After a year of anticipation, Amazon has picked two locations for its HQ2 project. On Tuesday Amazon announced that Long Island City in New York City’s Queens borough and National Landing in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington, DC were selected. These 2 picks are expected to each land 25,0000 jobs.... [Read Full Story]
Opening statements were delayed Tuesday in the high-profile trial of alleged Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman when a juror had to be excused for an unknown reason shortly before opening statements were set to begin. Guzman, 61, has escaped Mexican jails twice, so Intense security is now in place around the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. “El Chapo” is expected to be kept in Brooklyn during the week, and will be escorted by a highly secure motorcade each time he arrive and departs from court. He has pleaded not guilty to 17 charges, including drug smuggling, money laundering and conspiring to murder. In addition, jurors will receive special security, and will also be transported to and from the courthouse by armed federal marshals. The trial is expected to last about four months. If convicted, Guzman could spend the rest of his life behind bars, and he is currently being held in solitary confinement.... [Read Full Story]
Officials said Monday that the Woolsey Fire continues to rage across Southern California, and may still be going a week from now. The deadly blaze has consumed 91,572 acres since it started Thursday in Simi Valley, near the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby. While reports said the fire was 20 percent contained by midday Monday, fire officials said full containment was still awhile away. “As far as 100-percent containment, we’ll be out here for the next week or two trying to mop this fire up,” Osby told reporters. It is estimated that 370 structures have been destroyed in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, more than double what had been estimated this past weekend.... [Read Full Story]
According to U.S. officials briefed on recent intelligence, North Korea is continuing work on its ballistic missile program. This confirms a private report Monday detailing recent improvements made at undeclared military sites. According to one U.S. official, “North Korea has continued its ballistic missile program at a number of bases but it’s significant that they have not tested one in nearly a year; we need to give the diplomats time and space to work.” Reports released Monday said researchers had identified 13 of an estimated 20 undeclared North Korean missile bases, and included a detailed analysis of one facility, the Sakkanmol Missile Operating Base, about 50 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.... [Read Full Story]
Miami-Dade County elections officials say they’ve started recounting ballots from Tuesday’s election, and officials from the county’s elections office confirmed Saturday evening that they’ve started a machine recount. Considering there were some 800,000 ballots cast, and official will need to load paper ballots into scanning machines, the results of the recount could take days. The unofficial results show that Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by less than 0.5 percentage points, which will require a machine recount of ballots. In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is less than 0.25 percentage points, which will require a hand recount of ballots from tabulation machines that couldn’t determine which candidate got the vote. ... [Read Full Story]
Miami-Dade County elections officials say they’ve started recounting ballots from Tuesday’s election, and officials from the county’s elections office confirmed Saturday evening that they’ve started a machine recount. Considering there were some 800,000 ballots cast, and official will need to load paper ballots into scanning machines, the results of the recount could take days. The unofficial results show that Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by less than 0.5 percentage points, which will require a machine recount of ballots. In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is less than 0.25 percentage points, which will require a hand recount of ballots from tabulation machines that couldn’t determine which candidate got the vote. ... [Read Full Story]
Massive wildfires raging in Northern and Southern California have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes as firefighters deal with heavy winds. According to officials, the largest and deadliest of the infernos is the Camp Fire, which as of Sunday had burned 109,000 acres, leveled 6,453 homes and another 260 commercial structures in Northern California’s Butte County. At least 23 civilians have been killed in the Camp Fire, which began on Thursday and quickly swept through communities in the Sierra foothills, devastating the town of Paradise. ... [Read Full Story]
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate several Northern California communities due to a fast-moving wildfire that exploded in size Thursday. Panicked residents are racing to help neighbors who had to drive through walls of flames to escape. It was not immediately known if there were injuries or fatalities. According to the Butte County Sheriff’s office, an evacuation order was issued for areas of Paradise, a town of about 27,000 people 180 miles northeast of San Francisco. Cal Fire spokesman Rick Carhart said the wildfire was reported at 6:30 a.m., affecting about 30,000 people in the towns of Paradise, Concow and other small communities. Carhart also said officials were sending as many crews as they could gather. The California Highway Patrol closed a nearby highway and urged motorists to avoid the area. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for fire dangers in many areas of the state, saying low humidity and strong winds were expected to continue through Friday evening.... [Read Full Story]
Federal authorities announced on Thursday that a federal grand jury indicted the duck boat captain whose vessel capsized near Branson, Missouri, killing 17 passengers. Officials said that the captain, 51-year-old Kenneth Scott McKee of Verona, Missouri, was charged with 17 counts of misconduct, negligence or inattention to duty by a ship’s officer. Back on July 19 this tragedy occurred when a Ride the Ducks amphibious boat, dubbed “Stretch Duck 7,” ventured on to Table Rock Lake during a thunderstorm with 60 mph winds. The U.S. Coast Guard found probable cause that the accident “resulted from the misconduct, negligence, or inattention to the duties” by McKee, according to an August court filing. According to the indictment, McKee operated the boat “in violation of the conditions and limitations specified in the vessel’s United States Coast Guard issued Certificate of Inspection.”... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. Air Force conducted a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California yesterday. In a statement, the Air Force Global Strike Command said that the missile was launched at 11:01 p.m. Tuesday to determine the accuracy and reliability of the system and such tests “are not related to any real world events.” They also said that the missile’s re-entry vehicle reached its intended target, but further details about the test can’t be released. The Air Force tests Minuteman missiles by launching them from California to a target in the Pacific Ocean.... [Read Full Story]
At least 12 people were killed and as many as 10 others were injured when a gunman burst into a packed Southern California bar, tossing smoke grenades and firing dozens of rounds, witnesses and authorities said. The suspect was found dead inside the bar, police said. Police said they responded to the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles west of Los Angeles, just before midnight local time. Hundreds were inside the bar at the time. Sgt. Ron Helus was among the dozen killed overnight, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Helus was a 29-year veteran and was one of the first on the scene, when he was fired on multiple times. Authorities are working to determine who the suspect was, and what his motive may have been.... [Read Full Story]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday, at the request of President Donald Trump. The announcement was made by the President on Twitter, just a day after the midterm elections. “At your request, I am submitting my resignation,” Sessions wrote to Trump, adding that he was “honored to serve” the president. Sessions’ departure after the midterms was no surprise, given the many conflicts between the two. When Mr. Trump was asked about Sessions’ future at a lengthy press conference Wednesday afternoon, he declined to comment on whether Sessions would be leaving the administration. However, Sessions’ resignation letter had already been submitted earlier in the day. President Trump has now named Matthew Whitaker, Sessions’ chief of staff, as acting attorney general. Whitaker is now set to oversee special counsel Mueller’s probe.... [Read Full Story]
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A Bangladeshi immigrant who set off a pipe bomb in New York City’s busiest subway station at rush hour last December, was convicted Tuesday of terrorism charges. The conviction of Akayed Ullah was returned in Manhattan federal court after a trial in which the defense maintained that he intended to kill only himself last Dec. 11. Fortunately no one died in the incident. Prosecutors said that Ullah wanted to maim or kill commuters as part of a “lone wolf” terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State group, disputing the defense’s claim and saying Ullah would not have worn a bomb had he wanted to kill only himself. They also cited social media postings by Ullah as well as comments he made after his arrest to investigators. In closing arguments Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney George Turner said Ullah told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to avenge U.S. aggression toward the Islamic State group and had chosen a busy weekday morning to attack so he could terrorize as many people as possible.... [Read Full Story]
Authorities say that a newlywed couple from Texas died after the helicopter carrying them from their wedding crashed into the side of a mountain in Uvalde, Texas. Uvalde is in northwest Uvalde County, about 100 miles west of San Antonio. Will Byler and Bailee Ackerman Byler were married just before the fatal crash on Saturday evening at the Byler family ranch, just before departing on the helicopter in front of family and friends. The couple – both seniors from Sam Houston State University – were on the way to their honeymoon in San Antonio when their helicopter crashed into the mountain, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Authorities were notified of the crash just after midnight on Sunday morning, but rescue crews were unable to reach the helicopter overnight because of the difficult terrain and “pitch dark” conditions. The helicopter crashed about five to 10 minutes after it took off, said Craig Hatch, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. ... [Read Full Story]
NBC, Fox News and Facebook all pulled ads by President Donald Trump’s campaign that critics had labeled racist; this coming the day before election day as a fight for control of the U.S. Congress will play out. The 30-second ad, sponsored by Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, featured courtroom video of an illegal immigrant from Mexico convicted in the 2014 killings of two police officers, juxtaposed with scenes of migrants headed through Mexico.... [Read Full Story]
Officials said on Sunday that a Utah mayor serving in Afghanistan was killed and another service member was wounded in an apparent “insider attack.” Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, Utah’s adjutant general, said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor — a major in the Utah National Guard — was killed in the apparent insider attack while serving with his unit in Kabul on Saturday. Burton said Taylor, 39, was “a man of excellence” and an “amazing human being” who was killed while serving in his fourth deployment. Taylor announced on Facebook in January that he was embarking on a one-year deployment to Afghanistan as part of an advisory team training the staff of an Afghan commando battalion. “Serving as mayor of North Ogden city has been one of the greatest honors of my life and the highlight of my civilian professional career,” he said. Taylor became mayor in 2013 after having served on North Ogden’s City Council. He leaves behind a wife and seven children.... [Read Full Story]
On Thursday, thousands of Google employees walked off the job in offices around the world in protest of the company’s handling of sexual harassment claims. The walkout yesterday took place a week after the New York Times revealed in an article that Google had suppressed allegations of sexual misconduct against several of its executives. The protest, called “Walkout for Real Change,” has five goals: bringing an end to forced arbitration, improving processes for reporting sexual misconduct and reporting publicly on sexual harassment within the company. The organizers of the walkout took aim at what they called a “culture of complicity, dismissiveness, and support for perpetrators.” Both men and women participating in the walkout said they were demanding broad changes in how the company handles harassment complaints, and that they were protesting in solidarity with colleagues who had been victimized under the current system. In a statement, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Google is in support of employees who choose to participate in the walkouts.... [Read Full Story]
Authorities say that a 7-year-old boy was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver as he waited at a school bus stop. This marks the fourth incident just this week involving children being hit by cars while waiting to board their school bus. Pennsylvania State Police said theboy, a second-grader, was killed around 7 a.m. A school bus driver discovered the boy’s body at the bus stop and called 911. Investigators said they determined the child was struck by a vehicle, which then fled the scene. The crash comes on the heels of Tuesday’s tragic accident in Indiana, where three siblings were killed by a driver as they waited to board their bus in Indiana, while a fourth child suffered critical injuries. Police said she drove past the bus as its stop-arm was deployed.... [Read Full Story]
Police in Indiana charged a 24-year-old woman with reckless homicide after a crash at a school bus stop in Rochester left three children dead and one severely injured. According to Indiana State Police, the children were crossing the street to get to their bus stop at approximately 7:15 a.m. Tuesday when they were struck by a 2017 Toyota Tacoma driven by Alyssa Shepherd. Police said that at the time of the crash, the school bus was stopped in front of a mobile home park with its stop arm down and lights flashing. Three students from Mentone Elementary School, identified as 6-year-old twins Xzavier Ingle and Mason Ingle and their sister Alivia Stahl, 9, died at the scene. A fourth child, identified as 11-year-old Tippecanoe Valley Middle School student Maverik Lowe, was last listed in serious condition, after having been airlifted to a hospital with multiple broken bones and internal injuries. Authorities charged Shepherd with three counts of reckless homicide and one count of passing a school bus with the stop arm extended, causing injury. She was booked into Fulton County Jail Tuesday, as police continue to investigate.... [Read Full Story]
According to grand jury filings on Wednesday, the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre faces 44 federal charges in the slaying of 11 worshippers during last weekend’s Shabbat services, 32 of them which are death penalty offenses. Included are 11 counts each of obstruction of the free exercise of religious belief resulting in death and use of a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence, a conviction on any of which could be punishable by death, according to the indictment. The suspect, 46 year old Robert Bowers of Baldwin, was wounded at the scene of the shooting and was brought into federal court Monday in a wheelchair. He spoke only to answer the judge’s questions. Bowers is accused of the shooting at Saturday morning services at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, after making anti-Semitic posts online. He also said he wanted to kill Jews during his shootout with police. Four police officers were wounded trying to apprehend Bowers, who stands accused of shooting three of the wounded officers. Two civilians were also wounded.... [Read Full Story]
James “Whitey” Bulger, one of Boston’s most notorious mobsters in addition to a secret FBI informant, was killed after being transferred to a federal prison in West Virginia. Bulger, 89, was serving a sentence of life in prison, and had recently been transferred to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia. The cause of death has not been specified. Bulger was convicted in August 2013 of 11 murders, among other charges including racketeering, and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years. Bulger was the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, as well as a FBI informant. He spent 16 years as as one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives before he was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011. Authorities found inside the apartment more than $800,000 in cash and an arsenal of weapons. He was convicted in 2013 of participating in 11 murders stretching from Massachusetts to Florida to Oklahoma, and was sentenced to life in prison.... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump said in an interview that he plans to use an executive order to end citizenship rights for babies born in the U.S. to parents who aren’t citizens. However, the idea that he could do so by executive order was immediately opposed by Democrats, legal scholars and even House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump said, “we’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end. It’s in the process. It’ll happen … with an executive order.” However, it is doubtful that a birthright citizenship can be ended through an executive order and without a change to the Constitution. The Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”... [Read Full Story]
United States officials said on Monday that the administration has freed an American citizen whom the military imprisoned without trial for more than 13 months as a suspected Islamic State member. The man, a dual American and Saudi citizen, was captured in September 2017 by a Kurdish militia in Syria. The Kurds turned him over to the American military, which held him as a wartime detainee at a base in Iraq. Officials said he was released in Bahrain, where his wife and daughter are living. The identity of the man has been kept secret, so he has been called “John Doe” in court filings and public debates. This case has established the precedent of how the government locked up a citizen for more than a year without charging him with a crime, and the issue of whether the government can or should imprison American terrorism suspects without trial as enemy combatants, rather than prosecuting them.... [Read Full Story]
A North Carolina high school student shot and killed a fellow student during a fight at their school on Monday, officials said. The shooting prompted a lockdown and dozens of parents rushed to the school to make sure their children were safe. The student accused of firing the fatal shot was arrested quickly, and investigators secured the campus at Butler High School in Matthews, about 12 miles southeast of Charlotte, NC. Students remained inside with the school on lockdown for about two hours after the shooting. The male who was shot died at a hospital, according to local authorities. Neither the suspect nor the victim’s names or ages were immediately released. The shooting happened in a hallway as students were arriving for the day. ... [Read Full Story]
Cesar Sayoc, the man who is accused of sending 13 pipe bombs through the mail to a range of Democrats and critics of President Trump, left forensic and digital evidence behind that authorities used to track him down and arrest him. According to authorities, they were able to link the DNA found on two bomb packages to a sample that was previously collected by the state of Florida, as well as matching Sayoc’s fingerprints to one from a separate mailing that law enforcement officials said he had previously sent. Investigators also said they had scrutinized Sayoc’s social media accounts and found identical spelling mistakes on his online posts; such as “Hilary” Clinton, and Debbie Wasserman “Shultz”, which matched the mailings he has been charged with sending. Other social media posts by Sayoc trafficked in online conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism and white supremacy. Authorities say this evidence is what led them to the 56-year-old, who had a long criminal history and appeared to be living in his van, showering on the beach or at a local fitness center. Sayoc has been charged with five federal crimes as of Friday.... [Read Full Story]
Eleven people were killed on Saturday when a gunman stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s historic Squirrel Hill neighborhood. On Sunday, the victims’ identities were revealed in a news conference. Among those killed were a pair of brothers and a married couple. The oldest was 97 years old, and the youngest 54. Authorities said the suspected gunman, Robert Bowers, made statements about genocide and killing Jewish people. Bowers has been arrested and is being treated for gunshot wounds at a hospital. He was charged late Saturday with 11 state counts of criminal homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation in what the leader of the Anti-Defamation League called the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Among the victims were brothers Cecil Rosenthal, 59, and David Rosenthal, 54, both of Squirrel Hill; Sylvan Simon, 86, and his wife, Bernice Simon, 84, both of Wilkinsburg; Rose Mallinger, 97; Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland, city of Pittsburgh; Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross Township; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood Borough; Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill; Melvin Wax, 86, of Squirrel Hil; and Irving Younger, 69, of Mount Washington.... [Read Full Story]
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that the U.S. Coast Guard crews are searching for a downed civilian aircraft off the coast of South Carolina. The Coast Guard said that the Piper PA-31 was reported missing about 110 miles off the coast of Charleston at about 11:33 a.m. It was traveling from South Carolina to the Bahamas, when the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center received a report from the aircraft of an in-flight emergency. Air traffic control later lost contact with the plane on radar and notified the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. The Coast Guard said the Cutter Hamilton crew will continue to search for the aircraft throughout the night, while air assets will conduct a first light search Friday morning.... [Read Full Story]
Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to signe an order to deploy hundreds of active duty troops to the southern border, as a caravan of migrants makes its way through Mexico toward the United States. The initial estimate is that 800 to 1,000 service members could deploy in logistical support of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), such as setting up tents for border authorities. These active duty forces will not act in a law enforcement capacity; instead, they will strictly provide logistical and technical support to CBP. There are already about 2,000 National Guard troops called up by the governors of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to support the Trump administration’s border security mission. ... [Read Full Story]
