(The Center Square) – A coalition of 15 Republican attorneys general want Bank of America to correct what the law officers are calling “debanking practices.” In a letter sent this week to Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan, the attorneys general, led by Kansas’s Kris Kobach, wrote that Bank of America “appears to be conditioning Read More…
(The Center Square) – Requiring publicly traded companies to make climate-related disclosures has voluntarily been put on hold by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC’s move came before a decision was reached by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. John Rady, counsel for the SEC in the case, notified the court in a Read More…
(The Center Square) – A veteran advocacy group has called on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for better outcomes on a range of metrics as the agency seeks a bigger budget. VA is charged with providing medical care, benefits and other services for those who have served in the military. It’s one of the Read More…
(The Center Square) – A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule that would monitor indirect wastewater discharges from slaughterhouses is unlawful and would be costly to businesses, 27 attorneys general said in a letter to the agencies. The EPA monitors wastewater discharge from 171 of the 5,055 meat and poultry product facilities in the United States, Read More…
U.S. government officials were working closely with top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline on Sunday to help it recover from a ransomware cyberattack that forced the company to shut a critical fuel network supplying populous eastern states. The attack is one of the most disruptive digital ransom operations reported and has prompted calls from Read More…
Private job growth accelerated in April but fell a bit short of Wall Street expectations, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP. Companies added 742,000 workers for the month, a jump from March’s upwardly revised 565,000 but a bit shy of the 800,000 forecast from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Leisure and Read More…
The eldest child in the former reality television family, the Duggars, was arrested Thursday for charges related to child pornography. The U.S. Marshals Service in Arkansas arrested Josh Duggar, whose family had been the center of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting. He was charged with possession of and receiving child pornography and pleaded not guilty Friday. Read More…
A group of female high school track athletes is appealing a Sunday federal district decision forcing them to compete against transgender athletes. The case was dismissed by Judge Robert Chatigny on procedural grounds because the two transgender athletes in question have since graduated from high school, making the case moot. Chatigny wrote, however, that if Read More…
GUARERO, Venezuela — They bring drinking water to residents in the arid scrublands, teach farming workshops and offer medical checkups. They mediate land disputes, fine cattle rustlers, settle divorces, investigate crimes and punish thieves. They’re not police officers, civil servants or members of the Venezuela government, which has all but disappeared from this impoverished part Read More…
Walter Mondale, who transformed the role of U.S. vice president while serving under Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic nominee for president in 1984, died Monday at 93, according to a family spokesperson. The big picture: President Biden, who was mentored by Mondale through the years, said in 2015 that the former vice president gave him a “roadmap” Read More…
The fight over Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky’s $30 million payday is heating up. The state of Illinois, charitable organization OxFam and several religious organizations have filed letters with the Securities and Exchange Commission opposing his pay. The letters urge shareholders to vote no on a “say on pay” proposal set for consideration at Read More…
Bernard Madoff, the Manhattan investment adviser who promised stellar returns to his A-list clients and instead defrauded them of more than $19 billion in history’s largest Ponzi scheme, has died. He was 82. He died Wednesday, according to an emailed statement from Brandon Sample, Madoff’s attorney. No cause was given. Madoff’s home since July 2009 was Read More…
Since 2017, the IRS owes — that’s right, owes – Americans $1.3 billion in unclaimed tax returns, the agency said on Monday. The IRS said that in total, 1.3 million tax payers who did not file a 2017 Form 1040 federal income tax return are owed a refund. The IRS said the median refund would Read More…
After he canceled student debt for about 72,000 defrauded borrowers two weeks ago, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced on Monday relief measures for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities. Under the previous rule, established under President Barack Obama, anyone determined permanently disabled by a physician, the Social Security Administration, or the Department of Veteran Affairs was eligible for federal Read More…
The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after it was vacated by a lower court last year. Tsarnaev was convicted of planting pressure-cooker bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon with his brother, which killed three people and injured hundreds of others. He was sentenced Read More…
PORTLAND, Ore.—When the fence that had surrounded the federal courthouse here was removed earlier this month, city leaders touted it as a sign that Portland was returning to normal after nine months of protests that often turned violent. But within days, bands of rioters were back in downtown Portland. They blocked streets, broke windows, threw Read More…
Rioters targeted the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., on Thursday evening in renewed clashes between demonstrators and federal police. The attack on the courthouse came one day after authorities removed fencing initially erected over the summer, in response to continued riots following the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest Read More…
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose criminal fraud trial was scheduled to start in July, is asking for a delay because she’s pregnant. In a court filing on Friday, her defense attorneys and prosecutors asked Judge Edward Davila to delay the start of her trial by six weeks to begin on August 31, 2021. “On March Read More…
One of the most prolific careers in NFL history has come to an end, as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced Sunday on Instagram he has decided to retire after 20 seasons. Brees’ four children, Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen, announced in a video: “After 15 years with the Saints and 20 years in the NFL, our dad Read More…
A number of Americans reported late Friday that the third round of government stimulus checks were posted in their bank accounts, just one day after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Relief Plan into law. Biden said on Thursday that some Americans would begin receiving deposits as soon this weekend. READ FULL STORY
Dozens of violent anti-cop protesters clad in black descended upon an Oregon courthouse, where they set fires and damaged the building Thursday night as federal officers responded with tear gas and flash-bang grenades, according to video and reports. Footage from outside the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse in downtown Portland late Thursday shows a small fire outside Read More…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can gather indoors with others who have the jab — without masks or social distancing. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC, said Monday that fully vaccinated people can follow the looser guidelines about two weeks after their final shot. “CDC Read More…
The U.S. and South Korea have reached agreement on a new accord that would resolve a yearslong dispute on how to share the cost of American troops based on the Korean Peninsula, officials from the two countries said Sunday. The new accord, which would last through 2025, would provide for a “meaningful increase” in the South Korean Read More…
The U.S. is on course for an employment boom this year once pandemic restrictions ease and the economy reopens, according to economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Reopening, fiscal stimulus, and pent-up savings should fuel very strong demand growth,” Chief Economist Jan Hatzius and colleagues wrote in a report highlighting an outlook that’s more optimistic than Read More…
On January 15, in its last days, President Donald Trump’s State Department put out a statement with serious claims about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement said the U.S. intelligence community had evidence that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory were sick with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019—implying the Chinese government had Read More…
A Long Island doctor is facing murder charges after five patients allegedly died between 2016 and 2018 due to prescriptions he wrote. George Blatti, 75, was arraigned Thursday on five counts of murder in the second degree and 11 counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree. Blatti was remanded and is due back in Read More…
Israeli authorities have identified the ship responsible for a massive oil spill that polluted the bulk of the country’s Mediterranean coastline, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said Wednesday. “We have laid our hands on the criminal ship,” Gamliel tweeted. “Our long reach will get to all those who harm nature in the sea and our Read More…
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who Read More…
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Biden administration’s push to end contracts with private prisons has left federal authorities in Cleveland scrambling to find ways to house nearly 800 inmates. A contract between the U.S. Marshals Service and CoreCivic, owner of the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, expired Sunday. Authorities, however, were granted a three-month reprieve, Read More…
Two Bronx women caused an American Airlines flight to divert due to their “disturbing and unacceptable” behavior — including spitting at a passenger who asked them to stop using racial slurs, according to reports. Kelly Pichardo, 30, and Leeza Rodriguez, 29, were aboard Flight 776 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles on Wednesday when a Read More…
Two travelers visiting Hawaii from Louisiana were arrested on Friday and accused of offering a Honolulu airport screener $3,000 to let them pass without quarantining or providing the negative coronavirus tests required for entry, officials say. Johntrell White, 29, and Nadia Bailey, 28, were charged with bribery and flown back to the mainland. The two allegedly flew Read More…
The first U.K. houses where appliances including boilers, stoves and ovens are fueled exclusively by hydrogen are due to be opened by April, with authorities hoping the buildings will provide the public with “a glimpse into the potential home of the future.” The project to develop the two semi-detached properties has received £250,000 (around $347,175) Read More…
Millions of people in Texas remain without power as a bitter cold snap prompted record-breaking wintertime energy demand for the region, all while dozens of gigawatts of power were unavailable. More than 4 million people in the state still don’t have power as of Tuesday morning, according to online tracker poweroutage.us. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the Texas Read More…
A New York judge issued a restraining order Friday afternoon that prohibits the state from imposing its 10 p.m. curfew on dozens of restaurants in Erie and Monroe counties. The order, which took effect immediately, comes 10 days after about 90 Erie County establishments filed a lawsuit challenging a Cuomo administration order that directs establishments to Read More…
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Freed from his daily obligations at Amazon.com Inc, Jeff Bezos is expected to turn up the heat on his space venture, Blue Origin, as it faces a pivotal year and fierce competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, industry sources said. The 57-year-old Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and the world’s second-richest person behind Read More…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that she and financial market regulators needed to “understand deeply” what happened in the trading frenzy involving GameStop Corp and other retail stocks in recent days before taking any action. READ FULL STORY
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans on Wednesday that large Super Bowl parties could turn into “super-spreader” events for COVID-19. During an interview on the Today show, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases urged football fans to keep gatherings small for Sunday’s game. Read More…
Jalina Porter, who has been named deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department under President Biden, once wrote that the largest threat to U.S. national security may be a domestic one. In a 2016 Facebook post, Porter wrote that U.S. cops posed the largest national security threat, greater than that of both Russian hackers and ISIS, because of killings Read More…
New York’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 may be more than 50 percent higher than officials claim — because Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration hasn’t revealed how many of those residents died in hospitals, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday. In a damning, 76-page report, James also said that some unidentified nursing homes apparently underreported resident fatalities to the state Department of Read More…
DETROIT — General Motors wants to end production of all diesel- and gasoline-powered cars, trucks and SUVs by 2035 and shift its entire new fleet to electric vehicles as part of a broader plan to become carbon neutral by 2040, the company said Thursday. The company plans to use 100% renewable energy to power its U.S. Read More…
In a report released by the Florida Museum of Natural History, 10 people were killed by sharks worldwide in 2020, which is the highest number since 2013. According to the International Shark Attack File, there were 13 shark-related fatalities in 2020, 10 of which were confirmed to be unprovoked. Six of those fatalities happened in Read More…
A New York Times editor lost her job after receiving criticism for tweeting about her excitement for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Journalist Yashar Ali broke the news of Lauren Wolfe’s departure from The Times in a series of tweets last Thursday, saying that she had been let go from her editing job at The Times for tweeting about Read More…
Robert Kraft’s legal issues in Florida seem to finally be behind him for good. A federal judge in Florida ordered on Friday that a video allegedly showing the New England Patriots owner paying for sex at a massage parlor be destroyed, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II ruled that any videos Read More…
(The Center Square) – California, the state that has led population growth nationally for the last 170 years, reported a population loss under Gov. Gavin Newsom for the first time since 1850, according to newly published Census Bureau data. Until 2020, California had gained population in every year since 1900. Increasing taxes, restrictive policies on Read More…