly before it was due to blast off. The European Space Agency announced that the launch from Kourou, French Guiana, of the Characterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) mission would be delayed by...
Pope removes shroud of secrecy from clergy sex abuse cases
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis abolished the use of the Vatican’s highest level of secrecy in clergy sexual abuse cases Tuesday, responding to mounting criticism that the rule of “pontifical secrecy” has been used to protect pedophiles, silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes. Victims and their advocates cheered...
