February 18, 2021 4:17 am
(AP) – A new report finds that life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths. Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black people losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years. The estimates were released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials say the nation has not seen such a big decline since World War II. They expect the trend to worsen once numbers for the full year are available.
February 18, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – White House officials say Joe Biden will use his first big presidential moment on the global stage at Friday’s Group of Seven meeting to announce that the U.S. will soon begin releasing $4 billion for an international effort to bolster the purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccine for poor nations. Former President Donald Trump declined to participate in the COVAX initiative because of its ties to the World Health Organization. Trump had accused the Geneva-based health organization of covering up China’s missteps in handling the virus. The meeting of the G-7 is being held virtually.
February 18, 2021 4:16 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Anger over Texas’ power grid failing in the face of a record winter freeze is mounting. Nearly 1.9 million customers in the energy capital of the U.S. woke up Wednesday still without power. The outages follow unusually heavy snowfall and single-digit temperatures in Texas, creating a surge in demand for electricity to warm up homes. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday called for an investigation of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid. Officials offered no timetable for when power might be restored throughout the state.
February 17, 2021 12:32 pm
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host who became the voice of American conservatism, has died. His death Wednesday at the age of 70 was announced on his website. With his three-hour weekday radio show broadcast on nearly 600 stations across the U.S., and a massive audience of millions hanging on his every word, Limbaugh’s rants shaped the national political conversation, swaying the opinions of average Republicans and the direction of the party. Donald Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
February 17, 2021 4:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Former President Donald Trump faces more legal trouble now that his impeachment trial is over. A Democratic congressman filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Trump of conspiring with far-right extremists in the Capitol riot, and the attorney general of Washington, D.C., is weighing charges over the riot as well. He faces ongoing scrutiny from prosecutors over investigations into election interference in 2016 and 2020 as well as his business dealings in New York. And judges have refused to throw out defamation lawsuits from two women who accuse him of sexual assault. Trump has called all of the allegations baseless.
February 17, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump has issued a blistering statement denouncing the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, as a “political hack” who will make sure the party “will not win again.” The statement on Tuesday, released by Trump’s political action committee, was the most caustic sign yet of deepening political divisions within the GOP. The attack follows McConnell’s speech over the weekend that Trump was responsible for the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. But McConnell said that only after he joined other Republicans in voting against the former president’s conviction during a Senate impeachment trial that accused Trump of inciting the mob.
February 17, 2021 4:18 am
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A Republican-backed bill that would likely ban almost all abortions in South Carolina is headed for a crucial vote, having already passed its toughest hurdle last month. The House has the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” on its calendar for debate Wednesday. If the House approves the bill without changes, it will go to the governor’s desk. Gov. Henry McMaster has promised to sign it into law as soon as he gets it. Groups against the ban will likely sue immediately, keeping the law from going into effect. About a dozen other states have passed similar laws and all are tied up in the court.
February 17, 2021 4:17 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) – President Joe Biden is promising a majority of elementary schools will be open five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office. He is restating his goal after his administration came under fire when aides said schools would be considered open if they held in-person learning just one day a week. Biden spoke during a CNN town hall Tuesday night in Milwaukee. He has faced increasing questions about how he would reopen schools, with school districts operating under a patchwork of different virtual and in-person learning arrangements nationwide.
February 17, 2021 4:14 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Utility crews are racing to restore power to nearly 3.4 million utility customers around the U.S. who are still without electricity in the aftermath of a winter storm. Meanwhile, another blast of snow and ice is threatening to sow more chaos. The latest storm front was expected to bring more hardship to parts of Texas, Arkansas and the Lower Mississippi Valley before moving to the Northeast on Thursday. The National Weather Service says more than 100 million people live in areas covered by some type of winter weather warning, watch or advisory. At least 30 people have died in the extreme weather this week.
February 17, 2021 4:12 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Police say seven people have been wounded by gunfire near a transit station in north Philadelphia. Police said a 71-year-old man was listed in critical condition after he was hit once in the stomach and multiple times in the legs shortly before 3 p.m. near the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority station in the Olney neighborhood. Police said a 22-year-old man was shot in the back, two other men aged 21 and 53 were hit in the legs, a 36-year-old woman was struck in the thigh and a 70-year-old man was also struck in the thigh. A 17-year-old girl was shot in the right arm. All six were listed in stable condition. Police reported two firearms recovered and one person in custody.
