Obama creates new national monument in Maine forest
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday designated 87,500 acres in Maine’s North Woods as a national monument, as the administration prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
El Faro captain ordered crew to abandon ship before sinking
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) – The captain of the doomed El Faro cargo ship sounded an alarm for his crew to abandon the vessel shortly before it sank last fall in a hurricane near the Bahamas, killing all 33 onboard, the U.S. National Transportation Safety B…
Texas students use sex toys to protest new gun laws on campus
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – To protest a new state law that makes the carrying of concealed handguns legal in college classrooms, students at the University of Texas on Wednesday openly displayed sex toys, an act considered illegal under local indecency …
Mississippi man sentenced to eight years for trying to join Islamic State
(Reuters) – A Mississippi man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State after he and his wife planned with an undercover FBI employee to travel to Syria to join the militant group, p…
Chicago school board approves budget, major borrowing plan
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday signed off on a $5.46 billion fiscal 2017 operating budget, property tax hike, and a borrowing plan that calls for up to $945 million of long-term bonds and $1.55 billion of short-term deb…
Turing accused of retaliation after executive’s sexual assault complaint
(Reuters) – The chief commercial officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC, whose founder Martin Shkreli stepped down as chief executive last year after being charged with securities fraud, has filed a federal complaint accusing Turing’s co-founder of sexu…
‘Pink slime’ maker drops targets in defamation case against ABC
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Meat processor Beef Products Inc has dropped more than half the defendants from a lawsuit over its allegations that TV network ABC and others defamed a meat filler critics have dubbed “pink slime.”
New York City hospitals settle Medicaid repayment fraud charges
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three hospitals in New York’s Mount Sinai Health System will pay $2.95 million to settle Medicaid fraud charges for taking two years to repay more than $844,000 of improper billings that had been flagged by a whistleblower, authori…
Chicago’s detective force dwindles as murder rate soars
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Every two weeks, Cynthia Lewis contacts the detectives investigating the homicide of her brother on Chicago’s south side almost a year ago.
Brooklyn D.A. to pay $15,000 fine for dining out on office funds
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Brooklyn district attorney has agreed to pay a $15,000 fine to settle allegations that he violated New York City’s conflicts of interest law by using office funds to pay for meals.
