GOP lawmaker tried to silence a black senator in a gun law debate. She stood her ground – and won.Video
Debate on gun legislation reached a crescendo at the Arkansas state capitol Wednesday when a senator fervently denounced a bill that would make it easier to use lethal force in the name of self-defense. The bill, sponsored by three Republican state senators, would remove a clause from the current law...
Utah teacher forces student to wash off Ash Wednesday cross
SALT LAKE CITY — A teacher in the predominantly Mormon state of Utah was placed on administrative leave after she forced a Catholic student to wash off the Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead. William McLeod, 9, had just returned to his school near Salt Lake City after attending Catholic...
Manafort case sparks conversation about sentence disparities
A judge’s decision to sentence President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman to less than four years in prison — a fraction of the penalty called for in government guidelines — sparked widespread anger Friday and opened up a conversation about whether the justice system treats different crimes and criminals fairly....
Trump surveys devastation, pays respects to tornado victims
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — Standing near the slab that’s all that is left of one family’s garage, President Donald Trump on Friday surveyed the devastation wrought by a powerful tornado that ripped through a rural Alabama town, uprooting trees, tearing homes from their foundations and killing nearly two dozen people. “We...
NC man wins $1 million lottery prize. For the second time. At the same store.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina man has won a second $1 million lottery prize at the same store in less than two years, lottery officials said Friday. Terry Splawn, of Concord, won $1 million with a $150 Million Cash Explosion scratch-off ticket he bought Wednesday at Sam’s Mini Stop...
Greensburg man shared woodworking talent with church, community
Ed Iezzi discovered his talent for woodworking following a real mid-life crisis. “He got interested in it when he had open heart surgery when he was 40 and he was laid up for a couple of months,” said his son, Christopher. With time on his hands, Mr. Iezzi invested in...
Puerto Rico starts cutting food stamp benefits amid congressional impasse
Puerto Rico has started cutting benefits paid out by a food stamps program used by more than 1 million of its residents, as federal lawmakers have not provided the island with additional emergency disaster funding amid opposition from the Trump administration. On Monday, Puerto Rico started reducing food stamp benefits...
‘He said, he said’ – Who can you trust in Cohen-Trump saga?
NEW YORK — It’s a “he said, he said” where the “he” — no matter who he is — has a credibility problem. The latest White House legal drama — whether or not the president’s former legal fixer asked him for a pardon — has pulled back the curtain on...
Smollett indicted on 16 counts stemming from reported attack
CHICAGO — A grand jury in Chicago indicted “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs. The Cook County grand jury indictment dated Thursday and made public on Friday gives details...
New Mexico moves toward legalizing recreational marijuana
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico took a step toward legalizing recreational marijuana when its House approved a bill that would allow state-run stores and require customers to carry a receipt with their cannabis or face penalties. The measure, narrowly approved Thursday following a late-night debate, mixes major provisions of...
Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to end seasonal time change
Pennsylvanians, like most Americans, will set their clocks ahead one hour by 2 a.m. Sunday, as the nation switches to daylight saving time. If House member Russ Diamond, a Lebanon County Republican, has his way, it will be the last time Keystone State residents “spring forward.” He intends to sponsor...
California man learns he’s dying from doctor on robot video
FREMONT, Calif. — A California family is devastated that their relative was told he didn’t have long to live by a doctor appearing on a robot’s video screen. San Francisco Bay Area news station KTVU reported Thursday that 79-year-old Ernest Quintana went Sunday to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center’s emergency department...
Quirky moments from China’s annual Congress
BEIJING (AP) — The annual meeting of China’s legislature is a highly scripted affair, but quirky moments and offbeat details lurk around the edges and behind the scenes. Hundreds of military officers serving as delegates march to the event in formation, carrying identical navy satchels, their red name tags dangling...
Longtime Jayhawks football announcer loved music, sports, news
Joe Pacelli of Trafford would have been happy enough just sitting in the front row, watching Tony Bennett perform at the Venetian Room, during a trip to San Francisco in the 1980s. But he was ready to fly himself to the moon when he saw Bennett on the street the...
Philly man accused of stealing homes, empty plots from the dead
Authorities say a man forged deeds to steal six properties and homes, including some from the deceased, in a burgeoning Philadelphia neighborhood. Robert Stokes was charged Friday with theft, forgery and tampering with records. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office says the 50-year-old Stokes transferred bogus deeds that had forged signatures....
Women hold nearly a third of Pennsylvania’s judicial seats
The Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts marked International Women’s Day Friday with a bow to the women of the Pennsylvania courts. Almost 90 years after the first female judge was sworn in Pennsylvania, women now comprise fully 30 percent of the state’s judiciary. They account for one in three...
Port Authority doesn’t want your two cents
Say goodbye to the penny. At least on Port Authority of Allegheny County vehicles. Buses and trains will stop accepting pennies by the end of the month. Port Authority hopes the change will speed up boarding and reduce farebox downtime. Boxes began receiving a software upgrade this week. Spokesman Adam...
Elizabeth Warren says tech giants have ‘too much power,’ need breakup
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Friday rolled out a proposal to break up the biggest U.S. technology companies, saying they have too much control over the economy and Americans’ lives. In her pitch to rein in the influence of tech giants, the Massachusetts senator envisions legislation targeting...
Leaked text messages reveal Maine mayor’s racist remark
LEWISTON, Maine — Text messages made public by a woman who said she had an affair with a mayoral candidate who was later elected in Maine’s second-largest city reveal a racist remark he sent her while the two were working to undermine a political opponent. Heather Berube Everly has called...
Chelsea Manning sent to jail for refusing to testify in Wikileaks case
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will be held in jail until she testifies before a grand jury or that grand jury is no longer operating, a federal judge in Alexandria ruled Friday. Most of the hearing at which prosecutors argued for Manning to held in contempt...
Pennsylvania college students beat national average for graduation
Pennsylvania college students are graduating at rates well above the national average, despite a troubling racial gap. Those were among the findings in a new study of six-year graduation rates for students who were college freshmen in 2012. The report, released by the National Student Clearinghouse, found 72.6 percent of...
Police: Puppy stabbed during house break-in
MIDDLETON, N.H. — Police in New Hampshire say a 3-month-old puppy was stabbed during a break-in at a home. WMUR-TV reports police said no one was home during the burglary on Thursday in Middleton. When the residents came home, they found the puppy, named Jax, with stab wounds to his...
Judge OKs wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of aborted embryo
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — An Alabama judge has approved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a 21-year-old man on behalf of an aborted embryo. Al.com reported Wednesday that Ryan Magers is calling the 6-week-old embryo “Baby Roe” in his suit seeking damages from the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives. Magers...
Sheriff: Girl buried in backyard had been caged and starved
GUYTON, Ga. — An investigator with the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia says a girl whose body was buried in the backyard had been beaten, bound, starved and shocked with a stun gun. The Savannah Morning News reports Investigator Abby Brown testified Tuesday that 14-year-old Mary Crocker also was...
Bloodied man walks into Pennsylvania hospital, says he killed boyfriend
MANHEIM — Authorities say a man covered in blood walked into a Pennsylvania hospital and told staffers there he had just fatally stabbed his boyfriend. Manheim Township police say 30-year-old Matthew Van Zandt is charged with homicide in the death of 31-year-old Ian Shannon, whose body was found Wednesday in...
