Trump delivers a slashing speech that rouses the right
OXON HILL, Md. — In a slashing speech packed with braggadocio and grievance, President Donald Trump denounced Democrats as the party of “the socialist nightmare,” relitigated his crowd sizes back to the inauguration and took on “sick,” ”lunatic” and “dirty” foes at every turn, earning him the unvarnished adoration of...
America’s newest crew capsule rockets toward space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — America’s newest capsule for astronauts rocketed Saturday toward the International Space Station on a high-stakes test flight by SpaceX. The only passenger was a life-size test dummy, named Ripley after the lead character in the “Alien” movies. SpaceX needs to nail the debut of its crew...
Study: More sharks bite people in Hawaii, but risk is minuscule
HONOLULU — The rate of shark bites in Hawaii has been increasing slightly in recent years, but the risk remains extremely low — roughly 5-in-1 million — according to new research. Recently published research that looked at 55 years of global data showed shark bites around the world are highly...
Virginia’s ‘cotton situation’ misrepresented, some parents and pages say
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia first lady Pam Northam did not focus on black students as she handed out raw cotton during several back-to-back presentations on slavery at the Executive Mansion, several participants and their parents said in interviews Friday. “Nobody was singled out,” said state Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, whose...
Neo-Nazi group’s leader is black man who vows to dissolve it
One of the nation’s largest neo-Nazi groups appears to have an unlikely new leader: a black activist who has vowed to dismantle it. Court documents filed Thursday suggest James Hart Stern wants to use his new position as director and president of the National Socialist Movement to undermine the Detroit-based...
Members of Congress make civil rights pilgrimage in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Dozens of members of Congress are making a weekend-long civil rights pilgrimage through Alabama, visiting historic spots and memorials to the struggle for racial equality. The mostly Democratic group made its first stop Friday at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, where four black girls died in a...
Steeler fan shared fun, crafts with family and friends
Susan Sniezek had a zest for life that was contagious. When she and her husband, Martin, hosted parties at their Greensburg home, guests were reluctant to leave. “She made everybody happy when she was around,” daughter Jennifer Ciafre said. “Everybody loved hugging her.” Susan Ruth Sniezek of Greensburg died Monday,...
Judge orders Stone to explain imminent release of book that may violate gag order
Republican operative and longtime Donald Trump friend Roger Stone faced fresh legal trouble Friday after a federal judge ordered his attorneys to explain why they failed to tell her before now about the imminent publication of a book that could violate his gag order by potentially criticizing the judge or...
Evacuations lifted for flooded California wine country towns
GUERNEVILLE, Calif. — Jason Flint prepared for flooding in Northern California by putting his deli’s valuable equipment on pallets and milk crates stacked several feet above the ground. It wasn’t enough, as he found out Friday when he returned to Guerneville after two days of flooding in Sonoma County’s famed...
Mars lander starts digging on red planet, hits snags
NASA’s newest Mars lander has started digging into the red planet, but hit a few snags, scientists said Friday. The German drilling instrument on the InSight lander struck what appeared to be a couple of stones. It only managed to burrow between half a foot and about 1 ½ feet,...
Ruined crops, salty soil: How rising seas are poisoning North Carolina’s farmland
MIDDLETOWN, N.C. - The salty patches were small, at first - scattered spots where soybeans wouldn’t grow, where grass withered and died, exposing expanses of bare, brown earth. But lately those barren patches have grown. On dry days, the salt precipitates out of the mud and the crystals make the...
U.S. Marine veteran built cocaine pipeline as Mexican drug kingpin, prosecutors say
SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Marine veteran who rose to power as a reputed Mexican drug kingpin has been named in a massive cocaine-trafficking indictment in San Diego. The investigation into Angel Dominguez Ramirez Jr.’s organization revealed “an unprecedented level of corruption within the Mexican government, local police departments, federal...
California river floods
GUERNEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A two-day winter storm rendered two Northern California communities reachable only by boat. The rain-swollen Russian River reached nearly 46 feet (14 meters) Wednesday night, its highest level in more than 20 years. About 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures were flooded by water up to...
Ugh! Video shows giant tarantula preying on opossum
This is a thing nightmares are made of. A tarantula the size of a dinner plate dragging around a young mouse opossum. A morbid film and images of the encounter were captured by a team of University of Michigan researchers, who documented 15 rare and disturbing predator-prey interactions in the...
Arizona man accused of killing his service dog, dumping it in trash
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Police in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale say a man is accused of killing his 4-year-old golden retriever service dog at his home and dumping the dog’s body in a garbage can where it was found by family members. Police say in a statement that 29-year-old Jacob...
Gov. Wolf pushes for statewide broadband access
Arguing that statewide broadband access is needed to increase educational opportunities, Gov. Tom Wolf announced an infrastructure initiative on Friday called “Restore Pennsylvania.” The plan calls for an investment of $4.5 billion dollars over the next four years to expand broadband access to all Pennsylvanians. Nearly a million Pennsylvania residents...
Ratatouille? Tourists in Boston grossed out when gull swallows rat in their video
A pair of British tourists got a revolting surprise while roaming the streets of Boston this week. They spotted a gull tugging at a dead rat on Salem Street in the city’s North End and started recording a video, shared by the Daily Mail. Much to their surprise, the gull...
Chaos erupts, 2 arrested during Texas execution
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Chaos erupted outside Texas’ death chamber Thursday night when the son of the condemned inmate pounded on the chamber windows, shouted obscenities and threw fists after his father spoke his final words. Billie Wayne Coble, a Vietnam War veteran who killed his estranged wife’s parents and brother...
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joins Democratic presidential field
SEATTLE — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, mixing calls for combating climate change and highlights of his liberal record with an aggressive critique of President Donald Trump. The 68-year-old governor is launching his bid Friday in Seattle, following recent visits to the first primary...
Walmart to make ‘every effort’ to keep disabled greeters
After more than a week of backlash, Walmart is pledging to make “every effort” to find other roles for disabled workers who’d accused the retailer of targeting them as it prepares to eliminate the “people greeter” job at 1,000 stores. Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. stores, said...
In America, talk turns to something unspoken for 150 years: Civil war
At a moment when the country has never seemed angrier, two political commentators from opposite sides of the divide concurred last week on one point, nearly unthinkable until recently: The country is on the verge of “civil war.” First came former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova, a Fox News regular and...
Ex-Vegas headliner faints at 20-year sentence in porn case
LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas illusion show headliner from Germany appeared to faint Thursday while being sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined more than $500,000 in a federal child pornography case. Jan Rouven Fuechtener, 40, stiffened and fell backward over his chair after Chief U.S. District...
Trump’s interior secretary misusing post to aid California water district, complaint says
WASHINGTON — Complaints are mounting against Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt over allegations he used his position to help the interests of his former lobbying client, California’s powerful Westlands Water District. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint accusing Bernhardt of ethics violations by partaking in decisions directly related...
President ordered top clearance for Jared Kushner despite concerns of John Kelly, intel officials
WASHINGTON — President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials. After Kushner, a senior...
Ohio man who pleaded guilty in 4 slayings sentenced to death
IRONTON, Ohio — A man who pleaded guilty in the deadly Ohio shootings of four relatives, including a young boy, has been sentenced to the death penalty. A panel of three judges sentenced 24-year-old Arron Lawson on Thursday in the 2017 slayings near Ironton in southern Ohio’s Lawrence County. Prosecutors...
