BP cleaning up oil spill on Alaska’s North Slope
JUNEAU (Reuters) – Work crews for BP Plc were clearing contaminated snow on Thursday on Alaska’s North Slope after a Prudhoe Bay well line ruptured, spraying a 34-acre area with crude oil and natural gas.
Texas vet suspected of keeping sick dogs alive for blood
(Reuters) – A Texas veterinarian has been charged with cruelty to animals after several dogs that had been brought to his clinic to be euthanized were kept alive in squalid conditions for use in blood transfusions, Fort Worth police said on Thursday.
Seattle mayor plans to raise minimum wage to $15 over three to seven years
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Mayor Ed Murray announced a plan on Thursday to raise the minimum wage in Seattle to $15 per hour over three to seven years, making it the first major U.S. city to commit to such a high base level of pay.
Two inmates killed in Florida jail explosion
(Reuters) – A powerful explosion, possibly from a gas leak, demolished part of a northwest Florida jail, killing two inmates and injuring some 150 others, officials said on Thursday.
Oklahoma prison report says collapsed vein behind botched execution
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – The botched Oklahoma execution of Clayton Lockett was largely due to a collapsed vein during the lethal injection, and the needle was inserted in the groin area instead of the arm after prison officials used a stun gun to rest…
Ex-Black Panther pleads guilty to kidnapping in 1984 hijacking
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) – A former Black Panther, who returned voluntarily to the United States nearly 30 years after he hijacked a plane to Cuba, pleaded guilty to kidnapping on Thursday to avoid a more serious charge of air piracy and a mi…
Bin Laden associate’s lawyer admits U.S. tax charges, stays on case
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A convicted associate of Osama bin Laden refused to jettison his lawyer on Thursday just minutes after the lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court to tax avoidance crimes.
Derailed CSX train carried Bakken oil for Plains All American
LYNCHBURG, Virginia (Reuters) – The CSX Corp train that derailed and erupted in flames in Lynchburg, Virginia, was carrying crude from the Bakken shale in North Dakota, the kind of oil involved in several other fiery derailments, the railroad said on T…
U.S. air safety agency urged to audit Alaska charters
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. agency that investigates airplane crashes urged the U.S. safety regulator on Thursday to audit several Alaska-based air carriers after a series of accidents over 19 months in which six people were killed.
U.S. military sexual assault reports jumped 50 percent last year
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reported sexual assaults in the U.S. military jumped 50 percent last year, the Pentagon said on Thursday, and officials welcomed the spike as a sign that a high-level crackdown has made victims more confident their attackers will…
