Large geological feature known as the ‘Double Arch’ and the ‘Toilet Bowl’ collapses in southern Utah
PAGE, Ariz. — A large geological feature in southern Utah known as the “Double Arch,” the “Hole in the Roof” and sometimes the “Toilet Bowl” has collapsed, National Park Service officials said Friday. No injuries were reported. The popular arch in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area fell Thursday, and...
Iran is accelerating cyber activity that appears meant to influence the U.S. election, Microsoft says
NEW YORK — Iran is accelerating online activity that appears intended to influence the U.S. election, in one case targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack, Microsoft said Friday. Iranian actors also have spent recent months creating fake news sites and impersonating activists, laying the groundwork to stoke...
Trump headlines Montana rally after plane makes emergency landing
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Donald Trump traveled to Montana for a Friday night rally intended to drum up support for ousting the state’s Democratic senator, but the former president’s plane first had to divert to an airport on the other side of the Rocky Mountains because of a mechanical issue, according...
What Pennsylvania’s $47.6B budget does for the state’s rural communities
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. BELLEFONTE — Officials in rural Pennsylvania didn’t get everything they wanted in...
Last known intact U.S. slave ship is too ‘broken’ and should stay underwater, a report recommends
MOBILE, Ala. — The last known U.S. slave ship is too “broken” and decayed to be extracted from the murky waters of the Alabama Gulf Coast without being dismembered, a task force of archaeologists, engineers and historians announced following a yearslong investigation. The task force headed by the Alabama Historical...
Harvard rebuffs protests and won’t remove Sackler name from two buildings
BOSTON — Harvard University has decided against removing from campus buildings the name of a family whose company makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin, despite protests from parents whose children fatally overdosed. The decision last month by the Harvard Corporation to retain Arthur M. Sackler’s name on a museum building and...
FDA won’t approve psychedelic MDMA for PTSD, calling for additional study
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators on Friday declined to approve the psychedelic drug MDMA as a therapy for PTSD, a major setback for groups seeking a breakthrough decision in favor of using mind-altering substances to treat serious mental health conditions. Drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics said the FDA notified the company that...
‘Keeping their memories alive’: Cemetery volunteers to lead workshop on cleaning, resetting fallen headstones
For the past two years, Bill Bray has been on a mission to restore abandoned cemeteries. Bray, 57, of Penn Township, has cleaned headstones covered in years of mold, moss and lichen and reset stones that tipped over or sunk into the earth. The Army veteran has replaced nearly 75...
Covid-19 falls to No. 10 cause of death in U.S.
U.S. death rates fell last year for all age groups compared with 2022, federal health officials said Thursday. Here’s what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed: — Covid-19 fell to the 10th leading cause of death. Early in the pandemic, the coronavirus was the nation’s third leading...
Michael Brown’s death 10 years ago sparked change in Ferguson
FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown once told his father the “world is going to know my name,” words Michael Brown Sr. still takes to heart. Friday marks 10 years since the 18-year-old was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, turning the St. Louis suburb into the focal point...
Israeli troops launch new assault into Gaza’s Khan Younis as mediators push for cease-fire talks
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops launched a new assault Friday into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, targeting Hamas fighters who the military claims still operate there despite repeated offensives, as American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators renewed their push for Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire...
3rd person in custody over foiled plot targeting now-canceled Taylor Swift shows in Vienna
VIENNA — A third teenager has been arrested in connection with a foiled attack on now-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, Austria’s interior minister said Friday. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said an 18-year-old was taken into custody Thursday evening in Vienna after allegedly being in contact with the main...
Russia declares federal emergency in border region under attack from Ukrainian forces
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Ministry for Emergencies on Friday declared the situation in the Kursk region a “federal level” emergency, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured over the border in what appeared to be Kyiv’s biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began. Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched...
Maui remembers the 102 lost in the Lahaina wildfire with a paddle out 1 year after devastating blazeVideo
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Dozens of Maui surfers, canoe paddlers and boat riders made their way into the ocean off Lahaina on Thursday to remember the 102 people killed when the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century destroyed the historic town one year ago. The “paddle out” gathering is...
Legal challenge seeks to prevent RFK Jr. from appearing on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot
HARRISBURG — A legal challenge filed Thursday seeks to have third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kept off Pennsylvania’s fall ballot, an effort with ramifications for the hotly contested swing-state battle between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. The petition argues the nominating papers filed by Kennedy and...
Sighting of alligator swimming off shore of Lake Erie prompts Pennsylvania searchVideo
ERIE — The search is on for a small alligator in Erie after it was caught on video last weekend swimming just off the shore of Lake Erie. The first sighting was Sunday, according to the Erie Times-News, and since then animal rescue specialists have been scouring the area. There...
Tim Walz’s military record under scrutiny as Vance, GOP question his service
CINCINNATI — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record has come under scrutiny since he was named as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, with Republicans questioning both Walz’s characterization of his time in uniform and his departure from service. Here’s a look at Walz’s record...
Trump recommits to a Sept. 10 debate, lashes out at Harris during news conference
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump recommitted to debating Vice President Kamala Harris after recently backing out, holding a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he taunted his new rival, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her campaign has been...
Elon Musk will interview former President Donald Trump
Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, is set to interview former President Donald Trump on Monday, the New York Times reported. Trump posted about the upcomping conversation on his social media site Truth Social, saying that details would follow, the NYT said. “ON MONDAY NIGHT I’LL BE...
Handlers help raise half-sister patas monkeys born weeks apart at an upstate New York zoo
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two baby patas monkeys were born weeks apart at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in upstate New York and are being raised by keepers after their mothers showed a lack of maternal instinct, a zoo official said Thursday. Iniko gave birth to Sisu on April 26 and Iniko’s...
Tropical Storm Debby spins up tornadoes, dumps rain in North CarolinaVideo
LUCAMA, N.C. — Tornadoes spawned by Tropical Storm Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday, as the system dropped heavy rain and flooded communities across North and South Carolina. It only took 15 seconds for a tornado to devastate Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North...
Russia says fighting continues in Ukrainian incursion into Kursk region
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops are fighting Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region in the third day of one of the largest cross-border incursions of the war, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday. A ministry statement said the Russian military and border guards have blocked Ukrainian forces from advancing deeper...
Trump will hold news conference in his 1st public appearance since rival Harris picked Walz
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump says he will hold a new conference Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida beachside compound, making his first public appearance since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee and selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Trump announced the...
Officials say suspects in foiled plot at Taylor Swift shows hoped to kill as many people as possible
VIENNA — Both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, Austrian authorities said Thursday, and investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes. Officials said one of the two confessed to planning to...
Bushy Run continues clearing damage from June tornado, receives financial support from community
The sounds of cannons and rifle fire that were supposed to ring through the air at Penn Township’s Bushy Run Battlefield this weekend were replaced with the whirring of chain saws. Six weeks after a tornado whipped through the state historical site, Bushy Run is still picking up the pieces...
