HONOLULU (AP) — A church in Hawaii looking to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis has settled on a solution that on first look appears better suited for the frigid winters of Alaska than the islands’ tropical climate: igloos. There’s no risk of the dome-shaped structures melting. They are made of fiberglass and their construction … Continue reading
Author Archives: Alana Andrews
Some principals charged with kickbacks faced financial woes
DETROIT (AP) — A dozen Detroit principals and an administrator are accused of finding a way to bleed their struggling public schools of $900,000 — ordering chairs, writing paper and other supplies that in most cases were never delivered, even as investigators doggedly battled fraud in a district that lacks textbooks and even toilet paper. … Continue reading
Marijuana advocate dubbed NJ Weedman arrested again, for pot
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A marijuana advocate dubbed NJ Weedman has been arrested again on marijuana charges after law enforcement raided his restaurant and cannabis temple. Ed Forchion was arrested Wednesday along with 10 other people after a raid of his business across the street from City Hall, officials said. Forchion opened a restaurant, NJ … Continue reading
‘Bomb’ hooked to man in animal suit really flotation device
BALTIMORE (AP) — A young man in an animal costume and surgical mask who walked into a Baltimore TV station Thursday, April 28 claiming to have a bomb was shot and wounded by police, who determined that his alleged explosive consisted of aluminum-wrapped chocolate bars duct-taped to a flotation device. The 25-year-old white male was … Continue reading
Doubts about honesty led to university chancellor’s removal
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — University of California President Janet Napolitano felt compelled to remove the chancellor of UC Davis after documents contradicted the campus leader’s contention that she did not have any dealings with contractors that were hired to bolster the school’s image online, a university spokeswoman said Thursday, April 28. Napolitano put Chancellor Linda … Continue reading
Brother, others related to San Bernardino shooters arrested
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Three people with close family ties to the couple responsible for the San Bernardino terror attack were arrested Thursday, April 28 in an alleged marriage-fraud scheme involving a pair of Russian sisters. The accused include Syed Raheel Farook. His brother and sister-in-law, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, died in a … Continue reading
Governor wants to change, but not scrap, North Carolina law
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s governor is asking lawmakers to change part of a state law criticized for its anti-discrimination policies, but he sees no need for a wholesale repeal or reversal of its provisions on transgender bathroom access. Gov. Pat McCrory issued an executive order on Tuesday, April 12 expanding protections for many … Continue reading
Woman lost in forest for 9 days credits survival course
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Ann Rodgers ate plants and a turtle and made a “help” sign large enough that a helicopter was able to find her after nine days in the Arizona wilderness. The 72-year-old Tucson woman, who was found in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona, says studying survival methods and taking a survival … Continue reading
Jury convicts Texas doctor in biggest home health care fraud
DALLAS (AP) — A jury on Wednesday, April 13 convicted a Dallas-area doctor of fraud for allegedly “selling his signature” to process almost $375 million in false Medicare and Medicaid claims in what investigators called the biggest home health care fraud case in the history of both programs. A federal jury deliberated for 14 hours … Continue reading
Feds: EPA fails to protect water from oilfield contamination
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is failing in its mandate to protect underground drinking water reserves from oilfield contamination, according to a federal review singling out lax EPA oversight in California, where the state routinely allowed oil companies to dump wastewater into some drinking water aquifers. The U.S. Government Accountability Office … Continue reading
Philadelphia nun goes on trial on drunken driving charge
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A Philadelphia nun facing drunken driving charges says she had a sedative and doesn’t remember crashing her car into a New Jersey building. Sister Kimberly Miller testified Wednesday, April 13 at her trial in Washington Township that she had a glass of wine and an Ambien before bed but woke … Continue reading
Family reaches $4.75M settlement in death of football player
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The family of a University of California, Berkeley, football player who died after a team drill in 2014 has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the school system for $4.75 million, officials said Thursday April, 14. The parents of 21-year-old Ted Agu sued, saying their son shouldn’t have been in the … Continue reading
NYC Council holds hearing on regulating costumed characters
NEW YORK (AP) — The costumed characters, naked painted ladies and bus tour ticket sellers who have made all of Times Square their stomping grounds could be restricted to specific zones under legislation being considered by the City Council. The council’s committee on transportation is holding a hearing Wednesday, March 30, morning on legislation that … Continue reading
Endangered Puget Sound orcas to get personal health records
SEATTLE (AP) — The killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state already are tagged and tracked, photographed and measured. Researchers follow them by drone and by sea, analyzing their waste and their exhaled breath. Now, experts want to add another layer to the exhaustive studies: individual health records for each … Continue reading
Ash coats village areas near erupting Alaska volcano
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A village not far from an erupting Alaska volcano urged residents to stay indoors after the mountain rained down ash, coating ground areas and turning some rooftops and car windows black. The volcano kept pumping out new ash Tuesday, March 29 that could threaten aircraft, but it came in smaller amounts at lower … Continue reading
NYC killing, Florida alibi: Man may go free after 20 years
NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Rosario thought he’d quickly clear himself of suspicion in a New York City killing when he gave police the names of 13 people who could vouch he was in Florida when the shooting happened. Instead, he was arrested, found guilty and imprisoned for 20 years so far. He lost multiple … Continue reading
Illinois budget impasse spurs creative way to fund shelters
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois homeless shelters struggling to get by without state aid during the budget stalemate could get a much-needed financial boost through specialty scratch-off lottery tickets. A bipartisan measure pending in the Illinois Legislature would create a new $3 scratch ticket and designate all the proceeds beyond administrative costs and prize money … Continue reading
Custody case of Native American girl appealed to high court
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California family appealed Tuesday, March 22 to the state’s highest court in their fight to keep a 6-year-old foster child who was removed from their home after a lower court said her 1/64th Native American bloodline requires that she live with relatives. The family’s lawyer, Lori Alvino McGill, filed the … Continue reading
17-year-olds can vote in Ohio’s presidential primary Tuesday
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 before the fall presidential election can vote in Ohio’s presidential primary, a judge ruled Friday in a potential boost for Democrat Bernie Sanders as he fights to open elections across the country to the young people who are among his key supporters. The judge’s decision reversed … Continue reading
Louisiana, Mississippi: Thousands of homes damaged in floods
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Widespread flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi has damaged thousands of homes, and the risk of rising water prompted additional evacuations Sunday. At least four deaths have been reported in Louisiana amid the flooding that began last week, and the National Guard has rescued nearly 3,300 residents. Two fishermen have been missing … Continue reading
Mississippi governor: April named Confederate Heritage Month
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is proclaiming April as Confederate Heritage Month, but without mentioning slavery. His proclamation was posted to the Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans website (http://bit.ly/1VHPTv9 ) but not to the governor’s site. He signed it days before legislators killed bills that would have either removed the Confederate battle … Continue reading
Sheriff says gunman, 3 others dead after shootings in Kansas
HESSTON, Kan. (AP) — A gunman armed with an “assault-style” weapon drove through a south-central Kansas town Thursday,Feb. 26, taking shots at people, before storming the factory where he worked. Authorities said he killed three people and wounded 14 before being shot dead by an officer. Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said all the dead … Continue reading
Coaches: Racial remarks fuel New Mexico basketball spat
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two basketball coaches who are the parents of a popular WNBA player are finding themselves in the middle of a firestorm over race and accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct after they were fired from a New Mexico high school. Cecilee Moses and Rick Schimmel, the parents of Atlanta Dream guard Shoni Schimmel, … Continue reading
Study examines little-known WWII internment camp in Alaska
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — Alice Tanaka Hikido clearly remembers the bewilderment and sense of violation she felt 74 years ago when FBI agents rifled through her family’s Juneau home, then arrested her father before he was sent to Japanese internment camps, including a little-known camp in pre-statehood Alaska. The 83-year-old Campbell, California, woman … Continue reading
Bathrooms become battlegrounds in anti-discrimination debate
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — As bathrooms become battlegrounds in the national debate over anti-discrimination laws, a city council’s decision to protect the restroom choices of transgender people in Charlotte, North Carolina, was cheered Tuesday, Feb. 23, by rights advocates as a courageous move. But it may not stand for very long. Gov. Pat McCrory told The … Continue reading