Wildlife, air quality at risk as Great Salt Lake nears low
The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years, though, the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River has been shrinking. And a drought gripping the American West could...
Grizzly bear attacks, kills camper in western Montana
HELENA Mont. — A grizzly bear attacked and killed a person who was camping in western Montana early Tuesday, after previously wandering into the campsite, the Powell County sheriff said. The attack happened between 4 and 5 a.m. in the area of Ovando, a town of fewer than 100 people...
U.S. left Afghan airfield at night, didn’t tell new commander
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said. Afghanistan’s army showed...
Demon-obsessed teenager convicted of murdering U.K. women
LONDON — A 19-year-old British man was convicted Tuesday of murdering two sisters as they celebrated a birthday in a London park, a crime driven by the deluded belief that the killings would help him win a lottery jackpot. A jury at London’s Central Criminal Court deliberated for eight hours...
Searchers at Florida collapse site ‘not seeing anything positive’
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse sounded increasingly somber Tuesday about the prospects for finding anyone alive, saying they have detected no new signs of life in the rubble as the death toll climbed to 36. Crews in yellow helmets and...
Thailand seizes 315 kilograms of heroin bound for Australia
BANGKOK — Customs officials in Thailand made their biggest seizure of heroin this year, about 315 kilograms (700 pounds) worth up to $29 million, bringing the total confiscated so far this year to 2 tons, officials said Thursday. They did not say where the drugs originated, but the seizure comes...
Egypt ends impounding of ship that got stuck in Suez Canal
CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Tuesday lifted a three-month long judicial seizure of a hulking shipping vessel that had blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week earlier this year, paving the way for it to leave Egypt. Following the decision by the court in the city of Ismailia,...
Plane apparently crashes in Russia; 28 aboard feared dead
MOSCOW — A plane carrying 28 people apparently crashed as it came in for a landing in bad weather Tuesday in Russia’s Far East, and everyone aboard was feared dead. Wreckage from the Antonov An-26 was found near the airport in the town of Palana, according to officials. The plane...
Fireworks destroy Pennsylvania home, displacing family of 8
A family of eight has been displaced after a firework set off nearby destroyed their home in Wilkes-Barre. Four children and four adults, who were just getting ready for bed, rushed out of the burning house around 12:30 a.m. Monday after an aerial firework landed on their back porch, WNEP...
Rural Alabama electric cooperative hit by ransomware attack
HARTFORD, Ala. — A utility that provides power in rural southeastern Alabama said it was hit by a ransomware attack that means customers temporarily can’t access their account information. Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, which serves about 22,000 members, said no data was compromised in the attack. But member account information and...
Deadly accident at Iowa amusement ride is 2nd since 2016Video
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Authorities are investigating the cause of an accident that killed a boy on a popular boat ride at an Iowa amusement park — the second deadly incident on the ride in five years. The accident happened Saturday night on the Raging River at Adventureland Park in...
Tropical Storm Elsa drenches Cuba. Track nudges west, likely easing impact on Florida KeysVideo
MIAMI — South Florida got its first taste of Tropical Storm Elsa on Monday afternoon as the outermost bands began to lash the region with brief, intense bouts of rain likely to last through Tuesday. The storm’s projected track jogged a bit west early Monday — easing the threat for...
2 teenagers dead, 3 wounded in shooting at Cincinnati parkVideo
CINCINNATI — Two teenagers are dead after apparently exchanging gunfire that wounded three others at a downtown Cincinnati park where hundreds of teens were gathered late on the Fourth of July, police said. It’s possible others were involved in the conflict Sunday at Smale Park, but police aren’t searching for...
Teenage lifeguard stabbed at Massachusetts pond; 4 arrested
WORCESTER, Mass. — Four people were arrested after a teenage lifeguard at a Massachusetts pond was beaten and stabbed, police said. Worcester officers responded to Bell Pond in the city at about 6:30 p.m. for a report of several males attacking the lifeguard on duty, police said in a statement....
Miami Dade County Mayor: Crews did everything possible to find missing pets
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Rescue teams combed through closets, looked under beds and even used drones with thermal imaging as they looked for pets that might have been left in the ruins of Champlain Towers South before a decision was made to demolish the still-standing section of the building, officials...
World’s tallest horse, Big Jake, dies in Wisconsin at age 20
POYNETTE, Wis. — The world’s tallest horse has died in Wisconsin. The 20-year-old Belgian named Big Jake lived on Smokey Hollow Farm in Poynette. Valicia Gilbert, wife of the farm’s owner, Jerry Gilbert, said Big Jake died two weeks ago but declined to give the exact date of death when...
Nonprofit: Number of drownings in Great Lakes jumps in 2021
HOMEWOOD, Ill. — More drownings have been reported in the Great Lakes so far in 2021 than by this time last year, prompting officials to urge swimmers to practice water safety measures. As of July 2, there were 32 drownings in the Great Lakes, compared to 25 as of July...
After contact tracing data breach, Pa. sidesteps scrutiny on proposed $34M contract
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working to hire a new company under an even pricier contract to take...
Demolition widens search at Florida condo site, but storms threaten
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Rescuers searched through fresh rubble Monday after the last of the collapsed Florida condo building was demolished, which allowed crews into previously inaccessible places, including bedrooms where people were believed to be sleeping at the time of the disaster, officials said. But they faced a new challenge...
Group described as white supremacists march in PhiladelphiaVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Police say scores of members of a group described by the Anti-Defamation League as white supremacist marched in Philadelphia over the weekend, clashing with pedestrians and setting off what were believed to be smoke bombs at one point. The group of Patriot Front members, estimated at 150 to...
Ex-West Virginia lawmaker in Capitol amid riot adds felony charge
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former West Virginia lawmaker faces a new federal felony charge after he livestreamed himself rushing into the U.S. Capitol with a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6. A grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia handed down a...
Delta’s rapid spread clouds summer with fear of covid revival
The fast-spreading delta variant is clouding Americans’ hopes for a carefree summer — and casting a shadow of doubt over plans to get back to business as usual in the fall. The shift in sentiment marks a reversal from the spring, when it looked like the U.S. immunization campaign would...
Allen West will challenge Texas Gov. Abbott in GOP primary
AUSTIN, Texas — Republican Allen West, the former Florida congressman and firebrand who rode into office on the tea party wave a decade ago, said Sunday that he will run for governor of Texas in a bid to again seize on restless anger from the right. His odds are far...
Cuba evacuates 180,000 as Tropical Storm Elsa approachesVideo
HAVANA — Cuba evacuated 180,000 people amid fears Sunday that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people. The Cuban government had opened shelters and moved to protect sugarcane and cocoa crops ahead of the storm. Most of those evacuated went...
Governor: Heat death toll at least 95 in Oregon aloneVideo
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Pacific Northwest heat wave has killed at least 95 people in Oregon alone, a number that state’s governor called “absolutely unacceptable.” “Following events like this we always do reviews and see what we can do better next time,” Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said Sunday on “Face...
