BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials plan to block new mining claims outside Yellowstone National Park as the Obama administration races in its last days to keep industry out of pristine and environmentally sensitive areas. Mining claims on 30,000 acres north of the nation’s first national park would be prohibited for at least two years … Continue reading
CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Tension flared anew on the Dakota Access pipeline as protesters tried to push past a long-blocked bridge on a state highway, only to be turned back by a line of law enforcement using water cannon and what appeared to be tear gas. Sunday’s skirmishes began around 6 p.m. after protesters … Continue reading
CHICAGO (AP) — Thanksgiving holiday air travelers will soon learn when hundreds of workers plan to strike this week at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Service Employees International Union Local 1 officials say they will announce the date of their strike during a news conference Monday. About 500 workers committed to a strike after a vote … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators are urging railroads across the country to test train operators for obstructive sleep apnea after the engineer in September’s deadly New Jersey commuter train crash was found to have the fatigue-inducing disorder. The Federal Railroad Administration will issue a safety advisory this week stressing the importance of sleep apnea … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump returned to his perch high above Manhattan on Monday, meeting with former rivals and longtime allies a day after he indicated he had worked out agreements to fill major posts in his administration. Trump, after spending the weekend receiving a parade of visitors at his golf course in … Continue reading
A police officer has been fatally shot in Texas, and another in Missouri was shot in the face but is expected to survive, in what authorities are calling the latest in a series of targeted attacks on law enforcement. The detective in San Antonio, Texas, was writing out a traffic ticket when he was shot … Continue reading
CINCINNATI (AP) — A white former police officer on trial for murder testified Tuesday that he feared for his life when he shot an unarmed black motorist in the head during a traffic stop and that the Confederate emblem he was wearing at the time meant nothing to him. Ray Tensing, who was fired by … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump’s presidential victory set off protests early Wednesday on both coasts. From Pennsylvania to California, Oregon and Washington hundreds of people hit the streets to voice their opposition to Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton. Police said at least 500 people swarmed on streets in and around UCLA, some shouting anti-Trump … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — On the eve of the election, Hillary Clinton was standing behind a podium bearing the presidential seal. By the time the votes were counted, Donald Trump had captured the White House in a political earthquake. Clinton conceded the presidency to Trump in a phone call early Wednesday morning, a stunning end … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Commuters are hitting clogged roads, jumping on bikes and organizing carpools as the Philadelphia’s transit strike enters Day 4. Transit workers hit the picket lines again Friday morning as no contract agreement was reached overnight. On Thursday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority asked for assurances from the city’s striking transit union that … Continue reading
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on child endangerment charges because he didn’t call 911 after the mother of his two children threatened to kill them and sent him videos of his son’s lifeless body during two hours’ worth of angry text messages, police said. Andre Price Jr., 23, of McKeesport, was jailed … Continue reading
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — A woman rescued from a large storage container where she says she was kept chained for two months in South Carolina told police the bodies of other women may be buried on the property. Authorities on Friday were set to resume searching the rural property in Spartanburg County owned by 45-year-old … Continue reading
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A former judge’s regret could lead to the early release of a drug kingpin whose case became well-known because of its connection to an organ transplant that saved Pennsylvania’s ailing governor in 1993. As a federal judge in 1996, Robert Cindrich sentenced Ronald Whethers to life in prison for cocaine trafficking because … Continue reading
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma man who has been on the run since Sunday, wanted in a string of killings, shootings and carjackings, likely intends to attack several people linked to a sexual assault case against him, authorities said Wednesday. Michael Dale Vance Jr., a 38-year-old man from Chandler, Oklahoma, is wanted on multiple … Continue reading
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Black Panthers emerged from this gritty Northern California city 50 years ago, declaring to a nation in turmoil a new party dedicated to defending African-Americans against police brutality and protecting the right of a downtrodden people to determine their own future. In the group’s short life, it launched an ambitious … Continue reading
CINCINNATI (AP) — Court officials in Ohio are ready to begin winnowing a large jury pool for the murder trial of a white former police officer charged with killing an unarmed black man during a traffic stop. Hamilton County Commons Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan heard a jury update in a pretrial hearing Friday and … Continue reading
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The opening of a memorial for a Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people more than a decade ago is being delayed and will not open this weekend as scheduled, organizers announced Monday. The foundation working to build the memorial at the site of The Station fire said construction on … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — It took nearly four decades to find and try a suspect in the haunting disappearance of first-grader Etan Patz. The trial itself spanned three months of testimony and 18 days of deliberations before a jury finally deadlocked. Now it’s about to unfold all over again. Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Maxwell … Continue reading
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The pilot of a small plane that crashed on a busy road near the headquarters of military jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, killing a passenger, told police detectives that the wreck was intentional, the mayor said Wednesday. East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc told The Associated Press that the badly burned … Continue reading
For a storm that inflicted less damage than many had feared, Hurricane Matthew nevertheless impaired or destroyed more than 1 million structures, forced businesses from Florida to North Carolina to close and put thousands temporarily out of work. In many affected areas, small-business owners were still assessing the damage. “I’ve never had anything like this … Continue reading
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — At Connecticut College, as at a growing number of campuses nationwide, students are encouraged to speak up if they hear remarks celebrating or condoning sexual aggression against women. In one training scenario, male students ask a peer if he really means it when he boasts of such conduct. So when … Continue reading
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A damaged New Jersey Transit commuter train that crashed into Hoboken’s terminal last week, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 people, has been removed from the station to undergo further examination. Federal investigators released new information Thursday gleaned from a data recorder and video from a … Continue reading
RIPLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man accused of sexually assaulting a 9-month-old baby is now charged with murder in the child’s death. Media outlets report 32-year-old Benjamin Taylor of Cottageville was charged with first-degree murder after the girl died of her injuries at a hospital Wednesday. Taylor is the boyfriend of the victim’s … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rowdy protesters blocked an intersection as they marched in Los Angeles streets for a second night over the deadly police shooting of an 18-year-old black man. The crowd Sunday dwindled as the night wore on and police in riot gear eventually swarmed to move about a dozen people away from the … Continue reading
BOSTON (AP) â A 22-year-old man rescued in the Atlantic after floating on a life raft for a week had been a suspect in the 2013 slaying of his grandfather, deepening the mystery surrounding his ordeal and the apparent death of his mother at sea. According to a search warrant for Nathan Carman’s apartment obtained … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 