Agreement affirms North Carolina transgender restroom rights
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge approved a legal settlement Tuesday affirming transgender people’s right to use restrooms matching their gender identity in many North Carolina public buildings. The consent decree between the state’s Democratic governor and transgender plaintiffs covers numerous state-owned buildings including facilities run by executive branch agencies...
Venezuelan blackout eases in some areas; opposition rallies
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition on Tuesday sought to harness anger over a massive blackout that deepened hardship nationwide, but turnout at a Caracas demonstration was relatively modest as many Venezuelans despair of an imminent solution to their plight. Lights came back on in parts of the capital and other...
Greased watermelons to replace piglets in California fair event
The decades-long tradition of children chasing piglets at the Sonoma County Fair is coming to an end. The the 83-year-old county fair’s Farmers Day in Santa Rosa, Calif., will no longer feature the pig scramble, an event featuring scores of kids ages 5 to 10 chasing freshly weaned piglets, reports...
Videos of water being dumped on New York police officers create stir
NEW YORK — Cellphone videos of people brazenly dousing uniformed New York Police Department patrolmen with water have sparked outrage and led police officials to urge the force not to tolerate the behavior. Police on Tuesday were looking into two recent instances captured on video clips widely circulated on social...
Florida lawmaker: Look into Epstein work release from jail
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida lawmaker known as a champion for child sexual abuse victims asked Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday to authorize a state investigation into the circumstances of wealthy convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s freedom to leave jail on work release a decade ago. Democratic state Sen....
Cellphones sought in Puerto Rico as political crisis deepens
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rico judge issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in a crude and offensive online chat whose leak has set off a political crisis that threatens to bring down the U.S. territory’s governor. Kelvin Carrasco, a spokesman for the island’s...
FBI’s Wray dodges questions on Mueller report’s findings
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray offered a lesson Tuesday in how to dodge questions about the special counsel’s Russia investigation , offering a possible preview of what lawmakers can expect when Robert Mueller testifies to Congress. Wray, in an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, repeatedly declined to answer...
Trump puts his stamp on nation’s immigration courts
LOS ANGELES — In just 2½ years, the Trump administration has put its stamp on the nation’s immigration court system, appointing more than 4 in 10 judges while dramatically expanding the bench and issuing new rules that make it harder for migrants to win their cases and stay in the...
Senate confirms Army veteran Mark Esper secretary of defense
WASHINGTON — It took seven months, but President Trump finally has a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense. Mark Esper, an Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist, won Senate confirmation Tuesday by a vote of 90-8. He was to be officially sworn by the end of the day, ending the longest...
CVS installs time-delay safes in stores across Pennsylvania
CVS Pharmacy officials are hoping to prevent pharmacy robberies and increase safety in stores across the state thanks to new time-delay safes. The safes, which were placed in all CVS locations in Pennsylvania — including pharmacies located in Target stores — electronically delay the time it takes for pharmacy employees...
Police: Overweight truck causes 113-year-old bridge to collapse
It may cost up to $1 million to replace a 113-year-old bridge in North Dakota after an overweight tractor-trailer truck tried to cross the historic structure and caused it to collapse on Monday afternoon, according to officials. According to the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, Michael Dodds was driving a...
Goose freed from pizza driver’s car grille
One lucky goose got a second chance after becoming wedged in a car’s front grille. A Canada goose in Burlington, Vermont, may have thought it was cooked on Saturday when a Toyota slammed into it but it is expected to make a full recovery, reports WCAX-TV. “I saw a goose...
Penn State Extension holding industrial hemp workshop for farmers
Capitalizing on the recent legalization of industrial hemp, Penn State Extension is holding a Hemp Research Field Day for interested farmers on Aug. 6. The second annual event, scheduled for 4:30-8:30 p.m., will be held at the Penn State Southeast Research & Extension Center in Manheim, Lancaster County. Cost is...
Sydney police find drug haul in van that hit police cars
SYDNEY — A driver has been charged after methamphetamine valued at more than $140 million was found in a van that crashed into police cars parked outside a Sydney police station, police said on Tuesday. A Toyota HiAce van hit the cars outside the Eastwood Police Station on Monday morning,...
Store worker’s body found behind cooler 10 years later
The body found behind a supermarket cooler in January has been identified as a man who went missing 10 years ago. Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada of Council Bluffs was 25 years old when he left his parents’ home in 2009, reports the Des Moines Register. The missing person case went unsolved...
Virginia school’s transgender bathroom ban is back in court
NORFOLK, Va. — Gavin Grimm, a young man who has become a national face for transgender student rights, returns to a Virginia courtroom Tuesday to challenge his former high school’s bathroom policy. A federal judge in Norfolk is considering whether the Gloucester County School Board violated Grimm’s rights when it...
Mosquitoes test positive for West Nile virus in Pennsylvania
At least a couple mosquitoes in Allentown have West Nile virus, a state monitoring program determined in its latest round of tests. There have been no confirmed human cases of West Nile virus in Lehigh or Northampton Counties so far in 2019, but the Lehigh/Northampton County Mosquito Borne Disease Control...
Boris Johnson wins race to become UK’s next prime minister
LONDON — Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party on Tuesday and will become the country’s next prime minister, tasked with fulfilling his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union. Johnson resoundingly defeated rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two thirds of the...
Ford reveals all-electric F-150 that tows over 1 million pounds
It’s electric! And it’s got serious power. In 2017, Ford revealed its plans for an all-electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup truck. Sure, going green would help the environment, but what good would a pickup be without its power? Well, Ford tried to answer that question in a big...
What can you eat on a ‘bland diet?’
Reader Mary K. asks, “Can you tell me what is a bland diet for a senior citizen? Thank you.” Senior citizen or not, some people think a bland diet is one that is tasteless and boring. Not necessarily so. In the field of clinical nutrition, a bland diet — also...
Heart disease and kidney disease … what’s the connection?
Dear Mayo Clinic: My 78-year-old mother had a heart attack three weeks ago. She was feeling better for a bit, but became ill again and was told she has an acute kidney injury. Are the two conditions somehow related? Is she at higher risk for more kidney and heart problems...
Health Happenings – Jul. 23, 2019
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 12:30-6 p.m. Friday, Norwin Christian Church, 9610 Barnes Lake Road, Irwin — 12:30-5 p.m. Monday , American Legion Post 515, 1811 Ligonier St., Latrobe Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcross
blood.org; walk-ins welcome Classes • AARP Smart Drivers Refresher Course for...
Ex-WPXI anchor Darieth Chisolm victorious in revenge porn case
After two years of waging an international court case against revenge porn, former WPXI news anchor Darieth Chisolm can claim victory. Chisolm’s ex-boyfriend, Donovan Powell, 53, of Jamaica pleaded guilty in Jamaican court to three charges related to distributing nude pictures of the journalist, according to The (Jamaica) Gleaner. The...
Review urged after 3 Pennsylvania parolees charged in separate homicides
HARRISBURG — At least three men recently paroled from Pennsylvania prisons have been arrested in unrelated homicides over the past two months, leading to calls from prosecutors and corrections officers for a review of the state’s parole practices. The men were arrested within a couple days of one another this...
Mueller testimony should stick to public report, DOJ tells himVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department told former special counsel Robert Mueller that his public testimony should remain within the boundaries of his already released report on President Trump and the 2016 election. Responding to a request from Mueller for the department’s guidance on his appearance at two House hearings scheduled...
