Blackface scandal dampens Virginia governor’s fundraising
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is struggling to raise big money in a key election year after a blackface scandal nearly ended his political career. New campaign finance reports filed Monday show the Democratic governor raised slightly more than $300,000 between April and June. That’s far below the...
Apollo 11 astronaut returns to launch pad 50 years later
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins returned Tuesday to the exact spot where he and two other astronauts flew to the moon 50 years ago. At NASA’s invitation, Michael Collins spent the golden anniversary at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. He marked the precise...
NYPD cop won’t be charged in Eric Garner chokehold death
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors won’t bring civil rights charges against a New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The decision not to bring charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo comes a day before the statute of limitations...
Nebraska woman arrested, fined for climbing Mount Rushmore
RAPID CITY, S.D. — A Nebraska woman has been fined $1,000 for climbing the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Authorities say Alexandria Incontro scaled the massive granite sculpture Friday with bare feet and no rope, making it to about 15 feet (4.5 meters) from the top. The Rapid...
Florida expert captures elusive alligator at Chicago lagoon
CHICAGO — The alligator had a good run as day after day the people hunting for him in a Chicago lagoon came up empty, but in the end he was no match for an expert the city shipped in from Florida. The male gator, nicknamed ‘Chance the Snapper,’ was first...
‘Likely innocent’ Philadelphia man ordered freed from prison after 28 years
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man sentenced to life in prison a quarter-century ago was ordered freed from prison Monday after the Philadelphia prosecutor’s office told the court last month that he was “likely innocent” of the murder for which he was convicted. Chester Hollman III, 48, was freed from state...
Polls show sour views of race relations in Trump’s America
Even before President Donald Trump’s racist tweets toward four Democratic congresswomen of color, Americans considered race relations in the United States to be generally bad — and said that Trump has been making them worse. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the congresswomen should go back to the “broken and crime...
GOP: U.S. land agency is moving West, closer to its territory
DENVER — Some Westerners have long complained the U.S. government is an absentee landlord, managing vast tracts of public lands in their states from the nation’s capital instead of closer to the properties themselves. GOP lawmakers say that may change soon. The Bureau of Land Management has decided to move...
Facing censure, Trump insists ‘not a racist bone in my body’
WASHINGTON — Defiant in the face of widespread censure, President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that his tweets suggesting four Democratic congresswomen of color return to their countries “were NOT Racist,” and he appealed to fellow Republicans to “not show weakness” and to resist a House resolution condemning his words. “I...
Weight loss prior to bariatric surgery carries risks
Requiring prospective bariatric surgery patients to lose weight before they can undergo the procedure may not be necessary or safe, University of Pennsylvania researchers found in a new study published recently in the journal Obesity Surgery. The practice of having patients follow a medically supervised weight-loss program before the surgery...
12 tips to tame stress
Is stress making you frustrated and irritable? Stress relievers can help restore calm and serenity to your chaotic life. You don’t have to invest a lot of time or thought into stress relievers. If your stress is getting out of control and you need quick relief, try one of these...
Orthorexia nervosa: Obsessing over good eating
When does one’s concern for proper nutrition turn into a pathological condition? When the desire to eat a healthful diet turns into an unhealthy obsession, say experts. Mental health experts call it “orthorexia nervosa” which literally means “proper appetite … carried to the extreme.” Hey, we all get a little...
Health Happenings – Jul. 16, 2019
Blood drives • American Red Cross will host these blood drives: — 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Westmoreland County Courthouse, 2 N. Main St., Greensburg — 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Latrobe Presbyterian Church, 428 Main St., Latrobe Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org; walk-ins welcome • Vitalant, formerly Central Blood Bank, will host...
Judge recommends $14M award to neo-Nazi trolling victim
HELENA, Mont. — The publisher of a neo-Nazi website should have to pay the victim of an internet trolling campaign over $14 million and remove all posts that encouraged his readers to contact the Montana real estate agent, a magistrate judge recommended Monday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch called The...
Trump moves to eliminate nearly all asylum claims at U.S. southern border
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration moved Monday to in effect end asylum for the vast majority of migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous shift in policy that could block hundreds of thousands of people from seeking protection in the U.S. — and is certain to draw legal...
Retired nurse stayed calm, saved lives in emergencies
Sandy Schweikarth kept her cool and took charge during emergencies that would cause others to panic. Even when she wasn’t on duty as a licensed practical nurse, others benefited from her know-how and skills. When daughter Shana Hudson was young, Schweikarth, though in the late stages of pregnancy with a...
GAO: EPA skirted procedures in overhaul of science boards
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency skirted some of its usual procedures and ethics rules when it overhauled key agency advisory boards, slashing the numbers of academic scientists on the panels and appointing more industry figures, the Government Accountability Office said Monday. Senate Democrats had asked for the GAO probe....
Kellyanne Conway ignores subpoena, ditches House testimony on alleged ethics violationsVideo
Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway ignored a subpoena Monday and ditched House testimony on allegations that she repeatedly violated federal ethics law, prompting calls for her to be held in contempt. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement after it became clear Conway wasn’t showing up for the...
Man charged in Utah college student’s death appears in courtVideo
SALT LAKE CITY — A tech worker charged in the death of a Utah college student made his first court appearance Monday as friends of the slain woman held hands in the front row. Ayoola A. Ajayi appeared by video from jail alongside a court-appointed attorney during a quick hearing...
Mama bear charges Great Smoky Mountains visitor who got near her cubsVideo
Luckily, a Darwin Award was not given out this weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains. A visitor to the national park inexplicably confronted a mother bear and three cubs and was able to scurry away unscathed on Saturday. As the unidentified man ignored advice from other visitors in a parking...
Man attacked in Ohio courtroom brawl last week sentenced to lifeVideo
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A man whose sentencing was postponed when he was attacked in an Ohio courtroom last week is headed to prison. A judge on Monday sentenced Dale Williams to 23 years to life in the killing of a Youngstown woman. His hearing was interrupted on Thursday when authorities...
New York boy, 3, dies after falling into restaurant grease trap
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A 3-year-old boy has died after falling into an underground grease collection tank behind an upstate New York fast-food restaurant. Rochester Police Investigator Frank Camp says the boy fell through a plastic cover into the grease trap behind a Tim Hortons restaurant around 11 a.m. Monday. Witnesses...
Some in GOP rebuke Trump, but party leaders remain silentVideo
WASHINGTON — Top Republicans remained largely silent after President Trump said over the weekend that four women of color in Congress should “go back” to the countries they came from. By Monday, some in the party were speaking up. Several GOP senators, and some House Republicans, said Trump had gone...
Proper diagnosis of tick-borne disease can cost in pain as well as payment
Greg Shogan of Monroeville estimated he underwent 20 brain scans to try and diagnose a series of strange ailments, which ultimately resulted in a diagnosis of Lyme disease. While early detection can generally result in positive treatment, Shogan had gone years without meaningful medical intervention. Shogan isn’t sure how much...
Man gets extra life sentence, plus 419 years, in Charlottesville car attack
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life plus 419 years on federal hate crime charges Monday for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia. James Alex Fields Jr., 22, received the sentence for killing one person and injuring dozens...
