Pacific typhoon expected to lash Guam with gusty wind, rain
HAGATNA, Guam — A growing typhoon in the Pacific is heading toward the Mariana Islands and could lash Guam with strong winds, rain and surf this weekend. The U.S. National Weather Service in Guam reports Typhoon Wutip was packing 100 mph winds and will continue to intensify through Saturday. The...
Authorities: 3 people found stabbed in Delaware County home
FOLSOM, Pa. — Authorities say three people have been stabbed at Pennsylvania home. But it’s not yet clear what sparked the stabbings, which occurred around 10 a.m. Thursday in Ridley. Authorities say the victims are all related. But their names and further details about them were not disclosed. The injuries...
Police: Alabama woman burglarized homes during funerals
PRICEVILLE, Ala. — An Alabama woman is accused of breaking into the homes of people who were attending relatives’ funerals. A statement released Thursday by police in the north Alabama town of Priceville says they’ve arrested 43-year-old Jennifer Lynn Azizian on four counts of burglary. Police say evidence obtained in...
Pope offers 21 proposals to fight abuse at start of summit
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis opened a landmark sex abuse prevention summit Thursday by offering senior Catholic leaders 21 proposals to punish predators and keep children safe, warning that the faithful are demanding concrete action and not just words. The tone for the high stakes, four-day summit was set at...
Police: Man says he stole Pepsi truck to get to the airport
TULSA, Okla. — Authorities say an Oklahoma man stole a Pepsi truck as the driver was unloading soda in the back. Tulsa police say no one was hurt. The driver jumped out of the back when he felt his rig move. A trail of sodas spilled out as the truck...
18 members of white supremacist prison gang indicted
TULSA, Okla. — A federal indictment in Tulsa charges 18 members of a white supremacist prison gang with racketeering, drug conspiracy and kidnapping that resulted in at least six homicides since 2005. The indictment unsealed Wednesday says the 18 are members of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, described as a violent...
Snow in Vegas! 1st measurable since record keeping started
LAS VEGAS — Winter storms in the U.S. Southwest brought rare snowfall Thursday to the Las Vegas Strip, dusting casino marquees and prompting revelers to erect a snowman near the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign. A half-inch of the white stuff began falling late Wednesday, marking the first significant...
Delaware State Police reviewing traffic stop in which officer drew gun
DOVER, Del. — Delaware State Police say they’re reviewing a traffic stop in which a trooper is seen on cellphone video pulling a gun on the driver. Mack Buckley, 40, of Lincoln captured the Feb. 14 encounter on video and posted it on Facebook. The trooper opened the car door...
Measles outbreak leads lawmakers to rethink religion exemptions for vaccines
Recent measles outbreaks in states such as Washington, New York and New Jersey have cast a spotlight on a group of Americans who receive exemptions from immunizing their children on the grounds that the vaccines violate their religious freedoms. Now the states that suffered outbreaks are taking aim at those...
Ex-grocery store owner sentenced for food stamp scheme
NEWARK, N.J. — The former owner of a small grocery store in New Jersey’s largest city is headed to prison for her role in a food stamps for cash scheme that cheated the government out of more than $885,000. Maria Teresa Venegas received a two-year sentence Wednesday and must pay...
Philadelphia boy, 4, fatally impaled by glass from shattered picture frame
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy was killed when a glass-framed photo fell from a wall at his family’s Philadelphia home, spraying the room with chards that struck him in the abdomen. The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon. Adrian Ortega’s mother was home at the time. Authorities say the boy...
NYC to pay back over $5 million in Superstorm Sandy funds
NEW YORK — New York City has reached a tentative settlement to pay back $5.3 million obtained through fraudulent claims to the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Superstorm Sandy. The New York Times says the city got relief funds for supposedly storm-damaged Department of Transportation vehicles that had actually been...
Kentucky Senate passes bill to outlaw child sex dolls
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky state Senate has passed a bill to make possessing a “child sex doll” illegal. The Courier Journal reports Senate Bill 102 would prohibit owning anatomically correct dolls or robots that resemble minors and are meant for sexual purposes. Republican Sen. Whitney Westerfield says he introduced...
Fire guts ancient part of Bangladesh’s capital, killing 67
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A devastating fire raced through densely packed buildings in a centuries-old district in Bangladesh’s capital, killing at least 67 people, officials and witnesses said Thursday. The fire in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area was mostly under control after more than 10 hours of frantic firefighting efforts. About 50 people...
Police: Texas man confessed in hammer death of daughter, 2
ORANGE, Texas — A police affidavit says a Southeast Texas man found naked and stained with blood told officers that he killed his 2-year-old daughter, who had been bludgeoned with a hammer . The affidavit says an officer’s body camera captured 26-year-old Yovahnis Roque confessing Tuesday in the death of...
Study finds spike in Pennsylvania child abuse-related deaths
HARRISBURG — A new study says the number of Pennsylvania children killed or nearly killed after abuse had occurred spiked recently, likely driven by changes to state law and heightened awareness in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky and Roman Catholic clergy child sexual abuse scandals. The state Human Services...
Trump’s inaugural team scrambled to defend staff and record haul
NEW YORK — The leaders of President Trump’s inaugural committee saw trouble coming and tried to get ahead of it. It was January 2018, a year after the black-tie balls and candlelight dinners in Washington. Journalists were asking questions about how the Presidential Inaugural Committee had raised — and spent...
Woman dead after driver plows into family in suburban N.Y.
HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. — Police say an enraged driver plowed his car into a family of eight, including a baby and five children, outside a store in Rockland County Wednesday, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring several others. Police believe an argument between the family and the driver, identified as 35-year-old...
United Methodists confront possible split over LGBT issues
The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly convenes Sunday for a high-stakes, three-day meeting likely to determine whether America’s second-largest Protestant denomination will fracture over divisions on same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. While other mainline Protestant denominations — such as the Episcopal and Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches —...
Mueller appears to be wrapping up 2-year investigation
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials are preparing for the end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and believe a confidential report could be issued in coming days, according to people familiar with the discussions. The special counsel’s investigation has consumed Washington...
Tortoise feared extinct found on remote Galapagos island
LIMA, Peru — A living member of species of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years and feared to be extinct has been found in a remote part of the Galapagos island of Fernandina. An adult female Chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as the Fernandina Giant Tortoise, was spotted Sunday...
Man dragged to his death after clothing gets caught on New York subway train, police say
A man was dragged to his death by a New York City subway train Tuesday evening, authorities said. The man was standing near the edge of the subway platform when the incoming train caught hold of an article of clothing and pulled him into the tunnel, a New York Police...
Coast Guard lieutenant planned widespread terror attack, prosecutors say
A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-identified white nationalist has been arrested after federal investigators uncovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in his Maryland home that authorities say he stockpiled to launch a widespread domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists. Christopher Paul Hasson called for “focused violence” to...
Jussie Smollett charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing false report about attack
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly filed a false police report about an attack he said occurred as he walked to his apartment building in the Streeterville neighborhood last month. The charge, a felony, was announced by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office...
Avonmore native had a head for numbers, passion for polkas
Henry Stapinski’s skill with numbers provided him a livelihood, while a passion for his Polish roots provided him years of enjoyment with his family. The son of immigrants from Poland, Mr. Stapinski liked to socialize at the Polish National Alliance club in Avonmore when he wasn’t working as an accountant....
