Arctic Norway island wants to be ‘time-free’ during summer
Residents on an Arctic Norwegian island with 69 days of constant light in the summer say they want to go “time-free” and be more flexible with school and working hours to make the most of the long days. Resident Kjell Ove Hveding says people on the island of Sommaroey —...
Polar bear spotted in Russian city, far from normal habitat
An emaciated polar bear has been sighted in a Russian industrial city in Siberia, far south of its normal hunting grounds. Emergency officials in the city of Norilsk in a statement on Tuesday warned local residents about a bear that has been spotted in one city district. Anatoly Nikolaichuk, chief...
Man caught at JFK smuggling 34 finches in hair curlers
In another life, Francis Gurahoo might have pursued a career as a hairstylist. But the three dozen-or-so plastic hair rollers stashed in his carry-on luggage weren’t meant for luscious curls. Instead, authorities found 34 colorful finches inside those rollers - each capable of producing songs worth thousands of dollars. If...
Driver dead after carjacking, being run over by officer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Police in Alabama say a person is dead after being assaulted during a carjacking and then run over by an off-duty officer. Birmingham police Sgt. Johnny Williams tells news outlets a driver crashed into a motorcycle early Wednesday and was then carjacked by people who stopped at...
Woman trapped in St. Louis jail stairwell for 2.5 days
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities say a woman was trapped in a St. Louis jail stairwell for more than two days after not understanding how to get out of the building. St. Louis Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass said the woman didn’t appear to be suffering when she was found and...
Hicks rebuffs questions on Trump White House in interview
WASHINGTON — Former top White House adviser Hope Hicks on Wednesday refused to answer questions related to her time in the White House in an interview with the House Judiciary Committee, dimming Democrats’ chances of obtaining new or substantive information about President Trump as part of their investigation into obstruction...
Trial over downing of MH17 to start in March; 4 suspects charged
NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands — The mother of one of the 298 victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 says at least four suspects will be tried for murder in a case set to start in March 2020. Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son Bryce was among the dead, expressed relief that...
Urn with Pa. man’s ashes stolen after funeral
YORK — Family members say someone stole an urn with a man’s ashes after his funeral in Pennsylvania. A service for 42-year-old Sam Abreght was held over the weekend at the Salvation Army in York. His cremains were divided into three urns, one of which was to go to his...
Trump EPA rolls back Obama rule on coal-fired power plants
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Wednesday completed one of its biggest rollbacks of environmental rules, replacing a landmark Obama-era effort that sought to wean the nation’s electrical grid off coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, signed a...
Trump rehashes gripes, rips ‘radical’ Dems in 2020 launch
ORLANDO — Jabbing at the press and poking the eye of the political establishment he ran against in 2016, President Trump officially kicked off his reelection campaign Tuesday with a grievance-filled Florida rally that focused more on settling scores than laying out his agenda for a second term. Addressing a...
House Democrats will question Hope Hicks about hush money, Russian contacts
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are intent on questioning one of President Trump’s most trusted former advisers about potential obstruction of justice, Russian attempts to woo Trump associates during the 2016 campaign and hush-money payments to women alleging affairs with Trump. Hope Hicks, the onetime White House communications director who is...
Patrick Shanahan withdraws candidacy to be defense secretary, citing domestic violence incidentsVideo
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew his already-troubled candidacy to lead the Pentagon full time on Tuesday after press accounts disclosed domestic violence incidents involving his ex-wife and son nearly a decade ago. President Trump announced Shanahan’s abrupt withdrawal, tweeting that the former Boeing Co. executive wanted to...
Donations to charity dropped, despite strong economy, follow tax law change
Donations to charity dropped an inflation-adjusted 1.7% in the United States last year, despite a strong economy, according to a new report, highlighting changes to federal tax law and continuing trends in who makes charitable gifts. The estimated $427.71 billion donated to U.S. charities in 2018 represented a growing share...
U.S. air quality is slipping after years of improvement
After decades of improvement, America’s air may not be getting any cleaner. Over the last two years the nation had more polluted air days than just a few years earlier, federal data shows. While it remains unclear whether this is the beginning of a trend, health experts say it’s troubling...
Over 16 tons of cocaine intercepted at Philadelphia port in one of the largest busts in U.S. historyVideo
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. authorities seized 33,000 pounds, or 15,000 kilograms, of cocaine from a ship at Philadelphia’s port in what they described as one of the largest drug busts in American history. They said the haul could have been worth more than $1 billion on the street. The U.S. attorney’s...
Extreme turbulence slams flight attendant into plane’s ceiling, 10 others injuredVideo
A viral video has captured a terrifying episode as severe turbulence slammed a flight attendant in to the plane’s ceiling and hot water scalding several passengers. The plane, from ALK Airlines, was flying Sunday from Pristina, Kosovo to Basel, Switzerland and experienced the turbulence 20 minutes before landing. According to...
Parole, probation violations crowd Pennsylvania, U.S. prisons, report says
About half of those committed to a Pennsylvania state prison in 2017 were jailed because of a probation or parole violation, according to figures released Tuesday. Around 7,400 people are in state prisons on any given day for a supervision violation, amounting to an annual cost of $334 million for...
Hiker rescued from New Hampshire summit may have to foot the bill
CONCORD, N.H. — An 80-year-old hiker who was rescued trying to reach the summit of Mount Washington could end up footing the bill for the emergency services, New Hampshire officials said Tuesday, amid efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of the popular tourist destination. Authorities may even file criminal...
Police: Arizona man beheads roommate’s dog as she moves out
BUCKEYE, Ariz. — An Arizona man has been arrested on suspicion of mutilating and beheading his roommate’s dog as she moved out of the home that the two shared in a Phoenix suburb. Jose Vega Meza, 21, told investigators that he killed the dog on Saturday because his roommate owed...
Frozen spinach recalled for possible Listeria contamination
Sprouts Farmers Market is recalling two varieties of frozen spinach products because they may be contaminated with listeria, a bacteria that can cause illness and sometimes death. The products were manufactured by National Frozen Foods of Oregon and shipped to Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma,...
Chevron, Benedum give STEM grants to 43 school districts
Chevron Appalachia and the Benedum Foundation hope a series of grants will put some steam into STEM programs at 43 area school districts. The most recent Innovation Grants, now in their third year, went to 43 school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio, and totalled nearly...
Vatican to consider ordaining married men as priests
A document released by the Vatican on Monday proposes that the Roman Catholic Church will consider ordaining married men as priests. The New York Times reports the move is being considered to address the dire pastoral need in some areas of the Amazon. However, the document states that only “viri...
Police: Mom intentionally drives into Michigan river; 3 dead
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Authorities say they’ve found the body of a woman and her 9-year-old twin daughters after she intentionally drove a car carrying them into a southwestern Michigan river. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says two upset girls told officers late Monday that a family member had driven...
‘Baby’ found dead near park turns out to be realistic doll
NEW YORK — Police say what appeared to be a dead infant found outside a park in New York City turned out to be a realistic-looking doll. A runner spotted what she thought was a baby shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday in a grassy area outside Crocheron Park in the...
Police: Man faked heart attack while accomplice robbed store
MALDEN, Mass. — Police say a man faked a heart attack in a Massachusetts convenience store while his accomplice hopped over the counter to steal money from the register. Malden police on Facebook say they responded to the store Sunday afternoon on reports of a theft. Officers were told two...
