Trump refuses to work with Dems while they investigate him
WASHINGTON — The curtains in the Cabinet Room were drawn. The Democrats were waiting. President Donald Trump came and went in all of three minutes. Round 2 of the president’s consultations with congressional Democrats on infrastructure went bust in a flash. Prospects for passing a large infrastructure bill evaporated Wednesday...
Bankruptcy judge to approve sale of Reading Eagle
READING — A federal bankruptcy judge said Wednesday he intends to approve the sale of the Reading Eagle to a large newspaper chain known for taking over struggling papers and then making deep newsroom cuts. MediaNews Group, better known as Digital First Media, offered $5 million for the assets of...
Mnuchin: I was unaware of IRS memo on tax returns
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he has no idea who wrote a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that says that tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president asserts executive privilege. Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Mnuchin said he was not aware...
Mystery of racist photo in governor’s yearbook left unsolved
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The mystery of whether Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was in the racist yearbook photo that nearly destroyed his career remains unsolved. A months-long investigation ordered up by Eastern Virginia Medical School failed to determine whether Northam is in the picture published in 1984 of a man...
Conviction tossed for man held 33 years for New York murder
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A man who spent more than half his life in prison for a 1975 New York murder has had his conviction overturned. The judge’s ruling Wednesday says that Keith Bush’s conviction was tainted because prosecutors didn’t disclose that police had interviewed another possible suspect in the Long...
2 McCandless council members knocked off in GOP primary
Two first-term McCandless council members who were propelled into office amid community outrage over plans to build a Walmart supercenter, failed to win party nominations in Tuesday’s primary to run for a second term. Ward 1 Council President Kim Zachary lost the Ward 1 Republican nomination to Greg Martin, who...
Alabama House approves ‘born alive’ abortion bill
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Doctors would face prison sentences if they fail to treat babies “born alive” after an attempted abortion, under a bill approved Tuesday night by the Alabama House of Representatives. The measure patterned after legislation in Texas was approved after more than an hour of contentious debate. It...
Rivers rising in waterlogged central U.S.; more rain to come
OKLAHOMA CITY — Waterlogged parts of the central United States braced Wednesday for more rain, following days of severe storms that have battered Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma and caused at least three deaths. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as...
Zoo euthanizes flamingo hit by rock thrown by child
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Officials at a zoo in Illinois had to euthanize a flamingo after it was struck by a rock thrown by a child. Director Jay Tetzloff told The Pantagraph in an email that a juvenile guest accidentally injured the bird on Monday by “skipping a rock into the...
Florida’s seniors are increasingly depressed and drinking more
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Although Florida seniors are living longer, they are smoking, drinking and experiencing depression more than the older population of other states, according to a new national health report. The America’s Health Rankings Senior Report found more than 9% of Florida’s 4.2 million seniors said they drink...
Young African painted dog killed by guillotine-style door at Zoo Miami
A juvenile African painted dog was instantly killed when a guillotine-style door fell on it while a pack of the animals was being transferred at Zoo Miami, the Miami Herald reported. The young female was one of five puppies born Jan. 23. Zoo spokesman Ron Magill told the Herald that...
Motorist saved after car falls 450 feet off California cliff
NAPA, Calif. — A woman was rescued after the car she was driving plunged 450 feet down a Northern California cliff and a bicyclist just happened to witness the accident. Authorities say the car could have fallen another 800 feet Tuesday but it hit a tree that stopped it. A...
Japan urges traditional order for Japanese names
TOKYO — Japan’s Foreign Ministry wants the world to begin using the traditional order for Japanese names, with family names first. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would become Abe Shinzo, as he is known in Japan, ending the Westernized name order the country adopted for use with foreigners more than a...
Qualcomm violated antitrust law, judge rules
Qualcomm violated antitrust law by brandishing its market dominance to squeeze excessive licensing fees from phone manufacturers, a federal judge in California ruled, delivering a major jolt to the critical components market for next-generation smartphones. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh’s ruling late Tuesday night sided with the Federal Trade Commission,...
Wild chase of stolen RV ends with injuries in Los AngelesVideo
LOS ANGELES — A woman in a stolen recreational vehicle led authorities on a wild chase in Los Angeles on Tuesday, smashing into cars and a palm tree before finally coming to a halt with a large dog hanging out of the shattered windshield. The half-hour chase began around 7...
Suicide car bomb kills at least 6 in Somalia’s capital
NAIROBI, Kenya — Islamic extremists exploded a suicide car bomb and killed at least six people near the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital on Wednesday, police said. Capt. Mohamed Hussein told the Associated Press another 13 people were wounded and most of the casualties were soldiers. The Somalia-based extremist group...
Anti-groping smartphone app highly popular in Japan
TOKYO — A smartphone app developed by Japanese police is being widely downloaded by women trying to protect themselves from gropers on packed rush-hour trains. The “Digi Police” app was originally issued by Tokyo police three years ago, but a function to scare off molesters was only added a few...
Virginia airline founder charged with fraud, tax evasion
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The leader of an ill-fated effort to revive the People Express airline has been indicted on fraud and tax evasion charges. The Daily Press reports Michael D. Morisi was arrested Tuesday, accused of defrauding creditors of nearly $448,000. An indictment says he used most of the...
Alaska air carrier suspends operations after 2nd crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska air carrier involved in two deadly floatplane crashes in a week has voluntarily suspended operations, federal officials said Tuesday. The halt of flightseeing and commuter flights is in place indefinitely, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The action comes after the passenger and the pilot...
Incumbents cruise in Export; at least one newcomer headed to Delmont council
With 100% of the relevant precincts reporting, primary results in the Star’s coverage area are as follows as of 10 p.m.: DELMONT COUNCIL Dennis Urban (R, 48%) and Becky Matesevac (R, 43%), 79 total write-in votes (45 Democrat, 34 Republican). Write-in votes are a factor in this race because there...
OAS calls Nicaragua to release jailed protesters by June 18
WASHINGTON — The Organization of American States called Tuesday on Nicaragua to unconditionally release all prisoners related to anti-government protests that started last year. Twenty of the 34 member states in the hemispheric body voted in favor of a resolution that urges all prisoners to be liberated by June 18,...
Another day of tornadoes in Midwest, but St. Louis spared
ST. LOUIS — Dangerous storms in the Midwest produced dozens of tornadoes for the second consecutive day Tuesday, demolishing a racetrack grandstand and damaging buildings in a wild animal park in Missouri but mostly sparing St. Louis, the biggest city in its path. Two deaths, both in Missouri, were blamed...
GOP’s Fred Keller wins Pennsylvania’s special U.S. House election
HARRISBURG — Republican Fred Keller, a conservative state lawmaker, won the special election for Congress on Tuesday in a heavily Republican district that sprawls across areas of central and northern Pennsylvania that are a stronghold for President Trump. Keller, of Snyder County, will replace Republican Tom Marino, who resigned in...
Mexico to auction off seized luxury goods to help poor
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador hasn’t just moved out of the luxurious president’s residence, he’s using it to auction off seized luxury goods to raise money for poor communities. After he took office Dec. 1, López Obrador stayed in his middle-class condominium and turned the Los...
Prosecutors want GPS monitor on truck driver in deadly crash
DENVER — Prosecutors say they only learned after a judge set $400,000 bond for a truck driver accused of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people on a Colorado highway that he had tried to flee the scene of the collision. In a filing Monday, they asked a judge...
