Analysis: Trump falsely claims there was little religious freedom before his election
WASHINGTON — In his National Day of Prayer speech on Thursday, President Trump focused on how much the United States has changed since his election, particularly for people of faith. The president, who won a large majority of white evangelical Christians and white Catholic voters in 2016, spoke about how...
AG Barr skips House hearing; Nancy Pelosi accuses him of lyingVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr skipped a House hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Trump’s Justice Department. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr had already lied to Congress in other testimony and called that a “crime.” Democrats...
Stephen Moore, Trump ally, withdraws from contention for Fed seatVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump was dealt another setback in his bid to put a political ally on the Federal Reserve Board as plans to appoint Stephen Moore, a conservative commentator and economist, collapsed amid a backlash sparked by Moore’s past writings and statements that disparaged women and gender equity. Trump...
Someone did get to look at Trump’s tax returns: Deutsche Bank bankers
NEW YORK — Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to see his tax returns. Not the public. Not Congress. But at least one group has peered into the carefully guarded trove and could provide some insight — a team from Deutsche Bank AG. The bankers got a look before agreeing to...
St. Lucia quarantines Church of Scientology cruise ship as a result of measles case
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Authorities on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia said Thursday that they quarantined a cruise ship with some 300 people aboard after discovering a confirmed case of measles aboard. Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, the island’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press the ship was...
Auditor General urges state to invest in cybersecurity for school districts
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Thursday urged legislators to invest in helping school districts strengthen cybersecurity as part of the next state budget. DePasquale said that despite a 2017 survey by his office showing a majority of Pennsylvania school districts were concerned about the increased risk of cyber attacks, no...
Trump rolls back safety rules meant to prevent another Deepwater Horizon spill
The Trump administration has weakened offshore drilling safeguards put in place after a 2010 explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform killed 11 workers and triggered the largest ocean spill in U.S. history. Administration officials said the revised Well Control Rule announced Thursday in Louisiana, not far from the...
Government to house more immigrants in tents at the border
EL PASO, Texas — About 50 asylum seekers stood this week in a circle near a bridge between the U.S. and Mexico to hear an American attorney explain what would happen to them when they entered U.S. custody. The attorney, Jodi Goodwin, told them they would probably end up at...
Drug firm founder John Kapoor guilty of bribing doctors to push opioid
BOSTON — A pharmaceutical company founder accused of bribing doctors across the United States to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray was convicted Thursday in a case that exposed such marketing tactics as using a stripper-turned-sales-rep to give a physician a lap dance. John Kapoor, the 76-year-old former chairman of...
Pa. lawmaker’s ‘Nazi’ remark over pipeline fight draws criticism
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who opposes a gas pipeline project says she meant no harm when she said “Nazis were just doing their jobs too” in response to complaints that protesters were preventing workers from doing their jobs. Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten, of Chester County, contended Wednesday that she...
Now you can get to an actual Sesame Street in NYC
New York City marked the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street Wednesday by making it an actual place. The city named the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway as Sesame Street to honor the long-running children’s series. Join us at the NEW Sesame Street — "A place where people, birds,...
Cocaine deaths up in U.S., and opioids are a big part of it
NEW YORK — Cocaine deaths have been rising in the U.S., health officials said Thursday in their latest report on the nation’s deadliest drug overdose epidemic. After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising around 2012. And they jumped by more than a third between 2016 and...
Students find 22 pounds of pot during post-Earth Day cleanup in Florida Keys
As part of a post-Earth Day cleanup, Coral Shores High School students volunteered to pick up litter in the Florida Keys and found a rather large item: a 22-pound bale of marijuana, according to the Miami Herald. Volunteers called local authorities and Border Patrol agents to pick up the marijuana...
Candidates needed for Irwin, North Irwin and Manor councils
Two boroughs — Irwin and North Irwin — should put out a “help wanted” sign to attract anyone willing to serve on council. Only one person — an incumbent in Irwin — is seeking his party’s nomination in the May 21 primary. There are three seats up for grabs in...
Franklin Regional senior’s tough decision? Choosing between elite collegesVideo
No one likes to make a difficult decision. But it helps when that decision is which of four of the most prestigious academic institutions in the United States to attend for college. As he considered his post-secondary education, Franklin Regional senior Bhav Jain had to choose among acceptance letters from...
Workers of the world, uniting on May Day 2019
PARIS (AP) — Recognizing the contributions and struggles of laborers on May 1 has roots in late 19th-century Chicago, but there was a timeless quality to some International Workers’ Day observances held around the world Wednesday. The labor unions behind the first May Day considered an 8-hour work day a...
Shrimp test positive for cocaine in U.K. waters
How fresh is that shrimp? But, perhaps a better question would be how high is that shrimp? If it comes from the waterways in Britain, it’s a concern. A new study, published today in Environment International, found all freshwater shrimp tested positive for cocaine. King’s College London and the University...
Three-eyed snake found on highway in Australia
Two-headed snakes are so old-school. Now, a three-eyed snake, that’s something worth looking into. Well, as luck would have it, one was discovered recently in Australia. The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service posted the find on its Facebook page. The service said its rangers found the juvenile carpet python,...
Lawmakers to see empty chair, not AG Barr, at House hearing
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr plans to skip a House Judiciary hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report , escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and the Justice Department. Barr’s decision — he cites a disagreement over the questioning — came the day the department missed a...
Assange refuses extradition to U.S.; long legal fight expected
LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court on Thursday that he would not agree to be extradited to the United States, where he is accused of conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer. Assange, appearing by video link from a London prison, said he would not “surrender...
Coroner: Woman obsessed with Columbine died before search
DENVER — A Florida teenager obsessed with the Columbine school shooting had already killed herself by the time authorities launched a manhunt for her after learning that she had traveled to Colorado just days before the 20th anniversary of the massacre, a coroner’s report said Wednesday. An autopsy summary by...
‘Riley Howell is a hero’: Student who attacked gunman lauded
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — David Belnap stood on his North Carolina college campus aching from the latest U.S. school shooting as he held a candle and wore a homemade T-shirt with “Riley Howell is a hero” written on the back. Howell died in his classroom Tuesday at the University of North...
Florida lawmakers pass bill allowing more armed teachers
TALLAHASSEE — More Florida classroom teachers could carry guns in school under a bill passed Wednesday by state lawmakers, the latest response to last year’s mass shooting at a Parkland high school. The Republican-led House voted 65-47 on Wednesday to send the bill to GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is...
Texas officer charged with homicide for shooting black manVideo
DALLAS — A Texas grand jury indicted a suburban Dallas police officer Wednesday on a charge of criminally negligent homicide for fatally shooting a black man during a traffic stop last year. The Tarrant County grand jury indicted Arlington Officer Bau Tran eight months after he shot 24-year-old O’Shae Terry...
GOP senator says Trump’s choice of Stephen Moore for Fed ‘is in trouble’Video
WASHINGTON — Stephen Moore’s prospects of getting confirmed to the Federal Reserve board grew dimmer Wednesday as Trump administration officials began to acknowledge privately that he does not have the votes and as Republican senators indicated that the ensuing drama over Moore’s pending nomination would end soon. Moore, whose name...
