Trump complains about his teleprompters at a scorching Las Vegas rally
LAS VEGAS — Former President Donald Trump rallied voters in the scorching heat of Las Vegas, at points telling his supporters to ask for help if needed and appearing irritable with the teleprompters that he said were not working. The presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign hired extra medics, loading up on...
Biden honors U.S. war dead with a cemetery visit ending a French trip that served as a rebuke to Trump
BELLEAU, France — President Joe Biden closed out his trip to France by paying his respects at an American military cemetery that Donald Trump notably skipped when he was president, hoping his final stop Sunday helped draw the stakes of the November election in stark relief. Before returning to the...
Howard University cuts ties with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after video of attack on Cassie
Howard University is cutting ties to Sean “Diddy” Combs, rescinding an honorary degree that was awarded to him and disbanding a scholarship program in his name, after a recently released 2016 video that appeared to show him attacking the R&B singer Cassie. “Mr. Combs’ behavior as captured in a recently...
Local third graders buzz through Greensburg Rotary Club spelling bee
Nearly 30 third grade students from Aquinas Academy, Hempfield Area and Greensburg Salem school districts marched into the Greensburg Salem Middle School auditorium Thursday evening to “Gonna Fly Now,” known colloquially as the “Rocky” movie theme song. But only Amanda Wang remained on the auditorium stage when “We Are the...
From women pastors to sexual abuse to Trump, Southern Baptists have a busy few days ahead of them
Thousands will gather in Indianapolis June 11-12 for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The meeting comes at a fraught time in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Messengers — as voting delegates are known — will vote on whether to establish a constitutional ban on churches with women...
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 274 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more were wounded in the Israeli raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday. The military said its forces came under heavy fire during the complex daytime operation deep inside the territory....
‘It’s given me a lot of confidence’: Penn Township Girl Scout troops honor Gold Award recipients at bridging ceremony
When Allison Huffman decided to pursue the Gold Award at the end of her 12 years in Girl Scouts, she knew she wanted to teach children about mental and physical health. But she had no idea she would learn just as much as the 80 children she taught. Huffman, 17,...
Western Pa. education leaders seek solutions to statewide teacher shortage crisis
Thousands of teaching positions in Pennsylvania were vacant or filled by someone on an emergency certificate in the past year, leaving education across the state in crisis mode, one industry onlooker said. More than 2,000 teaching positions were vacant in Pennsylvania as of October, according to data released by the...
Haiti’s new prime minister hospitalized days after being selected to lead country, official says
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s newly selected prime minister, Garry Conille, was hospitalized late Saturday in the capital of Port-au-Prince just days after arriving in the country, an official told The Associated Press. It wasn’t immediately known why Conille was hospitalized. Louis Gérald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council...
Cargo ship hit by missile in Gulf of Aden in suspected attack by Yemen Houthi rebels. No one hurt
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A missile struck an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday in a suspected attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen, authorities said. The missile hit the ship’s forward station, starting a fire that those on board later put out, the...
Woman who fell down steep hill below Bigelow Boulevard rescued by Pittsburgh first responders
Pittsburgh Public Safety personnel rescued a woman on the hillside below Frank Curto Park on Bigelow Boulevard on Saturday afternoon after employees at a car dealership below heard her screaming. The woman, who is in her 30s, likely fell from a concrete retaining wall she had been sitting on, a...
Toxicology reports on the deaths of Mt. Lebanon woman and her daughter, 10, could take weeks
A Mt. Lebanon woman who was found dead along with her 10-year-old daughter Friday in South Park was involved in divorce proceedings and a custody dispute. Serena Keona Guan, 43, and Abigail Neal, 10, were found inside a car at a South Park grove after Mt. Lebanon police were contacted...
Nurse practitioners say they’d ease rural health care shortage with more authority; doctors say it won’t work
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. HARRISBURG — Joyce Knestrick can independently give physical exams, diagnose health conditions, prescribe select medications, and make referrals as a nurse practitioner at a clinic...
Secret opioid cash meetings criticized by Pa. lawmaker after Spotlight PA and WESA reporting
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A member of the board overseeing Pennsylvania’s opioid settlement money said he’s concerned the group’s actions don’t comply with the state’s Sunshine Act, echoing transparency...
Takeaways from Hunter Biden’s gun trial: His family turns out as his own words are used against him
WILMINGTON, Del. — Pictures of President Joe Biden’s son with drug paraphernalia and bare-chested in a bubble bath. Text messages between Hunter Biden and drug dealers. Testimony from Hunter’s exes about relationships destroyed by his drug use. Hunter Biden’s trial on gun charges brought by his father’s Justice Department has...
Macron is hosting Biden for a state visit as the two leaders try to move past trade tensions
PARIS — President Joe Biden is being feted by French President Emmanuel Macron with a state visit Saturday as the two allies aim to show off their partnership on global security issues and move past trade tensions. Biden and Macron attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday...
Israel rescues 4 hostages kidnapped in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. At least 94 Palestinians are killed
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel on Saturday rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, the largest such recovery operation since the war began. At least 94 Palestinians including children were killed as heavy fighting continued around the sites in central Gaza, the Health...
No ‘calamari comeback’? The squid chef from Democrats’ 2020 convention says he’s a Trump backer
WASHINGTON — The “calamari comeback” chef who delighted viewers of the last Democratic National Convention might not be coming back. John Bordieri was dubbed by some as the “calamari ninja” for standing wordlessly, clad head-to-toe in black, and holding a platter of lightly buttered, sautéed squid on a Rhode Island...
Blinken to head to Middle East to push for Gaza cease-fire deal
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to the Middle East next week in his latest attempt to push for an end to the ongoing Gaza war. Blinken will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar from Monday to Wednesday, the State Department said Friday. “The...
Scorching heat keeps grip on Southwest as records tumble
RENO, Nev. — The first heat wave of the year maintained its grip on the Southwest on Friday, a day after records tumbled across the region as temperatures soared past 110 degrees Fahrenheit from California to Arizona. Although the official start of summer is two weeks away, roughly half of...
Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, has died in Washington plane crash
SEATTLE — Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in...
Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows pleads not guilty in Arizona’s fake elector case
PHOENIX — Former Donald Trump presidential chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump 2020 Election Day operations director Michael Roman pleaded not guilty Friday in Phoenix to nine felony charges over their roles in an effort to overturn Trump’s Arizona election loss to Joe Biden. Meadows and Roman appeared by...
Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi testifies about her father in his federal gun trial, ending 1st week
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi testified Friday in his federal gun trial about visiting her father while he was at a California rehab center, telling jurors he seemed to be improving in the weeks before he bought the revolver in 2018. “I hadn’t seen my dad in a...
Pa. lawmakers introduce bills to advance Shapiro’s higher education overhaul
Two Democratic lawmakers, one in the House and one in the Senate, are introducing legislation to advance Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposals to reimagine Pennsylvania’s higher education system. The system has long been criticized as underfunded by the state and too expensive for students. The governor on Friday announced the introduction...
Alex Jones seeks permission to convert his personal bankruptcy into liquidation
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is seeking court permission to convert his personal bankruptcy reorganization to a liquidation, which would lead to a sell-off of a large portion of his assets to help pay some of the $1.5 billion he owes relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting....
