Federal judge blocks California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones. The law signed...
Christmas is in jeopardy for some New Englanders after storms and flooding knocked out power
PORTLAND, Maine — Megan Michaud and her family of five lost power for three days after a powerful storm throttled her home state of Maine, and a new challenge is creeping up on her: It’s almost time for Christmas. “This morning, my second grader told me, ‘It’s five days until...
Motorists to save as Pa.’s gas tax to drop more than 5% in 2024
Motorists will begin to see a little relief at the gas pump, starting on Jan. 1. Pennsylvania’s gas tax rate is going down from this year’s 61.1 cents per gallon to 57.6 cents a gallon, according to the state Department of Revenue. Diesel tax rates too are dropping next year...
U.S., Venezuela swap prisoners: Maduro ally for 10 Americans, plus fugitive contractor ‘Fat Leonard’
MIAMI — The United States freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” who is at the center of a massive Pentagon bribery...
Some state abortion bans stir confusion, and it’s uncertain if lawmakers will clarify them
Ever since the nation’s highest court ended abortion rights more than a year ago, vaguely worded bans enacted in some Republican-controlled states have caused bewilderment over how exceptions should be applied. Supporters have touted these exemptions, tucked inside statutes restricting abortion, as sufficient enough to protect the life of the...
President Biden denounces Trump as ‘doubling down’ on support for insurrection
MILWAUKEE — President Joe Biden said it’s “self-evident” that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss but stopped short of commenting on a Colorado legal case that would bar him from the state’s ballot. The Democratic president made the comments about his likely Republican...
Trump’s lawyers ask Supreme Court to stay out of dispute on whether he is immune from prosecution
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to stand down from a dispute over whether he can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team last week urged the nation’s high court to...
The Constitution’s insurrection clause threatens Trump’s campaign. Here is how that is playing out
DENVER — Former President Donald Trump’s bid to win back the White House is now threatened by two sentences added to the U.S. Constitution 155 years ago. The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday barred Trump from the state’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who...
Man accused in assaults on trail now charged in 2003 rape, murder of Philadelphia medical student
PHILADELPHA — A man accused of slashing people with a large knife while riding a bicycle on a trail in Philadelphia in recent weeks has been formally charged in the cold-case rape and slaying of a medical student that occurred among a series of high-profile sexual assaults in a large...
Judge orders release of over 150 names of people mentioned in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit documents
NEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered the public disclosure of the identities of more than 150 people mentioned in a mountain of court documents related to the late-financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying that most of the names were already public and that many had not objected to the release....
U.S. released ally of Venezuela’s president in swap for jailed Americans
MIAMI — The Biden administration has released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a swap for jailed Americans, the Associated Press has learned. Alex Saab, who was arrested on a U.S. warrant for money laundering in 2020, was released from custody Wednesday. In exchange, Maduro will free...
PennWest interim president approved for return to West Chester University
R. Lorraine “Laurie” Bernotsky will leave the interim presidency of PennWest University in June to become the 16th president of West Chester University in suburban Philadelphia. The State System of Higher Education in Harrisburg approved Bernotsky’s selection Wednesday morning at a special meeting conducted via Zoom. The vote was unanimous....
U.S. flies bombers for joint drills with South Korea, Japan after North’s long-range missile launch
SEOUL, South Korea — The United States flew long-range bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea’s southern island...
Study shows AI image-generators being trained on explicit photos of children
Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce...
Rep. Scott Perry told to hand over hundreds of texts and emails in 2020 election probe
A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden. The ruling,...
Judge reverses earlier decision, allows removal of Confederate memorial at Arlington Cemetery
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge on Tuesday allowed the Arlington National Cemetery to remove a century-old Confederate memorial one day after blocking the removal over a report that gravesites were disturbed. At a hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston said he issued the...
Earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 131 people and is the deadliest in 9 years
BEIJING — A strong overnight earthquake rattled a mountainous region of northwestern China, authorities said Tuesday, reducing homes to rubble, leaving residents outside in a below-freezing winter night and killing 131 people in the nation’s deadliest quake in nine years. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday,...
Donald Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic ruling by state’s Supreme Court
DENVER — A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for...
Sandra Day O’Connor called a pioneer and ‘iconic jurist’ as she is memorialized by Biden, Roberts
WASHINGTON — Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Arizona rancher’s daughter who became a voice of moderate conservatism as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, was memorialized by President Joe Biden on Tuesday as a pioneer in the legal world who inspired generations of women. Biden and Chief Justice...
Pitt top officials to receive 4% raises
Seven senior leaders at the University of Pittsburgh will see pay increases of 4% next year, bringing their base salaries to between $271,000 and nearly $1.1 million. The new pay levels were endorsed Tuesday morning by the Pitt Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee and then approved by the full Board...
She bought a colorful vase at Goodwill for $3.99. The rare piece sold at auction for $107,000
Jessica Vincent had just started surveying the shelves of a Virginia thrift store when a vase caught her eye. It was shaped like a bottle and had ribbons of color, aqua green and amethyst purple, that spiraled up its glass surface like stripes of paint. The piece looked old amongst...
Former Pennsylvania death row inmate freed after prosecutors drop charges before start of retrial
YORK, Pa. — A man formerly on death row has been released from prison following dismissal of murder charges in a double slaying a quarter-century ago that he blamed on his brother, who died in prison while appealing his own death sentence in the case. Noel Montalvo, who turned 59...
New York will set up a commission to consider reparations for slavery
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state will create a commission tasked with considering reparations to address the persistent, harmful effects of slavery in the state, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. The bill signing comes at a time when many states and towns throughout...
Lawsuit against former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice dismissed after she turns over records
MADISON, Wis. — An open records lawsuit against former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack was dismissed Tuesday after Roggensack turned over all records she had related to her work investigating possible impeachment of a sitting justice. None of the records Roggensack produced earlier this month shed any light...
Central Pa. man dies after vehicle submerged during flooding
Authorities say a 73-year-old Lancaster County man died Monday morning after his car was submerged in water in the aftermath of heavy rainfall over the weekend. Allen “Ray” Nolt, of Clay Township, died at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital after his vehicle encountered high water on Cabin Drive in West Earl...
