Boosters, employer mandates drive increase in U.S. vaccines
The number of Americans getting covid-19 vaccines has steadily increased to a three-month high as seniors and people with medical conditions seek boosters, and government and employer mandates push more workers to take their first doses. Demand is expected to spike in a few weeks if regulators authorize the Pfizer...
CCAC to offer free introductory course for court reporting
If you’re looking for a new career path, it’s hard to top an education program with a 100% placement rate. Those earning certification of a two-year associate’s degree in the Community College of Allegheny County’s court reporting program also earn an average starting salary of around $40,000, according to CCAC...
2 parents convicted in 1st trial of college bribery scandal
Two wealthy parents were convicted Friday of buying their kids’ way into school as athletic recruits in the first case to go to trial in the college admissions cheating scandal that embroiled prestigious universities across the country. Gamal Abdelaziz, a former casino executive, and John Wilson, a former Staples executive,...
Many Pa. school districts are passing up free coronavirus testing even after a rise in cases
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Even after covid-19 cases rose among children and district leaders worked to contain outbreaks among students, Pennsylvania schools have...
Bannon won’t comply with subpoena from House Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Steve Bannon said Friday that Bannon won’t comply with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol because former President Donald Trump is asserting executive privilege to block demands for testimony and documents. “As such, until these issues are resolved, we are...
Biden restores Utah’s national monuments after Trump rescinded protections
President Joe Biden on Friday restored the protected Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments after former President Donald Trump dramatically slashed them in an effort to open more sensitive public lands to ranching, mining and oil drilling. The president also reestablished a marine conservation area off the New England...
Police detail cultish beliefs of mom charged in kids’ deaths
BOISE, Idaho — Newly released documents from the complex investigation of a woman accused of conspiring to kill her children and husband reveal sordid details of a cult-like belief system of “zombies” and “vibrations” plus a disintegrating marriage and an affair. Documents from the Chandler Police Department in Arizona offer...
Biden is first president to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, lending the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of native peoples. Biden also issued a proclamation of Columbus Day on Monday, which is...
Anti-vaccine chiropractors are rising force of misinformation
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The flashy postcard, covered with images of syringes, beckoned people to attend Vax-Con ‘21 to learn “the uncensored truth” about covid-19 vaccines. Participants traveled from around the country to a Wisconsin Dells resort for a sold-out convention that was, in fact, a sea of misinformation and conspiracy...
Former Ga. state lawmaker, regent pleads guilty to racketeering
CONYERS, Ga. — A former Georgia state lawmaker and university regent was sentenced to eight years in prison for racketeering, the state attorney general’s office announced. Dean Alford was indicted in May in Rockdale County on charges of racketeering, fraud and forgery relating to allegations that he faked contracts while...
Americans agree misinformation is a problem, poll shows
WASHINGTON — Nearly all Americans agree that the rampant spread of misinformation is a problem. Most also think social media companies, and the people that use them, bear a good deal of blame for the situation. But few are very concerned that they themselves might be responsible, according to a...
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists Ressa and Muratov
MANILA, Philippines — Journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their fight for freedom of expression in countries where reporters have faced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder. “Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against...
U.S., Pakistani officials in strained talks on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — U.S. and Pakistani officials are meeting Friday amid a worsening relationship between the two countries as each nation searches for a way forward in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Pakistan has been pressing for greater engagement with the all-male, all-Taliban Cabinet in Kabul even as it shies away from...
Taliban official: At least 100 dead, wounded in Afghan blast
KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion at a mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday that targeted Shiite Muslim worshippers left at least 100 people killed or wounded, a Taliban police official said. The official, Dost Mohammad Obaida, the deputy police chief for Kunduz province, said that the “majority of them have...
Colorado woman who won’t get vaccinated denied kidney transplant
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When a Colorado woman found out her hospital wouldn’t approve her kidney transplant surgery until she got the covid-19 vaccine, she was left with a difficult decision pitting her health needs against her religious beliefs. Leilani Lutali, a born-again Christian, went with her faith. Even though...
More than 120,000 U.S. kids had caregivers die during pandemic
NEW YORK — The number of U.S. children orphaned during the covid-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated, and the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans, a new study suggests. More than half the children who lost a primary caregiver during the pandemic belonged to...
New Hampshire legislator leaves panel leadership over false covid claims
CONCORD, N.H. — Republican state Rep. Ken Weyler on Wednesday stepped down as chairperson of the House Finance and Joint Legislative Fiscal committees after Gov. Chris Sununu said he should be removed because he continued to spread covid-19 misinformation. “Representative Weyler and I spoke about my deep concerns of the...
Report details Trump’s all-out bid to undo election resultsVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat brought the Justice Department to the brink of chaos, and prompted top officials there and at the White House to threaten to resign, a Senate Judiciary Committee report found. The report released Thursday by the Democratic-run committee offers...
Trump to invoke executive privilege in Jan. 6 House investigation
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump intends to assert executive privilege in a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, a move that could prevent the testimony of onetime aides, according to a letter sent by lawyers for the former president. The letter went to at least some witnesses...
Student arrested in Texas school shooting released from jail
ARLINGTON, Texas — An 18-year-old student accused in a shooting at a Texas high school was released from jail Thursday after posting bond. Police accuse Timothy George Simpkins of opening fire in a classroom Wednesday at Timberview High School in Arlington. Two people were shot and two others suffered unspecified...
Ghost towns: Nursing home staffing falls amid pandemic
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — When Natalie Walters arrived at her father’s nursing home, the parking lot was nearly empty and, inside, the elevator made no stops. On the 13th floor, the lights were off and the TVs silent. The last time she was allowed inside, nine months earlier, aides passed in...
Mainstream Republicans seek to ‘rescue’ Idaho — from the GOP
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin wants to be the state’s governor after next year’s November elections. But when the man currently holding the job left town this week on official business, she decided not to wait. McGeachin, a far-right Republican known for her opposition to covid-19 restrictions...
Alabama swamped, 4 killed in floods from slow-moving front
PELHAM, Ala. — Terrified drivers climbed out of swamped cars and muddy floodwater flowed through neighborhoods after a stalled weather front drenched Alabama for hours, leaving entire communities under water Thursday and killing at least four people with still more drenching storms to come. Dozens of people had to be...
U.S. health experts urge flu shots to avoid ‘twindemic’
The U.S. is gearing up in case of a bad flu season on top of the continuing covid-19 crisis, with a plea Thursday for Americans to get vaccinated against both. “I get it: We are all tired of talking about vaccines,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for...
Africa welcomes new malaria vaccine as a ‘game-changer’
LAGOS, Nigeria — African health officials are optimistic that the world’s first malaria vaccine endorsed by the World Health Organization will “dramatically change” the way the continent of 1.3 billion people fights the disease. The new malaria vaccine is “a game-changer” in combating the disease which accounts for hundreds of...
