Trayvon Martin’s mother will run for office to push prevention of gun violence
Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, once called herself an unwilling participant in the movement against gun violence and fatal shootings of unarmed black men, a spokeswoman traveling the country to share a message she wished she didn’t have to tell. In her numerous speeches since Martin was killed in 2012,...
Trump making 1st visit of 2019 to Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — President Donald Trump is coming to the battleground state of Pennsylvania for a rally hours before voters in a congressional district in the northcentral part of the state pick a new representative to go to Washington. Trump’s rally is Monday at a hangar by Williamsport Regional Airport...
Trump warns Iran not to threaten U.S. or it will face ‘end’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump warned Iran early on Monday not to threaten the United States again or it’ll face its “official end,” shortly after a rocket landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad overnight. Trump’s tweet comes after he seemingly sought to soften his tone on...
Trump’s EPA shifts more environmental enforcement to states
BOKOSHE, Okla. — Susan Holmes’ home, corner store and roadside beef jerky stand are right off Oklahoma Highway 31, putting them in the path of trucks hauling ash and waste from a power plant that burns the high-sulfur coal mined near this small town. For years, when Bokoshe residents were...
Amid #MeToo, states debate teaching consent to kids
Inside a Catholic school in Portland, Oregon, high school sophomores break into groups to discuss some once-taboo topics: abusive relationships and consent. At one desk, a girl with banana-colored fingernails begins jotting down some of the hallmarks of abuse: Physically hurting you, verbally abusive, can be one-sided. She pauses to...
Greensburg man was mine sweeper in Korean War, serious historian back home
As an Army combat engineer in Korea, Donald Baker once was sweeping for mines when he heard an explosion behind him. He and his men realized they had walked over a live mine but had missed it. Despite that close call, the combat engineers of the 1st Cavalry Division, Dog...
Hundreds protest Alabama’s abortion ban at state capitolVideo
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the Alabama Capitol on Sunday to protest the state’s newly approved abortion ban, chanting “my body, my choice!” and “vote them out!” The demonstration came days after Gov. Kay Ivey signed the most stringent abortion law in the nation— making performing an...
Ohio bill would bar death penalty if ‘serious mental illness’
COLUMBUS — A bill now in Ohio’s Legislature would prevent people convicted of aggravated murder from being sentenced to the death penalty, if they are found to have had a “serious mental illness” at the time of the offense. Republican Rep. Brett Hudson Hillyer, a primary sponsor of House Bill...
House explosion kills 1, injures 2 in southern Indiana cityVideo
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — An explosion leveled a home in southern Indiana early Sunday, killing one person, injuring two others and leaving several nearby homes uninhabitable, authorities said. Hours after the explosion shattered windows across a Jeffersonville neighborhood and sent debris flying onto roofs, lawns and cars, officials had not said...
On-duty state trooper dies on turnpike in Bucks County
A 58-year-old Pennsylvania state trooper died while on duty Saturday morning on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Trooper Donald C. Brackett was found unresponsive next to his patrol vehicle from an apparent medical episode, Acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Lt. Col. Robert Evanchick announced Saturday night. The Bensalem resident was a nearly...
Child puts car in reverse, accidentally runs over mother
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Police in Massachusetts say a mother has been struck by her own car and seriously injured after her child accidentally put the car into reverse while she was loading the vehicle. Chelmsford Police Chief James Spinney says the 37-year-old woman, who authorities haven’t identified, is expected to...
Lower Burrell’s former solicitor challenging 2 city councilmen for seat
Lower Burrell’s former solicitor is going up against two incumbent councilmen for one of their seats on the Democratic ticket in Tuesday’s primary. There was a show of support on Facebook for Lower Burrell resident and longtime city solicitor Stephen Yakopec Jr. when his contract with the city was in...
Trump denies plans to fly migrants from border to Florida
MIAMI — President Trump on Sunday denied reports that hundreds of migrants would be flown from the Mexican border to Florida and other areas in the U.S. interior to lessen the workload at crowded Border Patrol facilities. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, also on Sunday, acknowledged that federal officials...
South Carolina father shoots daughter he mistook as intruder
GREENVILLE, S.C. — A 23-year-old woman has been killed trying to enter her own home after she was mistaken for an intruder and shot by her father. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office says Nadeja Pressley was shot as she tried to enter her residence in Greenville, just after 1 a.m....
As Trump escalates China trade dispute, economic ties lose stabilizing force in matters of national security
The United States for years relied on economic interdependence with China as a stabilizing force in relations with Beijing, with business between the two nations forming what former treasury secretary Hank Paulson used to call the “ballast” in U.S.-China affairs. But as President Trump escalates his trade dispute with Chinese...
Saudis say they don’t want war, but will defend themselves
Saudi Arabia does not want war but will not hesitate to defend itself against Iran, a top Saudi diplomat said Sunday, after the kingdom’s energy sector was targeted this past week amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf. On Sunday night, a rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital’s heavily...
U.S. to roll out economic part of Mideast peace plan
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will unveil the first phase of its long-awaited blueprint for Mideast peace next month at a conference in the region designed to highlight economic benefits that could be reaped if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, the White House said Sunday. The plan, which has been...
Tax the wealthy and big companies for road repairs? Democrats divided
WASHINGTON — Should big corporations or the wealthy pay more taxes to repair the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure? Or should consumers pay for the roads they use with a higher gasoline tax? Democrats, who control the House of Representatives and have the power to block most legislation in...
In this wildly popular game, you kill a journalist
The mission is called “Breaking News.” It’s the seventh mission in the game, and it comes after you’ve upgraded your sniper rifle to shoot at a distance of nearly 1,000 feet with accuracy. By now, you’ve already taken out, among others, a gunman who allegedly killed several people at a...
Trump’s ‘great patriot’ farmers follow him into a trade war
MADRID, Iowa — Iowa farmer Tim Bardole survived years of low crop prices and rising costs by cutting back on fertilizer and herbicides and fixing broken-down equipment rather than buying new. When President Donald Trump’s trade war with China made a miserable situation worse, Bardole used up any equity his...
Graduation speaker pledges to pay class of 2019 student debt
ATLANTA — A billionaire technology investor and philanthropist says he will provide grants to wipe out the student debt of the entire graduating class at Morehouse College - an estimated $40 million. Robert F. Smith, this year’s commencement speaker, made the announcement Sunday morning while addressing nearly 400 graduating seniors...
Trump tells anti-abortion activists to stay united for 2020
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump distanced himself from Alabama’s restrictive new abortion law by laying out differing personal views even as he urged anti-abortion activists to stay united heading into the 2020 election. In a series of tweets about abortion, Trump did not state whether he was for or against...
As states pass restrictive abortion laws, questions surface
ATLANTA — As multiple states pass laws banning many abortions, questions have surfaced about what exactly that means for women who might seek an abortion. The short answer: nothing yet. Governors in Kentucky , Mississippi , Ohio and Georgia have recently approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is...
Blame it on Bieber: Iceland canyon too popular with visitorsVideo
FJADRÁRGLJÚFUR, Iceland— A large sign warns motorists that Iceland’s Fjadrárgljúfur canyon is closed to visitors but drivers keep on coming down the narrow gravel road. A ranger at a roadblock has to explain why no one can pass: The vulnerable landscape cannot sustain more visitors. Blame Justin Bieber, the Canadian...
Defunct Bethlehem Steel’s 21-story headquarters implodedVideo
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Sixteen thousand tons of Bethlehem Steel collapsed in a matter of seconds Sunday as a demolition crew imploded Martin Tower, the defunct steelmaker’s former world headquarters. Crowds gathered to watch the demolition of the area’s tallest building, a 21-story monolith that opened at the height of Bethlehem...
