U.S./World category, Page 1179
Police: More than dozen trampled in Chicago July 4 stampede
CHICAGO — Police said a false report of gunfire set off a stampede that trampled more than a dozen people at Chicago’s annual July 4 fireworks display Thursday at Navy Pier, where thousands of revelers had crowded the Lake Michigan shore. Three others were stabbed when a fight broke out...
PETA finds name of rural road in Idaho distasteful, asks for change
BOISE, Idaho — Chickens are friends for some people, dinner for others. Sometimes both. But one animal rights group feels that the name of a rural road in the Treasure Valley region isn’t kind to poultry. PETA sent out a news release this week alerting Idaho media that it has...
Boy rescued after falling into Indiana drain during fireworks
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Authorities say a young boy watching fireworks in Indiana was rescued after failing more than 20 feet into a water-filled drain pipe. A crowd watched as rescuers in Evansville lowered a swing-set seat into the pipe and pulled him up Thursday night. TV station WFIE reports that...
1 dead, several injured when lightning strikes near South Carolina river
GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Authorities say lightning struck at a popular river gathering spot in South Carolina on Independence Day, killing a man and injuring as many as a dozen other people. Resident Edward Williams tells WCSC-TV that a group of people had been boating on the Black River near Lawshe...
Bahamas police: 7 Americans killed in helicopter crash
NASSAU, Bahamas — A helicopter carrying seven Americans to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., crashed Thursday off Grand Cay island in the Bahamas, killing everyone on aboard, Bahamian police said. A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the helicopter went missing shortly after leaving Big Grand Cay and authorities and...
Best way to fight climate change? Plant a trillion trees
WASHINGTON — The most effective way to fight global warming is to plant lots of trees, a study says. A trillion of them, maybe more. And there’s enough room, Swiss scientists say. Even with existing cities and farmland, there’s enough space for new trees to cover 3.5 million square miles,...
Holocaust survivor Eva Kor dies at age 85
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who championed forgiveness even for those who carried out the Holocaust atrocities, died Thursday during an overseas trip for a museum she founded in Indiana, museum officials said. Kor was in Krakow, Poland, for an annual educational trip, according to the CANDLES...
Largest earthquake in decades hits Southern California, measuring 6.4 magnitudeVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — A strong earthquake rattled a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on Thursday, rattling nerves on the July 4th holiday and causing some damage in a town near the epicenter amid a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m....
Americans shell out billions to celebrate Fourth of July
What do holidays cost? OK, so the Fourth of July is not exactly Christmastime, but we do our fair share of spending, anyway. Research shows Americans will spend nearly $10 billion on various Fourth of July festivities, from barbecues to fireworks. About $1.6 billion will be spent on beer and...
Boat with 86 migrants capsizes off Tunisia; 3 survivors
CAIRO — The U.N. migration agency says a boat carrying 86 migrants from Libya sank in the Mediterranean overnight, and just three people on board survived, with 82 missing. The shipwreck late Wednesday off the Tunisian city of Zarzis came a day after a deadly airstrike on a Libyan detention...
Fire crew dodges rockets as store fireworks explode
FORT MILL, S.C. — Firefighters had to dodge exploding rockets to douse a spectacular fire that destroyed containers of fireworks stored for sale on the Fourth of July. The blaze provided for an impressive, though sparsely attended show early Thursday as shells and rockets burst through the metal containers, sending...
Appeals court: Trump can’t use Pentagon cash for border wall
SAN DIEGO — An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on President Trump’s ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of...
Fire destroys Jim Beam warehouse filled with 45,000 bourbon barrelsVideo
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A fire destroyed a massive Jim Beam warehouse filled with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon, sending flames shooting into the night sky and generating so much heat that firetruck lights melted, authorities said Wednesday. Firefighters from four counties responded to the blaze that erupted late Tuesday. Lightning...
No prosecution for Marshae Jones, the Alabama woman who was shot, lost fetusVideo
BESSEMER, Ala. — An Alabama district attorney said Wednesday she is dropping the manslaughter charge against a woman who lost her fetus when she was shot during a fight. Marshae Jones was arrested last week after a grand jury concluded she intentionally caused the death of her fetus by initiating...
‘Laugh-in’ comedic actor Arte Johnson dies at 90
LOS ANGELES — Actor Arte Johnson, who won an Emmy for comedy sketch work on the television show “Laugh-In,” has died early Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 90. Johnson died of heart failure following a three-year battle with bladder and prostate cancer, family representative Harlan Boll said. No services...
Toxic algae increases in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee
ORLANDO, Fla. — Recent test results show that toxic amounts of blue-green algae have surfaced in Lake Okeechobee, according to data released by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The liquid heart of Florida is showing more signs of cyanobacteria algae blooms contaminating its arteries in Martin and Palm Beach...
A tip from the highway patrol: Carpooling with the dead doesn’t mean you get to use the HOV lane
LAS VEGAS — A black van was driving southbound in the carpool lane of Interstate 15, just past the Stratosphere hotel and casino in Las Vegas, when the Nevada Highway Patrol trooper noticed the driver appeared to be alone. He flipped on his red and blue lights and pulled the...
Woman’s $5,000 tip on $55 check was revenge on boyfriend, cops say
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Police say a $5,000 tip a woman left on a $55 cafe bill wasn’t a case of generosity or charity. The woman is accused of using her boyfriend’s credit card to leave the tip as revenge, and she’s charged with theft in the incident. Clearwater police say...
U.S. judge rejects bankrupt coal operator’s new financing plan
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal judge has rejected a proposed new financing agreement for a West Virginia coal operator that filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week. News outlets report a bankruptcy judge in Charleston said in a ruling released Wednesday that Blackjewel LLC must explore more alternatives in its...
Reptile invasion: Florida agency encourages killing iguanas
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Non-native iguanas are multiplying so rapidly in South Florida that a state wildlife agency is now encouraging people to kill them. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release says people should exterminate the large green lizards on their properties as well as on 22...
Trump insists he’s not dropping citizenship question effort
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is insisting that he is not dropping efforts to include a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census, even as the U.S. Census Bureau has started the process of printing the questionnaire without the controversial query. Trump says in a tweet Wednesday that, “News Reports...
Show of hands on immigrant health care belies a thorny issue
WASHINGTON — In one unanimous show of hands, Democratic presidential candidates moved the idea of full health insurance for people who are not legally in the United States into the political mainstream. That debate night moment last week symbolized the party’s move to the left heading a primary in which...
Suspicious substance mailed to Boston Straight Pride planners was glitter
Three letters sent to organizers of Boston’s Straight Pride Parade raised red flags with their recipients. Boston.com reports Massachusetts police responded to the homes of the men — John Hugo, Mark Sahady, and Samson Racioppi. The letters contained no return address and, according to Racioppi, something inside that rattled. “I...
Airstrike hits Libyan detention center, killing 44 migrants
BENGHAZI, Libya — An airstrike hit a detention center for migrants near the Libyan capital early Wednesday, killing at least 44 people and wounding more than 130, the U.N. mission to the war-torn country said. The airstrike raises further concerns about the European Union’s policy of partnering with Libyan militias...
Trump touts July 4 military ‘salute’; critics see politics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is marshaling tanks, bombers and other machinery of war for a Fourth of July celebration that traditionally is light on military might, while critics accused him of using America’s military as a political prop. Under White House direction, the Pentagon was scrambling to arrange for...
