New Hampshire declares state of emergency over synthetic drug
MANCHESTER N.H. (Reuters) – New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan declared a state of emergency on Thursday in response to 44 reported overdoses linked to people smoking or ingesting “Smacked,” a synthetic marijuana-like product sold in convenience stor…
The other Texas border deployment: doctors, dentists, opticians
MISSION Texas (Reuters) – For the Texas State and National Guard, Operation Lone Star is a disaster preparedness exercise. For public health experts, it is a humanitarian mission. And for Itzel, a teenage schoolgirl, it is a chance to finally get glass…
‘Whitey’ Bulger appeals 2013 racketeering conviction on 11 murders
BOSTON (Reuters) – Lawyers for former Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger on Thursday filed a formal appeal of the sweeping 2013 racketeering conviction on charges of committing or ordering 11 murders in the 1970s and 1980s.
Search widens for Amish sisters missing in upstate New York
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two Amish sisters were abducted from their roadside farm stand near New York’s border with Canada and a massive hunt to find them was under way on Thursday, the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office said.
Prosecution rests in corruption trial of Virginia governor, wife
RICHMOND Va. (Reuters) – Prosecutors in the federal corruption trial of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, rested their case on Thursday after showing jurors gifts they said were bribes from a businessman.
Arrests made in New Orleans shooting that left two dead, toddler blind
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Police on Thursday arrested two men suspected of carrying out a drive-by shooting in New Orleans over the weekend that left two people dead and five wounded, including two toddlers who were shot in the head.
California drought holds steady amid summer storms, experts say
SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) – As California lawmakers moved a nearly $7.6 billion water bond to the November ballot, federal meteorologists said on Thursday that the state’s ongoing drought has appeared to level off, though conditions remain “extreme” …
Billboards go up for fugitive Mexican drug lord wanted in U.S.
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Federal authorities offering a $5 million reward for a fugitive Mexican drug lord who killed a U.S. anti-narcotics agent in the 1980s have taken the unusual step of plastering his face on billboards in southwestern border states.
Washington state school officials criticize federal ‘failing’ status
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Superintendents from 28 Washington state school districts have begun sending letters to parents that criticize the classification of many schools as failing under federal standards, education officials said on Thursday.
Former Florida mayor acquitted on federal extortion charges
MIAMI (Reuters) – A federal jury acquitted a Miami-area mayor on Thursday on charges that he accepted thousands of dollars from FBI agents during an undercover sting operation.
