Gun-rights activists gear up for show of force in Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. — Police are scouring the internet for clues about plans for mayhem, workers are putting up chain link holding pens around Virginia’s picturesque Capitol Square, and one lawmaker even plans to hide in a safe house in advance of what’s expected to be an unprecedented show of force...
Prosecutor: Revoke bail for impeachment figure Robert Hyde
MALDEN, Mass. — A Massachusetts judge is considering whether to revoke bail in a protective order case against a Connecticut man who has emerged as a figure in the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. A prosecutor made the request to revoke Robert F. Hyde’s bail during a hearing in...
Scientists seek rare species survivors amid Australia flames
Australia’s unprecedented wildfires season has so far charred 40,000 square miles (104,000 square kilometers) of brushland, rainforests, and national parks — killing by one estimate more than a billion wild animals. Scientists fear some of the island continent’s unique and colorful species may not recover. For others, they are trying...
Alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim says she was introduced to Trump when she was 14, lawsuit says
NEW YORK — A woman who says she was Jeffrey Epstein’s first known victim claims in a new lawsuit that the multimillionaire sex offender introduced her to Donald Trump when she was 14, saying, “This is a good one, right?” Trump, according to the suit against Epstein’s estate, “smiled and...
Chicago flights halted; plane slides off Kansas City taxiway
CHICAGO — The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for hours Friday night due to a sprawling winter storm, which forced the closure of schools, universities and government offices as it moved across large sections of the Midwest. The FAA lifted the stop...
With governor’s reprieve, man released after murder-for-hire
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man who was serving a life sentence in a 1994 murder-for-hire plot in Tennessee is out of prison and on parole after the former governor granted him a reprieve. Jeremy Ingram was released from Morgan County Correctional Complex on Friday, according Tennessee Department of Correction records....
Appeals court rules against convict over gender pronouns
NEW ORLEANS — A transgender convict has lost a federal appeal to have her name changed in court records — and to have the appeals court refer to her with feminine pronouns. The case of Norman Varner — now Katherine Nicole Jett — divided a three-judge panel of the 5th...
Virginia’s highest court upholds weapons ban at gun rally
RICHMOND, Va. —Virginia’s highest court on Friday upheld a ban on firearms at an upcoming pro-gun rally in the state’s capital, an event that authorities feared could erupt in violence at the hands of armed extremists. The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision came a day after gun-rights groups sued to overturn...
California teachers sue after jetliner dumps fuel on schools
LOS ANGELES — Four teachers from a Los Angeles-area school sued Delta Air Lines on Friday, saying they were exposed to jet fuel when a plane with engine trouble dumped its fuel over a densely populated area, including several schools, while making an emergency return to the airport. At a...
Avalanche at Lake Tahoe resort kills 1 skier, injures 1
TAHOE CITY, Calif. — A man killed in an avalanche at a Lake Tahoe ski resort on Friday was remembered as an avid skier familiar with the picturesque mountains along the northern California and Nevada border. Cole Comstock, 34, of Blairsden, California, was caught in the avalanche that seriously injured...
Ex-U.S. Rep. Chris Collins gets over 2 years in insider trading case
NEW YORK — A former congressman who was one of President Donald Trump’s first supporters was sentenced Friday to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a...
Groom accused of sexual assault at reception gets probation
DOYLESTOWN — A man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage waitress at his wedding reception has been sentenced to probation. Matthew Aimers, 32, of Willingboro, N.J., pleaded guilty on Thursday to indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and simple assault. Under terms of a plea agreement, a judge in Pennsylvania sentenced Aimers...
Truck hauling 1,738 piglets wrecks in Iowa; about 120 of them dieVideo
A livestock truck carrying piglets Thursday flipped onto its side, killing about 120 of the animals. The driver of the rig lost control on a near an on-ramp on Interstate 35 near Des Moines, Iowa, reports the Des Moines register. About 100 of the young pigs were found dead at...
Trump’s black voter outreach looks in part to church pews
PHILADELPHIA — In the eight years since he became a pastor at First Immanuel Baptist Church, Todd Johnson says he’s seen his congregation’s politics make a subtle shift. The Philadelphia church, which recently hosted a Donald Trump campaign event reaching out to black voters, has “more people now who are...
Cruise line: Grandpa leaned out window before girl’s fall
MIAMI — An Indiana man charged with negligent homicide in his young granddaughter’s fatal fall from a cruise ship’s open window in Puerto Rico leaned out of that window for several seconds before he lifted the child up to it and she fell, the cruise operator alleges in a court...
Murrysville engineer was constantly curious
John D. McAdoo Jr. was constantly curious, with the combined passions of an engineer and an artist. “Anything that involved making anything turned into a giant project of diagrams and research,” said his daughter, Jane Cieply. He loved to create things—including sketches, paintings, architectural drawings, to name a few. “He...
White House considers changes to law banning overseas bribes
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s administration is weighing whether to seek changes to a 1977 law that makes it illegal for U.S. companies to bribe foreign officials. “We are looking at it,” White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said at the White House on Friday in response to a reporter’s question...
U.S. to screen airline passengers from China for new illness
NEW YORK — Three U.S. airports will screen passengers arriving from central China for a new virus that has sickened dozens, killed two and prompted worries about an international outbreak, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say they will begin taking temperatures and asking about...
Pompeo breaks silence on alleged threats to envoy in Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In...
Jury selected for Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial
NEW YORK — Jury selection in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial concluded Friday after an arduous two-week process, setting the stage for testimony to begin in the next week. The lawyers and judge halted the selection process after 12 jurors and three alternates had been seated. Of the total, eight were...
2 dead, 1 gravely hurt in Mexico fireworks explosion
MEXICO CITY — An explosion of a fireworks cache killed two people and critically injured another in a town on the northern outskirts of Mexico City. The government of Mexico State, which surrounds the capital, reported on its online information portal that a male victim died at the scene of...
South Carolina woman pleads guilty to poisoning husband with eye drops
YORK, S.C. — A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband by putting eye drops into his water for days. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lana Sue Clayton, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with a food or drug, news outlets...
Here’s how to purchase Mega Millions, Powerball tickets online
Don’t want to leave your house when you realize you forgot to buy tickets for the big drawing? Now you don’t have to. Pennsylvania Lottery officials on Friday announced that Mega Millions and Powerball tickets can now be purchased online. The purchases can be made through PA Lottery’s iLottery platform....
11 U.S. troops flown to medical centers after Iran strikeVideo
WASHINGTON — Eleven U.S. troops were flown out of Iraq for evaluation of concussion-like symptoms in the days following an Iranian missile strike that President Donald Trump had said caused no harm to American forces, officials said Friday. The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said Defense Secretary Mark Esper did...
Denver officials won’t hand over information sought by ICE
WASHINGTON — Denver officials on Thursday said they would not hand over information requested by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement on four men wanted for deportation. ICE, the Homeland Security agency tasked with arresting and deporting people in the U.S. illegally, sent four administrative subpoenas earlier this week to law...
