Taylor Swift suspect charged in Trump golf course damage
BEDMINSTER, N.J. — The man charged with breaking into singer Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island mansion is accused of causing more than $20,000 damage to President Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf course. The Somerset County prosecutor says an employee at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster observed a spinning vehicle “doing...
OxyContin maker reaches tentative opioid-crisis settlement
HARTFORD, Conn. — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reached a tentative deal Wednesday with about half the states and thousands of local governments over its role in the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic, but criticism by several state attorneys general clouded prospects for an end to litigation against the company and the...
Water, temperature right for life at another star’s planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a tantalizing first, scientists have discovered water at a planet outside our solar system that has temperatures suitable for life. Two research groups announced this week that they’ve found water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. This...
Water, temperature right for life at another star’s planetVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a tantalizing first, scientists have discovered water at a planet outside our solar system that has temperatures suitable for life. Two research groups announced this week that they’ve found water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. This...
In ‘substantive’ call, Pat Toomey tells Trump to ‘seize an opportunity’ on gun background checks
For nearly 40 minutes Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and two of his colleagues from across the aisle huddled around a phone, fielding what they described as thoughtful questions from President Donald Trump about hammering out a bill to expand gun background checks. Afterward, the Pennsylvania Republican once again told...
Pennsylvania DEP to Sunoco: Your pipelines are showing
The state Department of Environmental Protection is ordering Sunoco Pipeline LP to cover up portions of its pipeline network that have become exposed over time. The order follows the discovery of an exposed pipeline in June by the state Public Utility Commission, which then requested that Sunoco report any additional...
Judge: StarKist to pay $100M fine in tuna price-fixing case
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered StarKist Co. to pay a $100 million fine in a canned tuna price-fixing conspiracy involving three companies. The Pittsburgh-based company had asked U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen to reduce the fine to $50 million, arguing a $100 million...
Judge: StarKist to pay $100M fine in tuna price-fixing case
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered StarKist Co. to pay a $100 million fine in a canned tuna price-fixing conspiracy involving three companies. The Pittsburgh-based company had asked U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen to reduce the fine to $50 million, arguing a $100 million...
Report: Natural gas drilling activity down amid low prices
Permitting activity for new natural gas wells in Pennsylvania is down significantly, as natural gas prices continue to tank, S&P Global reports. Unconventional well permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection were down by 23% in August and 14% in July compared to the same months last year, S&P...
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens dies at age 91
OKLAHOMA CITY — T. Boone Pickens, a brash and quotable oil tycoon who grew even wealthier through corporate takeover attempts, died Wednesday. He was 91. Pickens’ spokesman Jay Rosser confirmed the death to The Associated Press. Pickens suffered a series of strokes in 2017 and was hospitalized that July after...
Video appears to capture man trying to abduct 3 women in Philadelphia
Philadelphia police are seeking a man caught on surveillance footage apparently trying to abduct three women over the course of 30 minutes Sunday on a city street. NBC10 Philadelphia, which obtained the footage, reported a man tried to grab a 21-year-old woman Sunday morning on North 15th Street. Police on...
Pennsylvania high court asked to throw out death penalty
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court was asked Wednesday to outlaw the death penalty because of what critics call the cruel and arbitrary way it’s applied to poor and black defendants. More than half of the 441 death sentences handed down since the death penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s have...
Full moon will rise on Friday the 13thVideo
This year’s Harvest Moon is unique in that it happens to fall on Friday the 13th. The Harvest Moon is set to rise on Sept. 13 (in the Americas) and Sept. 14 (the rest of the world), according to AccuWeather. It doesn’t happen often that the full moon and Friday...
San Francisco’s iconic cable cars to shut down for repairs
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s iconic cable cars will stop running for 10 days starting Friday while they undergo repairs. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said Wednesday that shuttle buses will run along the three cable car routes. The agency says it needs to get the manually operated cable...
Al-Qaida chief in 9/11 speech calls for attacks on West
CAIRO — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called Wednesday on Muslims to attack U.S., European, Israeli and Russian targets in a speech on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online activity of jihadist groups, reported that in a video released by the militant group,...
Man’s death during sex while on business trip ruled ‘workplace accident’
Boy, the things that workers’ comp will cover these days. While on a business trip, a technician for a French railway company died of a cardiac arrest after having sex with a woman he had met, BBC News reports. Appeal court judges in Paris ruled recently that because Xavier X...
New iPhone 11 Pro triggering trypophobia in some
The iPhone 11 Pro isn’t available yet but it’s already making some people uncomfortable. Apple’s latest flagship mobile device has a cluster of three cameras on the back side. While these represent the cutting edge of pocket camera gear, they also form a miniature constellation of trouble. Trypophobia is the...
2 dead after cargo plane crashes, burns near Toledo airport
TOLEDO, Ohio — Two people are dead after a cargo plane approaching an Ohio airport crashed just a few hundred feet from a highway Wednesday and burst into flames as it hit several unoccupied vehicles at an auto repair shop, authorities said. No other injuries were reported from the early...
Multiple people stabbed in Tallahassee, suspect in custody
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A suspect stabbed at least five people at a building supply company in Florida’s capital city before being taken into custody by police officers Wednesday, authorities said. The Tallahassee Police Department said in an online news release that they were called to an industrial area in the...
Thai court declines to hear case of PM’s incomplete oath
BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court announced Wednesday it has declined to hear a case accusing the country’s prime minister of violating the constitution by omitting a sentence from the oath of office he and his government took before King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The issue raised questions about the legitimacy of Prime...
Wichita toddler injected enough methadone to kill adult
WICHITA, Kan. — Court records say a Wichita toddler who died at a motel had enough methadone in his system to kill an opioid-addicted adult. The Wichita Eagle reports details were included in an affidavit released Tuesday in the case against 23-year-old Kimberly Compass. She’s charged with first-degree murder in...
GM recalls over 3.4M pickups, SUVs to fix brake issues
DETROIT — Under pressure from the federal government, General Motors is recalling more than 3.4 million big pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States to fix a brake problem. The recall covers the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2014 through 2018 model...
U.S. commemorates 9/11 as its aftermath extends, evolves
NEW YORK — Americans commemorated 9/11 with solemn ceremonies and vows Wednesday to “never forget” 18 years after the deadliest terror attack on American soil. Victims’ relatives assembled at ground zero, where the observance began with a moment of silence and the tolling of bells at 8:46 a.m. — the...
Scientists succeed in creating northern white rhino embryos
CREMONA, Italy — Scientists announced Wednesday they have succeeded in creating two embryos of the near-extinct northern white rhino as part of an international effort to save the species, which is down to just two animals worldwide, both of them female. The embryos, created in the lab with eggs taken...
Anchorage school district backs high school swimmer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Anchorage School District says it won’t tolerate discrimination — including that based on body shape — after a high school swimmer was disqualified for wearing a team-issued swimsuit that exposed too much of her buttocks. The school district said in a written statement that the decision...
