8 backcountry skiers found dead and 1 still missing after California avalancheVideo
NEVADA CITY, Calif. — Crews found the bodies of eight backcountry skiers near California’s Lake Tahoe and were searching for one more after they were caught in an avalanche, the nation’s deadliest in nearly half a century, authorities said Wednesday. Authorities said the skiers had little time to react. “Someone...
Russia hosts Cuban foreign minister and urges U.S. not to blockade Cuba
MOSCOW — The Cuban foreign minister visited Moscow on Wednesday as the island faces blackouts and severe fuel shortages worsened by a U.S oil embargo. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and was set to meet later in the day with President Vladimir...
FBI, St. Paul police probing ICE arrest that resulted in skull fractures
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota and federal authorities are investigating the alleged beating of a Mexican citizen by immigration officers last month, seeking to identify what caused the eight skull fractures that landed the man in the intensive care unit of a Minneapolis hospital. Investigators from the St. Paul Police Department and...
4 dead in crashes involving over 30 vehicles in ‘brownout’ conditions on Colorado interstate
PUEBLO, Colo. — Four people died in crashes involving over 30 vehicles, including six semitrailers, on an interstate in Colorado on Tuesday after blowing dirt made it nearly impossible to see, authorities said. Dirt kicked up by heavy winds blew across Interstate 25 just south of Pueblo around 10 a.m....
Driver fleeing ICE officers crashes, killing a Georgia teacher, authorities say
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Guatemalan driver fleeing a Georgia traffic stop by federal immigration officers crashed into another vehicle, killing a teacher who was headed to work, authorities and school officials said. Oscar Vasquez Lopez, the driver accused of causing the Monday crash just outside of Savannah, remained jailed Tuesday...
6 backcountry skiers found alive, 10 missing after Northern California avalancheVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Six backcountry skiers were found alive and 10 others were still missing Tuesday after an avalanche in Northern California during a powerful winter storm moving through the state. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after someone called 911...
Police in Nancy Guthrie investigation say glove DNA didn’t match anything in national database
DNA from gloves found a few miles from the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie did not match any entries in a national database, authorities said Tuesday, the 17th day of her disappearance. “There were no DNA hits in CODIS,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said, referring to the national Combined...
Shooter killed ex-wife and a son in Rhode Island ice rink attack, police sayVideo
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — A person who opened fire Monday during a youth hockey game at an ice rink in Rhode Island killed their ex-wife and one son, authorities said Tuesday. Pawtucket Chief of Police Tina Goncalves said the victims were the shooter’s ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan....
Treasury officials question legality of taxpayers paying for security upgrades at Shapiro’s family home
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Late last year, Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement agency revealed taxpayers would pick up the tab for more...
Stephen Colbert says CBS lawyers pulled James Talarico interview as early voting begins in Texas
AUSTIN — Late-night host Stephen Colbert said his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was pulled from Monday night’s broadcast over network fears it would violate regulatory guidance from the Trump administration on giving equal time to political candidates. The issue came just hours before early voting opened...
New Mexico legislators launch investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded ranch
SANTA FE, N.M. — State legislators in New Mexico launched an investigation Tuesday into past activity at a secluded desert ranch where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests and whether local authorities looked the other way. A bipartisan, four-member panel of state House representatives is investigating allegations...
Reschenthaler weds Fox News’ Brooke Singman
Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican congressman from Peters, married Fox News reporter Brooke Singman over the weekend in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. Social media posts show the festivities were attended by luminaries including FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Mike Waltz,...
What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says it temporarily closed for a military drill
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran says it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. The move came as semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported live fire exercises in the vital waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. The move is...
Federal judge rules Kilmar Abrego Garcia can’t be re-detained by immigration authorities
GREENBELT, Md. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia because a 90-day detention period has expired and the government has no viable plan for deporting him, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The Salvadoran national’s case has become a focal point in the immigration debate after...
New subpoenas issued in inquiry on response to 2016 Russian election interference, AP sources say
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has issued new subpoenas in a Florida-based investigation into perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump and the U.S. government’s response to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. An initial wave of subpoenas in November asked recipients...
Strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats kill 11 people, U.S. military says
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration’s monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers. The series of strikes conducted Monday brought the death...
Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues
WASHINGTON — Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America’s national parks. A lawsuit filed in Boston says orders by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have forced park service staff...
Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir launches in 22 languages, turning horror into hope for survivors
PARIS — Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir was released Tuesday in 22 languages worldwide, sharing details of the horror she went through and sending a powerful message of hope and support to victims of sexual abuse. “I wanted my story to help others,” Pelicot told French national channel France 5 last week...
Sri Lankan lawmakers scrap their pensions in a sweeping vote
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan legislators overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to scrap their pensions, in a bid to fulfil a key pre-election campaign promise by the ruling Marxist-leaning government following anger over the country’s economic crisis. Lawmakers passed the bill on Tuesday by 154 votes in the 225-member House,...
Russian and Ukrainian officials are in Geneva for U.S.-brokered talks after almost 4 years of war
GENEVA — Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were in Geneva on Tuesday for another round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, a week before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. However, expectations for any breakthroughs in Geneva were low, with neither side apparently ready to budge from its...
Delaware man married in the 1970s to former first lady Jill Biden pleads not guilty in wife’s death
WILMINGTON, Del. — The long-ago first husband of former first lady Jill Biden pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges he killed his current wife in Delaware. William Stevenson, 77, was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975. A state grand jury this month charged Stevenson with killing Linda Stevenson,...
Iran temporarily closing Strait of Hormuz for live fire drills as nuclear talks with U.S. begin
GENEVA — The U.S. and Iran are holding their second round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program Tuesday in Geneva as Iran said it will close the Strait of Hormuz for several hours as it holds live fire military exercises and the United States ramps up its military forces in...
Green Beacon Gallery in downtown Greensburg searches for a new home
Greensburg was not a random choice for Phil and Steve Harrold’s art and music gallery. The initials of the West Pittsburgh Street venue, called Green Beacon Gallery, align with a common abbreviation for the name of the city — which the brothers deemed deserving of an open stage for local...
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, revered Civil Rights leader, has died at 84
CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination, died Tuesday. He was 84. As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with...
3 killed, including suspect, in shooting during Rhode Island youth hockey game
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — A shooting during a Rhode Island youth hockey game left three people dead, including the shooter, and three more hospitalized Monday night in critical condition, authorities said. Pawtucket police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that someone helped bring a swift end to the violent scene Monday afternoon...