California governor says earthquakes are a ‘wake-up call’
RIDGECREST, Calif. — The two major earthquakes that hit Southern California should alert people across the nation of the need to be prepared for natural disasters, the state’s governor said as officials expressed relief that the damages weren’t worse. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that governments must strengthen alert systems...
Diabetes remains prevalent in Western Pennsylvania despite steep drop nationwide
Pittsburgh doctors say Type 2 diabetes continues to be prevalent in Western Pennsylvania despite the findings of a new study that shows incidences of the disease are decreasing nationwide. The study was published in the health journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care in May. It shows a roughly 35%...
Baggley woman remembered as caring person
Yvonne Schmucker was always helping someone else, no matter her own circumstances. And the Baggley, Unity Township, native raised her children, who all volunteer and work for various organizations, and grandchildren to be the same way. “We all have gotten that bug from my mother, just helping when we can...
Get wild with the Pa. Game Commission’s wild turkey survey
The question isn’t so much where are the turkeys, where aren’t there turkeys? The Pennsylvania Game Commission is conducting a turkey survey through Aug. 31 and is looking for residents to report their sighting via website and a mobile app. Observers need only report the number of turkeys, location, date...
California wipes out $58.6 million in physician student debt — and helps poor patients get access to doctors
The state of California will be paying off $58.6 million in student loans this year for 247 physicians who, in exchange, committed to serve a greater percentage of the state’s poorest and frailest residents: those covered by Medi-Cal. “By removing the burden of student loan debt, this program will encourage...
At least 20 hurt as explosion rocks South Florida shopping center
PLANTATION, Fla. — An explosion at a Plantation shopping center injured 15 to 20 people, before noon Saturday, in a loud blast that could be felt for miles around. “We did find a ruptured gas line under the rubble but I can’t tell you exactly where it came from,” Plantation...
Royal baby Archie christened at private Windsor ceremony
LONDON — The youngest member of Britain’s royal family, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was christened at Windsor Castle on Saturday in a private ceremony — too private for some royal fans. The 2-month-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was baptized in a private chapel at the castle west...
Intensifying downpours threatening America’s biggest estuary
CONOWINGO, Md. — When the Conowingo Dam opened to fanfare nearly a century ago, the massive wall of concrete and steel began its job harnessing water power in northern Maryland. It also quietly provided a side benefit: trapping sediment and silt before it could flow miles downstream and pollute the...
Mackenzie Lueck’s body has been found, police say
Investigators have discovered the body of Mackenzie Lueck, the 23-year-old El Segundo, Calif., woman who was presumed dead after she was reported missing in Salt Lake City last month. Authorities had initially believed that the man arrested in connection with Lueck’s death, 31-year-old Ayoola Ajayi, had burned her body in...
Explosion causes partial collapse of dorm at Nevada university
LAS VEGAS — A utilities explosion Friday at the University of Nevada, Reno caused the partial collapse of a dormitory building and at least minor injuries, authorities said. Photos posted to social media showed extensive damage spanning multiple floors of the dormitory. Windows were blown out and debris appeared to...
San Francisco: More homeless living in vehicles in the city
SAN FRANCISCO — Most homeless people in San Francisco sleep in parks and on sidewalks but a growing number are living out of their vehicles, helping fuel an overall 17% increase in homelessness in the last two years, according to a report released Friday. San Francisco tallied about 8,000 homeless...
Texas police identify ice cream licker as juvenile girl
LUFKIN, Texas — Police in East Texas say a teenager from San Antonio is suspected of taking a tub of ice cream from a Walmart freezer, removing the top to lick the ice cream and then returning it to the freezer. Blue Bell Creameries said in a statement that it...
Grandpa accidentally gives nurses cannabis cake as ‘thank you’
It’s the thought that counts, right? An elderly man brought a group of nurses at a hospital in England a ‘thank you’ present for caring for a relative. However, what he didn’t know was the cake he presented them with was laced with cannabis, the BBC News reports. It turns...
Fungus that causes deadly disease in bats detected in California
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats has now spread to California, although officials caution that the disease itself is not affecting bat populations there. White-nose syndrome, a disease that affects bats while they’re hibernating, was first detected in a single cave in New York in 2006 and was...
Trump weighs executive order to add census citizenship query
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he is “very seriously” considering an executive order to try to force the inclusion of a citizenship question as part of the 2020 Census. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for a weekend in New Jersey, Trump said the idea...
Authorities: Woman sprays would-be car thief with gasoline
CONYERS, Ga. — Authorities say a Georgia woman at a gas station doused a man in gasoline as he tried to steal her car. WSB-TV reports the woman was pumping gas in her car Thursday outside Atlanta when the man approached the passenger door undetected. The woman noticed the man...
Gunfire ignites fireworks in family car, injuring children
HOUSTON — Two young Houston-area children are in critical condition following an argument between their father and another motorist who fired into their family car and ignited fireworks that caused the car to be engulfed in flames. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says a “road rage incident” led to the...
Man with knife stabs 3 people inside Virginia plasma center
PETERSBURG, Va. — A man stabbed three people at a Virginia plasma center while patrons were donating blood, according to authorities. News reports said one person suffered life-threatening injuries after an unidentified man with a machete attacked people inside the Octapharma Plasma center in Petersburg, Va., on Thursday. “The suspect...
Aftershocks following Southern California earthquake
LOS ANGELES — The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on the July 4th holiday, rattling nerves and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck...
Coast Guard searching for man who fell from Carnival ship
MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 37-year-old man who apparently fell overboard from the cruise ship Carnival Victory. The agency says it was notified Thursday that a Carnival cruise ship crewmember fell overboard about 30 miles northwest of Cuba. The Coast Guard sent an airplane crew...
Police: More than dozen trampled in Chicago July 4 stampede
CHICAGO — Police said a false report of gunfire set off a stampede that trampled more than a dozen people at Chicago’s annual July 4 fireworks display Thursday at Navy Pier, where thousands of revelers had crowded the Lake Michigan shore. Three others were stabbed when a fight broke out...
PETA finds name of rural road in Idaho distasteful, asks for change
BOISE, Idaho — Chickens are friends for some people, dinner for others. Sometimes both. But one animal rights group feels that the name of a rural road in the Treasure Valley region isn’t kind to poultry. PETA sent out a news release this week alerting Idaho media that it has...
Boy rescued after falling into Indiana drain during fireworks
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Authorities say a young boy watching fireworks in Indiana was rescued after failing more than 20 feet into a water-filled drain pipe. A crowd watched as rescuers in Evansville lowered a swing-set seat into the pipe and pulled him up Thursday night. TV station WFIE reports that...
Police: Fisherman finds human leg with sneaker on in river
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police say a fisherman found part of a human leg with a sneaker on it in the Delaware River. The leg was discovered around 8 p.m. Thursday. But it’s not clear how it got into the river or how long it had been in the water. Authorities...
1 dead, several injured when lightning strikes near South Carolina river
GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Authorities say lightning struck at a popular river gathering spot in South Carolina on Independence Day, killing a man and injuring as many as a dozen other people. Resident Edward Williams tells WCSC-TV that a group of people had been boating on the Black River near Lawshe...
