Google offers cheaper Pixel phones to spur sales
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google is releasing cheaper versions of its smartphone in an effort to appeal to budget-minded consumers who aren’t willing to spend $800 on the Pixel 3. The more affordable phones are a response to a worldwide slowdown in smartphone sales, which has been partially driven by...
Psychedelic mushrooms may be the next illicit drugs to go legal
First pot. Now shrooms. Americans want access to psychedelic mushrooms and the psilocybin they produce. Advocates are pushing for legalization on several fronts. Denver is the latest place where the mushroom movement is trying gain ground, reports NPR. Who's at the door in Denver? Magic mushrooms.Volunteers canvas for America's first...
Georgia governor signs abortion ban after fetal heartbeat
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed into law one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, a measure that bans the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Kemp, a Republican,...
U.S. pregnancy deaths up, and report says most are preventable
More U.S. women are dying from pregnancy-related causes, and more than half of those deaths are preventable, government health officials said in a report Tuesday. Although these deaths are rare — about 700 a year — they have been rising for decades, especially among black women. “An American mom today...
China marriage market targets Pakistan’s Christian minority
GUJRANWALA, Pakistan — Muqadas Ashraf was just 16 when her parents married her off to a Chinese man who had come to Pakistan looking for a bride. Less than five months later, Muqadas is back in her home country, pregnant and seeking a divorce from a husband she says was...
World War II vet, 95, dies during ‘Honor Flight’ trip
SAN DIEGO — A 95-year-old former soldier died last weekend aboard a so-called Honor Flight carrying World War II veterans home to San Diego after an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to Washington, D.C. Frank Manchel collapsed about an hour before the chartered American Airlines jet was due to land Sunday, The...
Wolf commutes life sentences of 3 more Pennsylvania inmates
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is commuting life sentences of three inmates, bringing his total to eight, more than any of the state’s governors over the past quarter century. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wolf acted last week in the case of a man sentenced in 1988 for standing by...
What’s the line of succession for British throne, U.S. presidency?
With the birth of the first child for Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife, Meghan Markle, the line of succession for the British throne is one notch longer. Where does the new — as yet unnamed — royal fall? Well, he’s seven in line, right behind his father....
Florida man who drove lawnmower into cop car says officers drugged him, police say
Weird or wasted? It was in Florida, after all. History would say it was a solid combination of both. A 68-year-old Florida man who cops say was too drunk to complete field sobriety tests also accused officers of drugging him after he drove his lawnmower into a police cruiser. WFLA-TV...
GOP leader McConnell to say ‘case closed’ on Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is declaring “case closed” on the Russia probe and potential obstruction by President Donald Trump. The Republican leader, in his most significant public comments yet on the investigation, is expected to outline in a Tuesday speech how special counsel Robert Mueller’s “exhaustive” probe...
Joe Biden parody site outranks his official page on Google
Parody is the sincerest form of flattery, right? So, Joe Biden should feel pretty good. Although, on second thought … A parody Joe Biden website — joebiden.info — is outranking the Democratic presidential candidate’s official website — joebiden.com — in current Google searches. A recent Google search of “Joe Biden”...
U.S.-Iran tensions rise ahead of anniversary of deal pullout
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal. Iranian President...
Police: 3 Navy corpsmen dead in double murder and suicide
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Authorities in Virginia say they’re investigating the shooting deaths of three active duty service members in what appears to be a double murder and suicide. The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday that the two women and one man were Navy corpsmen. The two women were stationed at Naval Medical...
Climate change missing as U.S. defends Arctic policy
ROVANIEMI, Finland — The Arctic is melting, but don’t ask U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to talk about climate change. Nor even to agree on a text that mentions it. For the Trump administration, disappearing sea ice in the world’s “high north” appears to be first and foremost an...
Trump pardons former U.S. soldier who killed Iraqi prisoner
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pardoned a former U.S. soldier convicted in 2009 of killing an Iraqi prisoner, the White House announced Monday. Trump signed an executive grant of clemency, a full pardon, for former Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, of Oklahoma, press secretary Sarah Sanders said. Behenna was...
Authorities: Woman pulls gator from pants during stop – May 7, 2019
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Sheriff’s officials say a Florida woman pulled a small alligator from her yoga pants during a traffic stop. The Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy stopped a pickup truck Monday afternoon after it ran a stop sign and 22-year-old driver Michael Clemons told him he and his 25-year-old...
Stories sought about lives affected by opioid use disorder
A website started by a Penn State University professor is seeking stories from those whose lives have been affected by an opioid addiction. The story can be about a person’s own substance abuse or from another person’s perspective, such as a family member or friend. The website, ShareYourOpioidStory.com, is a...
Art therapy helps people explore and resolve many issues
Larry Beaver of Jeannette is known in area art circles as the creator of beautiful pastels. His work is showing in “Trance,” a solo retrospective exhibition running through June 9 at You Are Here Gallery in Jeannette. He’s also been featured in shows in the Latrobe and Greensburg art centers,...
Build more activity into your day using the NEAT way
While writing this paragraph, I stood up and sat back down five times, swiveled in my chair, walked to the kitchen to make a pot of tea, brushed my dog, made my bed and performed at least six seated leg crisscrosses with my feet raised a good 12 inches off...
Avocados are ‘nutrient dense’ with healthy fat, B-vitamins
I laugh when I remember what George Burns, in his role as God in a 1997 film, said about avocados: “Made the pits too big.” Probably not a mistake at all, say those who muse on such things. Native avocado trees in South America had to compete with larger trees...
Art therapy professionals receive master’s level training
“Art therapy is a master’s level training program used in mental health counseling and social work,” says Dana Elmendorf, program director of the Seton Hill University Graduate Art Therapy Program. Art making is a technique used by some mental health professionals in working with their clients, but art therapy is...
Denver voters to decide legalizing ‘magic mushrooms’
DENVER — Voters decide this week whether Denver will become the first U.S. city to decriminalize the use of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in “magic mushrooms.” A citizen-led initiative appearing on ballots Tuesday follows a path that led to marijuana’s legalization in Denver and later in Colorado. Campaign organizers, though,...
Philadelphia commission probing ‘disturbing’ video
A Philadelphia city commission said Monday it’s investigating an event last month at which Muslim children were captured on video speaking in Arabic about beheadings and the liberation of Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations launched a probe into the April 17 gathering at the...
IUP professor named as a Fulbright scholar, headed to Honduras
An Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor has been named a Fulbright scholar and will spend the upcoming academic year seeking out new species of amphibians and reptiles and supporting conservation efforts in Honduras. Josiah Townsend, an associate professor at IUP, was chosen as a 2019-20 Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant recipient....
Hundreds of former federal prosecutors: Trump would’ve been charged if not presidentVideo
More than 500 former federal prosecutors who worked in Republican and Democratic administrations have signed on to a statement asserting special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings would have produced obstruction charges against President Trump — if not for the office he held. The statement — signed by myriad former career government...
