Crews race to restore power across Texas ahead of another round of stormsVideo
DALLAS — Crews trying to restore power across storm-battered Texas were contending with downed trees and tangled limbs on Thursday, along with a forecast that could bring more damaging wind and hail. Electricity was back on for about 80% of the more than 1 million homes and businesses that lost...
What’s next for Trump’s conviction in his hush money trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts marks the end of the former president’s historic hush money trial, but the fight over the case is far from over. Now comes the sentencing and the potential for a prison sentence. A lengthy appellate process. And all the while,...
What verdict will voters render after jury finds Trump guilty in hush money case?Video
The sometimes-breathless gavel-to-gavel coverage of former President Trump’s trial was no surprise, as a singularly divisive figure sat for more than a month at the defense table, the first president to face criminal charges and the possibility of a trip to jail. But for all the trial’s spectacle, many political...
Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using American arms in strikes on Russian territory, U.S. officials say
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the go-ahead to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, underscored that the U.S. policy calling...
Trump becomes 1st former U.S. president convicted of felony crimesVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said...
Supreme Court gives homeowners another chance in escrow dispute with Bank of America
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday gave homeowners another chance to force Bank of America and other large banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts. The court unanimously threw out an appeals court ruling in favor of Bank of America, which has refused to pay interest on money...
NRA can sue ex-N.Y. official it says tried to blacklist it after Parkland shooting, Supreme Court says
WASHINGTON — A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a National Rifle Association lawsuit against a former New York state official over claims she pressured companies to blacklist it following the deadly 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Giving the NRA a new chance to prove its...
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks dies at 80 after being struck by vehicle near Nevada courthouse
RENO, Nev. — Larry Hicks, a federal judge in Nevada for more than 20 years, died after being struck by a vehicle near the courthouse in Reno, authorities and his family said. He was 80. Hicks was a pedestrian struck at an intersection Wednesday afternoon, taken to a hospital and...
From the Newsroom podcast: TribLive unpacks the exclusive interview with Marc Fogel
Marc Fogel is an international teacher from Oakmont. Until the fall of 2021, the 63-year-old traveled to various countries teaching history. In August 2021, Fogel was arrested in Russia for the possession of 17 grams of medical marijuana, prescribed in Pennsylvania for his back and knee pain. Fogel is currently...
At 100, this vet says the ‘greatest generation’ moniker fits ‘because we saved the world’
HELEN, Ga. — A profile of Andrew “Andy” Negra Jr., of Helen, Georgia, one of a dwindling number of veterans took part in the Allies’ European war effort that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Born: May 28, 1924, near Avella, Pennsylvania. Service: Army’s 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion,...
McDonald’s says $18 Big Mac meal was an ‘exception’ and news reports overstated its price increases
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases. In a post on the company’s website Wednesday, McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger said reports suggesting the price of the average Big Mac has doubled since 2019 were false. McDonald’s said the...
The U.S.-built pier in Gaza broke apart. Here’s how we got here and what might be next
WASHINGTON — A string of security, logistical and weather problems has battered the plan to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza through a U.S. military-built pier. Broken apart by strong winds and heavy seas just over a week after it became operational, the project faces criticism that it hasn’t...
Israel says it’s taken control of key area of Gaza’s border with Egypt awash in smuggling tunnels
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month. The capture of the Philadelphi Corridor could complicate Israel’s relations...
The Panda Party is back on as giant pandas will return to Washington’s National Zoo
WASHINGTON — Months after the nation’s capital bid an emotional farewell to its giant pandas, the National Zoo is expecting a renewed surge in panda-mania with the announcement that two more of the furry black-and-white icons will be coming to Washington. The zoo announced Wednesday that a fresh agreement had...
Greensburg Catholics to mark Corpus Christi with procession to courthouse
Parishioners at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg will celebrate a feast day Sunday with a procession from the church to the Westmoreland County Courthouse. This will be the first time Bishop Larry Kulick will lead a procession to the courthouse, a few blocks away from the church on Main Street,...
‘I had fun’: Alleged scammer takes credit for Graceland foreclosure upheaval
A self-proclaimed identity thief based in Nigeria claimed responsibility over the puzzling, and now court-blocked, auction of Elvis Presley’s historic Graceland mansion. The thief sent an email to the New York Times claiming to be part of a criminal network that targets the dead and elderly, particularly those from Florida...
Pa. attorney general candidates rebuild campaign coffers after pricey primaries
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 — The Democratic and Republican candidates competing to be Pennsylvania’s next attorney general first had to survive contested primaries that drained their campaign coffers....
Harvey Weinstein may face new charges as more accusers come forward, New York prosecutors say
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors told a judge Wednesday they are evaluating more claims of sexual misconduct made against Harvey Weinstein and could potentially seek a new indictment against him before his scheduled retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said during a court hearing...
Biden and Harris will launch a Black voter outreach effort as they see signs of diminished support
PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are stepping up their reelection pitch to Black voters, a key part of their 2020 winning coalition that has shown signs of fraying. They’ll launch a new Black voter outreach effort during a visit to the battleground state of Pennsylvania...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files complaint over rules for CNN’s presidential debate next month
PHOENIX — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed an election complaint Wednesday alleging CNN is colluding with Democratic President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to exclude him from a debate the network is hosting next month. Kennedy alleges the requirements to participate in the June...
Alito rejects calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases because of flag controversies
WASHINGTON — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants, saying his wife hoisted the two controversial flags that flew above their homes. “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” Alito wrote Wednesday....
Israel’s military says it’s taken control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt
TEL AVIV, Israel — Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in an ambush by an explosive device in Rafah, the military and media reported, as the Israeli national security adviser said that the war against Hamas militants would likely last through the end of the year. Three other soldiers were...
Inflation pressures lingering from pandemic are keeping Fed rate cuts on pause
WASHINGTON — Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation. A key reason for the delay in rate...
Pitt names 1st woman as engineering dean
Michele V. Manuel, a leading materials engineer in Florida, is the University of Pittsburgh’s new dean of engineering, a discipline dominated by males nationally that has sought to identify talented women and minorities. Her appointment as U.S. Steel Dean of the Swanson School of Engineering is effective Sept. 1, officials...
An Iceland volcano starts erupting again, spewing lava into the sky
GRINDAVIK, Iceland — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted Wednesday for the fifth time since December, spewing red streams of lava in the latest display of nature’s power and triggering the evacuation of the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. The eruption began in the early afternoon following a series of...
