Pennsylvania

USA: Interstate 95 is set to reopen less than two weeks after deadly collapse in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Interstate 95 was set to reopen to traffic Friday less than two weeks after a deadly collapse in Philadelphia shut down a heavily traveled stretch of the East Coast’s main north-south highway.

Workers were putting the finishing touches on an interim six-lane roadway that will serve motorists during construction of a permanent bridge. Crews worked around the clock and were poised to finish ahead of schedule. The interstate was scheduled to reopen at noon, according to the governor’s office.

USA: Ex-chief public defender to run for Pennsylvania attorney general

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party primary field for attorney general is filling up as the former head of Philadelphia’s public defense lawyers kicked off her campaign Wednesday for the state’s top law enforcement office.

If elected, Keir Bradford-Grey, 48, would become the first Black attorney general in Pennsylvania. She also would become the first attorney general whose legal experience was primarily as a public defender.

Pennsylvania trooper, suspect killed in shootout; 2nd trooper seriously wounded

LEWISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A state trooper and a suspect were killed Saturday in a shootout in central Pennsylvania, hours after the suspect seriously wounded another trooper, state police said.

Police in Juniata County said a man engaged troopers at about 12:45 p.m. near the Lewistown barracks and shot one trooper, who was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

USA: Former Harvard morgue manager stole brains, skin and other body parts to sell them, indictment says

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue, his wife and three other people have been indicted in the theft and sale of human body parts, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.

Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, stole dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the school in the scheme that stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to court documents. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.

USA: Body recovered from rubble of Philadelphia I-95 highway collapse

PHILADELPHIA, June 12 (Reuters) - Human remains were recovered on Monday from a fallen overpass on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia as crews removed concrete debris from the site of a fiery weekend highway collapse that closed a stretch of one of the busiest traffic corridors along the U.S. East Coast.

The section of I-95 was shut down in both directions after a tanker truck hauling gasoline caught fire on Sunday, causing the concrete to buckle and collapse. Authorities have not said precisely how the fuel was ignited.

USA: In rubble beneath I-95 collapse in Philadelphia, investigators looking for truck fire’s cause

(AP) --- State and federal investigators were trying to find out Monday why a tanker fire collapsed a section of the East Coast’s main north-south highway, throwing hundreds of thousands of morning commutes into chaos and disrupting commerce for untold numbers of businesses.

Interstate 95 will be closed in both directions for weeks at the start of summer travel season. Motorists should expect extensive delays and street closures, and avoid the northeast corner of the sixth-largest city in the country, transportation officials said.

USA: Elevated section of heavily traveled I-95 collapses in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An elevated section of Interstate 95 collapsed early Sunday in Philadelphia after a vehicle caught fire, closing the main north-south highway on the East Coast and threatening to upend travel in parts of the densely populated Northeast, authorities said.

Transportation officials warned of extensive delays and street closures and urged drivers to avoid the area. Early reports indicated that the vehicle may have been a tanker truck, but officials could not immediately confirm that. The fire was reported to be under control.

USA: Merck sues federal government, calling plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices extortion

(AP) --- Merck is suing the federal government over a plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices, calling the program a sham equivalent to extortion.

The drugmaker is seeking to halt the program, which was laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in the coming years.

USA: Trial for accused terrorist in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre slated to start

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack is scheduled to get underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after a month of questioning of more than 200 jury candidates — will hear the case against Robert Bowers. The jurors include 11 women and seven men.

USA: Police: Student arrested in shooting death of another student outside Pittsburgh school

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A student was taken into custody in the shooting death of another student early Wednesday just outside a school in Pittsburgh shortly before classes were due to start, police said.

Police said the shooting happened just before 7:30 a.m. by the front steps of Oliver Citywide Academy. Officers found the victim with gunshot wounds in front of the school and gave first aid, Major Crimes Commander Richard Ford told reporters at the scene.

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