WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients and other retirees will get a 2 percent increase in benefits next year. It’s the largest increase since 2012 but comes to only $25 a month for the average beneficiary. The Social Security Administration announced the cost–of-living increase Friday. The COLA affects benefits for more … Continue reading
NORFOLK, VA – Norfolk believes that everyone deserves a little playtime and on Saturday, September 16, more than 1,300 guests will get out and play at the 2017 Play Day. The annual event, hosted by Norfolk’s Department of Recreation, Parks & Open Space (RPOS), runs 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Tarrallton Park (2100 Tarrallton Drive) … Continue reading
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — They were gruesome sights. Whales lifeless and bloated on the beach, two of them with giant gashes along their bodies, entrails spilled out onto the sand. Even more troublesome: The scene repeated three times here in less than two weeks. So what’s the deal? The explanation seems to be a … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the night Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, he was thinking about history. “The towering judges that have served in this particular seat on the Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment,” … Continue reading
CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AP) — Forces fighting the Islamic State group should be able to retake the IS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria within the next six months, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. On a tour north of Baghdad Wednesday, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said “within … Continue reading
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.N. Security Council member states must take part in a future summit aiming to remove a key stumbling block to a deal reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus, the island’s government spokesman said Monday. Nicos Christodoulides told The Associated Press that Security Council members have expressed their readiness to “actively and effectively take … Continue reading
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Two earthquakes with preliminary magnitudes of 5.3 jolted Turkey’s northern Aegean Sea coast on Monday Feb. 6, 2017, damaging dozens of homes in 11 villages and injuring at least five people, officials said. The first quake, which was centered beneath the Aegean off the coast of the town of Ayvacik in … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian pro-government forces advanced Monday Feb. 6, 2017 toward al-Bab, completing the encirclement of the Islamic State-held town which had been partially besieged by Turkey-backed opposition forces, state media and an activist group said. Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters, known as Euphrates Shield, have been trying to seize the town for … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota are telling a federal appeals court that restoring President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would “unleash chaos again.” The filing with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came early Monday Feb. 6, 2017 after the White House … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N.’s top official on refugees pushed back against a proposed initiative that has gained recent traction to create “safe zones” in Syria for refugees, saying the country was “not the right place” for the initiative. “Let’s not waste time planning safe zones that will not be set up because they will … Continue reading
Unarmed police in blue sweatshirts and black baseball caps made their way up a hill to the unauthorized cluster of homes around midday. On the hilltop, youngsters erected makeshift barricades from smashed tiles, rusty metal bars and large stones to slow their advance. Some protesters threw rocks at security forces, while others set fire to … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that federal investigators looking at donations to his 2013 campaign have told his attorney there’s no indication he did anything wrong. The governor said on a WTOP radio program that his attorney reached out to federal prosecutors following reports that McAuliffe is a subject of … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Authorities say Norfolk police shot two people, killing one and wounding another, in separate incidents. Virginia State Police are investigating both shootings. The fatal shooting occurred early Saturday after a nearly seven-hour standoff. State police say a 30-year-old white man wanted on felony warrants barricaded himself inside a house at about … Continue reading
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer’s intuition told him something was wrong when he pulled a woman over last year for expired license plates. Authorities say it turned out that the remains of her long-missing son were hidden in the trunk. Those same instincts were on display on the last day … Continue reading
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — In an April 4 story about a couple pleading guilty to drug and money laundering charges, The Associated Press reported erroneously that prosecutors ran a cocaine operation as the defendant’s home. Prosecutors say Norvell ran the cocaine operation at his home. A corrected version of the story is below: Bakery … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Portsmouth jail should provide better oversight of its health care providers and the state should take steps to ensure the accuracy of a waiting list for beds at a state mental hospital, Virginia’s inspector general said in a report issued Tuesday on the death of a 24-year-old inmate last year. … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va (AP) — Norfolk police are investigating after officers discovered a body in the water near a local marina. Police say police were dispatched to the 4900 block of Pretty Lake Avenue near Little Creek Marina. Police say when the officers arrived they found a man’s body floating in the water. The body has … Continue reading
Norfolk, Va (AP) — State lawmakers have signed off on a $350 million bond package to boost capacity at the port of Virginia. Transportation Secretary Aubrey Lane tells The Virginian-Pilot (bit.ly/250ZNOr) that the move is “huge for the commonwealth of Virginia and the port.” The state-backed bond deal is aimed at allowing Norfolk International Terminals … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Two baggage handlers have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a conspiracy to steal items from passengers’ bags at Norfolk International Airport. Media outlets report that 26-year-old Chris Arthur Perry was sentenced Monday, March 14, to one year and five months in prison. Twenty-eight-year-old Gregory Paul Wingard Jr. was … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Reginald Johnson Jr. figured experience gave Hampton an advantage in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game. The Pirates, after all, won the championship last season, and South Carolina State hadn’t made it this far since a loss in 2010. Still, it took Hampton until the last four minutes to take command. … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A man suspected in a killing the previous night was fatally shot when officers confronted him early Friday, police in Virginia said. Two officers on routine patrol about 4 a.m. Friday spotted 25-year-old Tyre Privott walking in the road, Norfolk police spokeswoman Cpl. Melinda Wray said by phone. When officers got … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginians head to the polls Tuesday for the presidential primary in what some officials are expecting to be record numbers. The state is one of a dozen Super Tuesday contests whose outcomes could go a long way in determining each party’s eventual winner. John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of … Continue reading
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Republicans are barreling toward Super Tuesday with another debate in the offing and Donald Trump’s opponents reaching for perhaps their last best chance to knock him off stride for the presidential nomination. Expect a nasty turn, Trump warned, as if the roiling GOP race were anything but that already. The … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans urging a steep increase in the Pentagon’s budget have received $10 million in campaign contributions over the course of their congressional careers from defense contractors that would benefit from higher levels of military spending. The 34 GOP lawmakers, all members of the House Armed Services Committee, are pressing for an … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Two major arts organizations owe Norfolk for unpaid rent and event fees. The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/1RURfn4 ) the city says the Virginia Opera owes about $215,000 and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s debt is around $162,000. The opera rents the Harrison Opera House, and the symphony pays to use the Chrysler Hall … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 