Texas woman pleads guilty to role in Vanessa Guillen’s death
AUSTIN, Texas — The only suspect arrested in connection with the killing of Vanessa Guillén at a Texas military base in 2020 pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that included helping dispose of the soldier’s body near Fort Hood. Cecily Aguilar, 24, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Waco, Texas,...
Landmark same-sex marriage bill wins Senate passageVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed bipartisan legislation Tuesday to protect same-sex marriages, an extraordinary sign of shifting national politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. The...
Judge orders men who made fake robocalls to register voters
CLEVELAND — Two men convicted of fraud for targeting Black voters with phony robocalls before the 2020 election must spend 500 hours registering voters in low-income neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., an Ohio judge has ruled. Jacob Wohl, 24, of Irvine, California, and Jack Burkman, 56, of Arlington, Va., pleaded guilty...
Supreme Court counsel says no evidence of Alito ethical lapse in 2014 case
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Supreme Court official said he sees no indication Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics rules after a New York Times story said a 2014 dinner party at the justice’s home allegedly produced a leak about the outcome of a major case over religious rights and contraceptives. In...
Oath Keepers boss guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 caseVideo
WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition...
Storms could spawn major tornadoes, floods in several statesVideo
JACKSON, Miss. — Residents in several towns in Louisiana and Mississippi took cover when tornado sirens blared on Tuesday, as forecasters warned of the potential for strong twisters that could stay on the ground for long distances in parts of the South. Heavy rain and hail the size of tennis...
Study: U.S. gun death rates hit highest levels in decades
NEW YORK — The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday. The increase among women — most dramatically, in Black women — is playing a...
Gas driller pleads no contest to polluting Pennsylvania town’s water
MONTROSE — Pennsylvania’s most active gas driller pleaded no contest Tuesday to criminal charges, capping a landmark environmental case against a company prosecutors say polluted a rural community’s drinking water 14 years ago and then tried to evade responsibility. Residents of the tiny crossroads of Dimock in northeastern Pennsylvania said...
Houston lifts boil-water order affecting more than 2 millionVideo
HOUSTON — Houston officials lifted an order Tuesday that had called for more than 2 million people in the nation’s fourth-largest city to boil their tap water before drinking or using it. The boil order had been in effect since Sunday, when a power outage at a purification plant caused...
Penn State wants its 2 law schools ‘back together.’ Now it has to decide what that means
Penn State believes it has two good law schools. It would like to have one excellent one. With that vision in mind, President Neeli Bendapudi on Tuesday announced her intention to unify the two existing fully accredited Penn State law schools into one entity, and the creation of a task...
Twitter ends enforcement of covid misinformation policy
Twitter will no longer enforce its policy against covid-19 misinformation, raising concerns among public health experts that the change could have serious consequences if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus. Eagle-eyed users spotted the change Monday night, noting that a one-sentence update had been made...
Michigan’s high court pauses Ethan Crumbley parents’ case in Michigan school shooting
DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday sent the involuntary manslaughter case of the parents of accused Oxford High shooter Ethan Crumbley back to the Court of Appeals to consider whether there was sufficient evidence for James and Jennifer Crumbley to stand trial. The Michigan Court of Appeals in...
Supreme Court wrestles with Biden’s deportation policy
WASHINGTON- — The Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with a partisan-tinged dispute over a Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. It was not clear after arguments that stretched past two hours and turned highly contentious at...
Gov. Wolf highlights $2.5 million capital investment for LGBT centerVideo
Governor Tom Wolf joined state and local leaders to highlight a $2.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant awarded to the William Way LGBT Community Center for phase two of its major renovation project. The funds, awarded last fall, will be used for upgrades and renovations to the rear...
Survivor of Virginia Walmart mass shooting files $50M suit
NORFOLK, Va. — A Walmart employee who survived last week’s mass shooting at a store in Virginia has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly continuing to employ the shooter — a store supervisor — “who had known propensities for violence, threats and strange behavior.” The lawsuit,...
Qatar says worker deaths for World Cup ‘between 400 and 500’
DOHA, Qatar — A top Qatari official involved in the country’s World Cup organization has put the number of worker deaths for the tournament “between 400 and 500” for the first time, a drastically higher number than any other previously offered by Doha. The comment by Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general...
Rejecting undated mail ballots disproportionately impacts communities of color in Pa., data shows
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. Pennsylvania’s policy of rejecting undated and incorrectly dated absentee and mail ballots is more likely to...
Few Americans know or heed U.S. nutrition guide
Here’s a quick quiz: What replaced the food pyramid, the government guide to healthy eating that stood for nearly 20 years? If you’re stumped, you’re not alone. More than a decade after Agriculture Department officials ditched the pyramid, few Americans have heard of MyPlate, a dinner plate-shaped logo that emphasizes...
Thanksgiving crashes down from 2021
Pennsylvania State Police investigated 970 vehicle crashes resulting in two fatalities and 196 injuries during the Thanksgiving travel period stretching from Wednesday to Sunday, according to a press release. Alcohol was a factor in 48 of the crashes, about 5 percent of the total. Troopers arrested 539 people for driving...
Uneasy calm grips Ukraine as West prepares winter aid
KYIV, Ukraine — An uneasy calm hung over Kyiv on Tuesday as residents of the Ukrainian capital did what they could to prepare for anticipated Russian missile attacks aiming to take out more energy infrastructure as winter sets in. To ease that burden, NATO allies made plans to boost provisions...
China launches 3 astronauts to complete space station
BEIJING — China launched a rocket Tuesday carrying three astronauts to complete construction of the country’s permanent orbiting space station, during which they will expand the facility to its maximum capacity of six crew aboard. The crew of the Shenzhou-15 will overlap for several days with the existing 3-member crew...
4 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man on Tuesday rammed his car into an Israeli soldier, seriously injuring her, before he was shot dead by Israeli police in the occupied West Bank. He was the fourth Palestinian killed in a series of violent incidents throughout the day. It was the latest bloodshed...
India, U.S. armies hold exercises close to China border
AULI, India — Indian and U.S. troops on Tuesday participated in a high-altitude training exercise in a cold, mountainous terrain near India’s disputed border with China, at a time both countries are trying to manage rising tensions with Beijing. During the exercise, Indian soldiers were dropped from helicopters to flush...
Why some Western Pa. hospitals choose to remain independent
Editor’s note: This is the final part of a three-day series examining the rapidly changing health care landscape in Western Pennsylvania. Lynn Botelho has lived her life traveling the globe, navigating some of the world’s most time-honored academic institutions. But when she was handed a cancer diagnosis, she looked no...
Nonpartisan journalism is vital to the future of Pa. Here’s how you can keep it going.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Huge stories will shape Pennsylvania’s future next year. With a new administration in the governor’s office and a shift in power...
