Dr. Oz made reputation as a surgeon, a fortune as a salesman
HARRISBURG — Dr. Mehmet Oz rolled onstage inside of an inflatable orb, put on a hydrating face mask and proceeded to pitch a new line of skin care products to a convention of supplement distributors at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena in 2018. The crowd roared in applause. The celebrity...
Pentagon to provide funds, help for troops seeking abortions
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal, according to a new department policy released Thursday. The military will also increase privacy protections for those seeking care. The order issued...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rise this week to 6.94%
WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates inched up this week ahead of another expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve when it meets early next month. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last...
U.S. heating worries mount amid growing costs, uncertainty
JAY, Maine — Across the U.S., families are looking to the winter with dread as energy costs soar and fuel supplies tighten. The Department of Energy is projecting sharp price increases for home heating compared with last winter and some worry whether heating assistance programs will be able to make...
Strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake shakes western Panama
PANAMA CITY — A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook western Panama early Thursday, though there were no initial reports of damage. Panama’s national civil defense agency said via Twitter that the earthquake was felt in Herrera, Bocas del Toro, Veraguas and western Panama. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake...
Russia seeks to regain ground, hits Ukraine’s power plants
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops fought Thursday to regain lost ground in areas of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed while Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure. Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near Bilohorivka,...
Fewer Americans apply for jobless benefits last week
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remains historically low even as the U.S. economy slows in the midst of decades-high inflation. Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 15 declined by 12,000 to 214,000 from 226,000 last week, the Labor Department reported...
Indonesia says contaminated medicines linked to 99 deaths
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has found contaminated medicines that are suspected of being linked to the deaths of 99 children this year due to acute kidney injury, officials said Thursday. Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said it was tracing 26 medicinal syrups used to treat fevers, coughs and colds,...
Truss quits, but UK’s political and economic turmoil persist
LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit Thursday after a tumultuous and historically brief term marred by economic policies that roiled financial markets and a rebellion in her political party that obliterated her authority. After just 45 days in office, Truss became the third Conservative prime minister to be...
Prison escapee accused of sending threatening letter, powder
SCRANTON — Federal prosecutors have accused a Pennsylvania prison escapee of sending a letter with threats to kill President Biden and the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, among others, and containing a white powder with an allusion to anthrax. Robert Maverick Vargo, 25, of Berwick is charged with making...
Texas schools are giving parents DNA kits to help identify their children in emergencies
DALLAS — Texas public schools are distributing DNA and fingerprint identification kits to parents in case they need to provide their child’s DNA to law enforcement if they go missing — or in case of other emergencies. But as school districts begin distributing the kits this fall, for many it’s...
GOP candidate for Arizona college district suspends campaign
PHOENIX — The Republican candidate for Maricopa Community College District Governing Board has suspended his campaign after being cited for alleged public sexual indecency, according to authorities. A police officer at Rio Salado College’s Surprise campus west of Phoenix reported seeing Randy Kaufman allegedly exposing himself while in his parked...
Judge: Trump knew vote fraud claims in legal docs were falseVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump signed legal documents challenging the results of the 2020 election that included voter fraud claims he knew to be false, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge David Carter in an 18-page opinion ordered that four emails between Trump...
Officials: Customs and Border Protection agent killed during training in Florida
MIAMI — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection firearms instructor was shot and killed during a training class Wednesday morning at a South Florida gun range, officials said. The shooting occurred just before 11 a.m. at the Trail Glades Range in western Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade police spokesman Angel Rodriguez said...
Police: 3-year-old shoots baby in the face in Lancaster County home
Police have confirmed that a 3-year-old child fatally shot an infant in the head on Tuesday night. Lancaster Bureau of Police said the shooting was reported around 7 p.m., at a home on Woodward Street. A baby had been shot in the face and was unable to be saved by...
Trump deposed in defamation lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says the Republican raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. The deposition gave Carroll’s lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the...
Covid-19 linked to increase in U.S. pregnancy-related deaths
WASHINGTON — Covid-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a report released Wednesday.. The report lays out grim trends across the...
Breast cancer screening bills pass Pa. Senate that would remove cost as a deterrent
HARRISBURG — Legislation aimed at helping Pennsylvanians detect breast cancer earlier and remove cost as a barrier to women having breast cancer screenings advanced in the state Senate on Wednesday. The two bills that accomplish these goals now move to the House of Representatives for consideration although the two-year legislative...
How well a death in Pennsylvania will be investigated depends largely on where someone dies
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — In one Pennsylvania county, the coroner’s office relies on an autopsy facility...
Massachusetts woman charged, accused of freeing swarm of bees on deputies
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman is facing multiple assault and battery charges for allegedly releasing a swarm of bees on a group of sheriff’s deputies, some of them allergic to bee stings, as they tried to serve an eviction notice, authorities said. Rorie S. Woods, 55, pleaded not guilty...
Report: Pa. priest carjacked while unloading wheelchair
A priest and his passenger were carjacked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on Sunday, according to a story from CBS Philadelphia. The incident happened along the 2100 block East Somerset Street at around 8:45 p.m., the news station reported. According to police, four men approached the priest while he...
Race gap seen in U.S. infant deaths after fertility treatment
Black-white disparities exist in fertility medicine, reflected in life-and-death outcomes for babies, according to a large study of U.S. births. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, is the broadest look yet at racial gaps for women who use in vitro fertilization, fertility drugs or other fertility treatments. Researchers...
Energy agency: CO2 emissions rise in 2022, but more slowly
BERLIN— The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that it expects carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to rise again this year, but by much less than in 2021 due to the growth in renewable power and electric cars. Last year saw a strong rebound in carbon dioxide emissions...
Fetterman’s doctor says he’s recovering well from stroke
John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, released a doctor’s note Wednesday saying he is recovering well from a May stroke as he vies for an open seat in a bare-knuckle campaign against Republican rival Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has questioned Fetterman’s fitness to serve. Five months after...
Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity
Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today. It’s a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new study published Wednesday in the journal...
