A look at how some of Trump’s picks to lead health agencies could help carry out Kennedy’s overhaul
The team that President-elect Donald Trump has selected to lead federal health agencies in his second administration includes a retired congressman, a surgeon and a former talk-show host. All could play pivotal roles in fulfilling a political agenda that could change how the government goes about safeguarding Americans’ health —...
Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people don’t lose weight
Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all...
Hydrate. Make lists. Leave yourself time. And other tips for reducing holiday travel stress
Travel can be stressful in the best of times. Now add in the high-level anxiety that seems to be baked into every holiday season and it’s clear that travelers could use some help calming frazzled nerves. Travel pros say there is plenty you can do ahead of time to make...
Trump taps a Fox News personality, a surgeon and a former Congressman to lead public health agencies
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, selecting a surgeon and author who gained national attention for opposing vaccine mandates and some other public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, is the...
Trump raced to pick many Cabinet posts. He took more time to settle on a treasury secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump launched a blitz of picks for his Cabinet, but he took his time before settling on billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary nominee. The Republican not only wanted someone who jibes with him, but an official who can execute his economic vision and...
U.S. customs officers seize 3,000 counterfeit Gibson guitarsVideo
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on Saturday announced the largest seizure ever of counterfeit Gibson electric guitars. Working with U.S. Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, agents recently seized more than 3,000 counterfeit guitars at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest seaport complex. The...
Penn State trustees rarely discuss key issues in public before voting
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 Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. When...
Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far
President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it’s shaping up much differently than his first. He’s prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears focused on remaking the federal government in...
Texas education board approves optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ education board voted Friday to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools under optional new curriculum that could test boundaries between religion and public classrooms in the U.S. The material adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, passed in a...
Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he’ll nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Trump also said he would nominate Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position Vought held during Trump’s first...
Emperor penguin released at sea 20 days after waddling onto Australian beach
MELBOURNE, Australia — The only emperor penguin known to have swum from Antarctica to Australia was released at sea 20 days after he waddled ashore on a popular tourist beach, officials said Friday. The adult male was found on Nov. 1 on Ocean Beach sand dunes in the town of...
Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad
A social-media tribute to Coptic Christians. A billboard in Amish country. A visit to a revered Jewish gravesite. While Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, he and his campaign allies also wooed smaller religious groups, far from the mainstream. As it turned out, Trump won by...
Gaetz’s withdrawal highlights how incoming presidents often lose Cabinet nominees
MARTIN, Tenn. — Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn’t unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time. Matt Gaetz’s decision to pull his name Thursday from consideration for attorney general — amid continued fallout over a federal sex...
Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya
WASHINGTON — Long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula. Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The findings were published Friday in Science Advances. “The aerial...
Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of U.S. land: ‘Drill.’
BISMARCK, N.D. — Donald Trump assigned Doug Burgum a singular mission in nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.” That dictate from the president-elect’s announcement of Burgum for Secretary of Interior...
Matt Gaetz says he won’t return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney general
WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to be attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from...
2 convicted in human smuggling case after Indian family froze to death on U.S.-Canada border
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — A jury convicted two men of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29,...
Colorado funeral home owners accused of letting 190 bodies decay plead guilty to corpse abuse
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The owners of a Colorado funeral home accused of piling 190 bodies inside a room-temperature building and giving the grieving relatives fake ashes pleaded guilty Friday to corpse abuse as aggrieved families looked on in court. Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the Return to Nature...
What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump’s new pick for attorney general
NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed dubious. The 59-year-old has...
Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing in order to decide where case should go now
NEW YORK — A judge confirmed Friday that President-elect Donald Trump won’t be sentenced this month in his hush money case, instead setting a schedule for prosecutors and his lawyers to expand on their ideas about what to do next. Amid a flurry of filings in the case since Trump’s...
Pa. halts statewide vote recount after Casey concedes Pa.’s U.S. Senate race
Pennsylvania’s automatic recount has ceased. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Friday morning that a legally mandated recount in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race has been stopped after Democratic incumbent Bob Casey conceded the race Thursday evening. “Following Sen. Casey’s concession announcement yesterday afternoon, his campaign submitted a request to...
NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russia’s attack with new hypersonic missile
KYIV, Ukraine — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.” Ukraine’s...
Westmoreland County Transit Authority accepts commuter bus from River Valley
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority will add another commuter bus to its lineup. The River Valley Transit Authority, based in Williamsport, reached out about transferring a 2015 commuter bus it purchased with the help of grant funding, Westmoreland County Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said. The vehicle seats 53...
U.S. Embassy in London returns to normal after police blow up a package
LONDON — The U.S. Embassy in London returned to normal operations Friday afternoon after police carried out the controlled explosion of a suspicious package that was found in the area earlier in the day. London Metropolitan police later said it was a “hoax device.” “An investigation will now follow,” police...
Proposed deal on climate cash at UN summit highlights split between rich and poor nations
BAKU, Azerbaijan — A new draft of a deal on cash to curb and adapt to climate change released Friday afternoon at the United Nations climate summit pledged $250 billion by 2035 from wealthy countries to poorer ones. The amount pleases the countries who will be paying, but not those...
