U.S./World category, Page 1128
San Francisco: More homeless living in vehicles in the city
SAN FRANCISCO — Most homeless people in San Francisco sleep in parks and on sidewalks but a growing number are living out of their vehicles, helping fuel an overall 17% increase in homelessness in the last two years, according to a report released Friday. San Francisco tallied about 8,000 homeless...
Texas police identify ice cream licker as juvenile girl
LUFKIN, Texas — Police in East Texas say a teenager from San Antonio is suspected of taking a tub of ice cream from a Walmart freezer, removing the top to lick the ice cream and then returning it to the freezer. Blue Bell Creameries said in a statement that it...
Grandpa accidentally gives nurses cannabis cake as ‘thank you’
It’s the thought that counts, right? An elderly man brought a group of nurses at a hospital in England a ‘thank you’ present for caring for a relative. However, what he didn’t know was the cake he presented them with was laced with cannabis, the BBC News reports. It turns...
Fungus that causes deadly disease in bats detected in California
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats has now spread to California, although officials caution that the disease itself is not affecting bat populations there. White-nose syndrome, a disease that affects bats while they’re hibernating, was first detected in a single cave in New York in 2006 and was...
Authorities: Woman sprays would-be car thief with gasoline
CONYERS, Ga. — Authorities say a Georgia woman at a gas station doused a man in gasoline as he tried to steal her car. WSB-TV reports the woman was pumping gas in her car Thursday outside Atlanta when the man approached the passenger door undetected. The woman noticed the man...
Gunfire ignites fireworks in family car, injuring children
HOUSTON — Two young Houston-area children are in critical condition following an argument between their father and another motorist who fired into their family car and ignited fireworks that caused the car to be engulfed in flames. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says a “road rage incident” led to the...
Man with knife stabs 3 people inside Virginia plasma center
PETERSBURG, Va. — A man stabbed three people at a Virginia plasma center while patrons were donating blood, according to authorities. News reports said one person suffered life-threatening injuries after an unidentified man with a machete attacked people inside the Octapharma Plasma center in Petersburg, Va., on Thursday. “The suspect...
Aftershocks following Southern California earthquake
LOS ANGELES — The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on the July 4th holiday, rattling nerves and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck...
Coast Guard searching for man who fell from Carnival ship
MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 37-year-old man who apparently fell overboard from the cruise ship Carnival Victory. The agency says it was notified Thursday that a Carnival cruise ship crewmember fell overboard about 30 miles northwest of Cuba. The Coast Guard sent an airplane crew...
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...
