Westmoreland communities receive share of casino revenue
It’s unlikely that one would expect to win money at a casino for bridge repairs or fire department renovations, but a few Westmoreland municipalities found themselves with the lucky hand Monday. Live Casino Pittsburgh doled out its latest round of Local Share Account grants at the Hempfield location Monday, bringing...
Alabama Republicans reject call for 2nd majority Black district, despite Supreme Court ruling
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Republicans, under orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to redraw congressional districts to give minority voters a greater voice in elections, rejected calls Monday to craft a second majority-Black district and proposed a map that could test what is required by the judges’ directive. Lawmakers must...
Georgia’s top court rejects Trump attempt to thwart prosecutor in 2020 election investigation
Georgia’s highest court Monday rejected a request by former President Donald Trump to block a district attorney from prosecuting him for his actions in wake of the 2020 election. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously shot down a petition that Trump’s attorneys filed last week asking the court to intervene. Trump’s...
Measure to censure Rep. George Santos introduced in House
WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces another attempt from Democrats to hold him accountable in the chamber, this time with a censure resolution. The censure resolution, introduced Monday by Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., says Santos “repeatedly lied to voters in his district, donors, and the American public during his...
Abortion in Iowa is legal again, for now, after judge blocks new restrictions
DES MOINES — An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state’s new ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, just days after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law. That means abortion is once again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while...
Allegheny College’s new president says campus can overcome tough higher education market
Allegheny College didn’t have to look far to find its 23rd president. Ron Cole, 58, already had been named interim leader and then president with a short-term contract after Hilary Link announced her departure in September. Prior to that, he had been Allegheny’s provost since 2015 and a geology professor...
Boy thrown from carnival ride at Illinois community festival
ANTIOCH, Ill. — Carnival rides were shut down at an Illinois community festival after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from his seat and seriously injured, authorities said. The boy was riding Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases. The...
New drug to protect babies and toddlers from RSV gets FDA approval ahead of cold season
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials on Monday approved the first long-acting drug to protect babies and toddlers against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year. RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening in the very...
Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemiticVideo
NEW YORK — A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting covid-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kyle Herrig, executive director of...
Children lost in flooding as U.S. endures extreme weather, from smoke up north to heat in the West
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. — Pennsylvania authorities drew on 100 people, drones and cadaver dogs Monday in their search for two missing children whose family’s car was swept away in flash flooding that ravaged the East Coast over the weekend. Other parts of the country endured threateningly high temperatures and severe...
2nd Alzheimer’s drug in pipeline can slow the disease by a few months but with safety risk
WASHINGTON — Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening — by about four to seven months, researchers reported Monday. Eli Lilly and Co. is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of donanemab. If cleared, it would be only the second Alzheimer’s treatment convincingly shown to delay the...
Sen. Ted Cruz on the Supreme Court? GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists his would-be picks
Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday released a list of 16 people he’d nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court or federal appellate courts if he becomes president, making him the first in the party’s field to itemize his possible top judicial appointments. Ramaswamy’s list includes Sens....
Freight train derails in southeast Pennsylvania, but no known injuries or hazards
WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP — A freight train derailment in southeast Pennsylvania early Monday spurred precautionary evacuations, but officials said no injuries were reported and there was no known hazard to the public. The 40-car CSX train, which was operating on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern, derailed around 4:50 a.m. in a...
Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with plight of children atop his agenda
ROME — Pope Francis’ peace envoy was traveling to Washington on Monday as part of the Holy See’s peace initiatives for Ukraine, hoping to support humanitarian operations especially concerning children, the Vatican said Monday. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi’s visit, which lasts through Wednesday, follows his recent mission to Moscow and an...
5-story apartment building collapses in Cairo killing at least 9
CAIRO — A five-story apartment building collapsed Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, leaving at least nine people dead, authorities said, as rescuers searched through the rubble. Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and...
Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain in a blow to global food security
LONDON — Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would suspend...
Georgia suspect in 4 killings shot and killed, 2 officers hurt during encounter, official says
HAMPTON, Ga. — Officers shot and killed a man wanted in four weekend killings near Atlanta during an exchange of gunfire, and a sheriff’s deputy and a police officer were injured trying to take the suspect into custody, authorities said. Henry County Sheriff’s spokesperson Syntonnia Moore said Andre Longmore was...
Couple checking out barking dog leads to encounter with escapee, his recapture
YOUNGSVILLE — A couple checking out a barking dog on their northwestern Pennsylvania property led to the capture of a homicide suspect who had used bed sheets to escape from jail, authorities said. Michael Burham, 34, was captured nine days after he fled the Warren County jail in the late...
DeSantis presidential campaign is cutting staff as new financial pressure emerges
NEW YORK — Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting campaign staff as he struggles to catch former President Donald Trump in the GOP’s crowded primary contest while facing unexpected financial pressure. DeSantis, the Florida governor, let go fewer than 10 paid staffers late last week to help reduce operating...
Heavy rain swamps Northeast again as flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. — Heavy rain pounded an already saturated Northeast on Sunday for the second time in a week, spurring another round of flash flooding, cancelled airline flights and power outages. In Pennsylvania, a sudden flash flood late Saturday afternoon claimed at least five lives. Officials in Bucks County’s...
The Iowa caucuses are six months away. Some Republicans worry Trump may be unstoppable
NEW YORK — He’s been indicted twice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And he’s viewed unfavorably by about a third of his party. But six months before Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner. Early leaders don’t always go on...
Diversify or die: San Francisco’s downtown is a wake-up call for other cities
SAN FRANCISCO — Jack Mogannam, manager of Sam’s Cable Car Lounge in downtown San Francisco, relishes the days when his bar stayed open past midnight every night, welcoming crowds that jostled on the streets, bar hopped, window browsed or just took in the night air. He’s had to drastically curtail...
Arrest of suspect in Long Island serial killings brings both pain and relief to victims’ families
NEW YORK — The trail had gone cold as clues suddenly dwindled. For a time, doubts swirled about whether a killer who dumped the remains of his female victims along remote stretches of coastline on New York’s Long Island would ever be caught. Then finally, after more than a dozen...
Powerball prize grows to $900 million after no jackpot winner drawn
Another Powerball drawing ended with no winner Saturday night, sending the jackpot soaring to an estimated $900 million. No ticket for Saturday’s drawing matched the winning combination: white balls 2, 9, 43, 55, 57 and red Powerball 18. The jackpot was estimated at $875 million. Ticket buyers for Monday’s drawing...
Children, relatives of alumni no longer have admissions edge at Carnegie Mellon, Pitt
For decades, Carnegie Mellon University viewed whether a student applicant was related to alumni as an “important” or “considered” factor in admissions decisions. But it appears that legacies, as children or relatives of alumni are called, no longer have an edge in admissions decisions at the highly selective university. In...
