Family, teenagers among 34 presumed dead in California boat fire
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — High school students, a science teacher and his daughter, an adventurous marine biologist and a family of five celebrating a birthday are among those presumed to have died when fire tore through a scuba diving boat off the Southern California coast, trapping dozens of sleeping people...
Attorney: Fine imposed on man convicted in Penn State hazing case was ‘excessive, irrational’
The former house manager of a Penn State fraternity where a pledge repeatedly fell during a night of drinking and later died filed an appeal Tuesday seeking to vacate his conviction and fine. Braxton Becker, 23, of New York, was found guilty in May of one misdemeanor count of hindering...
‘Total devastation’: Dorian slams parts of the BahamasVideo
FREEPORT, Bahamas — Relief officials reported scenes of utter ruin Tuesday in parts of the Bahamas and rushed to deal with an unfolding humanitarian crisis in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the most powerful storm on record ever to hit the islands. At least seven deaths were reported, with the...
Alabama sheriff: 14-year-old killed his family, later confessedVideo
ELKMONT, Ala. — A 14-year-old boy admitted to killing five members of his family, including his three younger siblings, in a slaying that rattled a small Alabama town, authorities said Tuesday. Limestone County sheriff’s spokesman Stephen Young said the boy called 911 at about 11 p.m. Monday. He met deputies...
British teen goes blind by living mostly on junk food, study says
A teenage boy who subsisted primarily on junk food went blind from his poor diet, according to a new study. The 17-year-old, who lives in the United Kingdom, first went to the doctor at age 14 complaining of tiredness, the Annals of Internal Medicine wrote in the study abstract. By...
Pentagon diverts $3.6 billion in military construction to build border wall
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday approved the use of $3.6 billion in funding from military construction projects to build 175 miles of President Donald Trump’s wall along the Mexican border. Pentagon officials would not say which 127 projects will be affected, but said details will be available...
Britain’s Boris Johnson suffers defeat in Parliament over Brexit
LONDON — On a day of humiliating setbacks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a major defeat in Parliament on Tuesday night as rebellious lawmakers voted to seize control of the Brexit agenda, prompting the embattled prime minister to say he would call for a new general election. The 328...
Law enforcement: Texas shooter purchased rifle at private saleVideo
ODESSA, Texas — The gunman in a West Texas rampage that left seven dead obtained his AR-style rifle through a private sale, allowing him to evade a federal background check that previously blocked him from getting a gun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke Tuesday...
Gov. Wolf to visit Auschwitz memorial to honor Tree of Life victims
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor will be traveling next week to visit National Guard troops stationed in Lithuania and to honor the victims of last year’s Squirrel Hill synagogue shooting during a stop at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced Tuesday he will spend time with some of the...
Mitch McConnell says he’s waiting on Trump to chart path on guns
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are waiting for the White House to chart a path forward on gun violence legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, effectively putting the burden on President Donald Trump to decide the GOP’s legislative response to the spate of mass shootings that included another deadly...
CDC awards Pennsylvania $2.25 million grant to study maternal mortality
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced Tuesday it has received a $2.25 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the cause of maternal deaths in the state after an increase in recent years. Officials said the state Department of Health will receive the grant over five...
People with tattoos more reckless, impulsive, study findsVideo
Tattoos appear to go hand in hand with recklessness and impulsivity. People with visible tattoos are more likely to be reckless and impulsive than those without ink, according to a new study reported by the Daily Mail. The study by economists from McMaster University in Canada of more than 1,000...
Conversion therapy leader McKrae Game is gay, disavows practiceVideo
For 20 years, McKrae Game led Hope for Wholeness, a faith-based conversion therapy program in South Carolina. The discredited practice was intended to suppress or eradicate a person’s LGBTQ identity through counseling or ministry, reports The Post and Courier. Game was fired from the group and in June announced he...
Walmart to stop selling handgun ammunition
NEW YORK — Walmart says it will discontinue the sale of handgun ammunition and also publicly request that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in stores even where state laws allow it. The announcement comes just days after a mass shooting claimed seven lives in Odessa, Texas and follows two...
Police: Woman claims she’s her daughter to avoid drug charges
Age is just a number, isn’t it? It’s all in how you feel. A 38-year-old woman in Utah felt 21 last week — well, that is after she was pulled over for a traffic violation, KUTV in Salt Lake City reports. According to their report, Heather Garcia was pulled over...
Woman survives 80-foot cliff fall in South Dakota state park
GARRETSON, S.D. — Authorities say a Minnesota woman has escaped with minor injuries after falling more than 80 feet from a cliff at a state park in South Dakota. Minnehaha County sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Dubbe says the fall happened Monday evening at the Palisades State Park, about 20 miles northeast...
Va. school board files appeal to defend transgender policy
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia school board has filed a federal appeal to defend its transgender bathroom ban. The Gloucester County School Board’s appeal appeared Tuesday on the docket for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. Briefs containing legal arguments will come next. The board has been...
Ohio medical board to review nearly 2,000 ‘sexual boundary’ cases
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State Medical Board of Ohio plans to review nearly 2,000 closed cases involving alleged “sexual boundary” violations by doctors over the past 25 years to see if any involved evidence of criminal misconduct that was ignored. Gov. Mike DeWine requested such a review after learning credible...
Police: Man dies in fall from Cleveland apartment filled with drugs
CLEVELAND — Authorities in Cleveland aren’t sure if a man who died in an eight-story fall over the weekend had jumped from a balcony when a bail bondsman showed up serving a warrant. Police say the body of the 24-year-old man was found Saturday in downtown Cleveland’s Flats entertainment district....
In California, a buzzy campaign idea gets a test run
STOCKTON, Calif. — Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang wants to give cash to every American each month. Susie Garza has never heard of Yang. But since February, she’s been getting $500 a month from a nonprofit in Stockton, California, as part of an experiment that offers something unusual in presidential...
Armed group storms Popeyes demanding chicken sandwiches
Hey, when you need a chicken sandwich … you need a chicken sandwich. But launching an all-out assault on Popeyes is probably not the best way to go about it. Especially when you’re lugging an infant around. According to a report from ABC13 News in Houston, a group of people...
2 dead, 3 missing after boat capsizes along Indiana river
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — A Labor Day cookout ended in tragedy when a longboat ferrying seven family members capsized on a central Indiana river, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 73-year-old woman, and leaving three men missing, authorities said Tuesday. It is unclear what caused the flat-bottomed boat to capsize Monday...
Pence aide defends stay at Trump property in Ireland
DUBLIN — A top aide to Vice President Mike Pence is defending Pence’s decision to stay at one of President Donald Trump’s properties while in Ireland amid criticism by Democrats that he is enriching Trump at taxpayers’ expense. Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, told reporters aboard Air Force Two...
Sheriff: 14-year-old killed his family, later confessed
ELKMONT, Ala. — Authorities in Alabama say a teenager called 911 about hearing gunshots and then admitted to killing five members of his family. Limestone County Sheriff’s spokesman Stephen Young tells WAFF-TV that deputies responded to the Elkmont scene early Tuesday morning. He says deputies were called by the 14-year-old,...
Philadelphia police: Man kills girlfriend while she’s at friend’s home
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a man who had been having “domestic problems” with his girlfriend stabbed her to death while she was staying at a friend’s home in Philadelphia. The stabbing occurred early Tuesday. Authorities say three children were in the home at the time, including one who is related...
