April 14, 2022 4:42 pm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida will soon ban abortions after 15 weeks. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law on Thursday; it goes into effect on July 1. The move comes amid a growing conservative push to restrict abortion ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could limit access to the procedure nationwide. The new law deals a significant blow to abortion access in the South, where Florida has provided wider access to the procedure than its regional neighbors. It does not allow for exemptions in cases where pregnancies were caused by rape, incest or human trafficking. Under current law, Florida allows abortions up to 24 weeks.
April 14, 2022 1:14 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania lawmakers voted after a tense debate to approve a bill designed to prohibit transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports. All but one Republican and four Democrats voted for the proposal Tuesday. It would restrict players on K-12 school teams, college sports, intramurals and club teams sponsored by school entities to male or female teams based on their reproductive organs, biology or genetics at birth. It would prevent “students of the male sex” from playing on athletic teams designated for women or girls and provide a way for students and schools to sue, including against athletic organizations. It goes to the state Senate for its consideration, and faces a potential veto from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
April 14, 2022 8:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – Pfizer wants to expand its COVID-19 booster shots to healthy 5- to 11-year-olds. U.S. health authorities already urge everyone 12 and older to get one booster dose for the best protection. And those 50 and older have the option of a second booster. Pfizer said Thursday new data shows its kid-sized booster could help healthy elementary-aged children rev up virus-fighting antibodies. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech plan to seek authorization of a booster soon. While COVID-19 is a bigger threat to adults, youngsters can get severely ill and omicron caused a surge in child hospitalizations.
April 14, 2022 8:41 am
Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter outright, just days after the Tesla CEO said he would no longer be joining the social media company’s board of directors. Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, who currently owns slightly more than 9% of its stock and is the company’s biggest shareholder, provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own. Musk offered $54.20 per share of Twitter’s stock. He called the nonbinding proposal his best and final offer.
April 14, 2022 4:30 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The suspect arrested in the Brooklyn subway shooting that left 10 people wounded by gunfire also left behind a trove of angry YouTube videos. Police were studying them Wednesday for a possible motive. Frank James seemed to vent about nearly everything in his videos. Racism in America, his struggles with mental illness, New York City’s new mayor, 9/11, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Black women. In one, he said: “This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof, and it’s going to die a violent death.” James called the New York Police Department’s tip line Wednesday to say he was inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Manhattan and to tell authorities to come and get him, the law enforcement officials said. They weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said James was gone by the time officers got to the eatery, but they soon spotted him on a corner nearby. He was arrested Wednesday afternoon, a day after the rush-hour attack that left 10 people with gunshot wounds.
April 14, 2022 4:27 am
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s “sincerely thankful” to the U.S. for the new round of $800 million in military assistance. In his daily late-night address to the nation, Zelenskyy also said he’s thankful for Wednesday’s visit by the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia who have helped Ukraine from the war’s first day. In his telephone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy says they discussed the new weapons shipment, even tougher sanctions against Russia and efforts to bring to justice those Russian soldiers who committed war crimes in Ukraine. Zelenskyy also said work was continuing to clear tens of thousands of unexploded shells, mines and trip wires that were left behind in northern Ukraine by the retreating Russians.
April 14, 2022 4:24 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Federal water managers are scheduled to host a virtual meeting to share their annual operating plan for the Rio Grande, one of North America’s longest rivers. Irrigation districts from the Pacific Northwest to the Colorado River Basin already are warning farmers to expect less this year despite growing demands fueled by ever-drying conditions. Climate experts say March marked the third straight month of below-average precipitation across the U.S., and areas of record dryness are expanding in the West. The forecast for the next three months is no better. Along the Rio Grande, some farmers are being encouraged to forego irrigating their lands this season.
April 14, 2022 4:22 am
Hundreds of Russians are facing charges for speaking out against the war in Ukraine since a law was passed last month that criminalizes the spread of “false information” about the invasion and disparaging the military. Human rights groups say the crackdown has led to criminal prosecutions and possible prison sentences for at least 23 people, with over 500 others facing misdemeanor cases that have either led to hefty fines or are expected to result in them. The head of a legal aid group says the number of cases is unprecedentedly large. Among those facing charges was a priest who preached about the suffering of Ukrainians and a man who held up a sign with no words – just asterisks.
April 14, 2022 4:18 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Bills to ban drop boxes for depositing mail-in and absentee ballots as well as donations to run elections from outside groups are advancing in the Pennsylvania Legislature. The state Senate voted Wednesday to send both proposals to the House of Representatives. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is opposed to both measures. Republican opponents of drop boxes said they weren’t expressly authorized under the 2019 law that expanded mail-in voting for use by anyone. The other bill would make it a felony to pay election costs outside federal, state and local revenues from public money, or even to seek such grants or donations from outside groups.
April 14, 2022 2:50 am
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)- Melvin Ringer was arrested on attempted homicide charges after a shooting outside of his Canton Township home Wednesday morning. Ringer, his wife and the victim had been drinking when police say his wife told him she wanted a divorce. Investigators say Ringer’s wife told him she was leaving him for the man they were drinking with at the time, and he demanded they both leave. Officers say as the victim was walking away with a case of beer Ringer shot him in the back. According to police paperwork, Ringer’s wife helped the victim into a vehicle to take him to the hospital. The vehicle’s back window was shot out. Ringer barricaded himself in the home, causing a situation that lasted for hours. The victim was taken to Washington Hospital where he’s in critical condition.
