Astronaut James McDivitt, Apollo 9 commander, dies at 93
WASHINGTON — James A. McDivitt, who commanded the Apollo 9 mission testing the first complete set of equipment to go to the moon, has died. He was 93. McDivitt was also the commander of 1965’s Gemini 4 mission, where his best friend and colleague Ed White made the first U.S....
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
WASHINGTON — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has...
House panel: Trump’s bills to Secret Service ‘exorbitant’
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times during his presidency, including two charges for more than $1,100 per room, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee. The...
Remains found in Oklahoma river belong to 4 missing men
OKMULGEE, Okla. — Four Oklahoma men who were last seen riding their bicycles more than a week ago were shot and dismembered, police said Monday, and a man considered a person of interest has since disappeared. Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said the bodies found late last week in the...
GOP goes to court again over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots
HARRISBURG — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s...
Trump’s CDC changed covid reports under political pressure, panel finds
The CDC bowed to the Trump administration’s demands to change the editorial process of its weekly scientific journal after warnings from then health secretary Alex Azar to “get in line,” a House investigation found. The pressure faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change the Morbidity and...
Police: Campaign signs in Bucks County found booby-trapped with razor blades
NEWTOWN — Political signs in southeastern Pennsylvania have been found booby-trapped with razor blades, which resulted in sliced fingers for one resident, police said. Upper Makefield Township police said Sunday that a campaign sign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro was placed without permission on someone’s property, and while trying...
Max needs your vote for Animal Kingdom — and to fight a terrible feline disease
Max needs your vote! The proud resident of Lower Burrell is in stiff national competition to win the Animal Kingdom contest, a branch of America’s Favorite Pet. He’s now in the semifinals. If he wins, the $10,000 prize will be donated to research to cure FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) —...
Pa. Election Day 2022: A complete guide to the Nov. 8 election
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. HARRISBURG — On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will make their way to polling places to decide the governor’s race and U.S. Senate...
Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely
NEW YORK — A Connecticut jury’s ruling this week ordering Alex Jones to pay $965 million to parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims he maligned was heartening for people disgusted by the muck of disinformation. Just don’t expect it to make conspiracy theories go away. The appetite for such hokum...
Clean Water Act at 50: environmental gains, challenges unmet
Lifelong Cleveland resident Steve Gove recalls when the Cuyahoga River symbolized shame — fetid, lifeless, notorious for catching fire when sparks from overhead rail cars ignited the oil-slicked surface. “It was pretty grungy,” said the 73-year-old, an avid canoeist in his youth who sometimes braved the filthy stretch through the...
Explainer: Killer drones vie for supremacy over Ukraine
They are precise, small in size, able to engage a target in relatively large numbers like a swarm of wasps and above all, they’re cheap. In Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drones have cemented their reputation as a potent, hard-to-stop and cost-effective weapon to seek out and destroy targets while simultaneously...
Application site launches for Biden student debt cancellation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department has begun accepting applications for President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation — a plan that makes 43 million Americans eligible for at least some debt forgiveness. Borrowers were notified late Friday that an early, “beta launch” version of a new online form was made...
Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else?
The question is simple, yet often asked: Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else? In Pennsylvania, the answer is mostly no. As stated on Pennsylvania’s official voting website, “The only exceptions are if you are a voter with a disability and have designated someone, in writing,...
Justice Department: Steve Bannon should get 6-month sentenceVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department declared Monday that Steve Bannon should serve six months behind bars and pay a $200,000 fine for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Convicted last summer, the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump...
FDA pushes to remove pregnancy drug, company pushes back
WASHINGTON — The maker of the only U.S. drug intended to prevent premature births is making a last-ditch effort this week to keep its medication on the market, even as health regulators insist that it doesn’t work. A Food and Drug Administration meeting that opened Monday comes more than two...
Court rejects appeal to give American Samoans citizenship
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal seeking to give people born in American Samoa U.S. citizenship. In leaving in place an appeals court decision, the court also passed up an invitation to overturn a series of decisions dating back to 1901 known as the Insular Cases,...
Waves of suicide drones strike Ukraine’s capital, 4 killed
KYIV, Ukraine — Waves of explosives-laden suicide drones struck Ukraine’s capital Monday, setting buildings ablaze and tearing a hole in one of them while sending people scurrying for shelter or trying to shoot down the kamikazes. The concentrated use of the drones was the second barrage in as many weeks...
Nigeria races to assist flood victims; death toll tops 600
ABUJA, Nigeria — The death toll from floods in Nigeria this year has increased to 603 as local authorities race to get relief items to hundreds of thousands being evacuated from their submerged homes. More than 1.3 million people have been displaced by the disaster, which has affected people across...
Landmark trial begins over Arkansas’ ban on trans youth care
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The nation’s first trial over a state’s ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas this week, the latest fight over restrictions on transgender youth championed by Republican leaders and widely condemned by medical experts. U.S. District Judge Jay Moody will hear testimony and evidence...
Kanye West to buy conservative social media platform Parler
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is offering to buy right-wing friendly social network Parler shortly after being booted off Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic posts. Parlement Technologies, which owns the platform, and West, legally known as Ye, said the acquisition should be completed in the fourth quarter, but...
Radioactive waste found at Missouri elementary school
FLORISSANT, Mo. — There is significant radioactive contamination at an elementary school in suburban St. Louis where nuclear weapons were produced during World War II, according to a new report by environmental investigation consultants. The report by Boston Chemical Data Corp. confirmed fears about contamination at Jana Elementary School in...
Bird flu case prompts Omaha zoo to close several exhibits
OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium has closed several exhibits and taken other precautions after one of its pelicans died from bird flu. The zoo said one of its pink-backed pelicans that died on Thursday tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza. A second pelican became...
House GOP’s Steve Scalise defends Medicare, Social Security plansVideo
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the number two House Republican, defended his party’s approach to Medicare and Social Security, which has become a campaign issue ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November. It’s a mischaracterization to say the GOP plans to “cut” the programs, Scalise said on “Fox News Sunday.” “That...
California city rests easier after serial killings arrest
STOCKTON, Calif. — Residents of Stockton, California, were able to rest easier following the weekend arrest of a man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings over a period of three months in Northern California, the city’s mayor said Sunday. Mayor Kevin Lincoln...
