Biles: FBI turned ‘blind eye’ to reports of gymnasts’ abuse
WASHINGTON — Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles told Congress in forceful testimony Wednesday that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women. Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “enough is enough”...
Woman tethered to dog is dragged to death by train at San Francisco station
SAN FRANCISCO — A woman who boarded a BART train while tethered to her dog was dragged to her death after she briefly stepped off the train at a platform and the train pulled away with the dog still inside, authorities said. The fatal accident occurred at 3:16 p.m. Monday,...
Pope questions vaccine skeptics, including cardinals
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis said Wednesday he didn’t understand why people refuse to take covid-19 vaccines, saying “humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines,” and that serene discussion about the shots was necessary to help them. “Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some negationists,”...
Pa. Senate GOP moves to collect private voter information in controversial review of 2020 election
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 — The state Senate committee undertaking a controversial review of last year’s presidential election results on Wednesday authorized subpoenas for...
Dire warning from Newsom helped turn California recall tide
LOS ANGELES — An ominous four-word message issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign on the morning of Aug. 5 served as the shock Democrats needed to take seriously a recall election that could remove him from office: “This recall is close.” Newsom’s warning in a fundraising email came just...
Biden, CEOs, biz leaders meet on covid vaccine mandates
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden was meeting Wednesday with the CEOs of Walt Disney and Columbia Sportswear, and other business executives and leaders leaders to discuss his recently announced vaccine requirement for companies that employ at least 100 people. The White House meeting comes less than a week after Biden...
Surfside land swap for Florida condo collapse site rejected
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Commissioners in Surfside, Fla., have rejected a proposal to trade public beachfront to the eventual buyer of the condominium collapse site so that a memorial to the 98 victims could be built there. The decision followed an emotional meeting Tuesday as family members of those who died...
Texas company to pay nearly $3M for Clean Air Act violations
POINT COMFORT, Texas — A Texas plastics company has agreed to pay nearly $3 million in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Formosa Plastics Corp. also agreed to improve its risk management program at its petrochemical plant in Point Comfort. The U.S....
Biden: Nearly 3M get health coverage during covid sign-up
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that 2.8 million consumers took advantage of a special six-month period to sign up for private health insurance coverage made more affordable by his covid-19 relief law. He called the number encouraging and urged Congress to help lower health care costs. “That’s 2.8...
TikTok challenge has students destroying Pa. school bathrooms
Because of a TikTok challenge, school bathrooms are being destroyed at an alarming rate nationwide, and Pennsylvania has not been spared. Boyertown Area School District Superintendent Marybeth Torchia told her school board in Berks County on Monday that is exactly what is happening there — vandalism is on the rise...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom beats back GOP-led recall
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday emphatically defeated a recall aimed at kicking him out of office early, a contest the Democrat framed as part of a national battle for his party’s values in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and continued threats from “Trumpism.” Newsom bolted...
Arizona Supreme Court allows release of Senate audit records
PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by the state Senate to keep secret records of its ongoing review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County that are in the possession of the contractors conducting the recount. The high court without comment rejected the appeal filed...
Alaska Senate passes dividend bill after House nixes floor
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska Senate approved a roughly $1,100 dividend on the last day of a special session Tuesday, after the House canceled its floor and left the Senate with what amounted to a take-it-or-leave-it decision on the check for residents that the House had previously passed. The Senate...
Judge rejects ballot question to scrap Minneapolis PD
MINNEAPOLIS — A judge on Tuesday rejected an attempt to salvage a proposed charter amendment on the future of policing in Minneapolis, ruling just days before early and absentee voting begins in the city where George Floyd died in police custody that any votes on the question won’t count. Hennepin...
3 former U.S. officials charged in UAE hacking scheme
WASHINGTON — Three former U.S. intelligence and military operatives have admitted providing sophisticated computer hacking technology to the United Arab Emirates and agreed to pay nearly $1.7 million to resolve criminal charges in an agreement that the Justice Department described Tuesday as the first of its kind. The defendants —...
Mexico gives drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes 28 years
MEXICO CITY — A judge in Mexico has sentenced drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes to 28 years in prison for organized crime, money laundering and weapons violations, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Carillo Fuentes was a former leader of the Juarez drug cartel, based in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across...
Feds: Los Angeles bomb technicians caused major explosion
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police bomb technicians made major miscalculations in June when they detonated illegal fireworks improperly and caused a massive explosion that rocked a city neighborhood and injured 27 people in June, according to a report by federal investigators. The 51-page report from the Bureau of Alcohol,...
Gov. Wolf’s coronavirus business waiver program was flawed, secretive, Pa. auditor says
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 — The Wolf administration’s controversial waiver program allowing businesses to remain open during the early months of the pandemic was...
Pa. officials: 94% of covid cases were in unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people
The “vast majority” of covid-19 related cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Pennsylvania since January have been among unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated individuals, according to Department of Health data released Tuesday So-called “breakthrough” covid-19 infections — those that occur 14 days after an individual has received either two doses of...
‘The medium is the message’: Ocasio-Cortez defends polarizing ‘Tax the Rich’ Met Gala dress
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ruffled lots of feathers with her 2021 Met Gala dress — and not the fashionable kind. After some called the New York Democrat a hypocrite for condemning wealth inequality at the lavish, star-studded red-carpet event, the New York congresswoman defended her decision Monday to attend the...
Ex-cops accused of violating Floyd’s rights plead not guilty
Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a federal hearing that included arguments on several pretrial motions, including requests to hold separate trials. A federal grand jury indicted Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao in May for...
Officials: Al-Qaida could threaten in 1-2 years
WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials say al-Qaida could begin to threaten the homeland from Afghanistan within one to two years, echoing warnings that were issued prior to the U.S. withdrawal ending its 20-year war. Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, who leads the Defense Intelligence Agency, gave that estimated timeframe Tuesday while...
Book: Top U.S. officer feared Trump could order China strike
Fearful of Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks as president, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war, according to a forthcoming book. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told Gen. Li Zuocheng of...
Fires shut Sequoia National Park, could threaten huge trees
Sequoia National Park was shut down and its namesake gigantic trees were potentially threatened Tuesday as two forest fires burned in steep and dangerous terrain in California’s Sierra Nevada. Both fires were projected to advance in the direction of Giant Forest, home to more than 2,000 giant sequoias including the...
Covid-19 cases in U.S. climbing, wiping out months of progress
Covid-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to where they were over the winter, wiping out months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for sweeping new vaccination requirements. The cases — driven by the delta variant combined with resistance among some Americans to getting...
