A Marine Osprey crashes during drills in Australia, killing 3 and injuring 20, some critically
CANBERRA, Australia — A United States Marine Corps aircraft with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a north Australian island Sunday, killing at least three and critically injuring at least five during a multinational training exercise, officials said. Three had been confirmed dead on Melville Island and five were flown in...
Trump campaign reports raising more than $7 million after Georgia booking
NEW YORK — For former President Donald Trump, a picture is worth … more than $7 million. Trump’s campaign says he has raised $7.1 million since Thursday when he was booked at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in...
Man killed, another wounded in shooting steps away from Philadelphia’s Independence HallVideo
PHILADELPHIA — At least two people were killed and three others were wounded in gun violence in Philadelphia over the weekend, including a man who was gunned down near Independence Hall, authorities said. A 29-year-old man was shot shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday steps away from the tourist attraction where...
Tropical Storm Idalia takes aim at Gulf of Mexico on a possible track toward the U.S., forecasters sayVideo
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Idalia formed Sunday off the coast of Mexico on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S., the National Hurricane Center said. At 5 p.m. Sunday, the storm was about 95 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, moving northeast at 3 mph...
Sheriff provides the first details of how a white man fatally shot 3 Black people at a Florida storeVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 21-year-old white man fatally shot three Black people in Florida with guns bought legally despite his once being involuntarily committed for a mental health exam, the local sheriff said Sunday. Ryan Palmeter shot one of his victims as she sat in her car outside a Jacksonville...
Court ruling on Pa. education funding puts school infrastructure in spotlight
As residents of Hempfield recently learned, the cost associated with school building projects can easily climb above $100 million. For decades, school administrators could turn to what was known as PlanCon to pursue state funding to help ease the local burden. PlanCon — short for the Planning and Construction Workbook...
With drones and webcams, volunteer hunters join a new search for the mythical Loch Ness Monster
LONDON — Mystery hunters converged on a Scottish lake on Saturday to look for signs of the mythical Loch Ness Monster. The Loch Ness Center said researchers would try to seek evidence of Nessie using thermal-imaging drones, infrared cameras and a hydrophone to detect underwater sounds in the lake’s murky...
Thousands convene for March on Washington’s 60th anniversary demonstration
WASHINGTON — Thousands converged on the National Mall on Saturday for the 60th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, saying a country that remains riven by racial inequality has yet to fulfill the legendary civil rights leader’s dream. “We have made progress, over the last 60...
Bare electrical wire and leaning poles on Maui were possible cause of deadly fires
In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact. Videos...
Yale and a student group are settling a mental health discrimination lawsuit
Yale University and a student group announced Friday that they’ve reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit that accused the Ivy League school of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw. Under the agreement, Yale will modify its policies regarding medical leaves of absence, including...
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeals extension of pretrial detention in Russia
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed a Moscow court’s decision to extend his pretrial detention in Russia until the end of November, according to documents on the court’s website. The American journalist was arrested in March during a work trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, almost 2,000 kilometers...
University of Pittsburgh is equipping many classrooms with ‘panic buttons’
The University of Pittsburgh says it is installing panic buttons in numerous classrooms ahead of Monday’s fall semester start, among other upgrades, after active shooter hoaxes in April drew heavily armed police to campus and terrified students. The changes follow a “major review of the procedures, policies and tools” for...
White man fatally shoots 3 Black people at Florida store, kills himself
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A masked white man fatally shot three Black people inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately African-American neighborhood on Saturday, in an attack where he used a gun painted with a swastika, officials said. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed...
Alabama wants to be the 1st state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe only nitrogen
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is seeking to become the first state to execute a prisoner by making him breathe pure nitrogen. The Alabama attorney general’s office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The court filing indicated...
Judge asks if poverty qualifies for Biden policy letting migrants from 4 countries into U.S.
HOUSTON — A federal judge on Friday questioned whether living in poverty would be enough to qualify someone for a key immigration policy from President Joe Biden that allows a limited number of people from four countries in the Americas to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. The program allows...
7 tornadoes confirmed as Michigan storms down trees and power lines; 5 people killed
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — At least seven tornadoes touched down in Michigan as part of severe storms powered by strong winds that killed five people, while downing trees, tearing roofs off buildings and leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power, officials said. The National Weather Service on Friday said...
Early Apple computer that helped launch $3T company sells at auction for $223,000
BOSTON — One of the first personal computers built by Apple and signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak has sold at auction for more than $223,000. The Apple-1 has been restored to a fully operational state and came with a custom case with a built-in keyboard, according to Boston-based RR...
Police doing welfare check find 5 family members fatally shot in Ohio home
LAKE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Police performing a welfare check at an Ohio home found five family members inside who had died from gunshot wounds, including three children. The bodies were found around 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Lake Township, according to Uniontown police. They were identified as Jason Dunham, 46, and...
New York man sentenced to 3 months in prison for threats to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A New York man will serve three months in prison for making threatening phone calls to Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Joseph Morelli, 51, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Syracuse after pleading guilty in February to threatening Greene in several calls to her...
Fire at a Texas prison forces inmates to evacuate, but no injuries are reported
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Fire broke out Friday morning at a state prison in Texas, forcing more than 650 inmates to evacuate but injuring no one, an official said. The inmates were moved to other areas of the prison in Huntsville, about 65 miles north of Houston, according to Amanda Hernandez,...
Spain busts record 9.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador
MADRID — Spanish customs agents and National Police said Friday they confiscated the country’s biggest cocaine haul to date of 9.5 tons hidden in a banana freight container originating from Ecuador. The drug was found Wednesday in the southwestern port of Algeciras in a refrigerated container among a cargo shipment...
Taiwan’s VP accuses China of attempting to influence upcoming elections
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections accused China on Friday of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting. William Lai, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Taipei, said China “will be hoping to interfere in the elections with...
Federal judge: West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice...
Penn State football’s academics rank at the bottom of Big Ten after worst score in a decade
This story first appeared in Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA’s State College regional bureau featuring the most important news and happenings in north-central Pennsylvania. STATE COLLEGE — Penn State’s football team’s academic rating plummeted to its lowest point in more than a decade, placing the...
Maui County sues utility, alleging negligence over fires that ravaged Lahaina
HONOLULU — Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric Company on Thursday over the fires that devastated Lahaina, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the...
