He never expected to be a single dad. Then a gunman in Virginia Beach made him one
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It was just the two of them now, so they needed to figure out their own evening routine. Pat Gallagher was speed-walking from room to room in his red-brick ranch home, chasing after his only child, Patrick, as the toddler’s 7 p.m. bedtime approached. The 22-month-old...
Hong Kong leader delays unpopular extradition bill, but activists want more
SINGAPORE — A sense of futility pervaded the throngs of protesters in Hong Kong this past week. Many said they chose to demonstrate out of principle, not because they believed they could prevent the passing of an extradition bill that would have left them largely at the mercy of the...
O.J. Simpson in his first tweet: ‘I got a little getting even to do’
The video starts with a shot of O.J. Simpson’s open-mouthed grin. As he wanders through a yard, the camera trained a few inches from his face, Simpson begins his narration. “Hey, Twitter world,” the former football star says, “this is yours truly.” The introductory video was posted on Simpson’s new...
‘We are trapped’: Zimbabwe’s economic crunch hits passports
HARARE, Zimbabwe — With Zimbabwe’s economy in shambles and political tensions rising, leaving the country seems the best option for many who are desperate for jobs. But those dreams often end at the passport office, which doesn’t have enough foreign currency to import proper paper and ink. A passport now...
What’s so bad about processed foods? Scientists offer clues
NEW YORK — Chips, soda and frozen pizzas tend to be full of salt, sugar and fat, but now scientists are trying to understand if there’s something else about such processed foods that might be bad for us. Already, the spread of cheap packaged foods has been linked to rising...
Conservationists say endangered beetle species found in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When she saw the plump orange-and-black insect crawling on the rotting rat corpse, Andrea Malek didn’t know whether to cry, laugh or scream in celebration. After a double take, she did all three. It was a discovery 45 years in the making. Sitting at the bottom of...
Clairton air quality remains an ongoing concern
John Macus fell in love with his fixer-upper on First Street in Jefferson Hills, just over the Clairton border, when he moved in about nine years ago. The backyard was perfect for his two dogs, with plenty of space for his exercise equipment, too. “You know it’s there, it’s a...
Trump rules will remake U.S. health insurance markets
NEW YORK — President Trump’s attempt to transform American health insurance is almost complete. Twenty months ago, frustrated after attempts to repeal Obamacare fell apart in the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump pledged to use executive power to do what Congress failed to legislate. An executive order set in motion regulations to...
Murrysville photographer never stopped capturing moments
David Adams loved photography, so much so that even after his job at local newspapers came to an end, he continued to work in the field. “He just took prom pictures last month at Spectrum Charter School in Monroeville,” his wife Bonnijean said. “He just liked the interaction. He was...
Target stores’ registers are down across the country
Registers at Target stores across the country were down Saturday afternoon, bringing checkout lines to a standstill and sending shoppers to Twitter to vent their frustrations. The company said on Twitter that it was “aware of a systems issue” in its stores and was working to resolve it. It was...
Passengers subdue chaotic man on board Turkish Airlines jet
ANKARA, Turkey — Passengers on a Turkish Airlines jetliner flying to Sudan had to subdue a man who started screaming a few minutes after takeoff and began smashing an oxygen mask box and then a cabin window before pushing flight attendants aside and rushing toward the cockpit. Associated Press photographer...
Off-duty LA cop discharged gun during deadly Costco shooting
CORONA, Calif. — An off-duty Los Angeles police officer among three people injured during a shooting inside a Costco Wholesale, killing one person, discharged his firearm inside the store, authorities said Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether the unidentified officer was the only person who fired shots inside the...
Pennsylvania hunting licenses go on sale starting Monday
Pennsylvania hunting licenses for the 2019-20 season go on sale starting Monday, according to the state game commission. Beginning June 17, hunters can buy most licenses online, which will take up to 10 business days to arrive by mail. Licenses also can be purchased in person. Here is a link...
Audubon intervenes to protect ocean monument for puffins
PORTLAND, Maine — The National Audubon Society is getting involved in a lawsuit over the future of a national monument in the ocean off New England because of the area’s importance to seabirds, especially colorfully beaked puffins. Fishing groups sued in federal court against creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts...
Advocates: Emails show that census question discriminates
Voting rights activists argue that newly discovered 2015 correspondence between a GOP redistricting expert and a current Census Bureau official bolster arguments that discrimination motivated efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 population survey. The plaintiffs, who successfully challenged the question in a Maryland federal court, said in...
Former student who reported rape says Marshall University betrayed her
The warnings came in text messages from her friends: He’s outside the dorm. He’s at the student center. He’s at Starbucks. But for Alicia Gonzales, sometimes it didn’t matter where he was. She would often hide away in her room on the campus of Marshall University, overcome with fear that...
Legacy of teacher walkouts could be more political activism
OKLAHOMA CITY — Betty Collins was born and raised in Tulsa, but the eighth grade history teacher hadn’t been to the state Capitol in Oklahoma City until last spring, when she educators throughout the state walked off the job to protest for better wages and public school funding. Since that...
What bats, primates and even zebrafish tell us about human aging
Scientists who want to understand why some of us live longer and healthier have traditionally focused on studying centenarians from the world’s “blue zones,” such as Okinawa, Japan, or Ikaria, Greece, where inhabitants routinely shatter longevity records. Yet Irish bat biologist Emma Teeling thinks the answer can be found among...
Roller coaster at Cedar Point malfunctions mid-ride, passengers stuck for short time
Cedar Point officials say weather caused a roller coaster to get stuck midway through its course, trapping riders Wednesday. The GateKeeper malfunctioned shortly before the Sandusky, Ohio amusement park was set to close. Passengers were stuck for more than 90 seconds. “The train came to a stop on a section...
‘Like quicksand’: Ohio farmer survives soybean entrapment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio farmer Jay Butterfield survived a harrowing afternoon recently after being buried up to his neck inside a soybean bin. The 70-year-old was trying to break up wet clumps of the crop inside a 30-foot-tall bin when he sank up to his knees. The material along the...
Greensburg woman shared love of outdoors, ice skating
Grace Howard was outgoing, loved people and enjoyed the finer things in life. On the latter count, she married the right man, according to her daughter. “She graduated from Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing and was a registered nurse, but she never needed to do any nursing work,” said Sharon...
Man arrested in ’87 cold case slaying of soldier in Colorado
DENVER — A suburban Denver man has been arrested in the unsolved slaying of a soldier in Colorado 32 years ago after DNA evidence was used to create an image of what a suspect might look like, authorities said Friday. Civilian and Army investigators arrested Michael Whyte of Thornton in...
Mexico migration chief offers to resign amid crackdown
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s immigration chief presented his resignation to the president Friday as the country embarks on a crackdown on irregular migration through its territory in response to U.S. pressure. The National Immigration Institute said in a brief statement that Tonatiuh Guillén thanked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for...
Jurors listen to Illinois suspect say he killed scholar from China
PEORIA, Ill. — Jurors in a federal death-penalty trial heard secretly recorded audio Friday in which a former University of Illinois doctoral student describes to his girlfriend how he killed a visiting scholar from China, calling the 26-year-old woman “valiant” as she tried to fight back. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports...
U.S. Naval War College names 1st female president
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A helicopter pilot who heads a military command in Guam will be the first female leader of the U.S. Naval War College, the Navy announced Friday, days after removing the college president who came under investigation over questionable behavior. Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield will be the new...
