Feds: 81-year-old robbery suspect wanted to return to prison
PHOENIX — An 81-year-old man who has spent most of his adult life behind bars for stealing from banks said he robbed a credit union in Tucson months after his release from prison because his monthly $800 Social Security payment wasn’t enough to live on, according to court records. Robert...
Journalist killed in southern Mexico, another kidnapped
A reporter was shot dead in the southern state of Tabasco, her newspaper said Wednesday, the latest in a string of journalist killings in one of the world’s most lethal countries for the profession. Another reporter was kidnapped by a pair of armed men in the nearby state of Veracruz....
Pa. Gov. Wolf to veto $100M private schools bill
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to substantially expand taxpayer support by $100 million for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania. Wednesday’s statement from Wolf’s office comes a day after the Senate approved the bill on a party-line basis. The bill was sponsored...
New Mexico city famous for UFO event trademarks new logo
ROSWELL, N.M. — A New Mexico city known for its proximity to arguably the most famous UFO event in the United States has trademark protection for its alien-inspired logo. The city of Roswell said Tuesday it received its requested trademark certification from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office. The...
Badly made fake license plate leads to arrest in California
MOORPARK, Calif. — A big-rig truck driver has been arrested after authorities spotted a phony license plate on his rig. How could they tell? Well, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department says the 1960s-style yellow-on-black plate had wobbly letters and numbers. Also, instead of “CALIFORNIA,” it read “CALIFAS.” The department said...
White House asserts executive privilege in census fight
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is asserting executive privilege over documents related to the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Justice Department notified the chairman of the House oversight committee of the decision in a letter Wednesday. The committee is set to vote...
Pa. Republicans push back on cash Gov. Wolf wants for voting machines
Republican lawmakers aren’t committing to the money sought by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to back up his demand that Pennsylvania’s counties replace their voting machines by 2020’s presidential elections. Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s Legislature say a roughly $34 billion budget counterproposal they are finalizing this week doesn’t include the $15...
Watchdog: Abuse and neglect in nursing facilities unreported
WASHINGTON — Nursing facilities have failed to report thousands of serious cases of potential neglect and abuse of seniors on Medicare even though it’s a federal requirement for them to do so, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday that calls for a new focus on protecting frail patients. Auditors...
‘Straight, country boy’ turns pickup rainbow for Pride month
HULBERT, Okla. — Self-described “straight, country boy” Cody Barlow believes duct tape really can fix anything, including bigots. The 28-year-old college student from Hulbert, Okla., recently decorated the tailgate of his pickup truck like a Pride flag with a bold message: “NOT ALL COUNTRY BOYS ARE BIGOTS.” Barlow’s Facebook post...
Some rural states double down on attracting new residents
BENNINGTON, Vt. — With jobs unfilled and young people moving away, some rural states are doubling down on efforts to attract new blood by expanding programs that offer incentives to live there. Over the past decade, states including South Dakota, Maine and Vermont have lured new residents with financial incentives...
Hong Kong police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at protesters
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who had massed outside government headquarters Wednesday in opposition to a proposed extradition bill that has become a lightning rod for concerns over greater Chinese control and erosion of civil liberties in the territory. The afternoon...
Trump and Biden trade jabs in possible 2020 election preview
DAVENPORT, Iowa — President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden repeatedly laid into each other while traveling in the battleground state of Iowa, unleashing verbal attacks that at times felt more appropriate for the final weeks before Election Day than a lazy summer about 17 months before voters...
Woman fatally stabbed in dispute over parking space in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a woman fatally stabbed another woman in a dispute over a parking spot in Philadelphia. The attack happened about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say the two women were arguing over the parking space when one stabbed the other twice in the chest. The 27-year-old victim died...
Confusion abounds as Trump’s July 4 plans remain a mystery
WASHINGTON — With just over three weeks to go, exactly what’s going to happen in Washington on the Fourth of July remains a subject of intense confusion. Will the nation’s premier Independence Day celebration be centered on the National Mall as usual or shift to the Lincoln Memorial, as the...
Report: Cereals positive for trace amounts of weed killerVideo
Popular breakfast cereals contain a controversial herbicide found in weed killers, according to a report released Wednesday. The new report, by Environmental Working Group, or EWG, an environmental advocacy group in Washington D.C., found trace levels of glyphosate in 21 oat-based cereals and snack products. Glyphosate is the main ingredient...
As shopping mall floods, band plays ‘Titanic’ theme
Timing is everything. The central Mexican city of Guadalajara was pounded with heavy rains over the weekend, taking down trees and flooding roads. One of the areas hard hit was the Plaza Patria shopping mall in Zapopan, Mexico News Daily reports. The rains were so hard that the roof began...
Band plays song from ‘Titanic’ as mall in Mexico floods
The band played on. Literally. As a mall in Guadalajara began flooding Saturday, a live band made the best of the situation. Not missing a beat, the musicians began performing Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” as water seeped through the shopping center’s roof and began to accumulate on...
Police issue arrest warrant for suspect in McKees Rocks sex assault
Allegheny County police issued an arrest warrant for a 24-year-old man in connection with a sexual assault that took place Monday in McKees Rocks. Police are seeking Nino Johnson, who they said is known to frequent McKees Rocks and Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood. On Monday night, the McKees Rocks Police...
Virginia primary has lots of surprise, no clear message
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s closely watched off-year primary contest produced plenty of surprises Tuesday, but little in the way of a coherent message. The top Democrat in the state Senate narrowly won his primary despite heavily outspending a progressive challenger, and another incumbent lost her seat to a former Virginia...
After war on drugs, Seattle tries ‘peace’
SEATTLE - Police officers sprang from a black patrol van on a recent day, surrounding two men smoking crack on a gritty downtown block. The officers asked for ID and confiscated a homemade pipe fashioned from glass and surgical hose. Such stops have played out for decades on the front...
Utah man arrested in shooting of off-duty Los Angeles deputy
ALHAMBRA, Calif. — A Utah man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of shooting an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy at a fast-food restaurant, and authorities say they are investigating whether he killed another man an hour earlier in attacks that both appear to be random. Rhett Nelson, 30, of...
Woman alleges 2008 sexual assault by UCLA gynecologist
LOS ANGELES — A woman says she was sexually assaulted by a gynecologist who worked for the University of California, Los Angeles and is upset the school apparently knew about it from her social media post but never contacted her as it investigated other incidents that led to charges against...
Public rental bikes used for Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans
Public bicycles sponsored by a health insurance company were used in a rather unsanitary way. It was more than 90 degrees on June 8 in New Orleans when the 2019 World Naked Bike Ride kicked off and riders mounted their saddles for a ride through the French Quarter. Although many...
Wolf administration hopes ‘groundswell’ support can pass natural gas severance tax
Officials in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration hope that packaging a natural gas severance tax with a proposal to address community blight and infrastructure needs will give it a better chance of passing the Pennsylvania General Assembly this year. Several members of the administration Tuesday said there is a “groundswell” of...
Pa. bottle bill would set up deposit program to reduce waste, litter
A proposal to set up a beverage bottle and can deposit program in Pennsylvania now has support in the state House and Senate. State Rep. Wendy Ullman, D-Doylestown, said Tuesday state Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, planned to introduce a companion bill in the Senate that is modeled on her legislation...
