Curacao officials board quarantined ship in measles case
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — Authorities in Curacao on Saturday boarded a ship that arrived in the Dutch Caribbean island under quarantine, to start vaccinating people to prevent a measles outbreak. Health officials said only those who already have been vaccinated or have previously had measles will be free to leave the...
Israel strikes Gaza targets in response to heavy rocket fire
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired scores of rockets into southern Israel on Saturday, wounding at least two Israeli civilians and triggering retaliatory airstrikes and tank fire against militant targets in the blockaded enclave and shattering a month-long lull in violence. Israeli officials said...
No deaths as plane carrying US military crashes into river
A chartered jet carrying 143 people from the U.S. military base in Cuba tried to land in a thunderstorm in north Florida and ended up in the river next to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Authorities said everyone on board emerged without critical injuries, climbing onto the wings to be rescued....
Nobody hurt in Vandergrift kitchen fire
Nobody was hurt in a kitchen fire in Vandergrift Friday night, according to Westmoreland County 911. The fire on the 500 block of Longfellow Street was reported around 10:15 p.m., dispatchers said. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. Details about how the fire started and how much damage it did to...
Felon voting bill goes to Florida governor amid outcry
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida felons will have to pay court-ordered financial obligations if they want their voting rights restored under a bill sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday that would implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment. The bill, though, caused outrage among Democrats who say Republicans are adding hurdles...
Mother of Otto Warmbier calls US diplomacy with North Korea a ‘charade’
The mother of Otto Warmbier on Friday criticized the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to North Korea as a “charade” and blasted dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime as “absolute evil” in the family’s first public comments on the stalled negotiations. During remarks in Washington, Cindy Warmbier, whose son died in 2017...
VP Pence praises members of black churches torched by arson
OPELOUSAS, La. — Vice President Mike Pence praised the parishioners of three African American churches Friday for the inspiring way they responded to the destruction of their sanctuaries by an arsonist and lamented that attacks on communities of faith have become “all too frequent.” Pence and President Trump had been...
White gang members forcibly tattoo a racial slur on a member and spell it wrong, cops say
MIAMI — White members of a gang forcibly covered a fellow gang member’s gang tattoo with a phrase including a racial slur, according to Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The evidence on Michael Hart’s neck said, “F — — you, Niger.” According to what police say Lucian Evans told them, he,...
Pa. Turnpike toll evader named Stiff to pay up; had $128K in tolls, fines
PHILADELPHIA — The worst toll evader in Pennsylvania is being ordered to pay up. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Jarrett Stiff didn’t pay for trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike 2,264 times from 2012 to 2017, more than anyone else in the state. The 36-year-old from suburban Philadelphia racked up nearly...
Report: Number of drilled but uncompleted oil and gas wells in U.S. continues to rise
The number of drilled but uncompleted wells in the United States has increased over the last two years, reaching a high of 8,504 wells in February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The most recent well counts in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report showed 8,500 wells in March — 26%...
Trump, Putin discuss nuclear weapons, Mueller report
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour Friday about nuclear weapons agreements, the conflict in Venezuela, North Korea and also briefly about special counsel Robert Mueller’s just completed report on Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election. “They had a very good...
Hempfield students to participate in Remake Learning Days
Some Hempfield students are taking a step back from the curriculum for a day as they prepare to present projects they have been working on as part of the Remake Learning Days Across America. The day, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, allows students to pick...
AAU coach who sexually exploited more than 400 boys gets 180 years in prison
Saying that an AAU basketball coach in Iowa “exploited, manipulated and abused children for almost two decades,” a judge sentenced him to 180 years in prison Thursday. Greg Stephen, 43, had pleaded guilty to multiple counts related to child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors, after prosecutors accused him of...
Videos of fatal Connecticut police shooting of 18-year-old are released
HARTFORD, Conn. — Videos released Friday show a Connecticut police officer’s fatal shooting last month of an 18-year-old man during an attempted traffic stop and chase, which sparked protests by the teen’s relatives and activists. Wethersfield officer Layau Eulizier is seen on police dashcam and business surveillance videos running in...
Longtime married Erie couple dies within minutes of each other
ERIE, Pa. — Family members say a Pennsylvania couple that had been married for almost 45 years passed away within minutes of each other. Clair “Cos” Vance had made daily visits to a care center where his 70-year-old wife, Jeanne, lived due to mobility and medical issues. But those visits...
With new strategy, Pennsylvania State Police graduates large cadet class
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Police is graduating one of its larger classes, and it might be because of an effort to get prospective cadets accustomed beforehand to what 27 challenging weeks of academy training is like. The agency graduated 103 cadets in the 155th graduating cadet class Friday....
Michael Cohen’s prison reality: A bunk bed in barrack-style hall
NEW YORK — “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next. It’s not reality TV. It’s a federal prison 70 miles (113 kilometers) from New York City where white-collar and D-list scoundrels can do time while...
In ‘lawless’ world of service dogs, many families suffer
APEX, N.C. — All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings’ crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. And so a psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help the autistic child connect with other kids. To Glenn and Rachel Cummings, Mark Mathis seemed like a...
Teen swimmers pray for help, rescued by boat called the Amen
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A pair of Florida teens saw their prayers answered after becoming stranded about 2 miles from shore. News outlets report that 17-year-olds Tyler Smith and Heather Brown were swimming at Vilano Beach near St. Augustine during a senior skip day last month when strong currents pulled...
Trump defends health workers’ right to object to abortions
WASHINGTON — Advancing his anti-abortion agenda, President Donald Trump moved Thursday to protect health care workers who object to procedures like abortion on moral or religious grounds. Trump chose the National Day of Prayer to announce the new regulation. “Just today we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians,...
Unity man had zest for life, traveled Europe
Dwight Sarson’s graduation trip was an adventure to remember. He and his friend hitchhiked across Europe in 1972, traveling to Italy, Sweden, France, England and Germany, said his wife, Dana Santone Sarson. “They had a grand time,” traveling and living on bread and wine to save money, she said. “That...
West Virginia reaches $37 million opioid settlement with drug shipper McKesson
West Virginia and drug distributor McKesson announced a $37 million settlement of a lawsuit over the company’s role in the opioid epidemic Thursday, a record agreement for the state that leads the nation in drug overdose deaths. McKesson, the sixth-largest company on the Fortune 500 list, admitted no wrongdoing but...
Indiana woman accused of driving over boyfriend twice, killing him
CROWN POINT, Ind. — A northwestern Indiana woman accused of driving over her boyfriend twice with a car has been charged in his killing. Twenty-three-year-old Briana Rice of Hammond is charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, in the April 24 death of 25-year-old...
Poll shows most Americans want changes in how government works
After more than two years of the Donald Trump presidency, Andrea Petrusky is ready for some fundamental changes in the way the U.S. government works. “Right now we’re being shown all of the loopholes, the president being able to do all the things that no president should,” said Petrusky, 46,...
Reports of sexual assault in the military spike, survey reveals
WASHINGTON — Reports of military sexual assaults jumped by 13% last year, but an anonymous survey of service members released Thursday suggests the problem is vastly larger. The survey results found that more than 20,000 service members said they experienced some type of sexual assault, but only a third of...
