Colorado wildfire destroys at least 26 homesVideo
BOULDER, Colo. — At least 26 homes were destroyed by a wind-whipped wildfire in north-central Colorado that has scorched nearly 14 square miles and forced thousands of residents to flee. The CalWood Fire started around noon Saturday near the Cal-Wood Education Center, about 17 miles northwest of downtown Boulder. Wind...
Pentagon estimates cost of new nuclear missiles at $95.8 billion
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has raised to $95.8 billion the estimated cost of fielding a new fleet of land-based nuclear missiles to replace the Minuteman 3 arsenal that has operated continuously for 50 years, officials said Monday. The estimate is up about $10 billion from four years ago. The weapons,...
Woman missing for 2 weeks found safe in Zion National Park
SPRINGDALE, Utah — A California woman who was missing for about two weeks in Zion National Park in Utah has been found and left the park with her family who had feared the worst, authorities said. Holly Suzanne Courtier, 38, of Los Angeles, was found Sunday by search and rescue...
Jeffrey Toobin suspended by the New Yorker, steps away from CNN
NEW YORK — Author-commentator Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended by the New Yorker and is stepping away from his job as CNN’s senior legal analyst pending what the cable network is calling a “personal matter.” Vice reported earlier Monday that Toobin had exposed himself during a Zoom meeting with staffers...
North Carolina resumes processing deficient absentee ballots
North Carolina issued new guidance Monday to allow counties to deal with more than 10,000 deficient absentee ballots that have been in limbo due to court battles over the witness requirement for voting by mail. The State Board of Elections issued a directive telling counties to immediately resume notifying voters...
Covid resurgence is here, Pa. officials say after 14 days of new cases topping 1,000
Pennsylvania’s statewide percentage of positive covid-19 cases has risen to 4.3%, the highest it’s been since August, state officials said Monday, and nearly a third of the state’s 67 counties have a percent positivity of more than 5%. “We all knew there was … going to be an upsurge in...
Pa. could become ‘ground zero’ for court battles on — and after — Election Day
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 — In the weeks leading up to November’s historic election, there has been one constant: lawsuits and court decisions that...
Ballot box fire in Los Angeles County may be arson, officials say
LOS ANGELES — An official ballot drop box at the Baldwin Park, Calif., library ignited Sunday night, potentially destroying election ballots inside, authorities said. The fire started around 8 p.m. Sunday at the ballot box near Ramona and Baldwin Park boulevards, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department spokeswoman Leslie...
South Carolina officials bust party of thousands
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina say they broke up a party where at least 2,000 people were gathered without taking precautions to prevent spreading the coronavirus. Columbia Fire Department spokesman Mike DeSumma told The State that the gathering happened Saturday at an apartment complex during the University of...
Supreme Court to review 2 cases on Trump border policy
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two cases involving Trump administration policies at the U.S.-Mexico border: one about a policy that makes asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings and a second about the administration’s use of money to fund the border wall. The justices’...
Amazon fake reviews reach holiday season levels during pandemic
Fake reviews on Amazon.com during the pandemic have reached levels typically seen during the holiday shopping season. About 42% of 720 million Amazon reviews assessed by the monitoring service Fakespot from March through September were unreliable, up from about 36% for the same period last year. The rise in fake...
6 Russian intelligence officers indicted by U.S. for alleged cyber attacksVideo
The Justice Department on Monday indicted six Russian intelligence agency officers for their alleged roles in what prosecutors called some of the most destructive cyber attacks in history. One attack targeting more than 300 victims worldwide impacted the Sewickley-based Heritage Valley Health System, while others targeted the Ukrainian power grid...
Florida begins early voting with no major problems reported
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Floridians began early voting in much of the state Monday with no serious problems reported as the Trump campaign tries to cut into an early advantage Democrats have posted in mail-in votes in the key swing state. The most populous counties reported wait times of 15...
Prospects dim for critical election bill in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — With 15 days until the presidential election, Republican lawmakers in the battleground state of Pennsylvania appeared unwilling Monday to authorize counties to process mail-in ballots before Election Day, seen as crucial to producing a prompt election result. A spokesperson for the House Republican majority said in a statement...
Wisconsin county says ballot misprint will delay count
APPLETON, Wis. — Officials in a northeastern Wisconsin county said Monday that a technical ballot misprint will most likely delay the counting of some absentee ballots on Election Day, but they reassured the public that all ballots will be counted. The misprint is a scratch that is described as no...
Judge puts Wisconsin capacity limit order back into effect
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge on Monday reimposed an order from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration limiting the number of people who can gather in bars, restaurants and other indoor venues to 25% of capacity. The capacity limits order was issued Oct. 6 by Andrea Palm, secretary of the state...
A desk of their own to ease remote learning for kids in need
As remote schooling surged during the pandemic, parents across the country realized that many kids didn’t have desks at home. So they got busy building, collecting and donating them, giving hundreds or thousands of students workspaces to call their own and helping them get through long days of virtual learning....
Nigeria’s anti-police protesters storm prison, free inmates
LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s protests against police brutality turned violent Monday when a crowd stormed a prison and freed some 200 inmates in Benin in southern Nigeria. Some prisoners jumped from a high fence of the institution while others were seen running away on the street, according to videos from...
Nokia to build moon’s first 4G cell network for NASA program
LONDON — Nokia says it has been tapped by NASA to build the first cellular communications network on the moon. The Finnish telecommunications equipment maker said Monday its Nokia Bell Labs division will build a 4G communications system to be deployed on a lunar lander to the moon’s surface in...
Trump goes after Dr. Fauci, tries to buck up his campaign teamVideo
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — President Donald Trump came out swinging Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci and polls that show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states, as he tried to buck up his campaign team two weeks out from Election Day. Back on the trail after his covid-19 infection,...
Democrats plunge cash into U.S. House race in suburban Philadelphia
HARRISBURG — Democrats are showing that they think they can beat second-term Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in a politically divided U.S. House district just north of Philadelphia. The major Democratic super PAC helping elect Democrats to the House filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that it is spending nearly...
Pennsylvania continues to report new daily covid case loads above 1,000
Pennsylvania added 1,103 cases of covid-19 on Monday, with another 1,269 cases added Sunday, according to a report from the state’s Department of Health. The positivity rate of the most recent days was 9.02% for Sunday’s new cases and 8.88% with Monday’s cases. Over the past seven days, the state...
Top 5 Ways Robert Peirce and Associates Partner Elizabeth Chiappetta Helps Female Clients
It’s been more than a century and a half since Arabella Mansfield became the first female lawyer in the United States—that is, only after she challenged a law that kept the legal practice forbidden to anyone not 21 years and older, male and white. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way...
Emergency plans fail to consider complexity of Mariner East pipelines, and those most at risk in an accident
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 weekly newsletter. Editor’s note: This story is Part 2 of a two-part series about the Mariner East pipeline system. Just after 7:30...
U.N. hosts Libyan military leaders in hopes of end to conflict
GENEVA — Military leaders from Libya’s warring sides met Monday in Geneva in hopes of a U.N.-brokered breakthrough that could pave the way for a “complete and permanent cease-fire” in the conflict-ridden North African country. The meeting that began Monday marks the fourth round of talks involving the Joint Military...
