4 children saved from St. Louis fire; apparently left aloneVideo
ST. LOUIS — Four children under the age of 5 who fire officials believe were left without adult supervision were pulled from a burning home by St. Louis firefighters on Thursday. One child is in critical condition. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer captured an image of a firefighter working to...
Cookie bakers announce sweet tally for Guinness World Record
The bakers contributing cookies to the Monongahela Area Historical Society’s attempt to set a Guinness World Record for largest cookie table only had to exceed 18,000 cookies. Instead, according to the final tally, their wedding cookie spread totaled 88,425. That number was far north of the conservative “at least 50,000”...
Emails show Washington state lawmaker tied to group training for holy war
SPOKANE, Wash. — Newly leaked emails show that conservative state Rep. Matt Shea, a Republican from Spokane Valley, has had close ties with a group that trained children and young men for religious combat. The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported that the emails were first revealed in The Guardian on Wednesday, while...
Panel upholds ruling that kids held at border have adequate food, sanitation
SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of judges on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the U.S. government that contended detained immigrant children might not require soap during shorter stints in custody under a longstanding settlement agreement. A three-judge panel for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismissed...
Virgin Galactic reveals futuristic outpost for space tourism
UPHAM, N.M. — Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert. The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transformed into a custom-tailored headquarters where Virgin...
Gov’t wants a new 911-like number just for suicide hotline
NEW YORK — With suicides on the rise , the U.S. government wants to make the national crisis hotline easier to reach. Once implemented, people will just need to dial 988 to seek help. Currently, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline uses a 10-digit number, 800-273-TALK (8255). Callers are routed to...
U.K. judge sentences David Schwimmer lookalike to 9 months in jail
LONDON — A British judge has sentenced a lookalike of “Friends” actor David Schwimmer to nine months in prison for theft and fraud. Judge Sara Dodd sentenced Abdulah Husseni on Thursday for using a stolen bank card to make or attempt to make fraudulent purchases at four shops in Blackpool,...
Scientists confirm July was hottest month record
BERLIN — July was the hottest month measured on Earth since records began in 1880, the latest in a long line of peaks that scientists say backs up predictions for man-made climate change. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that July was 1.71 degrees warmer than the...
Israel bars entry to outspoken U.S. congresswomen
JERUSALEM — Israel said Thursday that it will bar two Democratic congresswomen from entering the country ahead of a planned visit over their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement, a decision announced shortly after President Donald Trump tweeted that it would “show great weakness” to allow them in. The move...
Gibraltar releases Iran supertanker that US sought to seize
MADRID — Gibraltar on Thursday allowed a detained Iranian supertanker to leave the British overseas territory despite a last-minute U.S. attempt to seize the vessel, potentially defusing tensions between London and Tehran as a British-flagged tanker remains held by the Islamic Republic. The release of the Grace 1 comes amid...
Trump nominates law professor for judicial vacancy
RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump has nominated a law professor who previously worked as a prosecutor, defense attorney and journalist to fill the nation’s longest federal judiciary vacancy. Trump nominated Richard E. Myers on Wednesday to be a federal judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Raleigh lawyer...
Michael Avenatti blames arrest on ‘vindictive’ prosecutors
NEW YORK — Lawyer Michael Avenatti wants a judge to dismiss criminal charges alleging he extorted Nike, and he’s blaming his arrest on what he calls “vindictive” prosecutors. Avenatti’s attorneys filed papers Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. Avenatti has pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to extort up to...
Authorities: Woman pulls gator from pants during stop – Aug. 15, 2019
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Officials say a Florida woman who pulled a small alligator from her yoga pants during a traffic stop and illegally possessed numerous other wild animals has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to four charges. Florida prosecutors say a Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy stopped a...
Pennsylvania car registration stickers could make a comeback
A Pennsylvania state legislator wants to revive the vehicle registration sticker two years after it was discarded as a cost-saving measure. A bill before the House Transportation Committee would not only bring back the tiny sticker but tie it to state vehicle inspections, as well, according to the legislation proposed...
Man who fell 15 feet in Ohio says dog saved him
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A man in Ohio is crediting his dog for saving him after the man suffered a bad fall. WSAZ-TV reports Jimmy Hale fell off a flood wall in Portsmouth last week while walking his dog Taco. Hale ended up passing out after falling 15 feet and didn’t...
Report: Levi’s, Wrangler, Lee seamstresses harassed, abused
Women sewing blue jeans for Levi’s, Wrangler, Lee and The Children’s Place faced sexual harassment and gender-based violence and some were coerced into having sex with supervisors to keep their jobs in African factories, labor rights groups say. In response to the revelations, the brands have agreed to bring in...
Coast Guard finds 43 bales of pot floating off California
AVALON, Calif. — Authorities have found 1,300 pounds of plastic-wrapped marijuana floating in the ocean near Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast. The Daily News reports Wednesday that the U.S. Coast Guard acting on a tip discovered 43 bales of pot worth about $1 million. The marijuana was...
Judge: Georgia must scrap old voting machines after 2019
ATLANTA — A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia to stop using its outdated voting machines after this year and to be ready with hand-marked paper ballots if its new system isn’t in place for the presidential primaries. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg’s 153-page ruling Thursday is not a complete...
Philadelphia gunman identified after hourslong standoff
PHILADELPHIA — An hourslong standoff where a gunman shot at police, wounding six of them, as he was barricaded inside a Philadelphia home somehow ended with no fatalities. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who spent hours Wednesday negotiating with the gunman through the phone, said the situation that unfolded “could...
Pa. court ruling opens possible path for old church sex-abuse claims
A year to the day after a statewide grand jury report disclosed seven decades of sexual abuse allegations against 301 Catholic priests, the Pennsylvania Superior Court Wednesday cleared what may be a path for some old claims to go to a jury. An order issued Wednesday by the court upheld...
Report: Autopsy finds broken bones in Jeffrey Epstein’s neck
An updated autopsy report reveals that imprisoned financier Jeffrey Epstein had broken bones in his neck, the Washington Post reported early Thursday. NEW >>>> Jeff Epstein autopsy found multiple neck bone fractures, which can be caused by suicidal hanging -- but are more commonly found in homicidal strangulation. The mystery...
Michigan governor: Civil rights director should resign over comments
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that the state’s civil rights director should resign or be fired after he made inappropriate, offensive comments about women. Whitmer, who does not have the power to dismiss Agustin Arbulu, said she will no longer let him attend Cabinet meetings and...
Epstein’s Caribbean islands drawing tourists after his death
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — Jeffrey Epstein’s armed guards and the sharp rocks that lie beneath the turquoise waters glistening around his Caribbean island have long deterred boaters from the area, but curiosity has overcome concern since the financier apparently killed himself in jail as he awaited trial in...
Woodstock 50th Anniversary
A look back at the 1969 Woodstock music festival from the Getty Images and Associated Press archives. The festival started on Friday, Aug. 15 and ended Monday, Aug. 18, 1969. More than 450,000 people attended....
Wood, glass crafter was drawn to animals in the wild and in art
Clifford Howard loved to make and collect items fashioned from wood, and then give them away. “He made carvings of different waterfowl, and he gave a lot of them to his friends,” said his daughter, Sharon Johnson. “I have a lot of his carved ducks.” In his home wood shop,...
