Armed man at Missouri Walmart says he was testing right to bear arms
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Prosecutors on Friday filed a terrorist threat charge against a 20-year-old man who said he walked into a Missouri store wearing body armor and carrying a loaded rifle and handgun to test whether Walmart would honor his constitutional right to bear arms. The incident, just days after...
Families gather to remember victims of El Paso shooting
Families of those killed when a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart are gathering at funerals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border to remember loved ones whose lives told the story of the vibrant region. The 22 people killed ranged in age from 15 to 90, and...
Wealthy San Francisco suburb agrees to desegregate school
SAN FRANCISCO — A school district in one of California’s wealthiest and politically liberal counties has agreed to desegregate a flailing school that state officials found had been intentionally created for low-income minority children and then starved of resources. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Friday that students at Bayside...
Documents cache details how Jeffrey Epstein, madam lured girls into depraved world
MIAMI — A chilling picture of how hundreds of girls and young women from around the world were trafficked for sex by Jeffrey Epstein, his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, and — allegedly — a number of powerful business and world leaders emerged Friday in court documents unsealed in New York. The...
Suspect in deadly California rampage pleads not guilty
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — The suspect in a Southern California stabbing rampage that left four people dead and two injured pleaded not guilty Friday to murder, attempted murder and other counts. Zachary Castaneda was arrested Wednesday by police responding to two hours of slashing and stabbing attacks in Garden Grove...
Trump administration moves to enforce abortion restriction
WASHINGTON — Moving ahead despite objections, the Trump administration on Friday set a timetable for federally funded family clinics to comply with a new rule that bars them from referring women for abortions. The move is part of a series of efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health to...
Trump gets letter from North Korea, says more talks likely
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from Kim Jong Un and predicted that the two leaders would have more talks to try resolving the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Trump has said he’s not bothered by the flurry of missiles...
Trump says he wants background checks, reassures NRA
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he believes he has influence to rally Republicans around stronger federal background check laws as Congress and the White House work on a response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. At the same time, Trump said he had assured the...
Mass shootings give rise to bullet-resistant backpacks
NEW YORK — Companies like Guard Dog Security, TuffyPacks and Bullet Blocker are peddling bullet-resistant backpacks for children in time for the back-to-school shopping season. But critics argue they are using tragedy as a marketing opportunity and exploiting parents’ worst fears. Safety is high on the minds of parents, especially...
Workers neutralize toxic chemical at Philadelphia refinery blast site
PHILADELPHIA — Workers have started to neutralize a highly toxic chemical on the site of a massive Philadelphia refinery that’s been shut down since explosions and a blaze earlier this summer. Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel says workers are at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions site around the clock, seven days...
On anniversary of son’s death, Michael Brown’s father seeks new probe into killing in Ferguson, Mo.
CLAYTON, Mo. — On the fifth anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, his father urged St. Louis County’s top prosecutor Friday to reopen the investigation into the white police officer who fatally shot the black and unarmed 18-year-old. Before a memorial service in the Ferguson street where a white...
Police: El Paso shooting suspect confessed, said he targeted Mexicans
EL PASO, Texas — The man accused of carrying out last weekend’s deadly mass shooting at Walmart in the Texas border city of El Paso confessed to officers while he was surrendering and later explained that he had been targeting Mexicans. Patrick Crusius, 21, emerged with his hands up from...
Florida man drove golf cart through Walmart, hit shoppers, deputies sayVideo
A man terrorized shoppers by driving his golf cart into a Walmart and crashing into a cash register, according to police. Michael Dale Hudson, 56, is accused of ignoring Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies’ orders to stop as he drove through the front doors and raced toward the checkout area, hitting...
Man charged for trying to steal police car while handcuffed
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Police in West Virginia say a man who tried to steal a police cruiser while handcuffed has been charged. Criminal complaints filed in Charleston say Blake King is facing two misdemeanors and a felony after the incident Thursday. The filings say an officer first arrested King and...
Afghanistan election in doubt as U.S., Taliban near deal
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan faces a presidential election next month but few believe the vote will take place as the United States and the Taliban inch closer to a deal that could end the nearly 18-year war but bring uncertainty about almost everything else. Few candidates — 18 are running...
Man accused in plotting foiled terror attack pleads guilty
TOLEDO, Ohio — A man accused of plotting with his girlfriend to obtain guns and explosives for a foiled domestic terror attack pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Prosecutors said the pair had talked extensively about taking part in violent attacks on public places, visited the site of the...
Ex-officer pleads guilty to beating pedestrian on video
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A former North Carolina police officer has pleaded guilty to beating a black pedestrian in a case that sparked outrage after graphic video of the encounter surfaced. Christopher Hickman pleaded guilty Friday in Asheville to assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats. Buncombe County...
Homeowner reports handgun stolen during Florida sex party
DELTONA, Fla. — A Florida homeowner says someone stole a 9 mm Glock handgun from his bedroom during a weekend sex party. But Volusia County Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Smith tells The Daytona Beach News-Journal the homeowner couldn’t give detectives the names of possible suspects because the 20 or so people...
Karaoke singer hospitalized with collapsed lung after hitting high notes
He sang his heart out. And his lung. A Chinese man ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung after a marathon karaoke session, the South China Morning Post reports. In an interview with the video site PearVideo, the 65-year-old, mentioned only by his surname Wang, said after singing...
Canadian citizen freed from Syria after Lebanese mediation
BEIRUT — A Canadian citizen, freed after being imprisoned in Syria since last year, has appeared before reporters in Lebanon. Kristian Lee Baxter dissolved into tears at the press conference in Beirut on Friday, saying he thought he “would be there forever.” He then got off the podium. Lebanon’s General...
Man with rifle, ammunition, body armor arrested at Missouri Walmart
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Police in Springfield, Missouri, said they arrested a man who showed up at a Walmart store carrying a rifle and wearing body armor, terrifying shoppers who fled from the store. Springfield police posted on Facebook that “an armed individual” was arrested Thursday. No shots were fired. The...
Region hit hard by opioids embraces jail-based treatment
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Officials in western Massachusetts are embracing a controversial tactic amid a dramatic spike in fatal overdoses: sending men to jail for court-ordered addiction treatment. Hampden County Sheriff Thomas Cocchi has designated a jail wing for the treatment of men civilly committed for substance abuse reasons. Cocchi and...
Japan’s ex-Empress Michiko has early stage breast cancer
TOKYO — Japanese palace officials say former Empress Michiko will have an operation for breast cancer. The Imperial Household Agency said Friday that doctors found Michiko had an early stage of breast cancer in a health check in July. Michiko, 84, received the title of empress emerita after her husband,...
Belgian park trumpets arrival of twin baby pandas
BRUGELETTE, Belgium — A Belgian wildlife park is proudly announcing the birth of twin baby giant pandas. Pairi Daiza said in a tweet Friday that Hao Hao, a panda loaned to the park by China in 2014, has given birth to “two little ‘pink shrimps’ that are in good health...
‘Muggs’ was known and loved throughout South Greensburg
If you lived in South Greensburg, odds are you knew Lawrence “Muggs” Collier. “He basically was South Greensburg, and he knew everybody in South Greensburg,” said his granddaughter, Amanda Lehman. Mr. Collier spent his career at the borough’s PPG Industries plant. He worked part-time tending the bar at South Greensburg...
