Month: September 2019

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio gave the key to the city to the family of Luis Alvarez, a 9/11 first responder and activist who died in late June from a 9/11-related illness. Alvarez, who was 53 when he died, was a retired New York police bomb squad detective who developed cancer linked to the

An agricultural maze. In Texas. Honoring military families. Could this get any more American? Every year, the Graff 7A Ranch in Hondo, Texas, hosts the South Texas Maize, a giant labyrinth of sorghum and seasonally appropriate puns. Like many agricultural mazes across the country, the Maize maze is known for its impressive designs. This year,

Levi Strickland was picking berries in Brantley County, Georgia, on Sunday night when he heard what sounded like an explosion. He ran over toward the noise to find a crashed van — and an overpowering smell. “We ran down there and asked him was he okay or whatever, and I smelled that smell,” Strickland told

New York City’s 1.1 million school students will be excused from class to participate in the global climate strike protests that are scheduled for this Friday. The city’s department of education announced the news a tweet. Guidance sent to schools on Tuesday by the city’s department of education advised that any student attending the protest

A series of brutal assaults in downtown Minneapolis is highlighting the city’s skyrocketing robbery rate amid a critical shortage of police officers. More than 6,000 “priority one” 911 calls, which include sexual assault, shootings and robberies, were made in the period of a year for which police didn’t have an officer immediately able to respond,

Has Tony Bennett ever seen “Jerry Maguire?” You have to wonder if the Virginia head basketball coach has ever viewed the 1990s Tom Cruise flick, famous for its “show me the money” catchphrase. Because in a recent contract negotiation, Bennett was shown the money … then he turned it down. Bennett, who led the Virginia

Purdue Pharma, the maker of the painkiller OxyContin, said it has filed for bankruptcy as part of a plan to settle lawsuits accusing the company of fueling the opioid crisis. Here’s what we know about the bankruptcy filing. What’s the effect of the filing? The bankruptcy filing begins the process of settling the multi-district litigation

A 17-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department apparently took his own life Monday night, becoming the force’s fourth officer this year to die by suicide, police said. The name of the 40-year-old officer, who was assigned to Chicago’s north side as aide to District Commander Michelle Rubino, was to be released by the medical

Can’t get your kid to go to sleep? Is said kid obsessed with superheroes, princesses, Mickey Mouse or an ancient green alien? Would the kid finally sleep if the chosen object of obsession sweetly asked them to? The Disney Bedtime Hotline is the solution you’ve been waiting for; nothing lulls a child into slumber quite

The woman who has accused Antonio Brown of rape met with the National Football League on Monday, according to a source close to the case. The meeting lasted about 10 hours, finishing at 10 p.m., the source said, declining to provide details of what Britney Taylor and NFL officials discussed. It was not clear where

He designed a machine that makes water from the air. Now, after Hurricane Dorian, he’s trying to bring it to the Bahamas. Moses West, of San Antonio, Texas, has brought water to Flint, Michigan, and Puerto Rico — all through his Atmospheric Water Generation machines, which extract moisture from the atmosphere and turn it into

A 2013 Phoenix law that adds “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance violated the freedom of speech and religious beliefs of two business owners, the Arizona Supreme Court said in a 4-3 ruling Monday. Wedding invitation designers Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, filed a

A federal judge in Florida handed down a loss Monday to Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers, who have for years been trying to get payments and undo Epstein’s 2007 plea deal in a sex trafficking case. US District Judge Kenneth Marra ordered the case brought by Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 against the US closed,

A visiting scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) has resigned over comments he made about Jeffrey Epstein, according to an email posted online. Richard Stallman posted the resignation on his personal website Monday evening “due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations.” Stallman was a

A Florida man allegedly killed his wife and their four children and then stored the bodies at his home and in his van for several weeks before taking their remains to Georgia, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. Casei Jones, 32, and her children, who range in age from 1 to 10, were last seen

An Alabama police officer was killed in the line of duty Monday night, the city of Tuscaloosa said. Officer Dornell Cousette, 40, died after exchanging gunfire with a suspect inside a house, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said during a news conference attended by CNN affiliate WVTM. Cousette had been with the Tuscaloosa Police Department for

A judge denied bond Monday for Roland Gramajo, a community activist who was arrested by immigration agents weeks after hosting a forum to quell concerns about immigration raids. The 40-year-old father of five, an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant who has been living in the US for 25 years, has been an outspoken activist for immigrants in

For years before his death, Anthony Bourdain brought the world and its cultures into our homes. Now, fans can own some of what the adventurer had in his — more than 200 of Bourdain’s personal belongings are going up for auction next month. The items include things like paintings, articles of clothing, and even a

A judge took “no action” during a Monday bond hearing for Maria Domingo-Garcia, an undocumented immigrant mother who was breastfeeding at the time she was detained in Mississippi’s historic raids last month. Her attorney, Ray Ybarra Maldonado, called the judge’s action “a shock” and said it shows the “outrageous the lengths (the government) is taking