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Dow Ends Day Down 45

(Mar 27, 2017 3:11 PM CDT) US stock indexes finished a bumpy day mostly lower as losses for phone companies and banks outweighed gains in health care stocks, the AP reports. Major indexes clawed back some of the ground they lost in early Monday as investors worried that the defeat of the Republican-backed health care bill might make it tougher to pass business-friendly policies like tax reform. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,341. It was down almost 1% earlier. The Dow Jones industrial average gave back 45 points, or 0.2%, to 20,550. The Nasdaq rose 11 points, or 0.2%, to 5,840. About as many stocks rose as fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Maryland Home Has Been Hit by Cars 5 Times

(Feb 2, 2017 1:53 PM) For the fifth time, a Maryland house has been the victim of an out-of-control car. When he crashed into the wall, I said, 'Damn, another car hit my house,' homeowner Leonard Miller, 88, tells Fox 5 DC. Miller has lived in the Prince George's County home since 1971, and he says early Wednesday morning is at least the fifth time a car has come over a hill approaching his house and lost control as it turned a corner, causing it to jump the curb and ram into a wall. The crashes typically happen when it's dark out, and Miller tells WJLA drivers fly down the street near his house, where the posted speed limit is 30mph. Repairs have been necessary after each crash; a past crash snapped the wooden pillars that used to stand in front, NBC Washington reports. This time, the car broke through the outer brick of the home—including some of the brick pillars that replaced the aforementioned wooden ones—as well as two windows. (The driver is OK, and no charges have been filed.) The county says if it receives a formal request, it will investigate whether the area qualifies for a traffic study. (An Indiana home has been hit by cars at least 11 times; a New Brunswick home, nine.)

These Stingrays Can Be 8 Feet Wide, Are Turning Up Dead

(Nov 11, 2016 11:44 AM) Picture a stingray. Is it 8 feet wide? Didn't think so, but that's the incredible size the giant freshwater stingray can grow to. Less incredible: More than 70 of the endangered fish have turned up dead in Thailand's Mae Klong River in recent weeks, reports National Geographic, and pollution is believed to be the culprit. For one thing, the fact that the stingrays' internal organs were destroyed indicates toxic contamination of the water, reported the Bangkok Post in mid-October—when there were believed to be just 150 stingrays left in the river, per another Post article. While it's possible the stingrays were poisoned by cyanide meant to kill other fish, officials believe the blame rests with an ethanol plant where a broken pipe caused wastewater containing high levels of ammonia to enter the river in late September, per the Post. One thing is clear: a reduction of pollution from surrounding factories is needed to improve the health of the river and save the stingrays in the long term, a biology professor tells National Geographic. (A zoo accidentally killed more than 50 stingrays.)

Maria's Death Toll Hits 10 and Counting in Puerto Rico

(Sep 23, 2017 5:04 PM CDT) A humanitarian crisis grew Saturday in Puerto Rico as towns were left without fresh water, fuel, power, or phone service following Hurricane Maria's devastating passage across the island, the AP reports. A group of anxious mayors arrived in the capital to meet with Gov. Ricardo Rossello to present a long list of items they urgently need. The north coastal town of Manati had run out of fuel and fresh water, Mayor Jose Sanchez Gonzalez said. Hysteria is starting to spread. The hospital is about to collapse. It's at capacity, he said, crying. We need someone to help us immediately. The death toll from Maria in Puerto Rico was at least 10, including two police officers who drowned in floodwaters in the western town of Aguada. That number was expected to climb as officials from remote towns continued to check in with officials in San Juan. Authorities in the town of Vega Alta on the north coast said they had been unable to reach an entire neighborhood and were particularly worried about residents of a nursing home. I need to get there today, Mayor Oscar Santiago said. Not tomorrow, today. Rossello said Maria would clearly cost more than the last major storm to wallop the island, Hurricane Georges in September 1998. This is without a doubt the biggest catastrophe in modern history for Puerto Rico, he said. Officials said 1,360 of the island's 1,600 cellphone towers were downed, and 85% of above-ground and underground phone and internet cables were knocked out. With roads blocked and phones dead, officials said, the situation may worsen. We haven't seen the extent of the damage, said Rossello, who didn't know when power might be restored.

US Offers $25M Bounty for ISIS Leader

(Dec 17, 2016 6:15 AM) The US doesn't want Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to be another one that got away. The State Department has more than doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of the ISIS leader, who is rumored to be in Mosul or in ISIS-held territory west of the Iraqi city, Reuters reports. The reward has gone from $10 million to $25 million for al-Baghdadi, who was labeled a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2011, the State Department said in a press release. After the offensive to retake Mosul from the militant group began, al-Baghdadi released his first message in almost a year, telling followers that holding your ground in honor is a thousand times better than retreating in disgrace.

Drug Costs $3, Is OTC, and Could Save 30K Lives a Year

(Apr 27, 2017 12:22 PM CDT) Each year, more than 100,000 women around the world die from hemorrhaging after giving birth, mainly in underdeveloped nations. But the Guardian reports a cheap, safe drug that's been used for other conditions may be able to reduce that number, to the tune of 30,000 lives saved annually. A study in the Lancet followed 20,060 women in 21 countries who started to bleed after childbirth. At the hospital, women were given a placebo or tranexamic acid, an OTC drug used in industrialized countries as a skin lightener or to help with heavy periods; nearly one-third of those given the real deal survived. These results emerged only if the drug was administered within three hours after hemorrhaging began. Study lead author Haleema Shakur says of the women in that group who died, some took too long to get to the hospital after bleeding started, while others may have died from underlying sicknesses. Study co-author Ian Robert notes tranexamic acid's original purpose when it was created 50 years ago—NPR gives credit to Utako Okamoto, a female doctor in Japan—was to stop bleeding after childbirth, but its inventors couldn't sway doctors to do trials. Now we finally have these results, Roberts tells the Guardian. There are issues with how scalable the drug would be (most women take it via a tablet, which may take too long to be absorbed to be effective), but other alternatives are being examined, such as injection, a capsule under the tongue, and even a pre-birth tablet for high-risk cases. Plus, the side effects don't appear to be significant, and the low cost is a major draw: It's said to cost around $3 in the UK, and one-fourth that in Pakistan, per NPR. If you can save a life for approximately $3, then I believe that's worth doing, Shakur says. (Sweden has a giving birth in a car class.)

After 7 Days of Legal Pot Sales, Nevada Declares Emergency

(Jul 11, 2017 1:02 PM CDT) Nevada on July 1 became the fifth state to sell recreational marijuana to the public, and one week later, it declared an emergency. But the chaos is on the licensing side of things. The new law allows those 21 and up to buy up to an ounce of pot from what are 47 licensed dispensaries, reports the AP. The problem, explains Vice News, is that the only way for dispensaries to legally get pot for the next 18 months is via wholesale liquor distributors, who secured the exclusive right via a November ballot measure. But of the seven liquor distributors to have applied for a license to restock dispensaries, zero have met the application requirements. That's where the statement of emergency, signed Friday by Gov. Brian Sandoval, comes in. It says the emergency regulation is needed to allow the Department of Taxation to figure out whether limiting licenses to liquor dealers will result in an insufficient number of pot distributors in the state. This is a real concern, because without pot sales, the State will not realize the revenue on which the State budget relies. Indeed, the Las Vegas Sun reports the first four days of sales brought in $500,000 in tax revenue, with the six-month tax estimate set at $30 million. The whole thing has been a bit of a saga: In mid-June, liquor distributors won a preliminary injunction banning the state from handing out licenses to other entities, Reason notes. As for how pot sales have happened to date, dispensaries were able to stock up pre-July 1. But some establishments report the need for delivery within the next several days, a rep for the department said in an email to the Reno Gazette-Journal Friday.

Trucker Loses 38K Pounds of Marbles

(Jan 22, 2017 7:31 AM) A trucker has lost his marbles in the Indianapolis area, literally, jokes Indiana State Police rep John Perrine. A truck carrying 38,000 pounds of marbles lost its trailer Saturday on southbound Interstate 465, near Pendleton Pike, reports WXIN. The marbles spilled out on the shoulder and in the median. There were no injuries, notes the AP, but a lane of traffic in that area was affected by the cleanup during much of the day. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, notes RTV6.

S&P 500, Dow Close at All-Time Highs

(Jun 19, 2017 3:11 PM CDT) Big gains in technology companies sent major US stock indexes to more record high closes on Wall Street, the AP reports. Apple, already the world's most valuable publicly traded company, added another 2.9% Monday. Google's parent company Alphabet rose 1.7%. Health care companies and banks also did well. Biogen climbed 3.5% and Morgan Stanley rose 2.8%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20 points, or 0.8%, to 2,453. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 144 points, or 0.7%, to 21,528. The Nasdaq composite climbed 87 points, or 1.4%, to 6,239. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrials both closed at all-time highs.

Girl, 11, Dies on Theme Park Water Ride

(May 10, 2017 4:46 AM CDT) Police in Britain are investigating the tragic death of an 11-year-old girl on a water ride at the Drayton Manor theme park. Officials at the park say the girl, who was on a school trip, was fatally injured when she fell from the Splash Canyon ride on Tuesday afternoon, CNN reports. The ride, which is billed as featuring fast-flowing rapids, has 21 boats with a capacity of six riders each, reports the BBC. Witnesses say Evha Jannath, who was on her last ride of the day, stood up to change seats and fell in after the boat hit a rock. A classmate tells the Telegraph that Evha almost missed the trip after turning up in the wrong clothes, but she was allowed to borrow an acceptable outfit from the school.

Woman IDed 27 Years After Being Hit by 2 Cars, Killed

(May 12, 2017 4:59 PM CDT) On the night of April 1, 1990, a woman crossing the street in Huntington Beach was hit by one car, then a second, and died at the scene. For 27 years, police have tried to figure out who she was—and now she's finally been identified. Andrea Kuiper of Fairfax, Va., an artist who suffered from manic depression, started using drugs, and moved to California. Two months before her death at age 26 that night in 1990, a friend called her family to say she was safe, and they never heard news of her again. They never filed a missing persons report. Now they have answers, and in a statement, her father says they are thankful to know what happened to our daughter after all these years. Andrea was loved and respected. She was beautiful. But she was manic depressive, and therefore we had been through quite an adventure. Authorities, thinking she could be a teenager, submitted her data to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and her story was featured on TV's Unsolved Mysteries. In 2010, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) was created, and authorities added her information to that. But none of those measures led to an identification. Then, this year, the FBI worked with NamUs to closely examine fingerprints, and found a match for the unidentified victim: fingerprints given by Andrea Kuiper when she applied for a job with the Department of Agriculture three years before her death, ABC 7 reports. Authorities are happy to have given the former Jane Doe her identity back, but it's a tragic end for her family; per the Los Angeles Times, Kuiper's dad says they always hoped she'd drive up in a car full of beautiful children and say, ‘Hi, it’s me.'

Hawking: Actually, We Have 100 Years to Escape Earth

(May 4, 2017 7:49 AM CDT) Stephen Hawking is giving humanity a tall order: Colonize Mars in the next century or watch as life on Earth fizzles out. After last year claiming that humans have 1,000 years left on Earth, Hawking says in a new documentary that we instead have about 100 years until we'll need to jump ship as Earth is overwhelmed by overpopulation, climate change, disease, and artificial intelligence. It might be a bit premature to start packing, but the BBC's Expedition New Earth will explore technological and scientific advances that will enable life in space or a colony on another planet, reports the Telegraph. It will show Hawking's ambition isn't as fantastical as it sounds—that science fact is closer to science fiction than we ever thought, the BBC says, per Newsweek. Elon Musk of SpaceX is already planning to send humans to Mars in the next decade. But while a Mars colony is a good idea, bringing new scientific discoveries, columnist Eric Mack says Hawking needs to give his head a shake if he honestly believes Mars, the moon, or anywhere else in our solar system will be more hospitable than Earth even after a host of disasters. Just cleaning up our own mess and starting over by rising from the rubble seems more practical and more affordable than figuring out how to grow food or survive radiation poisoning on Mars, he writes at Forbes. The solution to all of our problems is here on Earth, he adds. Yet somehow, the grass is always greener for some people, even when it's on a dead Red Planet. (For some much funnier Hawking news, check out this skit.)

Chelsea Manning Gives 1st Interview Since Release

(Jun 9, 2017 10:23 AM CDT) Chelsea Manning believed she had a responsibility to the public and didn't think she was risking national security when she leaked a trove of classified documents, the soldier said in her first interview since being released from a military prison last month, per the AP. The 29-year-old formerly known as Bradley Manning said in a pre-taped interview broadcast Friday on ABC's Good Morning America that she was prompted to give the 700,000 military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks because of the human toll of the death, destruction, and mayhem she saw as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq. She told ABC that she has accepted responsibility for her actions. No one told me to do this. No one directed me to do this. This is me. It's on me, she said. Manning was released from a military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 18 after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted by former President Barack Obama in his final days in office. Obama said in January he felt justice had been served. She hasn't spoken to Obama since her release, but emotionally thanked him in the interview for giving her another chance. Manning also touched on her struggles dealing with her gender transition while in prison. She says she tried to kill herself twice behind bars and fought for the hormone treatments she says keep her alive. Manning remains in the Army, but is off duty while she appeals her court-martial conviction. I have nothing but utmost respect for the military, she said in the interview, per ABC.

Iceland's First Baby of 1980 Pulls Off 2017 Longshot

(Jan 3, 2017 11:47 AM) Cities and countries around the world take note of the first baby born in each year, but Iceland's 2017 case is rather exceptional. The country's first baby of the year was born at three minutes after midnight on Sunday to mother Katrín Guðjónsdóttir, who not only has the same birthday but was Iceland's first baby of 1980, reports the Reykjavik Grapevine. Guðjónsdóttir, who gave birth at a hospital in Selfoss, tells the BBC she joked that her son would be the first baby of 2017 but never believed this could happen.

Melania Trump Wanted $150M From Tabloid, Got $3M

(Apr 12, 2017 8:20 AM CDT) Melania Trump just made the Daily Mail and Mail Online pay up on her libel claims. Per the Guardian, the newspaper and website have apologized and fully retracted and withdrawn false and defamatory allegations about the first lady made in an article originally published last August, a statement noted in a Royal Courts of Justice proceeding Wednesday in London. This settles two lawsuits Trump had brought against the newspaper's publisher in which she'd sought $150 million in damages. Although the Guardian and New York Times didn't have an exact figure on how much Trump will be getting, CNNMoney and the AP cite sources that indicate the total payout for both complaints will be $2.9 million for damages and expenses. Some of the allegations Trump was pushing back on involved skeptical statements about her modeling career, with accusations she'd provided services beyond simply modeling, the statement read. Besides alleging she was an escort (which both Trump and the modeling agency she worked for denied in the article), the piece also said Trump and husband Donald Trump had met three years before they said they did, and that the later meeting was simply a ruse that they staged —which Trump also says is false. We accept that these allegations about Mrs. Trump are not true, the statement noted, adding the paper was sorry for any distress the article may have caused her. (The article ruined a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Trump.)

Turkey Vows 'Vengeance' as Soccer Blasts Kill 30 Cops

(Dec 11, 2016 6:03 AM) Turkey declared a national day of mourning and began to bury its dead Sunday after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium, reports the AP. It was the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats. The bombs Saturday night targeted police, killing 30 of them along with seven civilians and an unidentified person, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday. He said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the terrorist attack. Sooner or later, we will have our vengeance, said Soylu, speaking at a funeral, per Sky News. This blood will not be left on the ground, no matter what the price, what the cost. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkey would overcome terrorism. We have once again witnessed tonight in Istanbul the ugly face of terror, which tramples on every value and decency, Erdogan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the private news channel CNN Turk that arrows point to the PKK, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency. The first and larger explosion took place about 7:30pm Saturday after the home team Besiktas beat visitor Bursaspor 2-1 in the Turkish Super League. Erdogan said the timing aimed to maximize loss of life. Soylu said the first explosion was caused by a passing vehicle that detonated in an area where police special forces were located at the stadium exit. Moments later, a person in nearby Macka Park committed suicide by triggering explosives. The civilian death toll was lower because fans had already left the newly built Vodafone Arena Stadium after the soccer match when the blasts occurred. Soylu said 136 people remained hospitalized Sunday after the attack, including 14 under intensive care.

4 Kids Dead After Pesticide Creates Toxic Gas Under House

(Jan 3, 2017 4:03 AM) Four children are dead and six family members are in the hospital after what officials are calling an accidental poisoning at a Texas home, reports CNN. Officials were called to a mobile home in Amarillo around 5am Monday after an individual arrived and found a family of 10 sick. Officials found one child dead at the scene while three others died at a hospital. After ruling out a carbon monoxide leak, they discovered a family member had sprayed an aluminum phosphide pesticide beneath the home to get rid of mice, then sprayed it with water in an attempt to get rid of an odor on Sunday. The combination created a very lethal chemical known as toxic phosphine gas, which seeped into the home overnight, a fire official tells Amarillo Globe-News. As phosphine gas can cause respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, when the lungs fill with fluid, aluminum phosphide pesticide is only sold to people that have a license to apply it, another official tells KFDA. In this case, however, it appears to have been purchased on the black market by a family member who didn't know enough about the chemical. Autopsies are expected to be performed Tuesday on the deceased, identified as siblings Felipe Balderas, 7; Johnnie Balderas, 9; Josue Balderas, 11; and Yasmeen Balderas, 17, per KLEW. The mother of the children remains hospitalized in critical condition, while the father and four other children are in stable condition in intensive care, reports KFDA.

9 VPs Have 'Assumed' the Presidency. What If He's 10?

(Oct 16, 2017 12:53 PM CDT) Of the 48 men to have served as vice president of the United States, nine have assumed the presidency due to death or a resignation, observes Jane Mayer in what Axios reports is a 16-page New Yorker piece on the current VP. Of the likelihood that Mike Pence could become No. 10, Mayer gives him long but not prohibitive odds. So what would a President Pence be like? Though Pence declined to be interviewed, Mayer talks to his mother, brother, Steve Bannon, politicians (including Dan Quayle!), a pardoned Indiana man, and a slew of others with opinions about and experiences with Pence. She traces his personal life, his early failed political campaigns, the jobs that followed, his ties to the Koch brothers, his tenure as governor, and how he ended up where he is today. The title of her piece? The Danger of President Pence. Mayer paints a picture of an evangelical Christian with a seemingly unwavering ideology and strong ambitions who has stepped in it when those two haven't aligned. His brother describes his partnering with Trump as a real gamble. If he lost, he had no money, and he had three kids in college. But while the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Ind., saw the matchup as odd— the one thing you could count on with Pence was interpersonal decency, which made it strange that he joined ... the most indecent ticket any party's ever put together —he says Pence had a 50-50 chance at best of getting reelected as governor. Now he's in the White House, with a devotional gaze rarely seen since the days of Nancy Reagan. This though Trump has reportedly mocked him. Per Mayer: When [a White House] conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, 'Don't ask that guy—he wants to hang them all! Read her full piece.

Trailer Reveals 1st New Twin Peaks Footage in 25 Years

(May 4, 2017 7:49 PM CDT) Pull up a chair, pour yourself some damn good coffee, and check out the new trailer for Twin Peaks to get your first look at the characters a quarter of a century after the show went off the air. Mashable reports the trailer shows glimpses of Big Ed Hurley, Carl Rodd, Sarah Palmer, Deputy Andy Brennan, Deputy Hawk Hill, and, of course, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper. A previous trailer had only shown locations, according to Pitchfork. The Twin Peaks limited series revival premieres May 21 on Showtime. David Lynch will also show two episodes at the Cannes Film Festival.

3 Teens Arrested in Killing of Boy, 6

(May 19, 2017 3:16 AM CDT) Three teenagers have been arrested in the horrific slaying of a 6-year-old boy in Mississippi, and prosecutors say they plan to charge all three as adults with capital murder. Authorities say Dwan Wakefield, D'Allen Washington, and Byron McBride, all in their late teens, were taken into custody Thursday and are being held without bond, CNN reports. Police say the suspects stole mother Ebony Archie's Toyota Camry from outside a Kroger on Interstate 55 in Jackson around 1:15am Thursday, with 6-year Kingston Frazier in the back seat. The little boy was found dead in the abandoned vehicle later Thursday morning. Police say he had been shot in the back of the head. Superintendent Ronnie McGehee says Wakefield, 17, was the starting quarterback on Ridgeland High School's football team but was dismissed from the team last year. All three teens will be charged with killing a child during a kidnapping, authorities say. After getting the grim news on Thursday, the boy's relatives expressed their shock at what they called a crime of pure evil, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. We just can’t imagine that something like this would happen, that people would have in their heart to do that to a 6-year-old, says David Archie, the boy's uncle. There is nothing out there worth taking a 6-year-old’s life.

Samsung Issuing Update to Kill Every Note 7 Left in the Wild

(Dec 10, 2016 3:08 PM) Samsung is preparing to release a software update that will turn every Galaxy Note 7—excellent fire starter, less good smartphone—into a very expensive paperweight, Gizmodo reports. Samsung issued a full recall of its once-heralded new smartphone two months ago because they wouldn't stop exploding, but some people are still using them. Samsung will roll out the new update, which will keep Note 7s from charging or working, starting Dec. 19. But US carriers are rebelling, according to the Verge. Verizon says it won't pass the update along to its Note 7 users because it could keep them from contacting family and emergency services in the heart of the holiday travel season. (Never mind that the phones have been banned on flights due to the whole exploding thing.) And AT&T and Sprint say they won't be releasing the doomsday update until the holidays are over in January.

2 Women Charged in Snow Shoveling Fight

(Mar 16, 2017 8:15 PM CDT) State troopers have charged two Pennsylvania women with disorderly conduct for a hair-pulling fight that erupted over a newly shoveled parking spot on a snowy street, the AP reports. Troopers in Schuylkill County say a 23-year-old woman claimed she shoveled the spot only to have her 43-year-old neighbor's husband park his pickup in it. It happened in Ashland borough on Tuesday night. The region took the brunt of that day's winter storm. Police say the women argued about the parking space before pushing and punching one another, and then pulling each other's hair. Both have been charged with disorderly conduct.

Fox News' Tucker Carlson Signs 8-Figure Book Deal

(May 3, 2017 6:59 AM CDT) Tucker Carlson's star isn't only rising on television. The Fox News host and longtime conservative commentator has a two-book deal with Threshold Editions, the publisher tells the AP. No details were immediately available about the books by Carlson, who has become one of Fox's biggest names with the departures of Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly. Numerous publishers had expressed interest, and his literary agency, Javelin, says the deal is worth eight figures. Threshold, a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster, has also released books by President Trump and former Vice President Dick Cheney, among others. I have long admired the Threshold list and am proud to be published alongside so many of my favorite authors, Carlson said in a statement. Carlson, who turns 48 later this month, is host of Fox's Tucker Carlson Tonight, founder of the conservative online publication the Daily Caller and author of Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News, which came out in 2003. On Tuesday, Nielsen reported that in Fox's first full week with a new prime-time lineup that features Carlson in the hour formerly held by the fired O'Reilly, ratings increased slightly over the previous week.

Pizza Guy Delivers 2 Pies to Passengers on Stalled Train

(May 15, 2017 2:58 PM CDT) A pizza delivery man in Delaware got an order from an unusual address: a stalled Amtrak train from New York on its way to Washington. Passenger Mitchell Katz posted a video of delivery man Jim Leary walking up to the train Sunday evening as it sat on the tracks. People on board were getting restless after being left without access to food or water during the long delay and eventually some passengers came up with the idea of ordering a pizza, Katz said. Leary, a driver for Dom's Pizza in Newport, Delaware, tells the AP he cut through a backyard, navigated a steep embankment, and jumped over a water-filled ditch all while balancing the two pies in order to make the delivery. The 46-year-old Leary was rewarded with a cheering crowd of passengers and a total of $32 in tips for his effort. Leary's 17-year pizza delivery career has brought him to addresses in 32 counties across 18 states, but he said the broken down train is one of the strangest. I do whatever it takes, he said. Amtrak said on Twitter that a mechanical issue was to blame for the delay. Eventually, another train was brought in to take the passengers to Washington, Katz said. Amtrak's website shows the passengers arrived more than three hours late.

Danish Doctors: If He's Under 18, Don't Circumcise

(Dec 6, 2016 9:06 AM) To be circumcised should be an informed, personal choice, or so thinks the Danish Medical Association, which on Friday issued its recommendation that no boy under age 18 in the country be circumcised. Going that route then leaves the door open for the male to make a decision of his own when he has come of age, says Lise Moller, the head of the association’s ethics board. That's not to say the doctors' group is calling for a ban, which it says it weighed and decided against due to cases where male circumcision is medically necessary and for the potential for clandestine botched procedures, says Moller. Had they wanted a ban, they'd possibly face a steep slope. In a June report to the UN, Denmark agreed with Egypt's stance that it is a parental right to circumcise one's male child, reports the Copenhagen Post. Still, the Local reports that 74% of respondents to a 2014 survey said they'd support a full or partial ban. An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 circumcisions take place in Denmark each year, and the country should have a firmer idea of that number as of Jan. 1, after which all circumcisions must be logged in Denmark's national patient registry, reports the Local. Doctors who fail to do so will be fined, reports the Post. The CDC reports that in 2010, an estimated 58% of male newborns were circumcised in the US. (This mom went into hiding and then to jail in an attempt to avoid circumcising her son.)

Treasure Hunter Seeks $1B in Gold From Sunken Ship

(Jan 30, 2017 9:02 AM) When the British warship Lord Clive was blasted by Spanish cannon fire just off the coast of Uruguay in 1763, about 270 crew members went down with the ship. Now a treasure hunter from Argentina hopes it's also still home to more than $1 billion in gold coins, reports the London Times—half of which he could be entitled to. Ruben Collado also thinks the ship is stocked with the likes of rum, opium, and silk, and he plans to prove it by raising the vessel next month. Collado himself found the ship by accident in 2004, just 380 yards off the coast and 16 feet underwater. (Spaniards had pinned it under rocks to keep it submerged). The shallow depth is what gave up its location: Collado's vessel struck its mast in the River Plate estuary, reported AFP. He then waited more than a decade for Uruguay's permission to salvage it. The Lord Clive went down during a military mission amid the Seven Years' War, in which British and Portugal were trying to take the city of Colonia del Sacramento. Collado thinks the 64-gun ship, which belonged to the British East India Company, made the fatal error of anchoring too close to shore, within range of Spanish cannons. The Feb. 10 operation is expected to cost about $5 million for the team of 80 divers, technicians, and other support staff to raise the ship. The hope is that it can shed more light on British naval expeditions in South America. The rescue of the ship would have an impact on the city no less important than when UNESCO declared it, justly, a World Heritage Site, says Colonia's director of tourism. (One famous wreck has been particularly dangerous for divers.)

Trump Had 2nd, Undisclosed Meeting With Putin at G-20

(Jul 18, 2017 6:29 PM CDT) President Trump had a previously unreported and undisclosed meeting with Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit, White House officials confirmed Tuesday. The only other person present for the conversation was the Russian president's translator, the Hill reports. According to the Washington Post, Trump had his first face-to-face meeting with Putin during the summit July 7; later that same day he attended a couples-only dinner with other world leaders. Halfway through the meal, Trump left his seat and took one next to Putin. Their hour-long conversation was held just outside listening distance of other diners. Ian Bremmer of the think tank Eurasia Group says other leaders have said they were bemused, nonplussed, befuddled by the private conversation. The meeting was not disclosed to reporters traveling with Trump, and Reuters reports the White House isn't giving details about what was discussed during Trump's second meeting with Putin. National Security Council spokesperson Michael Anton tells CNN he can't say what was discussed as no staff were present. He says the dinner was attended by only leaders, spouses, and translators. Other White House officials say the only version of the meeting they have is Trump's own. Bremmer says Trump breached national security protocol by not having his own translator present for the conversation with Putin. Trump reportedly only brought a Japanese translator to the dinner to facilitate conversation with Japanese President Shinzo Abe.

6 Years On, Casey Anthony's Legal Woes Continue

(Dec 6, 2017 10:55 AM) It's been more than six years since Casey Anthony was acquitted, but as WKMG reports, the legal saga surrounding daughter Caylee Anthony's death hasn't ended for her. Anthony this week filed a motion in a bid to get former Orange County, Fla., meter reader Roy Kronk's lawsuit against her dismissed. He was the one who found Caylee's remains in August 2008, and in December 2011 he sued Anthony for defamation, alleging she instructed her lawyers to smear his name publicly and suggest he tampered with the placement of the body. Her lawyers insinuated Kronk may have done so to snag a reward, with attorney Jose Baez calling him a morally bankrupt individual who actually took Caylee's body and hid her in his opening statement. Kronk testified that he never got closer than 30 feet to the remains. His suit also highlights a 2009 CBS interview with another member of Anthony's team, Linda Kenney Baden, who when asked about Kronk said, You know, it's easy to snatch a kid away. In her motion, Anthony says Kronk supplied no proof that Anthony told her defense team to push Kronk's name, and she says the statements they did make weren't defamatory but, rather, part of an effort to highlight how investigators zoomed in on her at the expense of considering other suspects. The suit had previously been moved to bankruptcy court, and Anthony is asking that it be discharged from her bankruptcy case. The Orlando Sentinel in 2016 noted that some salacious new allegations were made as part of Kronk's case.

Dow Cracks 26K, but Can't Sustain It

(Jan 16, 2018 4:13 PM) Losses by industrial and technology companies pulled stocks lower Tuesday, erasing an early gain that sent the Dow Jones industrial average past 26,000 points for the first time. In the end, the Dow fell 10 points, less than 0.1%, to 25,792, per the AP. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9 points, or 0.4%, to 2,776, and the Nasdaq composite lost 37 points, or 0.5%, to 7,223. Also of note, General Electric slumped 3% after reporting a $6.2 billion write-down. Media company Viacom dropped 7% following reports that it's not in talks to merge with CBS, and Energizer surged 14.5% after saying it will acquire the battery and lighting assets of Spectrum.

There's No Will for Prince's Estimated $200M Estate

(Dec 1, 2016 7:07 AM) It's not really a surprise that Prince was worth a whole lot of money when he died in April, but now there's a number on it. The singer's estate is estimated to be worth $200 million, per a court filing, which is about half of what David Bowie's will estimated his own estate was worth when he passed away in January, the AP notes. The news agency figured out this estimate by taking the monthly fee charged by the company overseeing Prince's estate, per a memo, then extrapolating that based on the company's fee schedule, which is based on the worth of an estate; two estate lawyers not tied to the case agree it's a fair estimate. There's no known will in Prince's case, so after taxes (which will probably slash the estate's worth in half or so), his sister and five half-siblings aim to split the estate equally.

One in 500 Trillion: Triplets All Suffer Same Disorder

(May 2, 2017 7:50 PM CDT) Kaden, Hunter, and Jackson Howard were born newsworthy—the Long Island triplets were conceived without fertility drugs, and Hunter and Jackson are identical while Kaden is fraternal. But not long into their young lives, the happy news took a turn. Their heads became noticeably misshapen. Kaden had a pointy forehead and Jackson and Hunter sported protrusions in the back, reports Today. All three were diagnosed with craniosynostosis, a rare birth defect in which a newborn's skull fuses together early, which can impede brain growth. The triplets, born in October 2016, underwent a set of surgeries at just two months of age in January and are all thriving back at home, apparently not even minding their helmets, which they must wear 23 hours a day for the next six to nine months. Your skull is made up of plates, it’s not a single bone, says operating surgeon David Chesler of Stony Brook Children's Hospital. If the plates fuse too early, it can detrimental to the brain, the vision, the life of the child. It’s not imminently life-threatening, but it can cause real consequences down the road. It occurs just once in every 2,000 births, but doctors put the odds of it occurring in triplets—particularly a set that isn't identical and thus not prone to the exact same malformations—at one in 500 trillion, reports CBS Local. Mom Amy calls their progress amazing and their father, Mike, says that while life with three boys and three cats is crazy, he wouldn't change it for the world. They say they'd love to have a girl, but aren't planning to try. With our luck, we would have another set of triplets, Mike says. (One mom ran a half marathon pushing her triplets in a stroller.)

Dad Arrested After Boy, 13, Dies of Suspected Overdose

(Apr 5, 2017 5:49 PM CDT) Fire officials found Robert Wylie banging on the door of the fire department, holding his 13-year-old son's unconscious body. But the doses of Narcan they administered couldn't save the teen. Nathan Wylie died of a suspected heroin overdose on Saturday, four days after he was taken to a Dayton, Ohio, hospital, reports the Dayton Daily News. Officials say Nathan had access to drugs because his father is an addict. Wylie had already been arrested for child endangerment after another minor who lived at Wylie's home sent a relative a photo of white powder, a razor blade, and a crack pipe in the home in Feb. 2016, police say. He was later arrested for drug possession after he was found with heroin and crack cocaine during a traffic stop in December, with Nathan in the backseat, police say, per CBS News. It isn't clear why Nathan remained at the residence. A rep for Montgomery County Children Services tells the Daily News only that there was a case open with this family and that Nathan's sibling was removed from the home following Nathan's death. After Nathan was taken to the hospital—a witness told officials Wylie was on drugs and the boy got into his stuff, per WXIX—Wylie was again arrested on suspicion of child endangerment. The 40-year-old was released in that case on Thursday. However, he remains in Montgomery County Jail in relation to the December case. Wylie's live-in girlfriend, Tina Davis—who was previously charged in the February case—faces new charges of drunk driving and drug possession after an arrest on Sunday. (Kids found their parents dead of an overdose.)

Mother of 3 Found After Disappearing 11 Years Ago

(Mar 22, 2017 9:18 AM CDT) A fall off an LA pier led to the unraveling of a mystery that's been haunting Kayannette Gabrielle's family for over a decade. People tells the story of the California woman, originally from Colorado, who disappeared from the lives of her grown kids in April 2006. At first Brett, Colette, and Jared Hanlon speculated their mom had traveled to Australia, but she never came back—not even for the funeral of her own mother. Even the private investigator they hired came up empty. We had no luck, Brett says—until Feb. 28 of this year, when he got a phone call from the LA County Sheriff's Department. Are you sitting down? was the text Brett sent next to Colette, per the Denver Post, revealing the news that Gabrielle, who'd apparently been suffering from severe memory loss, was alive and homeless in Santa Barbara, where she'd been living for several years as Mary Roberts. Gabrielle's fall led to her being treated at a hospital, then placed in a shelter, where a few weeks ago she suddenly remembered her name. Cops ran that name, found her driver's license, and contacted her kids, whom she started to remember as their names were mentioned and their pictures shown. Although Gabrielle hadn't exhibited signs of memory loss before she vanished, she told Colette and others she'd been attacked in an Oregon park and her memory deteriorated after that. The family had an emotional reunion in early March in Santa Barbara, and now Gabrielle's kids are trying to help her recover lost memories. The more we talk to her, the more things pop into her head, Colette tells the Post. (The family of a man with dementia may have dumped him in England.)

Her Son Went Missing. 4 Hours Later, He Was Found ... Hiding

(Apr 4, 2017 5:43 PM CDT) Michelle Dinning called police Tuesday morning when she couldn't find her 9-year-old son, Josh, last seen in his bedroom the night before. For nearly four hours, a search party roamed the area looking for the UK boy; the police force put dozens of officers, search dogs, and even a helicopter to the task, the Times reports. And then they decided to check the family home a second time ... and there was Josh, under his bed. Or, more specifically, in his bed; he had crawled through a gap in the bed frame, the Northern Echo reports. Why? He didn't want to go to school. Officers found him after deciding to actually lift up all the beds. I just couldn't bring myself to be angry with him, the relief that he was alive and well was just too much, says his mom. Josh was discovered just before a press conference on his disappearance was set to take place. The search is estimated to have cost the police force thousands of dollars, but the official statement on the matter makes no mention of that. We can confirm that missing Josh Dinning was found at around 12:40pm hiding in a hidden drawer compartment under his bed, the statement says, adding that the police force will be reviewing its search procedures and looking into why he wasn't found in the initial search of the home. The Chronicle has a picture of the compartment where Josh hid.

Man at Center of Quiz Show Scandal in '50s Dies at 95

(Apr 24, 2017 1:48 PM CDT) It was a story made famous for younger generations via the 1994 Ralph Fiennes movie Quiz Show, and now one of the central characters in the 1950s scandal is gone. The New York Times reports that Albert Freedman, once a producer on NBC's popular Twenty-One program, died on April 11 in Greenbrae, Calif., at the age of 95, a victim of heart failure, his stepson Todd Dworman confirmed. Freedman joined the show's staff in 1956 and immediately set out to find a contestant who could take down the reigning champion, Herbert Stempel, who kept on winning, causing ratings to flag. Freedman found Charles Van Doren, a Columbia University instructor, and the Hollywood Reporter notes that Van Doren not only sent Stempel home in December 1956, but kept going until March 1957, ultimately taking home nearly $130,000. Where Freedman came in: He gave Van Doren answers to questions, as detailed by Van Doren in a 2008 New Yorker article (Freedman said in a 2000 interview with the Archive of American Television he only provided areas Van Doren should concentrate on.) A probe by a congressional subcommittee uncovered cheating on other game shows as well. Twenty-One was canceled, Freedman was arrested and indicted for perjury for lying to a grand jury about his role in the scandal (the perjury charges were later dropped), and he lost his job and eventually moved to London, where he started writing for Penthouse's Euro version. He also earned a doctorate in the early '80s and went on to lecture human sexuality and women's rights. Freedman is survived by his second wife, Nancy; a daughter and a son; and three stepchildren.

In 2014, Sports Illustrated Predicted Year, MVP of Astros' Series Win

(Nov 2, 2017 2:09 AM CDT) What jinx? Sports Illustrated boldly predicted an Astros' World Series title on its cover in 2014—after Houston had lost more than 100 games for three straight years—proclaiming: Your 2017 World Series Champs. It featured a picture of George Springer in a bright Astros jersey. It proved to be oh so prophetic. Not only did the Astros win, Springer was named Series MVP after boosting Houston over the Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7 on Wednesday night, the AP reports.

Gambling-Addicted Banker Gets 4 Years for $46M Scam

(Nov 5, 2016 5:26 AM CDT) A former executive at a New York investment bank who admitted defrauding investors of more than $38 million was sentenced to four years in prison Friday by a judge who cited his gambling addiction as reason for leniency. I chose gambling over everything, Andrew Caspersen, 40, told US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan. In July, he pleaded guilty to securities and wire fraud, admitting defrauding mostly family and friends of more than $38 million as he worked for PJT Partners Inc., which he also defrauded of over $8 million, the AP reports. Prosecuters said the scam involved an elaborate scheme involving made-up private equity ventures, fake mail addresses, and fictional financiers. I lost their money. I abused their friendship. I destroyed my family's name, said the son of the late Finn M.W. Caspersen, a prominent philanthropist and former chief executive of Beneficial Corp. Still, Caspersen packed the courtroom with family and friends as well as members of organizations he has joined to fight alcohol and gambling addictions. Many of them argued for leniency in letters to the judge, who credited Caspersen's very real gambling disorder as he imposed a prison term that fell well short of the 15 years called for by sentencing guidelines. A defense attorney said his client was so overtaken by the madness of his gambling illness that he hit a high of over $100 million one day and bet it all the next on whether the market would go up or down, leaving him with almost nothing.

Many Who Use Prescription Opioids for 2 Months or More Get Addicted

(Dec 9, 2016 2:32 PM) A powerful survey from the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that, of the 622 long-term prescription opioid users (at least two months of use) surveyed, virtually all were introduced to the drugs not through illicit means but via a prescription from a doctor, more than 60% got no advice from said doctor as to how or when to stop using the painkillers, and one-third ended up addicted to or physically dependent on the drugs. The Post calls the survey one of the most comprehensive polls of long-term opioid users to date. Another 187 people who said they share a household with an opioid user were also surveyed, and their responses to the question of addiction or physical dependence were different from the users' responses: More than half of them suspected the users they live with are addicted, and they were also more likely to say that the drugs have caused harm to the users' health, finances, or relationships. But, while the survey raises sharp questions about the responsibility of doctors for an epidemic of addiction and overdose that has claimed nearly 180,000 lives since 2000, as the Post puts it, it also found that most long-term opioid users say the drugs improve their lives, allowing them to walk, work, and do other things that pain would otherwise prevent. Two-thirds of those surveyed said the risk of getting addicted was worth it because of how much relief the drugs offer. The survey results were released as the CDC announced opioid deaths (from both prescription and illegal sources, such as heroin) skyrocketed again last year. A new study is also out showing that doctors discussing the risks of opioid abuse with patients could reduce misuse and abuse. The Post says about 5% of US adults have used prescription opioids for at least two months during the past two years, and around half of those people say they've taken them for two years or more. Click for more from the Post survey.

Larry Flynt Will Pay $10M for Impeachment Dirt on Trump

(Oct 15, 2017 6:03 AM CDT) Pornography publisher Larry Flynt has apparently had it with the current administration and is offering up to $10 million to anyone who produces information that leads to President Trump's impeachment and removal from office, reports the AP. He lays out the offer in a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Washington Post. During last year's presidential campaign, Flynt dangled $1 million to anyone who could turn over video or audio capturing Trump behaving in an illegal or sexually demeaning manner. That followed the release of the 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump bragged of sexually assaulting women.

Colorado Woman Dies in 70-Foot Bungee Fall

(Jan 15, 2018 7:10 AM) Authorities in Colorado are investigating how a 20-year-old nurse died in a bungee jump accident—when the equipment was apparently working properly. Ciara Romero died after a fall Jan. 4 at the 70-foot Get Air attraction at the Silo Trampoline Park in Grand Junction, the Denver Post reports. The jump requires participants to jump off a tower connected to a rope attached to a harness. After free-falling for around 20 feet, they are supposed be caught by the device and slowly lowered to the ground. The Grand Junction Sentinel reports that in results confirmed by state investigators, the company that makes the device says it carried out tests and the device, webbing, and triple-locking carabiner were found to be intact, and functioning normally. State investigators say they will now focus on witness statements, and the Grand Junction Police Department says no criminal charges will be filed. According a a police report seen by News Channel 5, employees and other witnesses said Romero was reluctant to jump. She was hesitant, you know, pretty freaked out, one employee told police, Kind of scared, but excited to go. Video shows employees checking to make sure the harness was properly attached, the report says. The report states that an employee told investigators that it was possible Romero's hand could have slipped and opened the carabiner. The employee said this would have been very difficult, though an officer wrote that he found the carabiner to be relatively easy to open with one hand and believes it could have happened accidentally.

10-Year-Old Who Was Detained After Surgery Released

(Nov 4, 2017 6:00 AM CDT) US authorities on Friday released a 10-year-old immigrant girl with cerebral palsy who had been detained by border agents after surgery because she is in the US without legal permission. The ACLU and US Rep. Joaquin Castro said that Rosa Maria Hernandez was returned Friday afternoon to her family, the AP reports. Her parents brought her into the US from Mexico in 2007, when she was a toddler, and they live in the Texas border city of Laredo. A cousin who is an American citizen took Rosa Maria from Laredo to a children's hospital in Corpus Christi on Oct. 24, where she was scheduled to have emergency gallbladder surgery. To get to Corpus Christi, about 150 miles away, she had to pass through an interior checkpoint in South Texas operated by the Border Patrol. Border Patrol agents followed Rosa Maria and the cousin to the hospital, then took the girl into custody after the surgery and transported her to a facility in San Antonio for unaccompanied immigrant minors, under the custody of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The Border Patrol has said it had no choice but to detain Rosa Maria, arguing that she was considered an unaccompanied minor under federal law, the same as a child who crosses into the United States alone without legal permission. The ACLU sued the government on Rosa Maria's behalf Tuesday, argued that the US government violated federal law on unaccompanied minors and endangered Rosa Maria's health by not sending her home. While Rosa Maria has been reunited with her family, she still faces the threat of deportation. Tan said Friday that Border Patrol agents had issued Rosa Maria a notice to appear in immigration court, but that the case had yet to move forward.

Tesla Driver Got 7 Warnings Before Fatal Self-Driving Crash

(Jun 20, 2017 1:03 PM CDT) The government has released its report on the first-ever fatal self-driving car accident, and it shows that human involvement is required even when using the technology of the future. Last May, Joshua Brown collided with a left-turning truck on a divided highway near Williston, Fla., while his Tesla Model S sedan was in Autopilot. On Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board released 500 pages of findings about the accident, including a big one: During his trip, Brown ignored seven visual warnings to put his hands on the wheel, six of which were followed by a chime, reports Reuters. During a 37-minute stretch when he was supposed to be controlling the wheel, he did so for only 25 seconds. The report exonerated Brown on one thing: It found that he didn't seem to be watching a movie when the crash happened, as some reports had suggested. Unequivocally false, says the family lawyer, saying the movie theory should be laid to rest. At the time of the accident, Tesla released a statement saying neither the autopilot system nor Brown noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. According to the report, the truck should have been visible to Brown for at least seven seconds, but the driver took no braking, steering or other actions to avoid the collision. Less than two minutes before the accident, Brown had set the cruise control to 74 mph, nine miles per hour over the speed limit. Since the accident, Tesla has upgraded its Autopilot feature, which will now shut down if a driver fails to respond to audible warnings. For a diagram of the how the accident occurred, see Business Insider.

New York Hospital Delivers 4 Sets of Twins in 1 Day

(Oct 27, 2017 6:49 PM CDT) A Long Island hospital has welcomed a rare four sets of twins in a six-hour period, the AP reports. The series of births at NYU Winthrop in Mineola, New York, started at 8:44am Wednesday when Brenda Alvarenga gave birth to Ava and Elena. Shannon and Anthony Rogone then welcomed twins Sarah and Elise around 10am. The births of Alexa and McKenzi followed an hour later to parents Darlene and Joe Sica. Finally, Catherine and Joseph Monez welcomed twins Luke and Benjamin at 2:26pm. The hospital's chief of maternal fetal medicine tells Newsday two sets of twins born at NYU Winthrop on the same day is rare, and four is unheard of.

Base Grounds F-35s After Pilots Starved of Oxygen

(Jun 13, 2017 9:58 AM CDT) The Air Force has temporarily stopped flying F-35 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona in response to a series of incidents in which pilots reported symptoms of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, reports the AP. Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said the grounding of 55 of the Air Force's 200 F-35s followed five separate in-flight incidents since May 2. Graff said in each case, the airplane's backup oxygen system worked as designed and the pilot was able to land the plane safely. The Air Force has established an action team of engineers, maintenance specialists, and aeromedical specialists to study the five Luke incidents, he said. The cancellation is limited to F-35s at Luke. F-35 operations at five other US bases are not affected.

Peacock Racks Up $500 Bill at Liquor Store

(Jun 7, 2017 1:00 PM CDT) A female peacock has ruffled more than just feathers at a Los Angeles-area liquor store. Without a peep, the peahen strutted into the open door of the Royal Oaks Liquor Store in Arcadia on Monday. Store manager and college senior Rani Ghanem said he didn't even know it was there until a customer walked in and asked him about el pollo, Spanish for the chicken, the AP reports. Ghanem, a 21-year-old San Bernardino resident whose family owns the store, said he then tried to guide the sharp-clawed bird outside but that she spooked, at one point flying directly toward him and then up onto a top shelf of the store. An animal-control officer responded after Ghanem called 911, approaching the peahen with gloves and a fishing net. That's when things got a little crazy. He was trying to get it with the fishing net, and (the bird) jumped on the first wine bottle. When that happened, I was like, 'Aw, this is about to be a big mess,' Ghanem said. It just went straight diving into all the bottles. The more he kept on trying to use the net, the more it kept on flapping its wings and knocking everything over. At one point, cellphone video taken by Ghanem shows the officer catching a wine bottle in the net as the bird crashes through a shelf and a dozen bottles shatter to the ground. Unable to watch more destruction, Ghanem puts on a sweatshirt to protect himself from the bird's claws and helps the officer ensnare it. He said they took the bird outside, unharmed. In all, Ghanem said the peahen was in the store for 90 minutes and broke $500 worth of the family store's best bottles.

2011 Interview With Porn Star Tied to Trump Surfaces

(Jan 18, 2018 6:27 AM) It's not every day that the New York Times reports on an In Touch article about a porn star, but here we are. In a follow-up to last week's Wall Street Journal article that alleged an adult film actress was paid $130,000 in 2016 to stay mum on a consensual sexual encounter with a then-married Donald Trump in 2006 comes the In Touch article, published Wednesday. It is based on a 2011 interview with Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels, and describes her meeting Trump at a 2006 golf tournament and having textbook generic sex that night. Among the more salacious details: that the encounter allegedly happened four months after Melania Trump gave birth, and that Trump told Clifford she was beautiful like his daughter. Per the article, the two met up on future occasions, with the Times quoting it as saying Trump last called Clifford in late 2009 or early 2010. The In Touch article says it backed up Clifford's claims via a polygraph and corroboration from an adult-film colleague and her ex-husband. Clifford has since denied the affair, and Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, again disputed the account to the Times, calling it the recirculation of an old and debunked story. As far as recirculation goes, Slate Group editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg also elaborated on his conversations with Clifford in August and October of 2016 (no story was published at the time) in a piece for Slate, writing, The worst Trump had done, she said, was break promises she’d never believed he would fulfill. Like the In Touch article, Weisberg says Clifford told her Trump had promised her a slot on The Apprentice. The story has gotten the late-night treatment, too: Stephen Colbert discussed it Wednesday, quipping, Wow, maybe In Touch magazine should lead the Russia investigation.

Rex Tillerson Makes $240M Exit From Exxon

(Jan 4, 2017 11:11 AM) Rex Tillerson will take a $180 million retirement deal and make a complete break from ExxonMobil if confirmed as secretary of state. In a deal announced Tuesday, Exxon says the former oil executive who resigned on Dec. 31 will sell his 611,000 shares of Exxon, worth about $55.5 million, and receive the value of a little over 2 million restricted shares, now worth about $184 million, in an independently managed trust, reports Bloomberg. Tillerson would have received the 2 million shares over a decade had he reached Exxon's mandatory retirement age of 65 in March, reports the AP. In total, he'll lose about $7 million, including $4.1 million in cash bonuses and benefits he would've received over the next three years, per Politico. Tillerson also agrees not to work in the oil and gas industry for 10 years; if he breaks that condition, the money in the independent trust will be given to one or more charities involved in fighting poverty or disease in the developing world without input from Tillerson or Exxon, the company says, adding Tillerson will sever all ties with the company to comply with conflict-of-interest requirements associated with his nomination as secretary of state.

Woman Whose Affairs Rocked Britain Is Dead at 75

(Dec 6, 2017 8:35 AM) She was the last survivor of a story that gripped Great Britain and the world more than 50 years ago. So says the attorney for Christine Keeler to the Guardian upon news of the 75-year-old's Monday night death. She had been living under the last name Sloane in an attempt to put more distance between herself and the Profumo affair that she was so infamously and indelibly attached to. In 1961 Keeler, then a young cabaret dancer working in London, met Tory cabinet minister and rising political star John Profumo—as well as Russian military attache Yevgeny Ivanov. She began affairs with both men, and when the triangle came to light in 1963, it gripped Britain, played upon Cold War fears, and triggered events that led to the undoing of the Harold Macmillan government. The BBC reports Keeler caught Profumo's eye while splashing in a swimming pool at a party in Buckinghamshire; she was 19, reports the Washington Post, and he was 46 and married. Their brief affair surfaced in a convoluted way: Two other men fought over Keeler, and one of them fired shots into a home where she was hiding. Police investigated, and Keeler's connection to Profumo ultimately became publicized. The Ivanov angle led to fears of a security issue; when Profumo was questioned by Parliament, he characterized his relationship with Keeler as platonic. Profumo ended up resigning after admitting he lied. An interesting note from the BBC: Keeler later claimed she had been sleeping with Ivanov at the same time as she was having an affair with Profumo, but many commentators have since dismissed her account.

4 National Retailers Sued Over 'Deceptive' Ads

(Dec 9, 2016 12:37 AM) Los Angeles prosecutors on Thursday sued four national retailers, accusing them of duping shoppers into believing they got bigger discounts than they actually did, the AP reports. The separate lawsuits alleging deceptive advertising were filed against JC Penney, Sears, Kohl's, and Macy's, according to the Los Angeles city attorney's office. Customers have the right to be told the truth about the prices they're paying—and to know if a bargain is really a bargain, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. Feuer said the retailers falsely advertised higher regular prices for merchandise so customers believed they were getting bigger bargains. California law bars retailers from advertising a higher original price unless the product was sold at that price within three months of the ad. The lawsuits seek civil penalties up to $2,500 for each violation and injunctions to stop so-called false reference pricing to increase sales. Prosecutors said thousands of sale items were advertised at false reference prices. One of the lawsuits said JC Penney was selling a maternity bathing suit top online for $31.99 in February, down from a so-called original price of $46. The top was later marked down further but still compared to the $46 price point, even though the item was never actually sold for $46. Prosecutors said JC Penney and Kohl's previously faced class-action lawsuits alleging similar deceptive business practices and had agreed to stop. There was no immediate comment from any of the retailers.

What Trump Talked About With China's 2nd-Richest Man

(Jan 9, 2017 4:32 PM) Donald Trump met with Jack Ma, currently China's second-richest man, Monday, calling it a great discussion. Ma's e-commerce company Alibaba claims it can create 1 million US jobs by helping small businesses sell their products to China and Asian consumers, the AP reports. Ma told reporters the two discussed supporting 1 million small businesses, which is slightly different than 1 million new US jobs, and CNBC notes that it's unclear ... where those jobs would come from. Apparently the plan involves an expansion of Alibaba focusing on small businesses on the platform selling products ... to China and Asia, per Ma; CNBC mentions clothing, wine, and fruits specifically. Trump and Ma also spoke about strengthening the US-China relationship.

Alleged Shooter of 2 Indians Charged with Hate Crimes

(Jun 10, 2017 8:33 AM CDT) A Kansas man accused of shouting get out of my country as he opened fire on two Indian men, killing one of them, will face federal hate crimes charges along with murder, the Washington Post reports. A federal grand jury on Friday indicted Adam W. Purinton, 51, on two counts of hate crimes and a firearms charge in connection with the February attack in a bar in Olathe. Purinton allegedly shouted racial slurs when he shot Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who later died, and Alok Madasani, 32, both of whom worked for the tech firm Garmin. A third man who stepped in was wounded. Local authorities charged Purington with first-degree murder and other charges, but federal prosecutors were under pressure to act at a time when President Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric was being blamed for sparking violence, the New York Times reports. Local media reported Purinton thought he had shot two Iranians. Justice Department officials said they had not decided whether to seek the death penalty for Purinton or life in prison, per Reuters. Kuchibhotla's widow, Sunayana Dumala, tells the Times that although the indictment was a reminder to me that Srinivas is not here with us … the federal charges will give us national visibility to help spread the message of reducing hate crimes. Effects of the attack reverberated far beyond Kansas, with the father of one of the injured men in India warning parents there not to send their children to the US, per the Post. (The White House condemned the attack six days later.)

US Bobsled Champ Found Dead at 37

(May 7, 2017 5:41 AM CDT) Steven Holcomb was ordinary and remarkable. America's best bobsled pilot was a self-described computer geek who rubbed elbows with Hollywood stars. He was never exactly in the best shape, yet was a world-class athlete. He attempted suicide years ago, then revealed his story in hope of helping others. He nearly went blind, then won gold. His life was the epitome of a bobsled race, reports the AP, filled with twists and turns. It came to a most unexpected end Saturday in Lake Placid, NY, when he was found dead in his room at the Olympic Training Center—sending shock waves through the US Olympic community. The three-time Olympic medalist and five-time world champ was 37. The only reason why the USA is in any conversation in ... bobsled is because of Steve Holcomb, said pilot Nick Cunningham, who roomed next to Holcomb in Lake Placid. He was the face of our sport. Every driver in the world watched him, because he was that good at what he did. No cause of death was immediately announced. However, there were no indications of foul play and USA Bobsled said it was believed Holcomb died in his sleep. An autopsy is set for Sunday. Holcomb's signature moment came at the 2010 Vancouver Games when he piloted his four-man sled to a win that snapped a 62-year gold-medal drought for the US. Holcomb also drove to bronze medals in both two- and four-man events at the 2014 Sochi Games, and was to be part of the 2018 Olympic team. Steve was a tremendous athlete and even better person, US Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said. Holcomb was cherubic, almost always happy in public, and teammates spent a season chronicling his Holcy Dance, a less-than-rhythmic shuffle. His agent tells USA Today he recently spent a week with him. Everything was cool, he said. He told me with the world championships being in Whistler in 2019, that would be his swan song. (Holcomb once took Lolo Jones to task.)

NJ Town's Iconic 600-Year-Old Tree Will Fall

(Apr 23, 2017 8:25 AM CDT) For hundreds of years, an imposing white oak tree has watched over a New Jersey community and church, providing protection from the summer sun, serving as a scenic backdrop for thousands of photos and—according to legend—as a picnic site for George Washington. But the tree—believed to be among the nation's oldest—is not long for its spot in the church graveyard, reports the AP. Crews are due Monday at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards to begin removing the 600-year-old tree. The two to three days of chopping will draw attention from residents of a bedroom community about 30 miles west of New York that has long celebrated its white oak. It's been the place to go for formal photos, a landmark for driving directions, and a remarkable piece of natural history. I know it seems funny ... to mourn a tree, but I'm really going to miss seeing it, says a resident. Arborists say the tree had stood for nearly 300 years before the church was built in 1717. It stands about 100 feet tall, has a trunk circumference of 18 feet and a branch spread of roughly 150 feet. The tree was declared dead after showing rot and weakness in the last few years, likely due to its age. Arborists determined it wouldn't be able to stand many more harsh winters or spring storms. Among notable visitors was Gen. George Washington, who town officials say picnicked at the tree with the Marquis de Lafayette. It has been an integral part of the town, that's for sure, says a member of the church's council. It has always been there, even before there was a town. Experts say fewer trees are replicating the old oak's 600-year lifespan due to several factors—including droughts, wildfires, and invasive insects. But the tree's legacy will go on, notes NJ.com: Another white oak, cultivated from the old tree's acorns, was recently planted on church property. It now stands about 20 feet tall.

Tokyo's Hottest DJ Is an 82-Year-Old Woman

(Apr 16, 2017 8:33 AM CDT) Age may be nothing but a number, but one octogenarian in Tokyo is still defying the odds with her energy. Sumiko Iwamuro has spent six decades making dumplings in the restaurant she and her brother inherited from their family, but when her husband died in her 70s she decided to pursue her passion for music and took a year-long course on DJing at a local music school, reports Mashable. Now 82, she continues to work in her restaurant by day but now also hits the turntables at DecaBarZ, a nightclub in the heart of Tokyo's Shinjuku district, as a monthly fixture, reports Reuters. In Japan, more than one in four people are 65 and older, but Iwamuro—who goes by the name DJ Sumirock or, as news outlets like to call her, DJ Dumpling, reports DJ Mag—plays to a crowd 60 years her junior. She is shattering stereotypes, as China Global Television Network puts it. She's got this energy that is beyond her age, one 25-year-old clubber says. Iwamuro describes her music as techno, which she thinks would be boring on its own, mixed with jazz (her father was a jazz drummer), French chanson, and classical music. She likens DJing to cooking, describing the result of her efforts as being immediately visible in the faces of those eating her food or dancing to her beats. The best thing is for my audience to enjoy themselves, she adds. (We may be happiest in our 80s.)

Report Reveals Historic 1st for American Moms

(May 17, 2017 2:15 PM CDT) For the first time, women in their early 30s are having more babies than younger moms in the US, the AP reports. Health experts say the shift is due to more women waiting longer to have children and the ongoing drop in the teen birth rate. For more than three decades, women in their late 20s had the highest birth rates, but that changed last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the CDC. The birth rate for women ages 30 to 34 was about 103 per 100,000; the rate for women ages 25 to 29 was 102 per 100,000. It's becoming more common to see older parents with kids in elementary or high school, says Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Meanwhile, more teens are growing up with fewer of their peers getting pregnant, he says. We always talk about peer pressure as a negative, but it can be a force for good, Albert says. Among the report's findings: the overall birth rate was down slightly in 2016, to 62 births per 100,000 women ages 15 to 44; the average age when women have their first child is about 28; and the teen birth rate continued to drop last year.

3 More Bodies Found in Tenn. Wildfire Ruins, Toll at 7

(Nov 30, 2016 6:15 PM) Three more bodies were found in the ruins of wildfires that torched hundreds of homes and businesses in the Great Smoky Mountains area of Tennessee, raising the death toll to seven, the AP reports. Search-and-rescue missions continued, and Sevier County mayor Larry Waters said they had found three people who had been trapped since the fires started spreading wildly in high winds on Monday night. The mayor said the three were OK. That is some good, positive news for a change, he said. The mayor said authorities are still working to identify the dead and did not release any details about how they were killed. State law enforcement set up a hotline for people to report missing friends and family. Officials have not said how many people they believe are missing. Three brothers being treated at a Nashville hospital said they had not heard from their parents since they were separated while fleeing the fiery scene during their vacation. Gatlinburg police chief Randall Brackins said they have searched about 30% or less of the city so far. More than 14,000 people were evacuated from Gatlinburg on Monday night, and many of them are still nervously awaiting word of when they can get back in the city to see if they still have homes. Storms moved through the area Wednesday. Officials in the Gatlinburg welcomed the rain but were worried about mudslides, rock slides, and high winds knocking trees onto power lines, perhaps creating new fires similar to the deadly ones that sparked Monday night.

Death Toll From California Mudslide Rises to 17

(Jan 10, 2018 7:10 PM) Authorities now say 17 people have died in Southern California mudslides and another 13 are missing, the AP reports. The death toll rose Wednesday as searchers pulled two more bodies from the inundated area in the Santa Barbara County enclave of Montecito. Flash floods there on Tuesday swept immense amounts of mud, water, and debris down from foothills that were stripped of brush by the recent Thomas wildfire. Authorities say at least 100 homes have been destroyed. Hundreds of firefighters and others are hunting through the mud and wreckage. Three people were rescued Wednesday and authorities say about 75% of the devastated area has been searched.