Mine safety emerged as top priority after Quecreek accident
Two decades after the last Quecreek miner was pulled to safety, four men with deep roots in Pennsylvania coal country have carried forward the lessons learned during those anguish-filled days in July 2002 when the eyes of the world were on Somerset County. For those men — John Urosek, 65,...
Mine safety emerged as top priority after Quecreek accident
Two decades after the last Quecreek miner was pulled to safety, four men with deep roots in Pennsylvania coal country have carried forward the lessons learned during those anguish-filled days in July 2002 when the eyes of the world were on Somerset County. For those men — John Urosek, 65,...
Wolf quietly steers $40M to Pitt, Pa.’s other state-related universities
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 — Gov. Tom Wolf plans to quietly give Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities including Penn State and Pitt a one-time $40...
Sailfish leaps out of water, injures woman off Florida coast
STUART, Fla. — A 70-year-old woman was stabbed by the bill of a 100-pound sailfish that leapt out of the water and attacked her as her companions were trying to reel it in on a boat near the Florida coast, authorities said. The sailfish stabbed the woman from Arnold, Maryland...
9-year-old survives shooting that killed parents, 6-year-old sister at Iowa park
A 9-year-old boy who was camping at an Iowa state park with his parents and 6-year-old sister survived a shooting that killed the rest of his family. The Iowa Department of Public Safety identified the victims as Tyler Schmidt, 42; his 42-year-old wife, Sarah Schmidt; and their 6-year-old daughter, Lula...
Nazi protesters show up outside young conservatives meeting
TAMPA, Fla. — A Holocaust center in Florida and others condemned the presence of protesters holding Nazi flags and posters with antisemitic imagery outside a convention of young conservative activists that drew as speakers President Donald Trump, Florida Gov, Ron DeSantis and several Republican U.S. senators. Florida Holocaust Museum chairman...
With temperature records poised to fall, city residents flee heat if they canVideo
PROMISED LAND, Pa. — It’s not exactly flowing with milk and honey — just ask the area’s struggling black bears — but Promised Land offered respite Sunday for city folks in the Northeast trying to escape a nearly weeklong hot spell that only threatened to intensify. Those with the resources...
Police: Man dies after being shot by Cincinnati officerVideo
CINCINNATI — Police in Ohio say a man died after he was shot by a Cincinnati police officer after some kind of confrontation over the weekend. Interim Chief Teresa Theetge told reporters that the shooting happened shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday in a United Dairy Farmers parking lot in the...
Jan. 6 panel deepens probe to Trump Cabinet, awaits Ginni ThomasVideo
WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee said Sunday it will interview more former Cabinet secretaries and is prepared to subpoena conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, who’s married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as part of its investigation of the Capitol riot and Donald Trump’s role. Lawmakers said they...
One thing voters agree on: Fresh voices needed in politics
NEW YORK — As he campaigns for a Manhattan congressional seat against fellow Democrats twice his age, 38-year-old Suraj Patel harnesses the frustration of his generation toward those who have held office for decades. In his telling, Reps. Jerry Nadler, 75, and Carolyn Maloney, 76, are part of a crop...
Milley: China more aggressive, dangerous to U.S., allies
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the top U.S. military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included a stop Sunday in Indonesia. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number...
Investigators: Attacker ‘did not know who’ Zeldin was
A man accused of attacking New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin during a recent campaign rally told investigators he’d been drinking that day and didn’t know who the congressman was, authorities said as the man was arrested on a federal assault charge Saturday. David Jakubonis, 43, made an initial...
Church apologies: Top leaders say sorry for historical sins
When Pope Francis apologizes to Indigenous groups on Canadian soil this week, he will make another effort toward healing harms inflicted at church-run residential schools — and add to the Catholic Church’s growing ledger of atonement for past transgressions. Like the papacy, top Protestant leaders also have gradually issued institutional...
‘Burst of joy’ reverberates 20 years after first word Quecreek miners were alive
Four agonizing nights after the Quecreek miners were trapped underground, their families sought solace around a campfire outside the Sipesville Fire Hall. They gazed at the stars and prayed for a miracle. Clinging to each other and their hopes for a good outcome, the families maintained a round-the-clock vigil, vowing...
’77 hours of sheer hell’: Ex-Gov. Mark Schweiker says Quecreek rescue proof miracles do happen
Twenty years ago this week, Gov. Mark Schweiker stepped to a podium in an abandoned Somerset County grocery store converted to a makeshift media center, pumped both fists in the air and proclaimed that against all odds, nine men trapped 240 feet underground for 77 hours had been rescued from...
‘Burst of joy’ reverberates 20 years after first word Quecreek miners were still alive
Four agonizing nights after the Quecreek miners were trapped underground, their families sought solace around a campfire outside the Sipesville Fire Hall. They gazed at the stars and prayed for a miracle. Clinging to each other and their hopes for a good outcome, the families maintained a round-the-clock vigil, vowing...
Ex-Gov. Mark Schweiker says Quecreek rescue proof miracles do happen
Twenty years ago this week, Gov. Mark Schweiker stepped to a podium in an abandoned Somerset County grocery store converted to a makeshift media center, pumped both fists in the air and proclaimed that, against all odds, nine men trapped 240 feet underground for 77 hours had been rescued from...
Pope’s Indigenous tour signals a rethink of mission legacyVideo
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ trip to Canada to apologize for the horrors of church-run Indigenous residential schools marks a radical rethink of the Catholic Church’s missionary legacy, spurred by the first pope from the Americas and the discovery of hundreds of probable graves at the school sites. Francis has...
Joe Biden continues to improve after covid-19 diagnosisVideo
President Joe Biden continues to improve with mild symptoms as he isolates with covid-19 at the White House. White House physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a memo Saturday that the president — who is being treated with Pfizer Inc.’s drug Paxlovid — is “responding to therapy as expected.” “His pulse,...
Greece battles 4 major wildfires; hotels, homes evacuatedVideo
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s fire service was fighting four major fires across the country Saturday, including one where they had to evacuate more than 450 people at an island holiday resort. A fire that broke out Saturday morning on the island of Lesbos prompted authorities to call for the evacuation...
Supreme Court leak probe: So many questions, so few answers
WASHINGTON — Less than 24 hours after the unprecedented leak of the draft opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an investigation into the “egregious breach. “ Since then? Silence. The Supreme Court won’t say whether it’s still investigating. The court also won’t say whether the...
Fake electors may provide easiest path for DOJ to charge Trump
As Congressional hearings into Jan. 6 pause for an August break, the focus turns to the U.S. Justice Department, which must decide whether to prosecute former President Donald Trump. Although a House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol has laid out an array of potential crimes committed by the...
Parents, 6-year-old girl, fatally shot in tent at Iowa park
A Cedar Falls couple and their 6-year-old daughter were fatally shot while camping at an Iowa state park in an apparently random attack by a man from Nebraska, who later turned the gun on himself, authorities said. The couple leaves behind a 9-year-old son, according to the Cedar Falls mayor....
10 things we learned from Jan. 6 committee hearings on the Capitol attack
The events leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, represent more than just the day when Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol. In a series of public hearings, the House committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack has laid out the “arc of carnage” that was sparked months earlier on Election Night...
Military aviation crashes are again on the rise. Are ongoing safety and training issues to blame?
A spate of military aircraft crashes over recent months is again raising questions about the Pentagon’s approach to safety and training across military branches. In June, six service members died in two Southern California crashes — a Lemoore, California-based F/A-18E pilot on June 3 in San Bernardino County and five...
