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After Arrest, Cops Find Missing 3-Year-Old's Body

(Dec 2, 2017 8:46 AM) Tragic news in the case of Mariah Woods, the 3-year-old girl whose mother says she disappeared from her North Carolina home Sunday night: Police have recovered the toddler's body in a creek, reports the AP, barely a day after they arrested the mother's live-in boyfriend. Earl Kimrey, 32, was taken into custody Friday on charges including concealing a death and obstructing justice, ABC reports. He is in jail, with bail set at $1 million, and police say more charges are possible. Arrest warrants say that Kimrey, knowing Mariah died of non-natural causes, moved her body. It was too late to save Mariah the moment the 911 call came in, an FBI agent said; the AP notes that police are being tight-lipped in the case. The arrest warrants are public record and the records speaks for themselves. We will not discuss any details related to the homicide investigation. Kimrey has an arrest record going back to 2005 for crimes including assault and larceny, WRAL reports. Other charges filed against him Friday include second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property. Mariah's mother told police that she last saw the little girl when she put her to bed Sunday night. An Amber Alert was issued after Mariah was reported missing early Monday. Authorities later determined a girl seen in surveillance images from a Walmart that morning was not the missing toddler.

US Honors Woman Held in Brothel for 2 Decades

(Jun 29, 2017 5:39 PM CDT) This week, Alika Kinan was honored at the State Department for her work fighting sex trafficking; just five years earlier she was being held prisoner and abused in an Argentinian brothel. NPR reports Kinan, herself a victim of sex trafficking, was held captive in the brothel for nearly two decades starting when she was 18. Kinan was expected to stay in bed until 4pm so she could have the energy to have sex with 15 to 30 men every night. Her travel documents were taken away, and she was forbidden to make friends outside the brothel. You use alcohol, you use drugs, or anything that will help you disassociate from the situation you are in, Kinan says. Kinan was rescued in 2012. Two years later, she started a volunteer organization to help trafficked women get medical care, job training, and housing. She also became the first trafficked woman in Argentina to successfully sue her pimp. Because of my experience, I have the will and the power to go after them, she says of traffickers. In addition to helping the victims of trafficking, Kinan is raising her six children, who she says think she is some kind of superwoman. I do so many things, Kinan says. And on top of everything, I bake pizza for them. The State Department honored Kinan and seven other activists for their work on the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report. The Bangkok Post lists the other activists as Boom Mosby of Thailand, Leonardo Sakamoto of Brazil, Vanaja Jasphine of Cameroon, Viktoria Sebhelyi of Hungary, Amina Oufroukhi of Morocco, Mahesh Bhagwat of India, and Allison Lee of Taiwan.

In 2 Years, Cops Killed 86 People Carrying Fake Guns

(Dec 19, 2016 10:03 AM) Tamir Rice was one of the highest-profile examples of a person carrying a fake weapon who was gunned down by cops, but as the Washington Post reports in an exclusive, he was far from the only one. Those statistics, per the Post's internal database of US fatal police shootings, show that 43 people with ultra-real-looking pellet guns, toy weapons, and non-functioning replicas were killed in 2016, as well as 43 people in 2015. Of those killed, 54 were white, while 81 were male. But just because the guns were fake, they weren't obviously so—the Post points out that almost all of the recovered weapons in these 86 fatal shootings were highly realistic likenesses of the real deal, including BB and pellet guns, airsoft guns, and replicas. Sig Sauer, for example, manufactures airguns that it promotes as carbon copies of its actual weapons. Because these phony firearms are a) red hot now, per an industry consultant, and b) virtually impossible to identify as being fake from far away, cops are in a dilemma where they're left with little choice but to assume the guns are lethal, the Post notes. People don't really understand the dynamics of a police-involved situation, says Kim Jacobs, the police chief in Columbus, Ohio. They all have families, they want to go home at the end of their shift. There have been efforts to push laws that would make airguns look noticeably different from real ones, but those efforts have been stymied by gun rights groups. And two studies done 25 years ago showed that adding markers to fake weapons didn't substantially cut down on police shootings. One sheriff in Alachua County, Fla., wants to circumvent aesthetic changes altogether. Part of the solution is to ban the sale of toy or replica guns, he says.

Sole Survivor Marks 75th Anniversary of 1st US Raid on Japan

(Apr 17, 2017 12:56 AM CDT) At age 101, retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole says his memories are vivid of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders mission that helped change the course of World War II. Now the sole survivor of the original 80-member group, he plans to take part in events Monday and Tuesday at the National Museum of the US Air Force near Dayton, Ohio, marking the 75th anniversary of the attack that rallied America and jarred Japan. It will be a somber affair when he fulfills the long Raider tradition of toasting those who've died in the past year, using goblets engraved with their names, Cole tells the AP. In a private ceremony, he will offer tribute to retired Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, who died last year at age 94 in Missoula, Mont. The Raiders, led by aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle, launched their assault April 18, 1942, in B-25 bombers not built to fly off an aircraft carrier at sea. After hitting Tokyo and other targets in the first US airstrike on Japan's home islands, they continued to China because it would have been impossible to land the bombers back on the USS Hornet. Three Raiders died trying to reach China. Out of eight later captured by Japanese soldiers, three were executed, and a fourth died in captivity. Their attack inflicted scattered damage—and stunned Japan's people. Its military diverted resources to guard their homeland, while news of the raid lifted US morale after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and a string of Japanese victories in the Pacific.

Renaissance Work Returned to Glory 50 Years After Flood

(Nov 4, 2016 6:39 PM CDT) Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari's The Last Supper was so badly damaged by floodwaters a half-century ago that it was considered beyond repair. Today, however, it is once again on display in all its glory, the Art Newspaper reports. The 96-square-foot painting, commissioned by a cloister of Italian nuns in 1546, was submerged underwater for 12 hours when the Arno River in Florence flooded in 1966. According to the AP, the flood killed 100 or so people and damaged thousands of pieces of Renaissance art—despite the best efforts of a group of art-rescuing volunteers called the angels of the mud. On Friday, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the flood, a newly restored The Last Supper was unveiled to the public. The Last Supper was initially believed to be beyond restoration and was put in storage for 40 years. But by 2008, technology had improved enough to give new hope for Vasari's work. A team of up to 13 experts worked years on The Last Supper in order to get it ready for Friday's event at the Basilica of Santa Croce. It was a long battle, but we made it, the head of an Italian arts restoration agency says. The Florentine calls it an evolutionary step in the field of restoration as well as the culmination of reflections on the safety of artworks and preventive decision-making —meaning The Last Supper is now attached to a mechanism that will raise it higher on the wall if the Arno decides to breach its banks again in the future. (Another restoration may change our notion of what Shakespeare looked like.)

United to Offer Bumped Passengers Up to $10K

(Apr 27, 2017 7:13 AM CDT) United Airlines says passengers will now be offered up to $10,000 to surrender their seats on overbooked flights—and those who still refuse won't be hauled out of their seats by law enforcement. The airline issued a report Thursday detailing 10 changes it is making after the Chicago incident earlier this month, reports the Washington Post. United's report says its mistakes on April 9, when 69-year-old David Dao was dragged out of his seat by aviation police, included trying to make space for off-duty crew members at the last minute by bumping passengers involuntarily, only offering $800 in compensation to try to persuade people to give up their seats, and calling police when Dao refused to get off the plane. In a statement, United CEO Oscar Munoz described the incident as a turning point and the start of a shift toward becoming a better, more customer-focused airline. Reuters reports that other changes announced by United include a no questions asked policy on bags it permanently loses, for which passengers will be paid $1,500 starting in June. The report also details how passengers are selected for involuntary bumping, the AP notes. Those without frequent flyer status who paid the least for their ticket are most at risk. No word on any policy changes involving falling scorpions or dead bunnies, though United says staff will receive annual training for the most difficult situations.

Hubby's 20th Anniversary Gift for Wife: 'Life'

(Jan 26, 2017 3:56 PM) Cindy and Scott Chafian might have spent their 20th wedding anniversary renewing their vows on a beach in the Bahamas. Instead, the pair sat side-by-side in a hospital room drinking from champagne flutes and eating cake. And they wouldn't have had it any other way. I can't think of any better place to be right now. If I had the choice to be here or in the Bahamas, I'd totally be here, Cindy told WTKR on Wednesday, a day after husband gave her the gift of life, a new kidney. Cindy has polycystic kidney disease, which has caused her kidneys to deteriorate, and though Scott offered her one of his kidneys six years ago, Cindy wasn't willing to accept it. Then she hit rock bottom, she tells CNN. After two years on dialysis, Cindy could hardly get dinner on the table for my family, she says. She was tired, losing muscle mass, and losing out on time with her kids, reports NBC Los Angeles. Finally in October, she told Scott she'd had enough: She was ready for his amazing gift. The four-hour surgery went ahead at Virginia's Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on Tuesday and Cindy says, I feel better already. Scott has noticed a difference, too. Just the light she's got back in her eyes, I don't even have words for it, he says. She'll say I'm giving her life back, but I'm getting my wife back, he adds. I'm the one who's lucky. A GoFund Me page is raising funds for their recovery. (This woman found a kidney donor through Tinder.)

Burglars Stole Boy's Ashes, Demanded $5K Ransom

(Jan 18, 2017 12:03 AM) It would be an insult to the bottom-feeders of the animal kingdom to compare them to burglars police are seeking in Humboldt County, Calif. Police say they're investigating the theft of an urn containing the ashes of Ryan Wagner, a 6-year-old boy who died from cancer in 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ryan's parents say that after the urn and other items, including the courage beads the boy was given during his treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, were stolen from a safe during a December burglary, the $5,000 reward they offered became a ransom when they were told of a threat to dump out the ashes. On the Bring Ryan Home Facebook page, mom Anita Wagner says they handed $5,000 in small bills to local lawyer Kathleen Bryson last Friday and she returned 45 minutes later with the ashes and other belongings. Bryson tells the Lost Coast Outpost that her client contacted her after learning that people he knew had the ashes and planned to dump them out. Bryson says she gave the family her $500 fee and doesn't believe her client had any share of the reward. The burglars—I don't know how they sleep at night, she says. Ryan's dad, Joshua Wagner, says he suspects Bryson's client is the real thief and is disgusted that the person appears to have gotten away with it. He says the family now plans to scatter Ryan's ashes and set [him] free. (These thieves mistook a man's ashes for cocaine.)

France Wouldn't Loan This to Queen in 1953. Now, a Change

(Jan 17, 2018 8:21 AM) As the story goes, before Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation, Britain asked France if it might borrow the storied Bayeux Tapestry. The answer was no. Heinrich Himmler was also unsuccessful in transferring it to Nazi Germany. The 220-foot-long tapestry, which is on permanent display in Bayeux, France, has not left that country in some 950 years. That looks set to change. Multiple outlets are reporting that upon his arrival in the UK Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron will announce that the tapestry will be loaned to England, though not for a few years and only if tests show the 11th-century tapestry—which details the Norman Conquest of England, complete with King Harold dying with an arrow in his eye—can be safely moved. There is some speculation that the tapestry was actually created in Kent, England, reports the Guardian, and the Times of London writes the decision to loan it would be a huge gesture towards les Anglais —and a fraught one, as bright light, extreme temperatures, humidity, and moths could ruin it. The BBC reports a British museum believes it was commissioned in the 1070s by the half-brother of William the Conqueror; the historical trail doesn't start until 1476, when it appears on an inventory of Bayeux Cathedral. One interesting line of speculation: whether the UK will loan France something equally impressive. One member of parliament suggests temporarily parting with the Rosetta Stone, which was likely uncovered by the French—specifically by soldiers of Napoleon in Egypt. Read more on Harold, England's last Anglo-Saxon king, here.

There Are 2 Martin Shkrelis in Court

(Aug 6, 2017 7:33 AM CDT) A defendant in a money laundering case has at least two things in common with Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli—the same name and the same judge, reports the AP. The other Martin Shkreli pleaded not guilty Friday in the same New York courtroom where the former pharmaceutical CEO was waiting for a verdict in his securities fraud trial. His doppelganger wasn't there at the time. The odd coincidence wasn't lost on the 59-year-old Shkreli No. 2, who smiled and shook his head when asked about his counterpart. He said he had no interest in being that famous. The elder Shkreli is accused of money laundering to the tune of $800,000, and being involved in a gun-running scheme; he's charged as one of eight men who allegedly sold firearms including AK-47s and a rocket launcher to feds, reports the New York Daily News. Prosecutors have accused the more notorious of the two Shkrelis of deceiving investors in two failed hedge funds. The 34-year-old Pharma Bro is best known for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000%.

Louisiana Declares State of Emergency After Tornadoes Injure 40

(Feb 8, 2017 12:11 AM) Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Tuesday after a severe storm moved across the state's southeast corner, injuring about 40 people. Edwards said he was heartbroken to see Louisiana families suffering again, the AP reports. He said seven parishes were hit by tornadoes and much of the worst damage was in eastern New Orleans, part of the 9th Ward that was so heavily flooded by Hurricane Katrina. He promised that the state will provide affected residents with the resources they need as quickly as possible. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said late Tuesday that 31 injuries had been reported in the city, six of them severe, with around 250 properties badly damaged over the path of a tornado, the Times-Picayune reports. The wall of severe weather also delivered heavy rain and hail to Mississippi and Alabama. An official at NASA's Michoud facility in New Orleans said it suffered some structural damage but the deep-space equipment being built there, including hardware and tooling used in the Orion and Space Launch System projects, does not appear to have been harmed. Michoud will have to make a significant effort to cover everything up so any subsequent bad weather doesn't affect it while the building's roof and walls are repaired. Two Mississippi counties reported wind damage, but no injuries, from suspected tornadoes. Other areas of Mississippi saw heavy rain and hail from the storm system that spawned multiple tornadoes in Louisiana.

Colombia Passes Deal to End 52-Year War

(Dec 1, 2016 12:03 AM) Colombia's Congress formally ratified a revised peace agreement with Colombia's biggest leftist rebel group Wednesday night, capping a torturous four years of negotiations, a stunning referendum rejection, last-minute compromises, and two signing ceremonies. The initial pact was narrowly rejected by voters last month, and President Juan Manuel Santos decided to skip a referendum on the new version and go directly to congress, where the deal's supporters hold a majority. Opponents, led by former President Alvaro Uribe, boycotted the legislative votes, which resulted in unanimous approval by the Senate on Tuesday and by the lower house late Wednesday, the AP reports. The new accord with FARC rebels introduced 50 changes to the initial deal in an attempt to assuage opponents as the government seeks to end a 52-year conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and driven almost 8 million from their homes. The modifications include a commitment from the rebels to forfeit assets, some amassed through drug trafficking, to help compensate victims. Santos said ratification will set in motion the start of a six-month process in which the FARC's 8,000-plus guerrillas will concentrate in some 20 rural areas and turn over their weapons to United Nations monitors. But the rebels insist their troops won't start demobilizing until lawmakers pass an amnesty law freeing some 2,000 rebels in jail. (Santos won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the conflict.)

Kermit the Frog Says Goodbye to His 2nd Longtime Voice

(Jul 11, 2017 9:29 AM CDT) Kermit the Frog is getting a new voice, reports the AP. ABC News and the Hollywood Reporter report that Steve Whitmire has left his role as the voice behind the iconic Muppet. Whitmire has voiced the character since Muppets creator Jim Henson's death in 1990. Per ABC, Whitmire's first IMDb credit was for 1979's The Muppet Movie, and most recently, he lent his voice to Kermit, Beaker, and other Muppets characters in the ABC series The Muppets. Whitmire always said he didn't want his Kermit to be a carbon copy of Henson's, but a natural evolution. If you play my voice next to Jim's voice, they're not the same, he said in a past interview, per ABC. The No. 1 goal in trying to continue a character like Kermit was to make sure that the character stayed ... consistent, but didn't become stale. A Muppets Studio spokeswoman tells the outlets that longtime Muppets performer Matt Vogel will be taking over the role. Vogel also has a long career in voice work, with IMDb noting he's been in nearly 60 Sesame Street episodes since the late '80s and also worked on The Muppets series. In addition to Kermit, Whitmire had voiced grumpy critic Statler, Rizzo the Rat, and other Muppets. Representatives for Disney, which owns Muppets Studio, didn't immediately return a request for comment Tuesday about the motivation behind the move.

Marine Dies, 8 Missing After Amphibious Vehicle 'Mishap'

(Jul 31, 2020 12:18 PM CDT) Search and rescue efforts are underway off the coast of Southern California after an incident involving an amphibious assault vehicle left one US Marine dead, two other service members injured, and eight missing. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force reports the mishap during a routine training exercise happened Thursday afternoon, per the Hill. First indications there was a problem came around 5:45pm local time, when Marines reported the AAV, which was near San Clemente Island, was taking on water, per CNN. The two wounded service members were transported to Southern California hospitals, one of them in critical condition, the other stable. The name of the deceased service member, who was pronounced dead at a San Diego hospital, is being held for 24 hours so that family can be notified, NBC News reports. We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident, says the commanding officer of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in a statement. I ask that you keep our Marines, Sailors, and their families in your prayers as we continue our search.

74 Years After Crashing in India, WWII Vet Returns Home

(Jun 8, 2017 12:53 PM CDT) More than 70 years ago, a US Army plane was headed for India on a supply mission. It never arrived, and no one went looking for the doomed aircraft or the eight men on board because military officials had no way of pinpointing where it went down. All signs of the mission were lost until 2006, when a hiker in India spotted a wing and panel sign inscribed with the bomber's name. It wasn't until 2015 that the US Defense Department investigated the crash site and found the remains of 1st Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford. On Thursday, Oxford will finally be returned home and laid to rest with full military honors in his hometown of Concord, Georgia, the AP reports. Photos of Oxford's seven fellow crewmen, none of whom were found, will be placed inside his coffin for burial. Oxford's plane departed Kumming, China, on Jan. 25, 1944, said Staff Sgt. Kristen Duus at the Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Agency. Oxford was declared dead two years later. Oxford's family didn't know the wreckage had been found until 2007. Harmful weather coupled with access issues and security delayed recovery operation efforts until late 2015, Duus said. Officials say a DNA analysis of Oxford's remains matched his niece and nephew. Though Oxford's parents, siblings, and any other relatives who saw him leave for World War II have all died since he went missing, a relative said the niece and nephew were shocked and excited when they heard the news. Duus said Oxford is one of 74 veterans who have been identified so far this year.

3 Kids Shot, 2 Die in Chicago Violence

(Feb 15, 2017 12:07 AM) A Chicago toddler was shot and killed on Tuesday in what police suspect was a gang hit on a man in a vehicle with him, just a few days after two young girls were shot in the head. It marked the latest spasm of violence in a city struggling to contain such attacks. Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police suspect the man, a well-known gang member with an extensive criminal history, was the target of the shooting that also left a woman wounded. The Chicago Sun-Times identifies the slain toddler as 2-year-old Lavontay White. Gugliemi said no arrests had been made in the case, the AP reports. In separate incidents over the weekend, two girls ages 11 and 12 were shot in the head by gunmen who were aiming at someone else in an area of the city known for heavy gang activity. Takiya Holmes, cousin of anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes, died on Tuesday, while 11-year-old Kamari Gentry-Bowers is still in critical condition, the Sun-Times reports. The shootings highlight the street gang violence that police say was largely responsible for 762 homicides last year—nearly 300 more than occurred in 2015—and more than 3,500 shooting incidents. That violence has continued this year, with January ending with 51 homicides, the highest total since January 1999, when there were 55.

8 'Bubble Boy' Infants Cured, Thanks to HIV

(Apr 18, 2019 5:32 PM CDT) Eight for eight. That's the record scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are thrilled about after using gene therapy to cure eight baby boys of the rare disorder commonly known as bubble boy disease, reports the BBC. What's more, the researchers used HIV to do it, notes the AP. The infants had the most common form of severe combined immunodeficiency disease, or SCID, one called SCID-X1. Essentially, they were born without a functioning immune system, meaning even a common cold could prove deadly. The solution? Researchers extracted blood cells from the babies, inserted a genetic fix into the cells, then put them back into the infants, explains NPR. In this case, the genetic fix was delivered via a modified version of HIV, one that can't give the babies AIDS. It’s a game changer, an immunologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who was not involved in the study tells the Washington Post. It’s exciting to see this wave of treatments actually becoming a reality. Gene therapy has been tried before on SCID with some degree of success, but many of the previous patients developed cancer. The latest experiment, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has safeguards to prevent that, including a small amount of chemotherapy. Bone-marrow transplants also have proved successful in treating the disease, but the best-case scenario—a tissue-matched sibling donor —is not available in most cases, say researchers in a statement. All eight babies in the study are now toddlers with healthy immune systems.

5 Killed as Plane Crashes Into Mall

(Feb 21, 2017 2:12 AM) An Australian pilot and four American tourists on a golfing vacation were killed when a light plane crashed in flames into a shopping mall on Tuesday shortly after takeoff in Melbourne, police say. The five were on a twin-engine Beechcraft Super King Air that crashed about 45 minutes before the Direct Factory Outlets mall in suburban Essendon was to open, a police minister says. The US Embassy in Canberra confirmed that four victims were US citizens, the AP reports. Texans Greg Reynolds De Haven and Russell Munsch have been identified by their families on social media as two of the victims. The plane had taken off from Melbourne's second-biggest airport at Essendon for a golfing trip to King Island, 160 miles to the south, officials say. The mall adjoins the airport. Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane says no one outside the plane was injured. Looking at the fireball, it is incredibly lucky that no one was at the back of those stores or in the car park of the stores, that no one was even hurt, Leane says. The pilot, identified as Max Quartermain, owner of the charter company Corporate and Leisure Travel, reported a catastrophic engine failure moments before the plane crashed into a storage area at the rear of the mall, police say.

Substitute Teacher Accused of Having Sex With 2 Students

(Nov 10, 2017 1:15 AM) An Ohio substitute teacher was removed from the classroom and arrested early Thursday for allegedly having sex with at least two 11th-graders. Police say 23-year-old Madeline Marx is accused of having sex with one student in a store parking lot in July and another student in an apartment building parking lot in September, the Dayton Daily News reports. One students was 16 years old and the other 17, police say. According to court documents, Marx admitted to police that she sent one of the Fairmont High School students nude photos of herself on Snapchat and Instagram. We became aware (the teacher was) possibly involved with inappropriate activities with a juvenile, says Kettering Superintendent Scott Inskeep. When we become aware of them then we will remove those people and not have them around our students. WHIO reports that Marx was booked into the county jail and charged with two felony counts of sexual battery. Late Thursday, a judge said she could be released on condition that she live with her father while the case is pending. (An art teacher in Arkansas admitted having sex with four students after another teacher overheard a parent threatening her.)

Dad Jumps From Bridge With 2 Kids; Then, a 'Miracle'

(Oct 25, 2016 8:30 AM CDT) A father parked his vehicle on a New Jersey overpass, grabbed his two young sons in his arms, maneuvered around an 8-foot-high suicide prevention fence, then jumped, killing himself on Monday, police say. The boys, ages 1 and 3, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. An hour earlier, around 7pm, the unidentified man had argued with his wife and threatened to hurt their children in Pequannock before driving away with the two boys in a white SUV, reports CBS New York. Police tracked the vehicle to the overpass on Interstate 287 in Wanaque Township using the man's cellphone signal, but they found it empty, report ABC 7 and NJ.com. The man's body was then found beneath the overpass in a wooded area near the Wanaque River. His children, found conscious, were taken to a hospital with concussions, per WPIX. The youngest also suffered a bruised lung. A police officer says it's a miracle they survived at all, adding, I was expecting the worst outcome when I arrived at the scene, and I was amazed last night and even this morning on the condition of the children. They reportedly fell between 20 and 100 feet, per the Washington Post; the distance wasn't immediately clear in the dark.

Gillibrand Tries to Cool Rumors of 2020 Run

(Feb 12, 2017 3:30 PM) One rite of presidential elections is already starting up again: A candidate whose name keeps being mentioned feels compelled to deny any White House ambitions. In this case, it's Sen. Kirsten Gilibrand of New York, who on Sunday sought to shoot down rumors that she's running in 2020. No, I am running for Senate. I’m running for Senate in 2018, Gillibrand told radio host John Catsimatidis when he asked about the speculation. The Hill points out that her response is par for the course for would-be candidates, particularly when they face a re-election prior to the presidential race. A newspaper in the region she represents, the Daily Gazette, pointed out last month that Gillibrand's name had been cropping up regularly on short lists of early Democratic contenders. In an election that could be a referendum on President Trump, she is the only senator to have voted against eight of his nominees and the only one who voted against James Mattis for defense secretary. A Skidmore College professor says the 50-year-old would be a strong candidate: I think she would be very attractive to suburban, white, middle class voters, and she has a real soccer mom, clean persona. (One columnist thinks Al Franken is worth a serious look.)

Military Plane Crash Kills 16 in Mississippi

(Jul 11, 2017 12:53 AM CDT) A US military plane crashed into a field in rural Mississippi on Monday, killing at least 16 people aboard and spreading debris for miles, officials said. Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a late briefing that 16 bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground near Itta Bena, about 85 miles north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns said in a statement that a KC-130 experienced a mishap Monday evening but provided no details. The KC-130 is used as a refueling tanker. Andy Jones says he was working on his family's catfish farm just before 4pm when he heard a boom and looked up to see the plane corkscrewing downward with one engine smoking, the AP reports. You looked up and you saw the plane twirling around, he says. It was spinning down. Jones says the plane hit the ground behind some trees in a soybean field, and by the time he and others reached the crash site, fires were burning too intensely to approach the wreckage. The force of the crash nearly flattened the plane, Jones says. Beans are about waist-high, and there wasn't much sticking out above the beans, he says.

10 Best, Worst Cities for Football Fanatics

(Feb 4, 2018 11:30 AM) Super Bowl Sunday is here, and across the nation fans are donning their jerseys, making chili, and checking their squares. Some cities may be more pumped than others, per WalletHub, which looked at nearly two dozen metrics across 240 metropolitan areas to see which cities rated the best for football fans. The number of NFL and college championship wins a city has under its belt, the cost of game tickets, and stadium capacity all had an impact. Spoiler alert: Both teams in this year's championship game make the top 10, but it's Green Bay in the No. 1 spot. Rounding out the list for the best cities for patrons of the pigskin: Best Cities for Football Fan Worst Cities for Football Fans

NFL Star Loses $100K Treasure in Lake

(Jul 27, 2017 6:52 AM CDT) An NFL star's diamond earring valued at more than $100,000 is now presumed lost on the murky bottom of a Georgia lake, per the AP. Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Julio Jones lost it when he hit a boat wake and took a spill while jet skiing in Lake Lanier, about 50 miles outside Atlanta. He resurfaced, but his pricey earring didn't. Divers have been searching the lake bottom, hoping to capture a flashlight's reflection off the jewelry amid old trees submerged since the man-made lake's creation in the 1950s. So far, no luck.

CDC Wants $400M to Replace $214M Lab After Just 13 Years

(Feb 23, 2018 7:54 PM) Thirteen years after building a state-of-the-art lab for the world's most dangerous germs, the nation's top public health agency is asking for more than $400 million to build a new one, the AP reports. Officials at the CDC say the current lab building in Atlanta is quickly wearing down and cannot be upgraded without shutting down the facility for years. The lab investigates deadly and exotic germs like Ebola, smallpox, and dangerous new forms of flu. The CDC lab is one of only eight US labs with the security and safety features necessary to work with the highest-threat germs, said James Le Duc, director of one of them, the University of Texas's Galveston National Laboratory. Five of the eight are run by the federal government.

Actor John Hurt Dead at 77

(Jan 28, 2017 5:30 AM) The versatile British actor Sir John Hurt, who could move audiences to tears in The Elephant Man, terrify them in Alien, and spoof that very same scene in Spaceballs, has died. He was 77. Hurt, who battled pancreatic cancer, died Friday in London, according to his agent, Charles McDonald. Twice nominated for an Oscar, for playing the tortured John Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man and for his role as the heroin addict Max in Midnight Express, Hurt's career spanned over 50 years. After minor television and film appearances, his breakout came in 1966 as Richard Rich in Fred Zinnemann's A Man For All Seasons, followed by his portrayal of Caligula in the BBC miniseries I, Claudius in 1976. Hurt was also a prolific voice actor, appearing as Hazel in the animated Watership Down, and as Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings. He also voiced The Horned King in The Black Cauldron and provided the narration for Dogville. In the Harry Potter films, Hurt played the wand-maker Mr. Ollivander. In recent years, he appeared in notable fare such as Melancholia, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Only Lovers Left Alive, and Snowpiercer. We're all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly, Hurt said in a 2015 interview while undergoing treatments for the early stage cancer. As prolific as ever, Hurt recently appeared alongside his V for Vendetta co-star Natalie Portman in the Oscar-nominated film Jackie as a priest who consoles the recently widowed first lady.

Prosecutors Move to Toss 21K Tainted Drug Cases

(Apr 19, 2017 4:18 PM CDT) Prosecutors in Massachusetts moved to throw out more than 21,000 drug convictions on Tuesday, five years after a chemist at the state drug lab was caught tampering with evidence and falsifying tests, the AP reports. The state's highest court had ordered district attorneys in seven counties to produce lists by Tuesday indicating how many of approximately 24,000 cases involving Annie Dookhan they would be unable or unwilling to prosecute if the defendants were granted new trials. The ACLU said Tuesday night that 21,587 cases had been recommended for dismissal. It said that would be the largest dismissal of criminal convictions in US history. The cases would be formally dismissed by court action, expected Thursday, the ACLU said. Dookhan pleaded guilty in 2013 to obstruction of justice, perjury, and tampering with evidence after being accused of falsifying her work as far back as 2004. Prosecutors said Dookhan admitted testing only a fraction of a batch of samples, then listing them all as positive for illegal drugs. Her motive, they said, was to boost her productivity and burnish her reputation. She was sentenced to three years in prison and was paroled last year. Many of the drug case defendants have already completed their sentences, though some probably remain in prison because of other charges not contaminated by the lab scandal. About 2,000 cases had been resolved before Tuesday.

ISIS Bomber Kills 75 at Sufi Shrine

(Feb 17, 2017 12:16 AM) An ISIS suicide bomber struck inside a famed shrine in southern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 75 people in the deadliest attack in the country in more than two years. The bomber entered the main hall of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and detonated his payload amid dozens of worshippers, according to three security officials, who said at least 20 women and nine children were among the dead. ISIS claimed the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted a Shiite gathering, the AP reports. The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and sees Sufi shrines like the one targeted Thursday as a form of idolatry. A witness to the attack told a local TV network that hundreds of people were performing a spiritual dance known as the Dhamal when the bomber struck. I saw bodies everywhere. I saw bodies of women and children, he said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that security forces would track down the perpetrators of the attack, according to Pakistani state TV. Each drop of the nation's blood shall be avenged, and avenged immediately, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, said in a statement. No more restraint for anyone. The attack was the deadliest in Pakistan since Dec. 16, 2014, when militants assaulted an army-run school in Peshawar, killing 154 people, mostly schoolchildren.

18 Killed in Kabul Hotel Siege

(Jan 21, 2018 9:05 AM) An Afghan official says that at least 18 people, including 14 foreigners, have been killed when the Taliban attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Najib Danish said that 11 of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline, reports the AP. He added that 10 others were wounded, including six security officers and four civilians. KamAir also put out an announcement saying some of its flights were disrupted because of the attack. Witnesses tell the BBC that the gunmen burst into a dining room yelling, Where are the foreigners? Guests were photographed attempting to escape the hotel via bed sheets tied to their balconies.

Michelle 2020? Her Hubby Says 'Never'

(Nov 30, 2016 8:21 AM) President Obama has taken the wind from the sails of those hoping Michelle Obama will be America's 46th president. In a just released interview conducted a day after the election, Obama tells Rolling Stone that Michelle will never run for office. She is as talented a person as I know. You can see the incredible resonance she has with the American people. But I joke that she's too sensible to want to be in politics, he adds, per the AP. He did acknowledge that the first couple will continue to be very active on a grassroots level after leaving the White House. Back in March, the first lady said she will not run for president. No, nope, not going to do it. But the comments aren't likely to deter at least three PACs formed in the last month which are banking on Obama changing her mind, especially as gambling site Bovada claims she has the best odds of any Democrat to win in 2020, though Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Paul Ryan currently have better odds, reports the Wrap. One such super PAC, Ready for Michelle, which registered with the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 31, refers to the first lady as a loving healer who can bring together factions of our divided nation to produce policy results, per the Hill. (Michelle Obama is Vogue's December cover star.)

Trader Joe's Wine Is Less Than $3 a Bottle for a Reason

(May 14, 2017 3:34 PM CDT) When Charles Shaw wines first debuted at Trader Joe's in 2002, they lived up to the name Two Buck Chuck, costing just $1.99 a bottle. And yes, plenty of critics call the wine undrinkable and worse, even accusing parent company Bronco Wine of not removing such harvest debris as dead birds, insects, and rodents from its crops of grapes. But far more people like it enough to buy it, with more than 800 million bottles sold since then. So Business Insider set out to calculate just how the wine can be produced so cheaply, and a lot of it comes down to simple location and sheer volume. Bronco Wine may be bottled in Napa Valley, per its label, but the grapes are grown in a far less prestigious and ideal area: California's hot Central Valley. This means grapes grow in great abundance, with huge harvests, but the heat scorches quality. Bronco also ferments the wines in oak chips instead of barrels, uses a cheap form of natural cork for its corks, and ships in lighter bottles and cheaper brown boxes. The wines are even described as being freeway aged, meaning they only age on the truck ride to the bottling facility in Napa, per Marketplace. Volume helps, too, with 90 million gallons of wine produced a year. Like the price but not the product? Trader Joe's is introducing $1 cans of wine from an Italian supplier that Delish reports sound amazing. (These wines are made with condoms.)

Truck Plows Into Crowd at Mardi Gras, Injures 28

(Feb 26, 2017 5:56 AM) A suspect is in custody after 28 people were injured Saturday when a vehicle plowed into a crowd watching the Krewe of Endymion parade in the Mid-City section of New Orleans, reports the AP. Police Chief Michael Harrison said the suspect is being investigated for driving while intoxicated. Harrison said it looks like a case of DWI. We suspect that that subject was highly intoxicated, he said. Twenty-one people were hospitalized after the crash with five victims in guarded condition. Seven others declined to be hospitalized, city Emergency Services Director, Dr. Jeff Elder said. The victims range in age from as young as 3 or 4-years-old to adults in their 30s and 40s, said Elder. Among the injured was one New Orleans police officer. Harrison said the officer, who was on duty, was undergoing tests to determine the extent of her injuries. She was in good spirits, he said. The accident came during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of Mid-City to watch the elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders. As police and city officials were assessing the accident scene, people were streaming home as plastic bags that used to hold trinkets and discarded beads littered the ground. The area where the accident occurred was cordoned off with police barricades. One woman at the scene told the New Orleans Advocate that a silver truck whisked by her just feet away as she was walking through the intersection. Carrie Kinsella said, I felt a rush it was so fast. Twenty-year-old Kourtney McKinnis told the Advocate that the driver of the truck seemed almost unaware of what he had just done. He was just kind of out of it, she said.

A Television 'Storm Chaser' Is Dead at 38

(Jan 24, 2018 10:25 AM) One of the stars of the popular Discovery reality show Storm Chasers has died at age 38. Friends broke the news about Joel Taylor on social media Tuesday, reports People. Details on how Taylor died haven't been released, other than it was sudden and not believed to be related to storm chasing. He joined the show in 2008, and it was canceled in 2012. One of Taylor's co-stars, Reed Timmer, tweeted about the loss: We chased so many intense storms, and I wish we could have just one more storm chase. Taylor grew up in Oklahoma and went on to study meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, per USA Today. He and Timmer first gained fame in the 2003 documentary Tornado Glory, notes E! Online.

S&P 500 Hits Milestone on Short Trading Day

(Nov 24, 2017 12:27 PM) Stocks ended a shortened trading day with more record highs as technology and health care companies posted solid gains. Energy stocks were also higher Friday as the price of US crude oil rose 1.6%. Oil was higher after Bloomberg reported that OPEC and Russia have agreed on an outline for extending production cuts. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5 points, or 0.2 %, to 2,602, another record high and its first close over 2,600, per the AP. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 31 points, or 0.2%, to 23,557. The Nasdaq gained 21 points, or 0.3%, to 6,889.

Nearly 1.4M Children Face 'Imminent Death': UN

(Feb 21, 2017 3:26 PM) The UN children's agency is warning that almost 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of death as famine threatens parts of South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen, the AP reports. The UNICEF announcement comes a day after famine was declared in parts of Unity state in South Sudan, where civil war has raged since late 2013 and severe inflation has made food unaffordable for many. UNICEF for months has warned about severe malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria, especially in areas that have been largely inaccessible because of the Boko Haram insurgency. The agency says nearly 500,000 children are expected to face severe malnutrition this year in Borno, Yobi, and Adamawa states. The agency says Somalia also faces drought, and in Yemen's conflict, nearly half a million children have severe acute malnutrition.

2nd Man Indicted in Death of Teacher in 2005

(Jun 20, 2017 2:07 PM CDT) A new indictment sheds light on the 2005 murder of a Georgia teacher. Authorities say Bo Dukes helped a friend remove the body of Tara Grinstead from her home, then brought it to his uncle's pecan farm near Fitzgerald and burned it, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Dukes isn't charged in the actual killing. Prosecutors say his friend, Ryan Duke, killed the 30-year-old Grinstead—his former history teacher—in an apparent robbery, then asked Dukes to help him get rid of her body. Grinstead's disappearance had remained a cold case for 11 years before a tipster came forward. Charred remains were found on the farm in February, around the time Duke was charged with murder, reports WRBL. Dukes' girlfriend, Brooke Sheridan, identified herself as the tipster last month, telling CBS News that Dukes told her about the murder and the disposal of the body. I felt like I was gonna be sick. I didn't know who I was staring at, Sheridan said, adding that putting Grinstead's family at peace was more important than his freedom. Dukes is charged with concealing a death, hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal, and tampering with evidence, per the Macon Telegraph. Duke, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to charges including one count of malice murder and two counts of felony murder, per Fox 5.

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween Wins the Weekend Box Office

(Oct 22, 2017 2:40 PM CDT) It was a spooky weekend at the box office for nearly everyone but Tyler Perry. Perry's comedy sequel Boo 2! A Madea Halloween scared up a healthy $21.7 million in its first weekend in theaters, but the waters were rough for other new openers, including the disaster epic Geostorm, the firefighter drama Only the Brave and the crime thriller The Snowman. Boo 2! did a little less business than the first film, which opened to $28.5 million just last year. But a slight drop for a sequel hardly compares to the catastrophe of Geostorm, a long-delayed $120 million disaster epic starring Gerard Butler that only managed to open to $13.3 million from North American theaters.

Orlando Gunman's 911 Calls Released

(Nov 1, 2016 3:21 AM CDT) The tone of the worst mass shooter in American history ranges from calm to nervous to irritated in a series of 911 calls released by police Monday. In the calls, Orlando gunman Omar Mateen, who called 911 from inside the Pulse nightclub, can be heard pledging allegiance to ISIS, calling himself an Islamic soldier, and describing the massacre as revenge for American bombing in Iraq and Syria, CBS reports. He hung up on police several times. A negotiator who identifies himself as Andy deals calmly and professionally with Mateen, though during one attempt to call him back, Andy tells fellow officers that he's not convinced the man he's dealing with is really inside the nightclub, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Mateen becomes impatient as the negotiator tries to obtain information, telling him it's none of his business whether he has an accomplice. At one point, he claims to have vehicles full of bombs outside the nightclub. Your people are going to get it and I’m going to ignite it if they try to do anything stupid, says Mateen, who was shot dead by police at the end of an attack that killed 49 people and injured 53 others. The AP reports that audio of the calls was released by order of Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber, who is still considering whether to release another 232 calls to 911 made during the incident. The city of Orlando's lawyers say they shouldn't be made public because they involve suffering and killing.

Newly Discovered Forests Could Cover 60% of Australia

(May 13, 2017 1:27 PM CDT) Scientists have discovered 467 million hectares of unreported forest—about three-fifths the size of Australia—scattered around the globe, the Conversation reports. The discovery increases the known global forest cover by about 9%. The study—published Friday in Science—focused on drylands, areas that lose more water through evaporation and plant transpiration than they receive in precipitation. Trees in drylands aren't very dense, which can make it difficult to measure possible forest cover. According to a press release, old estimates of dryland forests were off due to a number of factors, including low image resolution from satellites and the methods of mapping used. The new study used high-resolution images of more than 210,000 dryland sites from Google Earth Engine and combined them with observations on the ground. Researchers found between 40% to 47% more forest cover in the world's drylands than previously reported. New forests were found on all continents—besides Antarctica. ABC reports the research, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, gives a new tool in the fight against climate change; it boosts estimates of the amount of carbon stored in plants globally. (New database gives tree scientists an important first.)

Bad News in Search for 8 Missing Climbers

(Jun 3, 2019 6:30 AM CDT) Pilots from India searching for eight missing climbers on a Himalayan peak spotted five bodies, but conditions remain too dangerous to retrieve them, reports the Guardian. Prior to that sighting, a government official had declared of the eight, The chances of survival are almost zero now. The climbers went missing a week ago while trying to scale an unnamed peak around Nanda Devi East mountain, one of India's biggest peaks, per CNN. Two Americans identified as Anthony Sudekum, 63, of Missouri, and Ronald Beimel, 34, of Los Angeles are among the missing, along with four Britons, an Australian, and an Indian. Authorities suspect they were engulfed in an avalanche. Heavy snow and high winds forced the search operation to the northern state of Uttarakhand to stop on Monday, and it was scheduled to resume on Tuesday. The group was being led by experienced mountaineer Martin Moran of Britain, owner of an adventure company called Moran Mountain. Nanda Devi East is 24,000 feet high, and the mountain the climbers were on is 21,000 feet. By comparison, Everest is about 29,000 feet. (Elsewhere, Sir Edmund Hillary's son says his father would be appalled at what's happening on Everest.)

Alec, Hilaria Baldwin Expecting Their 4th Kid

(Nov 3, 2017 6:35 PM CDT) Looks like Alec and Hilaria Baldwin will have 4 under 5: They're expecting their fourth child next year. Our Baldwinitos are getting a new teammate this spring. I’m gonna make them a special cake to tell them if it’s a boy or a girl...I’ll post it tomorrow midday, Hilaria posted on Instagram Friday alongside a picture of herself, Alec, and their existing brood. We are so excited! The Baldwins are already parents to Carmen, who turned 4 in August, 2-year-old Rafael, and 14-month-old Leonardo, ETOnline reports.

Tornado Rips Through Mississippi, Killing 4

(Jan 21, 2017 11:30 AM) Four people were killed and scores of homes were flattened early Saturday when a tornado ripped through the Hattiesburg area, officials in Mississippi said. The city of Hattiesburg said via its Twitter account that four people had died after the twister blew through the city and surrounding area. The AP reports Mayor Johnny DuPree has signed an emergency declaration for the city, which reported significant injuries and structural damage. The city also said via Twitter that Hattiesburg firefighters and police are going door-to-door to try to rescue victims. Greg Flynn of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said rescuers are still searching the stricken area for more possible victims. Flynn said massive damage was reported in a three-county area that was struck by a tornado at around 4am. The three counties affected are Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties. Flynn said the tornado touched down in Lamar, plowed through Forrest, and then struck Perry before dissipating. Flash flood warnings were also in effect for northern Forrest and Lamar counties, as well as southeastern Jones and Marion counties. The National Weather Service said three to five inches of rain have already fallen, raising the risk of flooding. More rain—one to two inches—is possible.

Employee's Yelp Review on Competitor Costs Him $34.5K

(Apr 7, 2017 9:50 AM CDT) No one should have to go through this, not children, adults, elderly, Stephen Blumberg tells CBS Boston, and a jury apparently agreed with him. The cause of Blumberg's emotional turmoil: a fake, inflammatory Yelp review of his Massachusetts jewelry store posted by the son of a competitor, per NBC Boston. A jury decided March 22 that Adam Jacobs, whose father owns Toodie's Fine Jewelry, had purposely put up a false, multi-paragraph diss about Blumberg's store, Stephen Leigh Jewelers, in August 2013; Jacobs has to now pay Blumberg $34,500 for emotional distress, the Patriot Ledger reports. The guest who supposedly wrote the review said he'd visited Blumberg's store to buy a diamond engagement ring and left this place sick to my stomach, calling the shop the biggest thief on the South Shore. But Blumberg, who tells NBC he was incensed by the review, says that interaction never took place—and he started digging to find out who the Adam J. who'd posted it really was. His months-long detective work had him sifting through other Yelp reviews written by the same person and calling those reviewed businesses; eventually he was able to connect the dots. Blumberg says he had never met Jacobs, who works at his father's store, before this and had no beef with either him or his dad. The jury did let Toodie's, which had also been named in Blumberg's December 2013 complaint, off the hook. An attorney for Toodie's and Jacobs says his clients are glad about Toodie's vindication, but disappointed about the decision on Jacobs, which they may appeal. (A petsitting company decided a bad Yelp review was worth up to a $1 million.)

Navy Plane Crashes in Pacific With 11 Aboard

(Nov 22, 2017 3:23 AM) In what is believed to be another fatal accident for the 7th Fleet, a Navy plane with 11 passengers and crew on board crashed into the Pacific Ocean Wednesday. The C-2 Greyhound was on its way to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. Japan's defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, said eight of the 11 people were found after the crash 90 miles northwest of the Japanese atoll Okinotorishima, but it was unclear whether they were found dead or alive, the AP reports. The Navy says the cause of the crash is still unknown. The aircraft was taking part in joint US-Japan naval exercises in the waters around Okinawa. Onodera told reporters that the Navy said the crash may have been the result of engine trouble, reports Reuters, which notes that C-2 Greyhound propeller aircraft have been in service for decades and are due to be replaced by Ospreys. (The commander of the Japan-based 7th Fleet was fired in August after two accidents killed 17 sailors.)

2 Dead, 2 Injured in Connecticut Concert Shooting

(Dec 31, 2016 6:58 AM) Police say two people are dead and two injured after a shooting outside a Connecticut theater following a concert late Friday night. A Wallingford police spokeswoman tells the Record Journal that officers responded to reports of shots fired outside the Oakdale Theatre after rapper Meek Mill performed. Officers found two dead and say the other two with non-life-threatening injuries were taken to hospitals, the AP reports. Police haven't released the names and ages of the four victims. Police say no one is in custody. Authorities didn't immediately release information on suspects or vehicles. Lt. Cheryl Bradley says the show had just ended and the Oakdale was closing when the shooting occurred. Authorities haven't linked the violence to the performance or the rapper. Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, was recently under house arrest after violating probation for the fourth time in eight years. (After a 2013 probation hearing, a judge ordered Mill to take etiquette lessons.)

Trump Disbands 3rd White House Advisory Council

(Aug 17, 2017 6:39 PM CDT) It's been a bad week for President Trump's various councils. After disbanding his Strategic and Policy Forum and Manufacturing Council on Wednesday in the wake of fallout from his response to white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Charlottesville, Trump shuttered a third council Thursday before it had even started, the Guardian reports. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure via executive order July 19. It was supposed to advise him on his $1 trillion infrastructure plan. On Thursday, a White House spokesperson said the council, which was still being formed, will no longer move forward.

Volkswagen Has Been Kicked Out of No. 1 Auto Sales Spot

(Jul 28, 2017 2:49 PM CDT) Results are in for the first six months of worldwide car sales, and Volkswagen has been, as CNNMoney notes, dethroned. The German carmaker came in with about 5,155,600 vehicles sold in the first half of the year, followed by Toyota at 5,129,000. But it was the Renault-Nissan Alliance, a conglomerate of French and Japanese automakers that recently added Mitsubishi to the mix, that came out on top, selling 5,268,000 or so, it announced Friday. Mitsubishi alone accounted for about 500,000 of those units. CNN notes Volkswagen—which earned the year-end title last year for the first time, snatching it away from four-years-in-a-row Toyota—could still take the lead again by year's end. A Nissan corporate VP shrugged the news off, noting sales volume means nothing without profits, per USA Today. Personally, whether we are No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 doesn't interest me, he notes. And it is not a goal for our company.

Tobey Maguire, Wife Split After 9 Years of Marriage

(Oct 18, 2016 2:47 PM CDT) Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer have separated after nine years of marriage, the AP reports. Maguire's representative has confirmed a People magazine report on the breakup. The former couple tells People in a joint statement that the decision came after much soul searching and consideration. Maguire and Meyer say their first priority remains raising our children together with enduring love, respect and friendship. Maguire and Meyer have a 9-year-old daughter, Ruby, and a 7-year-old son, Otis. Meyer is a jewelry designer and the daughter of longtime Hollywood executive Ron Meyer.

Police Believe Driver Intentionally Plowed Into 8 Pedestrians

(Apr 24, 2019 11:10 AM CDT) As pedestrians walked on a busy sidewalk in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday night, a car plowed into the crowd—its driver making no apparent attempt to slow down or avoid hitting people, police say. Eight pedestrians were struck, including a 13-year-old, and some of the victims were in serious condition. The suspect, an adult male, was taken into custody after crashing into a tree. Police say they believe it was an isolated incident, but that it appears to have been intentional, NBC News reports. They say the driver appears to have been accelerating, and that he may have intentionally turned into the group, targeting them, ABC7 News reports. Police aren't yet speculating on a motive or whether there might be any relation to terrorism. The incident took place at an intersection near a number of restaurants and other businesses in the Bay Area city, and victims' belongings and bicycles were strewn along the path the car took, NBC Bay Area reports. Some victims were in the crosswalk at the time, per CBS San Francisco. There are homes in the area, too, and people are just walking to get to these restaurants and food places and grocery stores, rather than getting in their car and driving there, a local tells ABC7 of the intersection. The FBI is assisting with the investigation. Should it be determined that a federal crime was committed, we will become more involved, the bureau says in a statement. (Before a van attack in Toronto, rental staff laughed as the suspect drove away.)

Kiss May Have Doomed 18-Day-Old Baby Girl

(Jul 18, 2017 4:32 PM CDT) Nicole and Shane Sifrit had just one happy week with their baby girl Mariana, who was born healthy on July 1. On July 7, when she stopped eating and then became unresponsive, she went back to the hospital. And on Tuesday morning, she died. Mariana had contracted viral meningitis caused by the herpes virus, and her parents are warning others that it may have been a simple kiss that doomed her, CNN reports. The virus can be transmitted by someone who has the cold sore version of the illness, even if they don't have an open sore, and could also have been transmitted through other types of close contact. They touch her, and then she touches her mouth with her hand, Nicole Sifrit explained to WHO before her daughter died. Both parents tested negative for the herpes virus, meaning Mariana likely contracted it from a visitor. After taking Mariana to the hospital, within two hours, she had quit breathing, and all her organs just started to fail, Nicole says. Her condition continued to deteriorate; her lungs, liver, and heart began failing, she started suffering seizures, and had to go on kidney dialysis, USA Today reports. She died in her father's arms with her mother by her side, Nicole wrote on Facebook Tuesday. A pediatrician tells CNN that while contracting the herpes virus is very common, it's rare for the virus to develop into meningitis. Still, Nicole advises other new parents: Keep your babies isolated. Don't let just anyone come visit them. Make sure they are constantly washing their hands. Don't let people kiss your baby and make sure they ask before they pick up your baby. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family. (Another newborn nearly suffered the same fate.)

Seattle to End 18-Year Deal With Wells Fargo Over Pipeline

(Feb 8, 2017 11:06 AM) Seattle City Council says it will pull its average daily $10 million balance from Wells Fargo at the end of 2018, ending an 18-year relationship with a lender in the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Citing the pipeline project, the council voted 9-0 Tuesday to end its relationship with the bank when its current contract expires and to abstain from new cash investments in Wells Fargo securities for a minimum of three years, reports the Seattle Times. Seattle cycles about $3 billion a year through Wells Fargo. Council member Kshama Sawant said the move served as a beacon of hope to activists all around the country seeking to change the economic calculus of corporations who think that investing in the Dakota Access pipeline will be good for their bottom line, per the Los Angeles Times.

When Packs Cost $1 More, 1 in 5 Smokers Quit

(Aug 24, 2017 6:33 AM CDT) Addiction has many costs, but at least when it comes to cigarettes, price can be a serious deterrent. In fact, one in five people quit smoking if the price of a pack jumps by $1, researchers report in the journal Epidemiology. They looked at the smoking habits of 632 smokers with an average age of 58 and analyzed data about local laws on smoking indoors and in public places, as well as price fluctuations at nearly 900 chain stores in 19 states, reports the New York Times. The impact of price on older smokers is telling, the lead researcher says, since older smokers are likely to be set in their habit. But, It’s likely that these results would hold in younger people as well—some studies have found them to be even more sensitive to price increases. Our finding ... suggests that cigarette taxes may be a particularly effective lever for behavior change, she tells Drexel Now. Researchers note that only 7% of people who smoke heavily (more than half a pack a day) quit when the price jumped, but they did smoke 35% fewer cigarettes each day. Smoking bans didn't have the same effect, probably because people can just smoke in another place, the researchers posit. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a new study by the World Health Organization and National Cancer Institute finds that smoking costs the global economy $1 trillion a year, well over the $296 billion collected in tobacco taxes. (Even cancer doesn't compel some smokers to quit.)

10 Years After Kercher's Death, Amanda Knox Mourns

(Nov 1, 2017 2:11 PM CDT) Amanda Knox has a lot of memories of Meredith Kercher: grocery shopping, sunbathing, drinking espresso, Kercher's accent, buying vintage dresses. But Knox also remembers the last time I saw her, 10 years ago today, slinging her purse over her shoulder and waving goodbye to me on her way out to meet up with her British friends. On the 10th anniversary of Kercher being raped and murdered by a burglar in Perugia, Italy, Knox used a piece in Westside Seattle to do something she felt she hadn't been allowed to for the past decade: mourn Kercher. Something Meredith’s friends, family, supporters, and I all have in common is that Meredith’s death changed our lives. It opened our eyes to the terrible fact that, sometimes, innocent people suffer. Knox says her memories of Kercher feel distant because I have to dig through a decade of suffering just to reach them. She says the memories are buried beneath the horrific autopsy photos and crime scene footage I saw, the slurs I was called, the death threats I received (and still receive), the false accusations I fought, the years of wrongful imprisonment I endured, the multiple trials and slanderous headlines that juxtaposed our names and faces, unfairly interlocking her death with my identity. Knox adds that no one can ever give Meredith back her life, or me the years of life I lost to wrongful imprisonment. She ends by acknowledging that mourning Kercher comes at the price of being criticized for anything I say or don’t say today. Read the full piece here.

4 Dead After Train, Bus Collide

(Mar 7, 2017 4:59 PM) A bus and freight train collided Tuesday in Biloxi, Miss., leaving four people dead, CNN reports. A charter bus from Austin, Texas, was attempting to cross train tracks when it got stuck and was hit by the train. There were 50 to 60 passengers on the bus; in addition to the fatalities, several passengers were hurt, some seriously. No one on the train was hurt. There were flashing lights and crossing gates at the train crossing involved, a train company spokesperson says. Police and the NTSB are investigating.

Number of Those Injured in Las Vegas Surges to 400

(Oct 2, 2017 8:24 AM CDT) It's now the deadliest mass shooting in US history, and the current count of those injured is staggering, too: 400, per Las Vegas police. In a Monday morning news conference, Sheriff Joe Lombardo confirmed that more than 50 are dead and provided more details about shooter Stephen Paddock, whom Lombardo now says took his own life prior to the SWAT team entering his room (the Daily Mail has audio of the breach here) on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel; they found 10 weapons there. Lombardo says police have turned up nothing derogatory in the 64-year-old Paddock's history, and no items in the room or his house shed any light on motive, reports the Guardian. Lombardo also said that Paddock checked into the room on Thursday. I have no idea whether he prevented the house keepers from entering the room or not. That is a matter for continued investigation.

John le Carre Brings Back George Smiley, 25 Years Later

(Mar 7, 2017 12:39 PM) Welcome back, George Smiley. After a hiatus of more than 25 years, John le Carre is again writing about one of the world's most famous fictional spies. Viking told the AP on Tuesday that le Carre's A Legacy of Spies will come out Sept. 6. According to the publisher, the novel tells of how Smiley and such peers as Peter Guillam receive new scrutiny about their Cold War years with British intelligence and face a younger generation that knows little about their history. The novel will also refer to the le Carre classics The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Le Carre, 85, last wrote about Smiley in the 1991 novel The Secret Pilgrim.

Given up for Dead, Family's Dog Returns After 10 Years

(Feb 3, 2018 2:21 PM) As far as Debra Suierveld is concerned, Abby pulled a Lazarus. We thought she had passed away, Suierveld tells KDKA. It feels like a part of my kids’ childhood is back, part of our family is back. Abby, a black lab mix, wandered off from Suierveld's home in Pennsylvania 10 years ago, and the family searched for their missing pup to no avail, the Valley News Dispatch reports. But last weekend Abby showed back up like nothing had happened. Suierveld says Abby still answers to her name and even remembers the commands she and her daughter taught her. Suierveld says her now-22-year-old daughter cried when she heard Abby had, improbably, returned home. Judy Spiering called Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley on Jan. 27 when a friendly but very thirsty black lab mix turned up on her porch 10 miles from the Suierveld home in Apollo. A microchip in Abby's neck led to Suierveld's vet, who had Abby listed as deceased, and then to Suierveld. Suierveld couldn't believe it. I didn't even know what to say, she says, adding, She kind of came back from the dead. But no one can figure out where Abby has spent the past decade. She's a good weight. She's very well taken care of, says Jody Berisko at Animal Protectors. It's very weird. Whoever Abby was with, Suierveld admits they took good care of her. The family planned to host a giant welcome-home dinner for their long-lost pooch.

Chicago Boy Shot in 2016 Shoots Himself in Hand

(Dec 21, 2017 12:15 AM) A 5-year-old boy who was struck in the face last year by a stray bullet fired during a drive-by shooting accidentally shot himself in the hand this week with a gun his father had obtained illegally, Chicago police say. Kavan Collins found the loaded, uncased gun under a mattress in an upstairs bedroom and shot himself in the finger Tuesday evening. The boy's father, Kevin Collins, was arrested late Wednesday on several felony gun charges and six misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, the AP reports. Police said the 25-year-old convicted felon's gun had a defaced serial number—which is commonly done to illegal guns to make them more difficult to trace.

On 170 Acres Lived an Ex Cop —With 4 Dead Bodies

(Dec 21, 2016 10:18 AM) It's the first quadruple murder the police department in Chester, New York, has ever investigated, as best Police Chief Peter Graziano can recall. The man suspected of doing the killings? A retired cop. Nicholas Tartaglione, formerly of the Briarcliff Manor PD, was arrested Monday; the 49-year-old is charged with killing four men in or around April 2016 while engaged in a conspiracy to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine. On Tuesday, four people's remains were uncovered at a 170-acre property in Mount Hope that Tartaglione is renting. The Times Herald-Record described Tuesday's effort as a massive evidence-gathering operation, comprised of more than three dozen police vehicles and two excavators. Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez were captured on surveillance video between 2:30pm and 3pm on April 11. The men were seen getting out of a car outside a Chester diner, and the Journal-News reports that other than a 5pm phone conversation Miguel Luna had with a relative, the men haven't been heard from since. CBS New York reports prosecutors suspect the men were killed inside the Likquid Lounge, which sits in the same plaza and is owned by Tartaglione's brother. Authorities aren't saying how they zeroed in on Tartaglione, but do note that some of the missing men may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tartaglione has been receiving a $65,000 annual pension since he retired on disability in 2008, but recently applied for a spot with the Mount Vernon PD.

Teen Forced to Have Sex With 1K Men Sues Philly Motel

(Mar 14, 2017 11:15 AM CDT) From the outside, Philadelphia's Roosevelt Inn may look any other motel. It's actually the city's epicenter of human trafficking, according to prosecutors. In a lawsuit filed Friday, a 17-year-old girl details how she was sold into sexual slavery at the 107-room motel in 2013, held there for months at a time over two years, and forced to engage in sex acts with 1,000 men double, triple and quadruple her age, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The suit is the first to be brought under a Pennsylvania law allowing sex trafficking victims to seek compensation from establishments that profited from the abuse, reports the Washington Post. However, the motel's resident manager, also named in the suit, says he was unaware anything of the kind was taking place. I was always in the office, Yagna Patel, 72, tells CBS Philadelphia. I didn't see anything wrong. The men responsible for forcing the teen to work as a prostitute have already been convicted, but now the teen is seeking $50,000 in damages from the motel for essentially allowing it to happen. It is a flagrant and blatant example of a motel looking the other way, says a lawyer for the teen, who has escaped the life and is living elsewhere in the city. Law enforcement authorities do not sound surprised about the lawsuit. Almost every trafficking investigation we have, we see the victim is at Roosevelt Inn, says an assistant DA. (Sex trafficking previously thrived in this sleepy state.)

Wells Fargo to Pay $110M to Settle Fake Account Lawsuit

(Mar 29, 2017 12:04 AM CDT) Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over up to 2 million accounts its employees opened for customers without getting their permission, the bank announced Tuesday. It's the first private settlement that Wells has reached since the company paid $185 million to federal and California authorities late last year, the AP reports. Authorities said bank employees, driven by high-pressure sales tactics, opened the bank and credit card accounts without customer authorization.The settlement will include customers who had accounts opened without their permission, or were signed up for a product they did not agree to, going back to Jan. 1, 2009. Wells Fargo says it believes this settlement, which is subject to court approval, will resolve the 11 other pending class-action lawsuits filed against it over the accounts. After paying attorneys' fees, the $110 million will first go to cover any customers' out-of-pocket losses or fees that they may have incurred due to the unauthorized accounts. All remaining money will be split among the all impacted customers. Wells also disclosed Tuesday that a federal regulator had downgraded its rating under a law designed to help monitor and promote banking practices to low-income and minority communities. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cited the sales practices as one reason for the downgrade.

'AK-47 Bandit' May Have Finally Been Caught, Thanks to Call With Mom

(Jun 29, 2017 11:03 AM CDT) Richard Gathercole was arrested June 20 after he allegedly tried to shoot a Kansas state trooper who was attempting to pull him over due to an obscured vehicle registration. But thanks to a phone call with his mother from jail, authorities now believe Gathercole is also responsible for more—much more. The 39-year-old is suspected of being the AK-47 Bandit, one of the most wanted bank robbers in the US, a law enforcement source tells the Los Angeles Times. Did you get all the guns out, too? Gathercole asked his mother, asking her to take them out of his Montana home as soon as possible. Um, this is recorded, she pointed out to him, to which he replied, Yeah, I know. The call was cited in a search warrant request, reports the Washington Post; federal agents raided his home, where they say they found a number of homemade bombs. The AK-47 Bandit has been sought by federal agents since 2012, when he shot and seriously wounded a police officer while fleeing a bank robbery in Chino, Calif. He's suspected of a string of robberies that followed that one—two more in California, one in Washington state, and one in Idaho, plus one in Nebraska in 2014 and one in Iowa in 2015. He wore a black ski mask, dark body armor, and a mesh vest with sheriff printed on the back during the robberies, and he brought an AK-47. In an affidavit, the FBI links Gathercole to at least two of those robberies. When Gathercole was arrested this month, authorities found a black ski mask like the one the bandit wore inside a stolen pickup Gathercole was allegedly driving; inside his own car, they say they found an AK-47. He's being held on charges of theft and possession of stolen firearms; federal charges have not yet been filed, per Fox News.

Gourmet Dinner Party for 25 on Mount Everest? No Problem

(Jan 30, 2017 2:09 PM) For a chef who's filleted and flambéd in some of Europe's top restaurants, planning a dinner party for two dozen people shouldn't present an issue—unless that dinner party happens to be nearly 18,000 feet in the air. Outside magazine outlines the challenges faced by James Sharman as he prepped for a gourmet meal at Mount Everest's Base Camp in December, an endeavor attempted at least once before but abandoned when the chef took ill with altitude sickness. Not only did Sharman and his team have to learn in general about Nepalese delicacies like goat spinal cord and yak yogurt, which they weren't terribly familiar with: They also had to figure out how to keep the victuals fresh during the nine-day trek to Base Camp and how to set up an entire kitchen and dining area on the icy landscape. This wasn't the first unconventional meal Sharman and his crew had overseen. Since last year, Sharman and his One Star House Party pop-up restaurant have been roaming the world, feeding free-spending diners in exotic locales such as Bangkok and Beijing. The 15 or so paying guests for the Everest shindig, which Sharman calls humbling, coughed up $1,050 for accommodations and food during the 14-day experience. Looking back, I can't believe all the things that came together, Sharman says. Some of the next few destinations on Sharman's itinerary, which a September New York Times article noted will span a two-year period: Nairobi, Reykjavik, and, per Vogue India, a possible Darjeeling Limited experience in which Sharman whips up a feast on a train that's chugging through India's tea country. (Meanwhile, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver recently caused a kerfuffle with sausage.)

'Fierce' Carnivore Documented in Iowa After 150-Year Absence

(Feb 15, 2017 1:23 PM) It's no Bigfoot sighting, but it'll do. KCCI reports a fisher has been documented in Iowa for the first time in 150 years. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, fishers are carnivores related to the weasel and otter and are known for their fierceness. There have been some reports of them in Iowa over the years but no proof until one was caught on a trail camera last November in Allamakee County. The Department of Natural Resources shared the image of Iowa's rare fisher on Tuesday. The department believes the animal may have wandered over from southeast Minnesota. It's unclear if fishers are on their way to permanently resettling in Iowa. The fisher has few natural predators besides humans, and the Department of Natural Resources warns that anyone who comes across one should keep their distance, WHO reports. (Meanwhile, the guy behind supposed Bigfoot footage says the famous clip nearly ruined him.)

Astros Beat Dodgers in Game 3

(Oct 27, 2017 11:15 PM CDT) George Springer and the Houston Astros broke out their bats in a four-run second inning, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Friday night for a 2-1 World Series lead, the AP reports. Yuli Gurriel homered to begin the four-run burst off loser Yu Darvish that also included run-scoring singles by Marwin Gonzalez and Brian McCann plus Alex Bregman's sacrifice fly. Lance McCullers Jr. allowed three runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings for the win and Brad Peacock followed with hitless relief for the save as the Astros improved to 7-0 at home this postseason and moved within two wins of their first title. Darvish lasted 1 2/3 innings in his shortest big league start. Charlie Morton starts for Houston in Game 4 on Saturday night against lefty Alex Wood.

Burglars Release 40K Mink From Fur Farm

(Jul 19, 2017 1:55 AM CDT) An estimated 40,000 mink destined to become coats were freed from a central Minnesota fur farm in what the local sheriff calls an act of domestic terrorism. Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson says he believes animal rights nitwits freed the animals but didn't steal any of them, the Pioneer Press reports. It's pretty hard to steal 30,000 to 40,000 mink, the sheriff says. What are you going to do, put them in a trunk? They'd chew your fingers off. Investigators say the burglars, who struck late Sunday or early Monday, dismantled part of an exterior fence before freeing the animals from their cages. A fur industry group is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the perpetrators. Fur farm co-owner Dan Lang says that since the mink were raised in captivity and have no survival skills, releasing them was a death sentence, 9News reports. Hundreds of the animals have already been found dead, though others are believed to have killed chickens at a nearby farm. If the perpetrators actually cared about animals they wouldn't release thousands of mink to die out in the heat, Gudmundson says. We've already got reports of chickens killed. Don't they care about God's chickens? Officials say that if many of the predators do survive long term, they could end up killing off a lot of the local wildlife.

Here's How Michelle and Barack Celebrated 25 Years

(Oct 3, 2017 4:17 PM CDT) A quarter of a century later, you’re still my best friend & the most extraordinary man I know, Michelle Obama posted on Instagram along with a photo of her and Barack at their Oct. 3, 1992 wedding. People reports the Obamas celebrated their silver wedding anniversary and first since leaving the White House on Tuesday. Barack responded to Michelle's post by crashing the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, where Michelle was speaking to Shonda Rhimes. Not only have you been an extraordinary partner, not only have you been a great friend, somebody who could always make me laugh, somebody who would always make sure that I was following what I thought was right, but you have also been an example to our daughters and to the entire country, People quotes Barack as saying in a video message that played at the conference. A teary-eyed Michelle joked to the crowd: I better get home.

16 & Pregnant Star Dead at 23

(Dec 22, 2016 9:14 AM) Valerie Fairman, who appeared on MTV reality show 16 and Pregnant in 2010, has died of an apparent drug overdose, her family tells TMZ. She was 23. Fairman was staying with a friend who found her unresponsive in the bathroom of her Pennsylvania home on Wednesday, relatives say. Fairman's years-long struggle with drugs was featured on the show; she's also faced charges including prostitution and was last week charged with resisting arrest and giving false identification to police, reports the Hollywood Gossip. Her 7-year-old daughter, Nevaeh, is now with her grandmother. (A reality TV contestant was just murdered.

This 34-Year-Old Is a Rising Star in Trump's Orbit

(Mar 12, 2017 4:40 PM CDT) Faced with aggressive on-air questioning about the president's wiretapping claims, Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't flinch, she went folksy. Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, she pulled out a version of an old line from President Lyndon Johnson: If the president walked across the Potomac, the media would be reporting that he could not swim. The 34-year-old spokeswoman for President Donald Trump was schooled in hardscrabble politics—and down-home rhetoric—from a young age by her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Her way with a zinger and her unshakable loyalty to an often unpredictable boss are big reasons why the deputy press secretary is a rising star in Trump's orbit, reports the AP. Sanders credits her larger-than-life dad with helping her learn how to deliver a message. Huckabee, a frequent political commentator, has long been famed for his pithy rhetoric. The two speak most mornings before 6am. I'll call and say, 'What do you think if I say this?' He'll say, 'That's really good. You might try to say it a little bit more like X,' she said. Arkansas-raised, Sanders moved her young family—a Republican consultant husband and three young kids—to Washington to be part of the administration. As White House press secretary Sean Spicer's public profile has fluctuated in recent weeks amid criticism of his performance, Sanders has increasingly become a chief defender of Trump in some of his toughest moments. Her rise has fueled speculation that she's becoming the president's favored articulator—a notion she disputes. The AP has more on her background.

Greta Van Susteren Is Out at MSNBC After Less Than 6 Months

(Jun 29, 2017 5:09 PM CDT) Greta Van Susteren's stop at a third cable news network proved to be short, the AP reports. MSNBC said Thursday that she's out after less than six months at the network, to be replaced by Ari Melber. Van Susteren began hosting a Washington-based 6pm weeknight show at MSNBC on Jan. 9, joining the network after her 14-year run at Fox News ended last summer following a financial disagreement. Before joining Fox, she had her own show at CNN. But with the Fox and MSNBC audiences usually diametrically opposed, it proved a poor fit. MSNBC has had its best ratings in network history in 2017, but Van Susteren hasn't shared in the riches. It was the least-watched show on MSNBC between 5pm and midnight both Monday and Tuesday of this week, according to the Nielsen company. On Monday, for example, MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily at 5pm had 970,000 viewers, and Van Susteren's show dipped to 797,000. When Chris Matthews' Hardball started at 7pm, the network's audience jumped to 1.45 million, Nielsen said. The show is ending despite the public backing of Van Susteren's friend and MSNBC's most popular host, Rachel Maddow. Van Susteren tweeted I'm out at MSNBC before MSNBC made its announcement Thursday afternoon. She had no immediate comment about the ouster. In a note to staff, MSNBC President Phil Griffin called Van Susteren a well-regarded television veteran and one of only a few broadcasters who can say they've hosted shows at all three major cable news networks. We are grateful to her and wish her the best. Melber will begin as permanent 6pm host sometime next month.

8th Tourist Dies in Dominican Republic; Cops Eye Booze

(Jun 14, 2019 1:44 PM CDT) By last count, six tourists had died under mysterious circumstances in the Dominican Republic over the last year or so, and now there's a seventh and an eighth. NBC News reports 53-year-old Leyla Cox of Staten Island died earlier this week at Punta Cana's Excellence resort. The family of 78-year-old American Jerry Curran also recently revealed that he died at the Dreams hotel there in January. This follows the death of two tourists at the island's Hard Rock resort (one in July 2018, one this past April), the death of a Pennsylvania woman in May at the Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville, and the deaths of a Maryland couple and a Philly woman at the Grand Bahia Principe la Romana—two in May, one in June. Meanwhile, a Denver couple that vacationed on the island in June 2018 tell Contact7 they also became sick at the Grand Bahia Principe. Back in the US, doctors told them they likely had pesticide poisoning; they now have a $1 million suit against the resort. At least three of the deaths have been tied to pulmonary edemas. Per the New York Post, cops and the FBI are looking into whether tainted alcohol may have played a role in any of the deaths, as some of the victims drank from their hotel mini-bars before falling ill. And, in what seems to be completely unrelated to the recent sicknesses, the family of a Florida surfer who went missing in the Dominican Republic in January 2016 is hoping that the current media attention on the illnesses, as well as on the shooting of ex-Red Sox star David Ortiz, will reinvigorate his case. Darryl Fornatora, then 45, was on vacation there with friend Matthew Rigby, but although Rigby came home, Fornatora didn't—and the family wonders if Rigby knows something. It's in their best interests to get to the bottom of all the incidents that have taken place there, Fornatora's mother told the New York Post this week.

Cops: 3 Children Found Dead in Home Outside Washington DC

(Aug 18, 2017 5:14 PM CDT) No arrest has been made in the slayings of three girls under the age of 10 who were found in a home in Clinton, a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, the AP reports. An adult family member found the dead children—all with trauma to their bodies—inside the home, and no suspects are in custody, according to Jennifer Donelan, a spokesperson for the Prince George's County Police Department. At a news conference Friday afternoon, officials sought to assure the community that police are working tirelessly to find those responsible. We are now in the midst of a major investigation into what happened to these children, who killed them, Donelan said. She called it one of the most difficult scenes that the department's officers have encountered, and said the department will provide counseling services to responding officers. Donelan said investigators can't say yet how, or even if, the three girls are related.

Man Who Killed 21 Cats May Be Deemed a Sex Offender

(Jan 28, 2017 10:53 AM) A California man who killed nearly two-dozen cats may be forced to register as a sex offender, but grieving pet owners will have to wait a little longer to find out, the Mercury News reports. Robert Farmer, 25, was found guilty of stealing, torturing, and killing 21 cats in October 2015 in San Jose. He's facing up to 16 years in prison for those crimes. A dead cat found in the car where he was sleeping when he was arrested showed signs of sexual abuse; if the court decides the murder of the cat was sexually motivated, Farmer could have to register as a sex offender. He needs to be registered for something, says one woman whose cat GoGo was taken from her porch. It's our only hope. Meanwhile, pet owners are frustrated as Farmer's sentencing date continues to be pushed back. It was delayed again on Friday. He's due back in court in March.

Prince Drummer John Blackwell Jr. Dies at 43

(Jul 5, 2017 12:30 AM CDT) More sad new for Prince fans: John Blackwell Jr., a drummer who played with Prince for 15 years, has died at the age of 43. In an Instagram post Tuesday, wife Yaritza said Blackwell had died peacefully in her company, TMZ reports. Blackwell was diagnosed with two brain tumors last year and had to learn to walk again after losing most of the function in his left arm and leg, People reports. He told WTSP at the time that Prince had been a father figure to him and he could imagine the late singer inviting him to play in heaven, USA Today reports. I can hear Prince now say 'I'll just call John,' he said. No you ain't! I don't want to do that gig. Not yet. Blackwell, a South Carolina native who started drumming when he was just three years old, inspired by his father, drummed with Patti LaBelle before joining Prince's New Power Generation in 2000. He was highly respected for his unique style of drumming. Other musicians paid tribute Tuesday to Blackwell, who also played with Cameo and Justin Timberlake. Your legend will live 4ever, tweeted Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. One of the best to ever pick up drumsticks.

3rd US State Just Raised Smoking Age to 21

(Jul 22, 2017 3:34 PM CDT) Gov. Chris Christie signed a law Friday that made New Jersey the third state to raise its smoking age to 21, the AP reports. Hawaii and California are the only other states where the smoking age is 21. On Friday, Christie cited the strain on the health care system caused by tobacco-related illnesses. He also noted that his mother died from the effects of smoking. By raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21, we are giving young people more time to develop a maturity and better understanding of how dangerous smoking can be and that it is better to not start smoking in the first place, Christie wrote. The restriction applies to tobacco products and electronic smoking devices. Christie vetoed a similar measure last year. Democratic Sens. Richard Codey and Joseph Vitale, the bill's co-sponsors, said reports show smoking causes about $4 billion in health care costs to the state each year. That amount doesn't include costs related to secondhand smoke or smokeless tobacco use, they said. Data surveys show that if individuals aren't smokers by 21 years of age, they will most likely not start later in their lives, Vitale said. Making it harder to buy cigarettes by raising the age to legally purchase them in New Jersey will help prevent our youth from becoming lifelong smokers and suffering the long-term effects of the habit.

$842K 'Renaissance' Painting Is, Er, Not: Suit

(Jan 19, 2017 8:12 AM) St. Jerome was said to have been painted by an Italian Renaissance master and was displayed at Vienna's national gallery before it was sold at auction in 2012 for $842,500. The buyer apparently overpaid. Sotheby's now says the artwork is a fake, not painted by Parmigianino in the 16th century but by a forger within the last 100 years, reports NPR. Before its sale, some had suspected St. Jerome was painted by an associate of Parmigianino, but all agreed it was 400 years old. When research lab Orion Analytical revealed a $10 million Dutch painting supposedly by Frans Hals to be a fake in October, however, it put all other artworks connected to the same dealer into question, including two others that turned out to be fakes, per ArtNet and the Art Newspaper. The dealer, Giuliano Ruffini, had also owned St. Jerome. A technical analysis by Orion Analytical's researchers found 21 areas of the painting contained the synthetic green pigment phthalocyanine green. It was first used in paints nearly four centuries after Parmigianino died and was not the result of a restoration, according to Sotheby's complaint. Sotheby's is now demanding St. Jerome's consignor, Lionel de Saint Donat-Pourrieres, repay $672,000 he received from the 2012 sale. Meanwhile, Ruffini—who is under investigation in France but has not been charged with a crime, per the New York Times—says he has his doubts about the St. Jerome analysis, citing experts and curators from the Metropolitan Museum who vouched for its age. (A work by Raphael may have been ignored for generations.)

Germany Raids 190 Sites, Bans Islamic Group

(Nov 15, 2016 1:03 AM) Hundreds of police officers searched about 190 offices, mosques, and apartments of members and supporters of the Islamic group The True Religion as the German government announced a ban of the organization Tuesday, the AP reports. Police raided places in 60 cities in western Germany and Berlin seizing documents and files, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. Nobody was detained. The group—also known as Read! —has been distributing German-language copies of the Koran across the country. The interior minister said that more than 140 youths had traveled to Syria and Iraq to join fighters there after having participated in the group's campaigns in Germany. The translations of the Koran are being distributed along with messages of hatred and unconstitutional ideologies, de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin. Teenagers are being radicalized with conspiracy theories. The minister stressed that the ban does not restrict freedom of religion in Germany or the peaceful practice of Islam in any way, but that the group had glorified terrorism and the fight against the German constitution in videos and meetings. We don't want terrorism in Germany ... and we don't want to export terrorism, de Maiziere said, adding that the ban was also a measure to help protect peaceful Islam.

Larry Nassar Gets Up to 175 Years for Abuse

(Jan 24, 2018 11:48 AM) The former sports doctor who admitted molesting some of the nation's top gymnasts for years was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison as the judge declared: I just signed your death warrant. The sentence capped a remarkable seven-day hearing in which scores of Larry Nassar's victims were able to confront him face to face in a Michigan courtroom, per the AP. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said Nassar's decision to assault was precise, calculated, manipulative, devious, despicable. She added: It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again. Nassar turned to the courtroom gallery to make a brief statement before his sentencing, saying that the accounts of more than 150 victims had shaken me to my core. He said no words can describe how sorry he is for his crimes. I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days he said as many of his accusers wept. Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty to assaulting seven people in the Lansing area, but the sentencing hearing has been open to anyone who said they were a victim. His accusers said he would use his ungloved hands to penetrate them, often without explanation, while they were on a table seeking help for various injuries. Nassar has already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week on more assault convictions in Eaton County, Michigan.

US Economy Off to Slowest Start in 3 Years

(Apr 28, 2017 11:23 AM CDT) The US economy turned in the weakest performance in three years in the January-March quarter as consumers sharply slowed their spending, the AP reports. The result repeats a pattern that has characterized the recovery: lackluster beginnings to the year. The gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, grew by just 0.7% in the first quarter following a gain of 2.1% in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The slowdown primarily reflected slower consumer spending, which grew by just 0.3% after a 3.5% gain in the fourth quarter—the poorest showing in more than seven years. Analysts blame in part the unusually warm winter, which meant less spending on utility bills. Economists believe the slowdown will be temporary and forecast GDP growth will rebound to 3% or better in the current quarter. Averaging the two quarters, they forecast growth of about 2% for the first half of 2017. That would be in line with the mediocre performance of the eight-year economic expansion, when growth has averaged just 2.1%, the poorest showing for any recovery in the post-WWII period. President Trump repeatedly attacked the weak GDP rates during the campaign as an example of Obama's failed economic policies and has said his program of tax cuts for individuals and businesses, deregulation, and being tougher on trade would double growth to 4% or better. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he believed growth above 3% is achievable, though private economists are dubious. Many analysts believe the impact of Trump's economic program won't be emerge until 2018.

After Corporate 'Soap Opera,' a $3.3B Deal for 7-Eleven, Sunoco

(Apr 6, 2017 2:13 PM CDT) Sunoco is selling most of its convenience stores, with their accompanying gas pumps, to Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven, in a deal valued at $3.3 billion as it looks to focus more on its fuel supply business, per the New York Times. About 1,110 convenience stores, mostly along the East Coast and in Texas, will be added to the 7-Eleven roster, the AP reports; approximately 200 convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma will be sold separately. The transaction also includes fuel, merchandise, and other inventories. It doesn't include Sunoco's APlus franchisee-run stores or its Aloha Petroleum unit in Hawaii. The Times notes the deal is part of Seven & i's US expansion after what it describes as a bit of a soap opera, in which its current president, Ryuichi Isaka, forced out the previous president, Toshifumi Suzuki, last year in a highly publicized battle. As part of the deal, Sunoco LP will have a 15-year take-or-pay fuel supply agreement with a 7-Eleven subsidiary, under which Sunoco will supply approximately 2.2 billion gallons of fuel a year. The sale, announced Thursday and believed to be Seven & i's biggest acquisition ever, is expected to close by the fourth quarter.

Indian Court: 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Can't Get Abortion

(Jul 20, 2017 8:15 PM CDT) A 10-year-old rape survivor in India has been denied an abortion, despite the fact that giving birth is risky at such a young age, the Times of India reports. Medical termination of pregnancy is allowed up to 20 weeks gestation, though exceptions are allowed if the mother's health is at risk, per CBS; an ultrasound found that the girl—who was allegedly raped multiple times by her uncle—is 26 weeks along. Medical experts say full-term pregnancy could be dangerous as the pelvic bones are not fully developed in someone so young; she will likely deliver via Caesarean section, which carries its own risks. The medical superintendent at the hospital where a panel of doctors examined the girl says that abortion would carry more of a risk, the Washington Post reports. And one doctor who was on that panel tells CBS (which says the girl is 30 weeks along) that the fetus is viable even if delivered now: Abortion is not an option at this stage. The only way to terminate the pregnancy is to deliver the baby. In a similar case, a court allowed a 10-year-old in the country an abortion at between 18 and 22 weeks pregnant. While the girl in the current case can appeal, experts say the process would likely not be completed before she is due to give birth.

Florida 8-Year-Old Nearly Killed by Pencil

(Nov 9, 2017 5:38 PM) Teacher Mandi Kapopoulos noticed a trail of juice in the hallway Nov. 1 at Equestrian Trails Elementary in Florida and followed it. That's when she saw third-grader Kolston Moradi and realized it wasn't juice. There were pools of blood at his feet and his whole shirt was covered in blood, Kapopoulos tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Moments earlier, Kolston had been stabbed in the arm by his own freshly sharpened pencil, which was poking out of his backpack. The pencil went about 6 inches deep near Kolston's armpit and jabbed an artery. Kolston tells WPTV he didn't really feel anything. He wasn’t screaming or crying or saying anything, Kapopoulos tells the Sun Sentinel. Kapopoulos says she wrapped her sleeve around Kolston's arm in a makeshift tourniquet and yelled for help. Elizabeth Richards, a fellow teacher who had spent two years in nursing school, elevated Kolston's arm and pressed on the wound. They stayed with the 8-year-old for the 20 minutes it took for emergency crews to get there. It's a good thing they did. The EMT told me that if the teachers hadn’t acted as quickly as they had, my son would be dead, Kolston's mom, Annalisa Moradi, tells the Palm Beach Post. Without them, this story would have been different, she adds to WPTV. Kolston got two staples in his arm at the hospital and returned to school the next day. His fellow students got a warning about keeping their pencils in their pencil cases.

Mubarak Goes Home for First Time in 6 Years

(Mar 24, 2017 7:21 AM CDT) Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is back at home, free following his release from custody after six years of legal proceedings, reports the AP. Mubarak left the Armed Forces hospital in Cairo's southern suburb of Maadi Friday morning and went to his house in the upscale district of Heliopolis under heavy security measures, says an Egyptian official. The 88-year-old Mubarak was acquitted by the country's top appeals court on March 2 of charges that he ordered the killing of protesters during the 2011 popular uprising that led to his ouster. During those 18 days of unrest at the start of the Arab Spring movement, an estimated 800 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces, reports the BBC.

You Could Buy Grey Gardens for $20M

(Feb 10, 2017 2:34 PM) A home in East Hampton made famous in a 1975 documentary—and again in an Emmy-winning 2009 HBO movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, and yet again in a Broadway musical—is for sale for the first time since 1979. That's right, Grey Gardens could be yours for the asking price of $19,995,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to Newsday, the three-story home built in 1897 sits on 1.7 acres and has seven bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and ocean views; it's only 100 yards from the beach. Grey Gardens is being sold by journalist Sally Quinn, who bought it for $220,000 along with her husband Ben Bradlee, the late Washington Post executive editor. The house was made famous by Little Edie Beale—Jackie O's cousin—who lived there with her mother Big Edie. The pair lived in a state of squalor as the house fell down around them. A real estate agent says the house has become American folklore. After purchasing Grey Gardens from Beale, Bradlee and Quinn spent about $600,000 repairing it, Atlas Obscura reports. It became their summer house where they would host parties with famous guests, such as Norman Lear and Lauren Bacall. Quinn says it was a magical place but wasn't the same without Bradlee, who died in 2014. Quinn and Bradlee had to promise Beale they wouldn't tear the house down, but Quinn is making no such requirement during the current sale.

11 Cruise Passengers, Guide Killed in Mexico Bus Crash

(Dec 20, 2017 12:55 AM) A bus carrying cruise ship passengers on an excursion to Mayan ruins in southeastern Mexico flipped over on a narrow highway Tuesday, killing 11 tourists, including a child, and their Mexican tour guide. Around 20 other people were injured, officials say. Seven Americans and two Swedes are among the injured, says Vicente Martin, spokesman for the Quintana Roo state civil defense agency. Authorities have not yet established the nationalities of the dead. Martin says investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred as the bus was on its way to the ruins at Chacchoben, about 110 miles south of Tulum. The bus ended up on its side in vegetation along the two-lane road.

2 Men Arrested in Shooting of 2 Officers, Woman

(Sep 2, 2017 2:10 PM CDT) Authorities have arrested two men suspected of wounding two St. Louis police officers in an attack that also left a 24-year-old woman in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, the AP reports. Acting Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole said Friday evening that the third victim was in her home directly behind the officers when they were attacked. The woman's mother identified her as Tamara Collier and said she was wounded when a bullet went through their back door and struck her while she was doing laundry, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. She said she returned from the store after seeing police in the neighborhood and found her daughter lying in a pool of blood. Collier's 1-year-old daughter was at home at the time of the shooting but wasn't hurt. A 35-year-old male officer and 32-year-old female officer were treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds to their legs and hands and facial wounds caused by shrapnel. They were in stable condition. O'Toole said the suspects are 22 and 24 years old and have criminal records. He described them as violent offenders but didn't provide further details. Authorities recovered a handgun and an assault rifle that they believe was the weapon that fired the bullet that struck Collier. The injured officers are members of a unit that investigates gang crimes. O'Toole said they were patrolling the area in their car and were ambushed by the suspects. He did not say how the suspects were taken into custody other than it occurred without more shots being fired.

KFC Only Follows 11 People on Twitter, and It's Genius

(Oct 20, 2017 8:57 AM CDT) We're not sure if the guy who goes by the Twitter handle @edgette22 does any detective work on the side, but he may want to look into it. Mashable reports the online sleuth made a startling find during what must have been a day filled with downtime, and it involves KFC's Twitter account. @KFC follows 11 people, he tweeted Thursday, before going on to detail exactly who those 11 are: 5 Spice Girls and 6 guys named Herb. A quick glance on the KFC account confirms the findings, showing the accounts for Mel B, Victoria Beckham, and their former bandmates, as well as those for the half-dozen Herbs, including jazz musician Herb Alpert, Herb Sendek (the head coach for the men's basketball team at Santa Clara University), and Herb Scribner, a writer for the Deseret News. Scribner, in fact, apparently noticed the KFC follow last month, per BuzzFeed, posting on Twitter he found the surprise follow cute. All of this has earned the KFC account a compliment of well played from the AV Club; another commenter wonders if the herb-to-spice ratio has been officially revealed. Meanwhile, Business Insider has ID'd Edge as Mike Edgette, a social media staffer for a PR firm, and while he's still letting this all sink in— 11 Herbs & Spices. I need time to process this —he's also starting to feel the burden of sudden social-media fame. I feel like @carterjwm. Just without the free nuggets, he tweeted Friday, referencing the teen who caught Wendy's eye earlier this year with a viral tweet and earned a year's worth of chicken nuggets for his efforts.

SUV Rams Crowd of Christmas Shoppers, Injures 19

(Dec 21, 2017 2:27 AM) In what Australian authorities are calling a deliberate act of evil, an SUV plowed into Christmas shoppers on one of Melbourne's busiest streets Thursday afternoon, injuring at least 19 people. Authorities say at least a dozen people were hospitalized after the attack outside Flinders Street station, including four in critical condition and a pre-school child in serious condition with a head injury, CNN reports. Police say after the white SUV crashed into a bollard, a nearby off-duty police officer entered the vehicle to detain the driver before armed police arrived, reports the Melbourne Herald-Sun, which identifies the suspect as 32-year-old Afghan-Australian Saeed Noori. The off-duty officer was injured in the struggle with the driver and was hospitalized.

1st Exit Polls From Germany's Election Are In

(Sep 24, 2017 11:36 AM CDT) Exit polls suggest Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc has finished first in Germany's election, putting her in a position to lead the country for a fourth term, the AP reports. Exit polls conducted for public television channels ARD and ZDF suggested support for Merkel's conservatives was between 32.5% and 33.5% in Sunday's vote. They indicate challenger Martin Schulz's Social Democrats trailed in second place with between 20% and 21% support. The polls also suggested that the anti-migrant, nationalist Alternative for Germany party will enter the national parliament for the first time with 13% to 13.5% support. The Social Democratic Party called the Alternative for Germany party a right-wing extremist party that doesn't belong in parliament.

Maryland Track Coach Accused of Abusing 42 Kids

(Oct 25, 2017 3:59 AM CDT) The number of victims believed to have been abused by a track coach and school aide in Maryland has almost doubled: A 206-count indictment made public this week accuses 30-year-old Carlos Deangelo Bell of abusing 42 boys between May 2015 and June 2017, Fox News reports. In July, he was arrested and accused of abusing 24 boys. The State's Attorney for Charles County says Bell is accused of abusing boys between the ages of 11 and 17 at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, his home, and other locations. Bell is HIV-positive, and five counts in the new indictment accuse him of trying to transmit the virus to his victims, People reports. None of them have tested positive, authorities say, though 14 of the 42 have yet to be identified. Bell, who allegedly forced the boys to perform sex acts on him and recorded the abuse on video, was investigated and removed from his job late last year after a parent found inappropriate messages from him on her son's phone. The indictment includes 22 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, 19 counts of second-degree sex offenses, seven counts of third-degree sex offenses, 97 counts of child pornography, and other offenses. CNN reports that Bell, who could face life in prison if convicted on some of the charges, is being held without bond and is expected to go to trial in January.

Woman Who Sent Texts Urging Suicide Gets 15 Months in Jail

(Aug 3, 2017 3:17 PM CDT) A woman who encouraged her suicidal boyfriend to kill himself in dozens of text messages and told him to get back in a truck filled with toxic gas was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter, the AP reports. Michelle Carter was convicted in June by a judge who said her final instruction to Conrad Roy III caused his death. Carter was 17 when the 18-year-old Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in July 2014. Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz gave Carter a 2½-year jail sentence but said she had to serve only 15 months of that. He also sentenced her to five years of probation. He granted a defense motion that would keep Carter out of jail until her appeals in Massachusetts courts are exhausted. Carter's lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, had asked the judge to spare his client any jail time and instead give her five years of probation and require her to receive mental health counseling. Prosecutor Maryclare Flynn called probation just not reasonable punishment for Carter's role in Roy's death. The prosecution sought the maximum sentence of 20 years. Cataldo argued that Roy was determined to kill himself and nothing Carter did could change that. Cataldo also argued that Carter's words amounted to free speech protected by the First Amendment. In convicting Carter, the judge focused his ruling on Carter telling Roy to get back in after he climbed out of his truck as it was filling with carbon monoxide and told her he was afraid. The judge said those words constituted wanton and reckless conduct under the manslaughter statute.

Tiny Bird Doesn't Land for 10 Months

(Oct 28, 2016 12:58 PM CDT) The common swift makes its cousin's six months in continuous flight look like nothing more than a hop, skip, and a jump. The tiny bird easily steals the record for longest continuous flight by spending 10 months in the air without landing once, reports NPR, by way of a study in Current Biology. In 2013, researchers at Sweden's Lund University strapped adult swifts with accelerometers that recorded when the birds flapped their wings and discovered that they spent all but two months of the year aloft, even as they migrated across the equator and back. Some touched down briefly, probably during bad weather, but, overall, more than 99% of the 10-month nonbreeding period was spent in the sky. That means the fittingly-named birds—their species name, Apus, translates to footless, reports Discover—ate moths and other insects to sustain themselves while in the air. It's clear they saved energy gliding on rising air, but researchers say it's possible they slept, too. Except to lay their eggs and raise their young, which swifts do for the other two months of the year, there is no need for them to [land] unless … they encounter very bad weather, study author Anders Hedenström says, per the Los Angeles Times. Actually, swifts are rather clumsy on the ground and their wings and feet not well suited to taking off from a flat surface, reports National Geographic, so it's safer for them up in the air. (Migrating birds are in trouble.)

6 Charged in 1989 Tragedy That Changed Soccer Forever

(Jun 28, 2017 8:40 AM CDT) In what the BBC says PM Theresa May is calling a day of mixed emotions, British prosecutors charged six people Wednesday in the April 15, 1989, Hillsborough stadium disaster in which 96 soccer fans died, many of them crushed to death—the first criminal charges in the tragedy that changed English soccer forever. Those charged include the then-police commander, David Duckenfield, accused of gross negligence manslaughter in the deaths of 95 people (no manslaughter charge was issued for the 96th casualty because he died four years after the tragedy, the AP notes). The ex-South Yorkshire Police chief, Norman Bettison, is charged with misconduct in public office for lying about the disaster and its aftermath, and Graham Henry Mackrell, the Sheffield Wednesday Football Club's safety officer at the time, was charged for failing to carry out health and safety duties. A police attorney and two officers were also charged. The tragedy at the Sheffield stadium unfolded when more than 2,000 Liverpool soccer fans flooded into a standing-room section, with the 54,000-capacity stadium already nearly full for the match against Nottingham Forest. The victims were smashed against metal anti-riot fences or trampled underfoot; many suffocated. At the time, there were attempts to defend the police operation, and a false narrative circulated that blamed rowdy Liverpool fans. The original inquest recorded verdicts of accidental death, but victims' families, who the Guardian notes fought for years to see justice done, challenged it and saw the verdicts overturned in 2012. The disaster spurred a sweeping modernization of UK stadiums.

2016 Is 'the Worst'? That's a First-World Problem

(Dec 29, 2016 11:07 AM) With the bookends of David Bowie dying and the deaths of Carrie Fisher and mom Debbie Reynolds—and Prince, George Michael, Brexit, and a contentious US election in between—Sam Sanders admits he, like many others, has taken to calling 2016 the worst. But Sanders writes for NPR that while the past 12 months may indeed deserve a spot in the midst of a white-hot dumpster fire, 2016 may not have actually been as bad as all that—and it surely can't be the worst year of all time, he notes. He runs through things that many Americans can be thankful for, including a recovering economy, our relatively safe existence, and, yes, for Trump supporters, a satisfying conclusion to Election 2016. Plus, much of the '2016 is awful' rhetoric was helped along by what Nikki Usher, a George Washington University media professor, calls ambient journalism, a nonstop engagement with online news and headlines via social media that basically, over time … becomes an assault. Every five minutes, another sad headline, another Twitter mention or fight, another shared link on Facebook, another push notification. Another hit, Sanders writes. Combine that with this year's seemingly prevailing narrative—that of a nation, and even a world, completely and disastrously divided, perhaps beyond repair —and it's easy to see why 2016 has earned its black-sheep status on the calendar. Lots of crappy, bad things happen every year, but you aren't told over and over again that this just shows us how bad everything is, Usher notes. There's also the medium of the Internet itself, often used ironically, with hyperbole, and usually, with a wink and a nod by people who are privileged enough to have access to it, University of Southern California professor Robert Hernandez notes. Let's … acknowledge that saying 2016 is the worst on Twitter says more about the tweeter, and the medium, than perhaps about the year itself, Sanders says. His full take here.

Mila, Ashton Welcome Baby No. 2

(Dec 2, 2016 12:10 AM) Congratulations to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who've welcomed a little brother for their 2-year-old daughter, Wyatt Isabelle, into the world. A rep confirms to E! News and People that Kunis had a baby boy, the couple's second child, on Wednesday. No word yet on a name. In a Today show appearance in October, Kutcher accidentally revealed the sex of the baby they were expecting when he told Savannah Guthrie that Wyatt points to Mila and she's like, 'baby brother, and then she points to dad and she goes, 'Beer.' (Here's why they decided to name their daughter Wyatt.

Buffett Has Bought $12B in Stocks Since Trump Win

(Feb 1, 2017 2:29 AM) Warren Buffett didn't want Donald Trump to be president—but the Berkshire Hathaway chief didn't get rich by ignoring investment opportunities. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, the billionaire revealed that his company has invested more than $12 billion in stocks since Trump won the election, more than it spent in the preceding three years, Reuters reports. Buffett owns an 18% stake in Berkshire, which is expected to disclose its stock buys in a mid-February filing. Fortune reports that with the help of the Trump rally in the markets, Buffett's net worth has risen by 9%, or $6.4 billion, since the election, making him the world's second-richest man. (Buffett, a Clinton supporter, said Trump had no excuse for not releasing his tax returns.

2 Dead and 8 Hurt After Bar Erupts in Gunfire

(Sep 21, 2019 11:35 AM CDT) Authorities said a shooting at a bar in South Carolina left two people dead and eight injured early Saturday, the AP reports. The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the agency was investigating a shooting at a bar at about 2:45am. Two adult males were shot and killed. Four injured victims were airlifted to medical facilities for treatment. The other four people were treated at local facilities for injuries considered noncritical. An eleventh victim was treated and released for minor injuries incurred after falling down while trying to flee. The victims' identities were not released. The statement said authorities were not sure whether more than one person fired a weapon.

Now a Schedule 1 Drug: CBD Hemp Oil

(Dec 19, 2016 8:15 AM) A cannabidiol hemp oil that Leafly says is used by hundreds of thousands of patients in the US for a variety of medical purposes, including to help relieve seizures, has been designated a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA, 7NEWS reports. Schedule 1 drugs (which are illegal and include LSD and heroin) are said to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The announcement published in the Federal Register last week details the new ruling for CBD, which sets aside a new code number for marihuana extract and pertains to any extract containing one or more cannabinoids ... derived from any plant of the genus Cannabis. This decision came despite the fact that CBD from hemp—cannabis with no more than between 0.3% and 1% of the active ingredient THC—has been widely available up till now via mail order and the internet. Companies selling it have been operating under assumed legality because of CBD's low THC levels, Leafly notes—an apparently murky area. The DEA made a similar move in 2001 when it failed in an attempt to ban all hemp products. Leafly lays out the legalese surrounding CBD products and how it thinks patients could avoid prosecution in the 28 medical marijuana states and DC. The DEA cannot create a statute, a lawyer specializing in cannabis law tells Leafly. That can only be done by Congress. The DEA notes it created the regulation to comply with international drug treaties, per the Marijuana Resources blog. This is a misguided and, frankly, ignorant move by the DEA, says Jeffrey Zucker, co-founder of a strategy firm for the cannabis industry. CBD does nothing but help people, and to put it on a level with heroin is absurd. (Why hemp is poorly understood. )

Trump's Doodle Sells at Auction for $29K

(Jul 29, 2017 11:43 AM CDT) It's neither good nor bad, the New Yorker's art critic tells NBC News. It's curious. I don't get any pleasure from it. But it is intriguing. Nevertheless, a simple sketch of the New York skyline drawn and signed by President Trump in 2005 was sold at auction Thursday for $29,184. The founder of the auction house tells the New York Times that's an unheard of amount for a presidential signature outside of Lincoln or the founding fathers. It's an extremely high price, and it's pretty much unprecedented for a modern president, Nate Sanders says. He attributes it to Trump's wow factor. Trump's skyline doesn't feature the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, or Chrysler Building, but Trump Tower sits proudly in the middle of the drawing. The president originally made the sketch for a charity event fighting illiteracy.

Ex-Trump Adviser Has Had Arrest Warrant Out Since 2016

(Jan 18, 2018 5:19 PM) President Trump's deputy assistant was a wanted man during his seven-month stint in the White House, the Guardian reports. A warrant out of Hungary states Sebastian Gorka has been wanted on charges for firearm or ammunition abuse since September 2016. According to BuzzFeed, the warrant is still active. It's unclear what Gorka did to earn the warrant, though he has boasted in the past of regularly carrying two pistols and was stopped trying to carry a pistol through an airport in 2016. A Hungarian news outlet reports the warrant could be from an incident in 2009. Gorka, a former Breitbart writer, tells the Guardian the warrant is more #FAKENEWS. On Twitter he responded to coverage of the warrant by saying he moved to the US in 2008. New York notes Gorka didn't necessarily have to be living in Hungary to have been there at some point in 2009. Gorka's actual role at the White House was unclear before he left in August (he claims he resigned, but reports say he was fired by new chief of staff John Kelly). However, it does appear Gorka was wanted by Hungary at the same time he met with that country's foreign minister as a White House adviser, which is, if nothing else, slightly ironic.