Cowboys for Trump group now says sand wasn’t from monument
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Iconic gypsum sand that the group Cowboys for Trump had said was from White Sands National Monument in New Mexico and was sent to Washington for the U.S. Capitol Tree lighting ceremony this week was actually gathered just outside the monument, one of the group’s co-founders said...
Netflix executive touts ‘golden era’ of streaming service
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An executive with Netflix says the streaming giant has boosted its original content exponentially over the last several years and that will mean more action for its production hub in New Mexico, where state officials have been busy trying to woo more big partners in the industry....
Illinois prison guards face federal charges in inmate death
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Three Illinois prison guards were arraigned in federal court Friday on charges of assault and civil rights violations in the May 2018 death of an inmate at Western Illinois Correctional Center. A grand jury indicted the correctional officers, who also face charges that they falsified reports...
Stepdad blasts cops in shootout that killed UPS driver. ‘They murdered him,’ he says
MIRAMAR, Fla. — A police chase that ended in a wild shootout left a UPS driver taken hostage and another innocent bystander among the dead Thursday afternoon in Miramar — and the hostage’s family demands to know how police could let that happen. Officers chased armed robbers who held up...
Lawmakers call for alternatives to indefinite drivers’ license suspensions
Ever-soaring traffic fines have created a new class of desperadoes in Pennsylvania. Young drivers who fail to pay traffic fines are then slapped with indefinite drivers’ license suspensions, and they risk even higher fines when they get behind the wheel. Make no mistake, this is a large class. A pair...
Cartoon Network Hotel opening in LancasterVideo
There’s a hotel coming to Lancaster that you might want to check out. Cartoon Network Hotel will open Jan. 10, according to Lancaster Online, which attended a media tour of the site Dec. 6. The hotel’s website says a stay at Cartoon Network Hotel is like “having a sleepover in...
Pennsylvania puppy abandoned in plastic-wrapped crate ‘improving every day’
A 10-week-old puppy is recovering after being left outside of a south-central Pennsylvania animal shelter in a crate wrapped in plastic with no ventilation holes. The Presa Canario puppy was dropped off about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at the end of the Adams County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to...
Saudi student opens fire at Florida Naval base, killing 3
PENSACOLA, Fla. — An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, killing three people in an attack the Saudi government quickly condemned and that U.S. officials were investigating for possible links to terrorism. The assault, which ended when...
Disney cruise worker charged with raping 13-year-old girl
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida man who works for a Disney cruise line has been accused of repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl at his home. Orange County deputies arrested 53-year-old Keith Seitz on Nov. 25, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Thursday. The girl told her mother Seitz raped her multiple...
Police: 94 bottles of liquor found in car that struck teen
DUNDALK, Md. — A woman accused of driving off the road and killing a teenager in Maryland had 94 bottles of liquor in the car, police said. Jennifer Jean Jones, 30, has been charged with negligent manslaughter by vehicle, Baltimore County police said Thursday. Charging documents say Jones crossed the...
Bernie Sanders announces $150B plan to expand broadband access
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is promising to invest $150 billion to bring high-speed internet to “every household in America” while breaking up and better regulating monopolies he says currently limit access to drive up their profits. The Vermont senator on Friday unveiled a plan providing that funding...
Minnesota Governor: All 3 crew killed in Black Hawk helicopter crashVideo
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Three soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard were killed Thursday when the Black Hawk helicopter they were riding in for a routine maintenance test flight crashed in a farm field in central Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz confirmed. The identities of the soldiers were not immediately released,...
Following guilty plea, Duncan Hunter told he shouldn’t vote in the House
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee notified Rep. Duncan Hunter that his recent guilty plea means he should no longer cast votes in the House. The instruction is not mandatory, but the panel threatened action against him if he continues to vote. Hunter last voted on Wednesday, in favor of...
Michigan boy invites entire kindergarten class to adoption hearingVideo
Talk about moral support. A Michigan boy invited his all of his classmates to attend his adoption hearing on Thursday. According to Grand Rapids ABC-affiliate WZZM-TV, Michael Orlando Clark Jr. was joined by his entire kindergarten class to celebrate his union with a new family. Probably the cutest story you...
Chase with stolen UPS truck in Florida ends with shootout, 4 deadVideo
MIAMI — Four people, including a UPS driver, were killed Thursday after robbers stole the driver’s truck and led police on a chase that ended in gunfire at a busy Florida intersection during rush hour, a law enforcement official said. Both robbers were shot and killed, and the fourth victim...
Report: Migrant teen who died in U.S. custody unresponsive for hoursVideo
HOUSTON — Video showing the U.S. Border Patrol cell where a 16-year-old from Guatemala died of the flu shows the teen writhing and collapsing on the floor for hours before he was found dead. The footage published Thursday by ProPublica calls into question the Border Patrol’s treatment of Carlos Hernandez...
Letter in film canister washes up on Outer Banks beach after 36 years
A New Jersey boy had to wait 36 years to get his pen pal. Rob Stober was 11 years old in 1983 when he slid a handwritten letter into a plastic film canister and tossed it into the sea from a pier in Ocean Grove, N.J., reports OBX Today. He...
Philadelphia Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, accused of theft from charity, announces resignation
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania lawmaker accused of bilking a charity she founded out of more than $500,000 announced Thursday she was resigning. Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, D-Philadelphia, told House Speaker Mike Turzai in a letter that her resignation will take effect on Dec. 13, adding that she disputes many of the...
Christmas parades canceled after threat of anti-Confederate protests
RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake Forest is canceling its Dec. 14 Christmas parade because of concerns of public safety after the planned participation of a local Confederate group, according to a news release. The Wake Forest Downtown Inc. board of directors, a nonprofit organizing the parade, voted Wednesday to cancel the...
Anti-headscarf law activist sues Iran in U.S. over harassment
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian-American activist famous for her campaign against the Islamic Republic’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, for women has sued Iran in U.S. federal court, alleging a government-led harassment campaign targets her and her family. Masih Alinejad’s lawsuit seeking monetary damages comes in the aftermath of...
U.S.: Iran may have killed more than 1,000 in protestsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Thursday accused Iranian security forces of killing more than 1,000 people in crackdowns against recent protests that have swept the country. The allegation came as U.S. officials said the Pentagon is considering sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East to help deter Iranian...
Apparent ‘disturbing’ Nazi salute photo leads to suspensions in West Virginia agency
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After a photo surfaced of West Virginia correction officer trainees giving what appears to be the Nazi salute, state officials quickly suspended some employees and the governor ordered the firing of those involved. The image, showing a more than two dozen trainees with their arms raised and...
Lawsuit: Theodore McCarrick victim told pope of sex abuse in 1988
NEWARK, N.J. — A man claims in a lawsuit filed under a recently enacted New Jersey law that he told Pope John Paul II in 1988 about being sexually abused as a child by the priest who would become Cardinal Theodore McCarrick but that the Vatican did nothing — claims...
Investigators to brief Wisconsin Guard leader on sex probe
MADISON, Wis. — Federal investigators plan to brief the Wisconsin National Guard’s top commander this weekend on findings from a seven-month review of the Guard’s sexual assault reporting and investigation protocols, Gov. Tony Evers said Thursday in a letter to legislative leaders. The Guard has been rocked by allegations of...
Official: Sailor used service weapon to kill at Pearl Harbor
HONOLULU — A U.S. sailor shot three civilians with his service weapon, killing two of them, before taking his own life at Pearl Harbor, just days before thousands descend on the storied military base to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese bombing that propelled the United States into World...
