Wildfire prompts evacuation of nearly 900 Washington state homes
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Wildfires stoked by high winds and dry, hot weather threatened homes and businesses across parts of Washington state on Wednesday, with nearly 900 dwellings evacuated near the Bavarian-style village of Leavenworth in the Cascade mou…
Top GM lawyer, Delphi CEO to face Senate on deadly ignition flaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two more major figures in General Motors Co’s safety debacle will appear on Thursday for the first time before U.S. lawmakers investigating why it took the automaker more than 10 years to recall millions of vehicles with a deadly…
Plane’s near-miss in Alaska becomes a whale of a tale online
JUNEAU Alaska (Reuters) – A dramatic video of a sea plane just missing a surfacing humpback whale as it came in to land in Alaska has become a hit online, and the man who shot it says it was blind luck.
Florida teen detained in Israeli-Palestinian conflict returns home
TAMPA Fla (Reuters) – A Florida teenager who was detained in Israel and apparently beaten by police returned home on Wednesday, eager to seek medical care and put behind him a summer trip that drew renewed world attention to the Israeli-Palestinian con…
Suspect, hostage die in police shootout with California bank robbers
(Reuters) – A suspected bank robber and a female hostage died on Wednesday in a shootout with California police after a car chase sparked by a bank robbery in which thieves seized three women as hostages, firing assault rifles as they fled.
Utah asks Supreme Court to stay ruling on recognizing gay marriages
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) – Utah’s attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday for an emergency stay of an order by an appeals court to recognize hundreds of same-sex marriages performed in the state pending an appeal.
Romanian princess admits running cockfighting ring in Oregon
PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) – A Romanian princess and her husband pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one charge of running an illegal gambling operation for their involvement in a cockfighting ring in rural Oregon. 
San Diego strippers say cops photographed them in the nude
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Thirty strippers in the San Diego area filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Police Department on Wednesday, saying they were forced to be photographed while nude or nearly nude while officers claimed to be inspecting the clubs wh…
Attorney says Bergdahl grateful to Obama for freedom
SALMON Idaho (Reuters) – U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is grateful to President Barack Obama for the prisoner exchange that freed him from five years as a captive of the Taliban and wishes for privacy concerning family matters, his attorney said on …
U.S. beauty pageant winner sues after being stripped of crown
(Reuters) – A beauty pageant winner who was stripped of her Miss Delaware crown for being a few months too old is suing the Miss America organization, saying officials knew her age and disqualified her unfairly, court documents filed on Wednesday show….
