Few Republicans have confidence in elections. It’s a long road for one group trying to change that
SUAMICO, Wis. — Kim Pytleski could barely sleep the night before. She replayed the PowerPoint slides in her head, packed her notebook and took a deep breath. The clerk from a rural Wisconsin county north of Green Bay was preparing for a public meeting to explain the election process to...
Rite Aid seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it deals with lawsuits and losses
PHILADELPHIA — Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell part of its business as it attempts to restructure while dealing with losses and opioid-related lawsuits. The company said Rite Aid stores will continue to fill prescriptions, and customers will still be able to visit its locations...
House bill takes aim at Pennsylvania’s ‘ghost poles’
For a borough of fewer than 900 people, Export has a lot of utility poles. And quite a few of them are right next to each another. Known as ghost poles, the side-by-side poles number in the thousands across Southwestern Pennsylvania. In areas where the poles are a problem, the...
Muslim boy killed and woman wounded in Illinois hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war
CHICAGO — An Illinois landlord accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In...
Biden considering trip to Israel in the coming days, but travel isn’t final
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday. Biden has staunchly proclaimed his support for Israel, and a trip there would be the firmest signal yet but would come amid heightening...
‘Informal’ House speaker talks underway with GOP, Hakeem Jeffries saysVideo
House Democrats are having informal talks with their Republican colleagues about a potential bipartisan solution to finding a speaker, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Jeffries said that Democrats are “ready, willing and able” to find a solution. “There are informal conversations...
DeSantis says U.S. shouldn’t take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza because they’re ‘all antisemitic’Video
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said the United States should not take in any Palestinian refugees if they flee the Gaza Strip because they “are all antisemitic” and he dismissed international entreaties for Israel to provide clean running water and utilities to the 2.3 million civilians in the...
Drug used in diabetes treatment Mounjaro helped dieters shed 60 pounds, study finds
The medicine in the diabetes drug Mounjaro helped people with obesity or who are overweight lose at least a quarter of their body weight, or about 60 pounds on average, when combined with intensive diet and exercise, a new study shows. By comparison, a group of people who also dieted...
Biden and Democrats report raising $71 million-plus for his 2024 race from July through September
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $71 million for his reelection in the three months ending Sept. 30, a strong indication that party donors remain united behind him going into a 2024 race that may feature a rematch with Donald Trump. Sunday’s announcement...
Supreme Court dispute over a $15,000 IRS bill may be aimed at a never-enacted tax on billionaires
WASHINGTON — Charles and Kathleen Moore are about to have their day in the Supreme Court over a $15,000 tax bill they contend is unconstitutional. The couple from Redmond, Washington, claim they had to pay the money because of their investment in an Indian company from which, as Charles Moore,...
War between Israel and Hamas is testing Republican Party’s isolationist shift
ROCHESTER, N.H. — Nikki Haley vowed to stand with Israel “every step of the way.” She promised to “decimate” the Iranian economy. And she called for continued funding for Ukraine as it fights to repel the Russian invasion. “It’s a dangerous world right now,” Haley told Republican primary voters gathered...
Top U.S. envoy will return to Israel after stops in Arab nations aimed at avoiding a broader conflict
CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel this week after completing a frantic six-country rush through Arab nations aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas war from igniting a broader regional conflict. The U.S. State Department announced Blinken’s plan to travel Monday to Israel — his second...
Packed Gaza hospitals warn that thousands could die as supplies run low and ground offensive looms
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the...
Piper Laurie, 3-time Oscar nominee with film credits such as ‘The Hustler,’ ‘Carrie,’ dies at 91
Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a “more meaningful” life, died early Saturday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 91. Laurie died of old age, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, wrote via email, saying...
Calif. to follow other states in granting community college tuition break to Mexico residents
LOS ANGELES — Agustin Guzman spends hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic and crosses an international border just to get to his college classes. But it’s worth it. Though he’s a resident of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, he pays the same tuition as a student 4 miles away from Laredo, Texas, thanks to...
Gang violence traps more than 100 schoolchildren in Haiti for 2nd day
More than 100 Haiti students, some as young as 6, are trapped inside their Catholic school in downtown Port-au-Prince as a fresh round of violence continued to erupt between armed groups. Late Saturday, the students were looking at spending a second night at school. The students are among 400 children...
Poll: Hunter Biden investigations lead to ethical concerns about president
WASHINGTON — Ethical concerns are casting a shadow over President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection amid investigations into his son Hunter and an impeachment inquiry, with a poll showing 35% of U.S. adults believe the president himself has done something illegal. An additional 33% say they think the Democratic...
Man charged with pulling gun on pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Pa. Capitol steps
A Lebanon man who pulled up to a peaceful Palestinian rally in Harrisburg, shouted racial slurs and pointed a gun at attendees has been arrested, according to police. Richard Kevin Blandy, 56, faces a felony count of ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats and simple assault by...
As Israel readies invasion, U.S. charter plane carrying reservists heads to Tel Aviv
David Malka, a cryptocurrency venture capitalist based in Puerto Rico, was unfamiliar with the logistics of transporting supplies and army reservists into war zones before Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7. But Saturday morning, just a week after the conflict began, Malka was at Los Angeles International Airport loading...
3 dead in party shooting at Denver industrial storefront
DENVER — Three people are dead after a shooting early Saturday at a party in Denver, police said. Denver police were called to a party at an industrial storefront where officers found someone dead with gunshot wounds, police said. Another five shooting victims were taken to local hospitals, where two...
‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse begins its path across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil
PORTLAND, Ore. — A rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun that has millions across the Americas waiting with anticipation Saturday has at last appeared into view. With the presence of cloudy skies, a NASA livestream of the phenomenon reported it in Eugene, Oregon, shortly after 9:15 a.m. local...
Sen. Joe Manchin considers independent 2024 run, warns party system could be nation’s ‘downfall’
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has benefited from waiting to reveal where he stands as the swing vote in a chamber closely divided between Democrats and Republicans. He’s taken the same approach when it comes to the next phase of his political career: The moderate Democrat...
Proposed gag order on Trump in his federal election case is putting judge in tricky position
WASHINGTON — A proposed gag order aimed at reining in Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric puts the judge overseeing his federal election interference case in a tricky position: She must balance the need to protect the integrity of the legal proceedings against the First Amendment rights of a presidential candidate to...
Palestinians stream south in Gaza as Israel urges mass evacuation, conducts brief raids
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza on Saturday after the Israeli military ordered nearly half the population to evacuate south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel. Israel renewed calls on...
Fierce fighting persists in Ukraine’s east as Kyiv reports nonstop assaults by Russia on a key city
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials reported intense combat, characterized by relentless assaults by Russian forces, as the ongoing attack on an eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka entered its fifth consecutive day on Saturday. “The enemy has not stopped either assaulting or shelling positions” around Avdiivka, city head Vitalii Barabash said...
