Chicago police seek follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett
CHICAGO — Chicago police said Sunday they’re still seeking a follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett after receiving new information that “shifted” their investigation of a reported attack on the “Empire” actor. The trajectory of the investigation “shifted” after detectives questioned two brothers about the attack and released them late Friday...
Aurora shooter’s permit was revoked but gun wasn’t seized
AURORA, Ill. — An initial background check failed to detect a felony conviction that should have barred the man who killed five co-workers and wounded six others at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant from buying the gun. Months later, a second background check of Gary Martin found his 1995 aggravated...
‘Taking their last breath’: ISIS hides among Syrian civilians
BAGHOUZ, Syria — From a self-proclaimed caliphate that once spread across much of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group has been knocked back to a speck of land on the countries’ shared border. In that tiny patch on the banks of the Euphrates River, hundreds of militants are hiding...
Report: Former Maine governor Paul LePage spent $22K on Trump hotel stays
AUGUSTA, Maine — Documents obtained by a Maine newspaper show the state’s former Republican governor and his staff spent at least $22,000 in public money at a hotel owned by the family of President Trump. The Portland Press Herald reports Sunday that former Gov. Paul LePage and staff paid for...
Expectations high for pope’s sex-abuse conference, but some brace for disappointment
In what could be a defining moment for his papacy, more than 100 top Catholic bishops from around the world will travel to the Vatican Rome this week for a conference aimed at dealing with the issue of clergy sex abuse. Pope Francis is the first church leader to convene...
NYC’s Chinatown welcomes Year of the Pig with vibrant parade
NEW YORK — Drums, dragons and dancers paraded through New York’s Chinatown on Sunday to usher in the Year of the Pig in the metropolis with the biggest population of Chinese descent of any city outside Asia. Confetti and spectators a half-dozen or more deep at points lined the route...
Authorities remove cougar from tree outside California home
HESPERIA, Calif. — Firefighters have rescued a very big cat — a mountain lion — from a tree outside a home in the Southern California desert. The homeowner called authorities Saturday after spotting the animal near the edge of the San Bernardino Mountains. San Bernardino County firefighters found the large...
Marco Rubio warns Venezuelan soldiers to let aid enter
CUCUTA, Colombia — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is warning Venezuelan soldiers that they would commit a “crime against humanity” if they block the entry of U.S. aid that is being channeled through rivals of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The Florida Republican on Sunday visited the border town of Cucuta, where...
Taliban claim they can’t attend Pakistan talks because of blacklist
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban has postponed an unscheduled round of peace talks with the United States set for Monday in Pakistan saying “most” members of their negotiating team are unable to travel because they’re on the U.S. and United Nations’ blacklists. The statement Sunday offered no other details. It...
Work-release inmates help rescue Florida baby locked in SUV
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Some work-release inmates made a Valentine’s Day rescue when a Florida couple accidentally locked their baby inside their SUV. Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kevin Doll told WFLA-TV the parents could not afford a locksmith, and the father intended to break a window. That’s when...
Uncertainty shadows Pennsylvania’s debate over nuclear power
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four decades after Three Mile Island became shorthand for America’s worst commercial nuclear power accident, financial rescues of nuclear power plants are stirring the highest levels of government. In Pennsylvania, nuclear power plant owners have been working for two years to build support for the kind of...
Tradition of nonpartisan selection of judges may end in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa was in the forefront of a national effort to reduce partisanship in the courts nearly 50 years ago when it decided to stop electing judges and instead rely on nominations by a panel of citizens and lawyers. In all, about three dozen states adopted similar...
White House indicates Trump to veto disapproval of emergency
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A top adviser to President Donald Trump indicated Sunday that Trump is prepared to issue the first veto of his term if Congress votes to disapprove of his declaration of a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border. The West Wing is digging in for fights...
Firefighters monitor burning ship docked on Lake Erie
OREGON, Ohio — A fire continues to burn inside a Lake Erie docked vessel as Ohio firefighters try to cool the ship in an incident with no injuries. The fire broke out on the deck of the St. Clair Saturday night at the Port of Toledo in northern Ohio. The...
Pennsylvania to figure high in Vatican abuse summit this week
Fallout from last summer’s Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse is settling 4,500 miles away. When Catholic leaders gather in Rome this week for an international summit on sexual abuse scandals that have plagued the church, there will be a distinctive Pennsylvania presence — both among the assembled...
Trump foreign policy under attack from European allies
MUNICH — An annual security conference where Western allies have long forged united fronts erupted Saturday into a full-scale assault on the Trump administration’s foreign policy. European leaders, would-be Democratic challengers and even the president’s Republican backers took the floor to rebuke the president’s go-it-alone approach. German Chancellor Angela Merkel...
Scottdale veteran loved to play guitar
Kerry Stefl of Scottdale loved to play his electric and acoustic guitars. He was good enough to play in several bands that traveled to clubs throughout the region. “He loved to play popular music. He played at home and for family functions,” said his daughter, Valerie A. Farino of Scottdale....
Florida firefighter blames coca tea for failing drug test
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida firefighter fired for a positive drug test got his job back after arguing the cocaine in his system was from a tea made with coca leaves. The Orlando Sentinel reports that public records show firefighter Kevin Reynolds told investigators he brought a box of coca...
Man told IRS he made $18,497 and requested a million dollar refund. They gave it to him.
Filing your taxes involves the honor system. You fill in all your data and sign your name promising that everything is true. If you asked for one, the government then sends you a refund. Eventually things get reviewed, verified and, supposedly, settled up. A Tampa man put the system to...
Man convicted of 2nd-degree murder in deaths of mother, son
WILLIAMSPORT — A man has been convicted of second-degree murder in a Halloween night 2016 home invasion in central Pennsylvania that left a mother and son slain. Jurors in Lycoming County also convicted 37-year-old Joseph Sentore Coleman Jr. on Friday of robbery, conspiracy and attempted robbery in the deaths of...
Climate change means more floods, great and localized
COLUMBIA, S.C. — When he took the job 15 years ago, Horry County Emergency Manager Randy Webster figured his biggest disasters would be wind and surge rolling over his county’s beaches, South Carolina’s top tourist destination. Instead, his worries have shifted inland, where rivers overflowing their banks have caused two...
Elizabeth Warren returns to Nevada, heart of 2008 economic crisis
LAS VEGAS — Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who made her name as a consumer advocate following the 2008 financial crisis, will make her first appearance Sunday as a presidential candidate in Las Vegas, the boom-and-bust town that made Nevada the epicenter of the country’s foreclosure crisis. The Massachusetts senator is trying...
Penn State’s THON poised to raise millions to fight childhood cancerVideo
Penn State University students are pulling in funds from communities throughout the state and the world while it hosts THON, a 46-hour dance marathon. The student-run philanthropy is “committed to enhancing the lives of children and families impacted by childhood cancer,” according to its website. “Our mission is to provide...
Study ranks Pa. in lower third of states for senior safety
Pennsylvania placed 35th among U.S. states in a study ranking them and Washington, D.C., according to safe living conditions for senior citizens. The study, which considers both physical and economic security, was released Friday by The Senior List, a site focused on the needs of baby boomers and older adults....
Student newspaper column about ‘white boys’ makes waves at Pennsylvania college
Leda Fisher wanted to start a conversation. The Dickinson College senior, however, didn’t anticipate that would involve professors including it in lectures in class or that it would go viral online, with national organizations posting it to their websites. “I certainly did not expect my article to go viral,” Fisher...
