Overloaded boat full of illegal migrants sinks off Miami coast, kills 4
October 18th, 20130 MIAMI — At least four people died, and 11 others were rescued, after a small boat, packed with suspected migrants from Haiti and Jamaica, capsized off the coast of Miami on Wednesday, October 16.Coast Guard crew members found the survivors clinging to the hull of the 15-20 foot power boat after getting a call at about 1:00 a.m....Florida convicts sought after release on forged orders
ORLANDO — Florida authorities searched on Thursday, Oct. 17, for two convicted murderers released from prison, based on forged court documents that indicated their life sentences had been reduced, state corrections officials said.The forged signature of a high-profile judge, who presides in the county where the men committed their...Poll: GOP approval ratings fall
WASHINGTON - The Tea Party’s approval rating is spiraling downward — and that’s not just among Republican voters.The conservative group’s favorability has fallen a dramatic 20 percentage points among moderate and liberal Republicans, down to 27 percent from 46 percent in June, according to a new Pew poll released on...
Lawmakers launch budget talks as Washington returns to work
October 18th, 20130 WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers launched an effort to resolve budget differences in a less confrontational fashion on Thursday, as Washington picked up the pieces from a political crisis that has slowed the economy and undermined the country's international standing.As hundreds of thousands of federal employees returned to work, Republican...72-year-old missing man survives 19 days in snowy California wilderness
CALIFORNIA — Gene Penaflor, 72, was discovered by hunters on Saturday, October 12, after 19 days in the Mendocino National Forest in the Coastal Mountain Range of northwestern California.The Mendocino National Forest is run by the U.S. Forest Service and has been closed, due to the government shutdown, according to the forest...Janet Yellen to become first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve
WASHINGTON — U.S. Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen has been picked by President Barack Obama to take over as head of America’s central bank at what is widely considered to be a crucial period for the country’s economy and banking industry.The 67-year-old New Yorker will become the first woman to lead the national bank and...Denver couple charged with abuse after four sons found amid cat feces
DENVER — Wayne Sperling, 66, and Lorinda Bailey, 35, were taken into custody last week, after a search of the couple's apartment found their sons, aged 2, 4, 5 and 6, living in an apartment amid cat feces and swarming flies. The boys had appeared to be malnourished and unable to communicate with humans except by grunts. Police...U.S. Shutdown mocked by the Taliban
Taliban militants in Afghanistan issued a statement on Wednesday mocking the U.S. shutdown and accusing American politicians of “sucking the blood of their own people.”The statement from the Islamist militants described how U.S. institutions have been “paralyzed” by the shutdown. American icons like the Statue of Liberty are...Default on U.S. debt could have disastrous effects on recovering economy
As the U.S. government is about to hit its so-called debt ceiling of $16.7 trillion on Oct. 17, the frightening prospect of the world’s biggest economy running out of cash is dominating headlines around the globe.What exactly is the “debt ceiling?”The U.S. debt ceiling has existed for almost a century, and describes the maximum...Indiana government, school districts sue over IRS healthcare rule
INDIANA — The state of Indiana and 15 of its public school districts sued the U.S. government this week, challenging its use of federal tax subsidies and penalties to implement President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law.The lawsuit claims that a rule, issued in 2012 by the Internal Revenue Service which allows the federal government...Hundreds sickened in U.S. from salmonella outbreak linked to raw chicken
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people in 18 states have become sick from a salmonella outbreak, linked to raw chicken products made at three California plants, owned by Foster Farms, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture."The outbreak is continuing," USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement.An estimated 278...9-year old boy accused of stealing car, sneaking on airplane and traveling to Vegas
MINNEAPOLIS — A 9-year-old boy garnered national attention this week after sneaking passed security at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and catching a flight to Las Vegas without a ticket.The boy rode to the airport Wednesday, October 2, on the light rail system that runs from downtown, took a bag from a luggage carousel and...Off-duty officer arrested for involvement in New York motorcycle gang beating
NEW YORK — Detective Wojciech Braszczok, 32, was arrested more than a week after bikers pursued an SUV, driven by a man traveling with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. Riders smashed the vehicle's windows, hauled the driver out and beat him in front of his family. Video of the September 29 confrontation was uploaded to YouTube...Government shutdown: How much will it harm the economy?
A government shutdown won't have much of an economic impact if it lasts just a few days, but a prolonged shutdown could become a drag on overall consumer and business confidence. The effects of a debt-limit impasse could be severe for the U.S. and the world, raising fears of a possible default by the U.S. Treasury.Just the act of...U.S. Capitol shooting: Woman killed after ramming White House barricades
Gunshots rang out near the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Thursday afternoon, with police opening fire on a female suspect who rammed a security barrier and a patrol car in the midst of a pursuit.Witnesses said they could hear shots from inside the Capitol around 2 p.m. The female suspect, driving a black sedan with a child in......
Obama blames Republican ‘obsession’ with Obamacare for shutdown
President Barack Obama ridiculed House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday, Oct. 3, for refusing to allow a vote on a funding bill that would end a three-day government shutdown, saying the top Republican in Washington is in the grip of conservative "extremists."Obama's speech at a construction company in the Washington...Chicago trains collide, dozens injured
CHICAGO — A Chicago Transit Authority train collided with a standing train at a station in a western suburb of Chicago, during the morning rush hour on Monday, Sept. 29, leaving at least 33 people injured.The collision happened at about 7:45 a.m. local time at the ground-level Harlem Station in Forest Park, west of Chicago. Those who......
New York police search for two men who parachuted onto ground zero
NEW YORK — Police in New York are searching for two men who appear to have parachuted onto a lower Manhattan street near Ground Zero before dawn on Monday and disappeared. Two men wearing black suits and black helmets were spotted by a security camera alighting onto a street near Goldman Sachs Group Inc's lower Manhattan headquarters...Man arrested in Florida airport bomb hoax
JACKSONVILLE — A trucking company worker was arrested on charges of making a false bomb threat that prompted a five-hour evacuation at Jacksonville International Airport in Florida this week.Zeljko Causevic, 39, of Jacksonville, walked up to a Transportation Security Administration agent on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30, and pointed...Missouri couple charged with decades-old murders of spouses
MISSOURI — A married Missouri couple who were both arrested last week have each been charged for the killing of their former spouses in separate incidents more than three decades ago. Gerald Uden, 71, was charged in Fremont County, Wyoming, with killing his wife and her two sons from a prior marriage in 1980. Alice Uden, 74, was...San Francisco passes law to prohibit immigrant holds
San Francisco officials this week moved to curb their partnership with U.S. immigration authorities, by ending a practice that facilitates deportations by extending the detention of illegal immigrants arrested for crimes. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors action, which would exclude certain violent offenders, represents the latest......
Florida woman tricked into taking abortion drug, sues pharmacy
ORLANDO — Remee Jo Fleed is suing a Tampa-area pharmacy, after she claims her antibiotics were switched with abortion pills by her ex boyfriend, who obtained the drug, prescription bottle and fake label from the pharmacy.Days before taking the pills, her ex boyfriend's father, an obstetrician, had confirmed her pregnancy. Several days...Documents: NSA spied on Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali
The National Security Agency monitored overseas communication of U.S. critics of the Vietnam War including Martin Luther King, newly released documents show.Documents — including one that asserted the United States "appeared to be going up in flames" — show the NSA intercepted telephone calls, telexes and cable traffic involving......
National bank ordered to pay $2.2 mil to African American job seekers
NEW YORK - Bank of America Corp was ordered to pay $2.18 million to 1,147 black job applicants over racial discrimination in hiring that kept qualified candidates from getting jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor said this week.The decision by Linda Chapman, an administrative law judge at the Labor Department, awards back pay and...Homeless man rewarded for turning in bag containing $42,000
BOSTON — More than $68,000 in donations have poured in from people around the country for a Boston homeless man who turned over to police a backpack stuffed with cash that he had found outside a shopping mall. The man, Glen James, landed in the spotlight earlier this month when Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis lauded him for......