Raising taxes on the table as Pa. weighs how to pay for education court ruling
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 — Pennsylvania likely needs billions of dollars to shore up its public schools following a landmark court ruling, but lawmakers are entering a new...
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert granted temporary restraining order against her ex-husband
SILT, Colo. — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert now has a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband after accusing him of threatening to harm her and entering the family’s home without permission, the latest in a series of flare-ups between her and Jayson Boebert. Congresswoman Boebert, a far-right Republican and staunch...
Bob Beckwith, retired firefighter in famous image with Bush after 9/11, dies at 91
NEW YORK — Bob Beckwith, a retired firefighter whose chance encounter with the president amid the rubble of ground zero became part of an iconic image of American unity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has died. He was 91. Beckwith died Sunday night in hospice care after dealing with...
Dartmouth reinstates SAT test requirement. Will Pa. colleges follow?
The pandemic that drove students from campuses in March 2020 also accelerated a decadeslong shift away from using the SAT/ACT in college admission. By last spring, more than 8 in 10 colleges nationally and in Pennsylvania no longer required standardized tests. That trend could be reversing itself — at least...
Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival
RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro on Monday has declared a public health emergency because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever, the city announced Monday, just days before Carnival celebrations kick off across Brazil. The outbreak wasn’t expected to derail Carnival, which officially starts Friday evening and runs...
King Charles III diagnosed with cancer, will halt public duties as he undergoes treatment
LONDON — Britain’s King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday. Less than 18 months into his reign, the 75-year-old monarch will suspend public engagements but will continue with state business, and won’t be handing over his constitutional roles as head of...
Hundreds of people missing as death toll from Chile’s wildfires reaches 122
SANTIAGO, Chile — Volunteers in central Chile tried to remove charred metal, broken glass and other debris Monday from neighborhoods devastated by wildfires over the past several days, as officials raised the death toll to 122. Hundreds of people remain missing. The fires appeared to have diminished by Monday morning...
Family sues Dallas dentist after 82-year-old dies following implant surgery
As an active 82-year-old, Fredericka Bailey was ready to improve her quality of life. She “loved to look nice,” and “wanted to enjoy her food more,” Bailey’s daughter, Jacqueline Kinloch, told The Dallas Morning News. Kinloch said she drove her mother, a retired nurse and educator, roughly four hours from...
Blinken returns to Mideast in push for hostage deal and postwar plan for Gaza, but obstacles loom
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Monday at the start of his fifth visit to the Middle East since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, hoping to press ahead with a potential cease-fire deal and postwar planning while tamping...
No verdict after first day of deliberations in trial of Michigan school shooter’s mom
PONTIAC, Mich. — A Michigan jury went home Monday after a full day of deliberations in a novel trial against a school shooter’s mother who could go to prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of four students in 2021. The jury will return Tuesday for a second...
With a single word — ‘lover’ — Trump employs familiar playbook in tweaking his investigators
WASHINGTON — Each time Donald Trump refers to a Georgia prosecutor’s colleague as her “lover,” he’s invoking a strikingly familiar turn of phrase. After all, Trump as president repeatedly used the same word to mock two FBI officials, including an agent who helped lead the Russia election interference probe, after...
Zelenskyy signals a shakeup of Ukraine’s military leadership is imminent at a critical point in war
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is thinking about dismissing the country’s top military officer as part of a broader leadership shakeup, a possibility that has shocked the nation fighting a war to end Russia’s invasion and also worried Ukraine’s Western allies. Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview...
Myanmar government forces flee into Bangladesh during fighting with an ethnic armed group
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Nearly a hundred members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police have fled their posts and taken shelter in Bangladesh during fighting between Myanmar security forces and an ethnic minority army, an official of Bangladesh’s border agency said Monday. Shariful Islam, spokesperson for Border Guard Bangladesh, said by phone...
Americans have saddled themselves with credit card debt. Now renters and the poor are falling behind
NEW YORK — While the U.S. economy is broadly healthy, pockets of Americans have run through their savings and run up their credit card balances after battling inflation for more than two years. Experts worry that members of these groups — mostly lower- and middle-income Americans, who tend to be...
Cyberattack takes down some online services for Pennsylvania Court
Portions of the Pennsylvania Courts’ website that had been down since Sunday as a result of a cyberattack appeared to be back in operation Monday afternoon. A statement released by Chief Justice Debra Todd on Sunday said the attack affected online services such as filing systems, docket sheets, electronic payment...
Powell: Federal Reserve on track to cut rates this year with inflation slowing and economy healthy
WASHINGTON — Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that the Federal Reserve remains on track to cut interest rates three times this year, a move that’s expected to begin as early as May. Powell, in an interview recorded Thursday for the CBS news program “60 Minutes,”...
Michigan city ramps up security after Wall Street Journal op-ed calls it ‘America’s jihad capital’
DEARBORN, Mich. — Dearborn, Michigan, is ramping up its police presence in response to fallout from an opinion piece that described the city, which has the nation’s highest Muslim population per capita, as “America’s jihad capital.” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Friday tweeted that city police increased security at places...
Senators release a $118 billion package that pairs border policies with aid for Ukraine, Israel
WASHINGTON — Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, setting off a long-shot effort to push the bill through heavy skepticism from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. The proposal could be...
Trump isn’t calling shots on GOP border stance, Speaker Mike Johnson saysVideo
Speaker Mike Johnson vehemently denied that former President Donald Trump is setting the Republican congressional agenda on immigration and U.S. border security. Johnson was asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Trump — who has said Republicans would be making a mistake if they support an emerging bipartisan Senate deal...
Record-setting storm dumps heavy rain on Los Angeles, with flash flood alerts still in effectVideo
LOS ANGELES — A storm of historic proportions dumped a record amount of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes while people living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety. About 710,000 people statewide...
2 people killed, 4 injured in Denver shooting, police say
DENVER — Two people have died following an early morning shooting on Sunday in a residential area of Denver that left four other people injured, police said. A man and a boy were killed, said police department spokesperson Sean Towle. The injuries to the other victims were not specified. “We...
Haley uses her appearance on ‘SNL’ to poke fun at her Civil War gaffe and jab at a stand-in TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley poked fun at herself over a campaign misstep, but her primary target during a “Saturday Night Live” appearance was Donald Trump, joining in a skit that mocked a stand-in for the former president over his refusal to debate her and questioned his mental...
Asked if he supports RNC chairwoman, Trump suggests there will ‘probably be some changes made’
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump issued a warning to the Republican National Committee’s chairwoman in an interview aired Sunday, saying when asked about her that there would “probably be some changes made.” Trump had been asked by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo about Ronna McDaniel, who has been...
Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped 50 years ago. Now she’s famous for her dogs
LOS ANGELES — Newspaper heiress Patricia “Patty” Hearst was kidnapped at gunpoint 50 years ago Sunday by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a little-known armed revolutionary group. The 19-year-old college student’s infamous abduction in Berkeley, California, led to Hearst joining forces with her captors for a 1974 bank robbery that earned...
A woman stole a memory card from a truck. The gruesome footage is now key to an Alaska murder trial
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A woman with a lengthy criminal history including theft, assault and prostitution got into a truck with a man who had picked her up for a “date” near downtown Anchorage. When he left her alone in the vehicle, she stole a digital memory card from the center...
