DeSantis leads Trump by wide margin in California as primary race starts, poll finds
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has surged to a lead among California Republicans over former President Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, a poll released Friday found. About 37% of GOP voters backed DeSantis, while 29% preferred Trump, according to the new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll...
Key U.S. inflation measure surges at fastest rate since June
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose last month at its fastest pace since June, an alarming sign that price pressures remain entrenched in the U.S. economy and could lead the Fed to keep raising interest rates well into this year. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed...
Millions of U.S. workers are still missing after the pandemic. Where did they go?
Millions of workers are still missing from the U.S. labor force three years after covid-19 surfaced, and economists are scratching their heads as to how big the gap actually is and where all these people went. One estimate found at least 2.1 million who retired earlier then expected. Another calculated...
Report: Pennsylvania’s tax burden still a mixed bag
A comparison of tax levels of the 50 states shows residents in Pennsylvania still pay more than most other Americans. In a yearly comparison carried out by the Independent Fiscal Office, Pennsylvania is above-average with its tax burden. The tax burden is different from overall tax rates: it is measured...
Florida bill would end diversity programs, ban majors, shift power at universities
A bill filed this week in the Florida House would turn many of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wide-ranging ideas on higher education into law by limiting diversity efforts, vastly expanding the powers of university boards and altering course offerings. House Bill 999, filed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, proposes leaving all...
7 shot, including 2-year-old, outside Philadelphia school
PHILADELPHIA — Seven people, including five teens and a 2-year-old girl, were wounded Thursday evening in a shooting near a school in Philadelphia, police said. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports shots were fired shortly before 6 p.m. in the city’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. The 2-year-old was listed in stable condition at...
China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
BEIJING — China, a firm Russian ally, has called for a cease-fire between Ukraine and Moscow and the opening of peace talks as part of a 12-point proposal to end the conflict. The plan issued Friday morning by the Foreign Ministry also urges the end of Western sanctions imposed on...
Republicans set opening presidential debate for August
NEW YORK — The opening Republican presidential debate of the 2024 election season will take place in Milwaukee this August, the Republican National Committee decided Thursday. The rough time and location were the only details finalized as a small group of RNC members met behind closed doors in Washington this...
U.S. Rep. Scott Perry argues for constitutional protections in phone seizure case
Attorneys for U.S. Rep. Scott Perry argued in court Thursday that federal investigators should not have unfettered access to Perry’s cellphone communications because of Constitutional protections against questioning a sitting Congressman for his or her legislative activities. Perry, a Republican from Carroll Township, York County, is one of several Republican...
Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty in shooting, can still work
Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie and waived his first formal court appearance, in court documents filed Thursday. Baldwin and a weapons supervisor were charged last month with felony...
Pa. House set to vote on bill giving childhood sexual abuse survivors chance for justice
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse who have been waiting for a chance to seek justice may see positive movement in that direction Friday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The chamber has positioned two separate pieces of legislation for a vote that would lift the statute of limitations on childhood...
$11.5M preservation of Heinz Memorial Chapel’s spire planned
Generations of Pittsburghers know it as an exquisite wedding and worship space, a limestone cathedral that has 23 imposing yet beautiful stained-glass windows and an organ with 4,272 pipes. But that’s not what is drawing the most attention at the University of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Memorial Chapel these days. It’s the...
Lawsuit: Steve Bannon owes $480K for unpaid legal bills
NEW YORK — Steve Bannon’s latest legal trouble: a lawsuit alleging he stiffed his former lawyers out of more than $480,000. Bannon, a conservative strategist and longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sued for breach of contract last week by a Manhattan law firm that defended him in...
United Nations approves resolution calling for Russia to leave UkraineVideo
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and demands the withdrawal of its forces, sending a strong message on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion that Moscow’s aggression must end. The 141-7 vote...
White House urging higher fines for train safety violations
WASHINGTON — The White House is calling on congressional Republicans to increase the fines levied on rail companies for safety violations, as a fiery Feb. 3 train derailment in Ohio has become a political lightning rod. There are still safety and health concerns among residents of East Palestine after dozens...
Harvey Weinstein gets 16 years for rape, sexual assault
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles judge on Thursday sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison after a jury convicted him of the 2013 rape and sexual assault of an Italian actor and model. The sentence comes on top of the more than 20 years the 70-year-old Weinstein has...
Northern border immigrant death highlights crossing spike
The death of a Mexican man who had just entered the United States from Canada illegally is highlighting the spike in illegal crossings along the border between Quebec and parts of New England, officials say. The number of illegal border crossers is tiny compared with those entering the country illegally...
For donors, wartime Ukraine aid creates blurry ethical line
NEW YORK — Bulletproof vests and drones. Pickup trucks, walkie-talkies and tourniquets. These are just some of the items that individuals and nonprofits have donated to buy and ship to Ukraine, where sometimes they are then used by those fighting Russia’s invasion. “We’ve had these discussions countless times,” said Igor...
1 year on, Ukrainians in U.S. cope with war, displacement
PORT READING, N.J. — In New York, far from her home in northern Ukraine, Valeriya Roshkovan tries to do what she can to end Russia’s invasion of her country. “I cannot sit and do nothing,” she said earlier this month in a New Jersey warehouse where she volunteers with the...
U.S. nominates Ajay Banga for World Bank president
WASHINGTON — The United States is nominating former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday, crediting him with critical experience on global challenges including climate change. The news comes days after Trump appointee David Malpass announced plans to step down in June...
NTSB: Train crew got safety alert too late to prevent derailment
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, did not receive a critical warning about an overheated axle until just before dozens of cars went off the tracks, federal safety investigators said in a report Thursday as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg...
U.S. ending extra help for groceries that started during covid
Nearly 30 million Americans who got extra government help with grocery bills during the pandemic will soon see that aid shrink — and there’s a big push to make sure they’re not surprised. Officials in 32 states and other jurisdictions have been using texts, voicemails, snail mail, flyers and social...
On stand, Alex Murdaugh denies killings but admits lying
Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh denied killing his wife and son but admitted lying to investigators about when he last saw them alive as he took the stand in his own defense Thursday. Murdaugh, 54, is charged with murder in the fatal shootings of his wife, Maggie, 52, and...
Jan. 6 rioter who threatened Rep. Ocasio-Cortez gets 3 years
A Texas man who threatened U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter after he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Wednesday to more than three years in prison. Garret Miller was wearing a shirt that read “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021” with a...
Toxic wastewater from Ohio train derailment headed to Texas
DEER PARK, Texas — Toxic wastewater used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal. “I and my office heard today that ‘firefighting water’ from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is slated to be disposed of in our county,”...
