Southern California wildfire forces evacuations
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A wind-driven brush fire burning out of control in a drought-parched Southern California wildland on Wednesday forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents in the northern part of suburban Rancho Cucamonga, officials said.
U.S. Gulf Coast hit by flooding after 24 hours non-stop rain
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – The worst floods in decades deluged roads and engulfed homes and cars in Florida’s Panhandle and coastal Alabama on Wednesday, the latest mayhem created by a tornado-packing storm system that has killed at least 34 peop…
CSX train carrying oil derails in Virginia in fiery blast
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A CSX Corp train carrying crude oil derailed and burst into flames in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia on Wednesday, spilling oil into the James River and forcing hundreds to evacuate.
Heisman Trophy winner accused of shoplifting crab legs
MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston, the 2013 winner of college football’s prestigious Heisman Trophy, was issued a civil citation for shoplifting $32.72 worth of crab legs and crawfish from a Florida grocery store, po…
Former NSA contractor Snowden expects to remain in Russia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who fled to Moscow last year after revealing details of massive U.S. intelligence-gathering programs, expects his asylum status in Russia to be renewed before it expires …
NY high schooler accepted by all eight Ivy colleges chooses Yale
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Long Island high school student who pulled off the enviable feat of being accepted by all eight Ivy League colleges will be taking his academic talents to Yale University, he announced on Wednesday.
Oregon skeleton may solve one of oldest U.S. missing persons cases
PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – Forensic experts are close to finding out if a skeleton found with gunshot damage to the skull belongs to an Oregon marshal whose 1926 disappearance remains one of the country’s oldest unsolved missing persons cases, offici…
New York police stop subway break dancers in their tracks
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City police are cracking down on break-dancing subway performers as part of a quality of life campaign on behalf of the city’s 5.5 million daily passengers.
Sandy-displaced families in FEMA-funded housing must now pay rent
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rent will be charged starting Thursday to more than 1,300 families displaced from their East Coast homes by Superstorm Sandy in October 2012 and sheltered since then in apartments and bungalows largely paid for by the federal gover…
Oklahoma botches execution, raising questions on death penalty in U.S.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett died during a botched execution on Tuesday, minutes after a doctor had called a halt to the procedure, raising more questions about new death penalty cocktails used by the state and others.
