Ohio education bill, transgender athlete ban die in House
COLUMBUS — The latest proposal to give Ohio’s governor more power overseeing K-12 education cleared the state Senate with a ban on transgender student-athletes in girls sports — but hit a roadblock hours later when the legislation fell several votes short of passage in the House early Thursday. The bill...
Texas officer convicted in shooting of Atatiana JeffersonVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Texas police officer was convicted of manslaughter Thursday for fatally shooting a Black woman through a rear window of her home in 2019, a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone also armed with a gun. Jurors were also considering a murder charge...
House approves referendum to ‘decolonize’ Puerto RicoVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. The bill, which passed 233-191 with...
Trump, quiet since announcing reelection bid, makes ‘major announcement’ to hawk trading cards of himself
Former President Donald Trump has kept a low profile since announcing last month that he’s running for president again. That is, until Thursday. Trump took to social media and the internet to make what he called “a major announcement.” No, it wasn’t to announce his running mate or weigh in...
Lengthy prison terms for 3 who aided Whitmer kidnap plotter
JACKSON, Mich. — A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul...
Jesuit case underscores secrecy, leniency for abuse of women
ROME — Revelations that the Vatican let a famous priest off the hook twice for abusing his authority over adult women has exposed two main weaknesses in the Holy See’s abuse policies: sexual and spiritual misconduct against adult women is rarely if ever punished, and secrecy still reigns supreme, especially...
Russia warns of ‘consequences’ if U.S. missiles go to Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that if the United States confirms reports that it plans to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine, it would be “another provocative move by the U.S.” that could prompt a response from Moscow. Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a weekly...
White House reveals winter covid-19 plans, more free tests
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is again making some free covid-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus surges this winter. After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday, a senior administration official...
Mitch McConnell: Trump’s candidates fumbled 2022 away for GOP in Senate
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell said former President Donald Trump’s overwhelming influence in Republican Senate primaries led to hobbled candidates in 2022 who lost winnable general election races, leaving Democrats in control of the upper chamber for at least another two years. “Our ability to control the primary outcome was quite...
House passes bill to extend government funding for 1 weekVideo
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-led House passed a short-term spending bill Wednesday to keep government agencies funded at current levels through Dec. 23, giving lawmakers more time to craft a roughly $1.7 trillion appropriations package that would cover the full fiscal year. Congress faces a deadline of midnight Friday to pass...
Report: Texas AG sought driver license data on gender change
AUSTIN — The office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this summer sought data on how many people had changed the gender information on their driver’s license, according to a newspaper report published Wednesday that civil rights attorneys described as worrying. The Washington Post reported that public records obtained...
Alabama women convicted for feeding, trapping stray cats
WETUMPKA, Ala. — Two Alabama women have been convicted of misdemeanor crimes because of their efforts to feed and trap stray cats. Local news outlets report that Wetumpka Municipal Judge Jeff Courtney on Tuesday found Beverly Roberts, 85, guilty of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. Mary Alston, 61, was found...
Recount requests delay Pennsylvania election certification
HARRISBURG — Five weeks after Election Day, winning candidates in Pennsylvania from governor to Congress are waiting for their victories to become official. An effort that appears to be at least partially coordinated among conservatives has inundated counties with ballot recount requests even though no races are close enough to...
Gaming Control Board gives green light to proposed State College mini-casino license hearings
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted unanimously Wednesday to allow the licensing hearing process for a proposed $123 million mini-casino in State College to move forward as normal, despite the objections of a Philadelphia-based competitor. Bally’s Corp., in partnership with SC Gaming LLC, led by former Penn State trustee Ira...
EU lawmaker at heart of corruption case to remain in custody
BRUSSELS — A Greek European lawmaker charged with corruption in an alleged plot by a Gulf country that’s tarnishing EU institutions will stay in detention until at least next week after her hearing by a judge was postponed, judicial officials said on Wednesday. Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, whose term...
Twitter changes rules over account tracking Elon Musk’s jet
Twitter on Wednesday suspended an account that used publicly available flight data to track Elon Musk’s private jet, despite a pledge by the social media platform’s new owner to keep it up because of his free speech principles. Then, hours later, Musk brought back the jet-tracking account after imposing new...
Police: 2 officers slain in Mississippi; shooter also dead
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — Two police officers in coastal Mississippi were shot and killed by a woman early Wednesday as they checked on a call at a motel, authorities said. The woman killed herself after shooting the Bay St. Louis police officers at a Motel 6 in the city...
U.S. storm brings tornadoes, blizzard-like conditions; 2 deadVideo
DALLAS — A volatile storm ripping across the United States spawned tornadoes that killed a young boy and his mother in Louisiana, smashed mobile homes and chicken houses in Mississippi and threatened neighboring Southern states with more punishing weather Wednesday. To the north, the huge storm system delivered blizzard-like conditions...
Company holiday parties are back — but with some restraint
NEW YORK — Say goodbye to virtual wine tastings, and bust out the karaoke. Love them or hate them, company holiday parties back — in a toned-down kind of way. After more than two years of working in pajama bottoms and clinking glasses over Zoom, many office workers seem to...
A decade after Sandy Hook, grief remains but hope grows
NEWTOWN, Conn. — They would have been 16 or 17 this year. High school juniors. The children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 should have spent this year thinking about college, taking their SATs and getting their driver’s licenses. Maybe attending their first prom. Instead,...
U.S. death toll tied to long covid exceeds 3,500, CDC report says
The health challenges that a bout of covid-19 sometimes leaves in its wake can be troublesome, scary and quite mysterious. New research confirms they can be deadly as well. A study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between January 2020 and June 2022, long...
U.S. military creates space unit in South Korea to watch North
SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, its first such facility on foreign territory that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia. The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan...
U.S. study: Over half of car crash victims had drugs in system
DETROIT — A large study by U.S. highway safety regulators found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams. Also, just over 54% of injured drivers had drugs or alcohol in their systems, with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),...
Report: U.S. Rep. Scott Perry shared plan to seize voting machines nationwide
Compelled to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry shared detailed plans to seize voting machines nationwide with a White House official. According to a report this week by Talking Points Memo, which obtained text logs between Perry and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows,...
Army sergeant killed at Georgia base identified as Plum resident
FORT STEWART, Ga. — The Army on Tuesday said a soldier who was fatally shot at a Georgia base was a sergeant whose nearly eight years of military service included a deployment to Afghanistan. Sgt. Nathan M. Hillman, 30, of Plum was killed Monday by a gunman at Fort Stewart,...
