Thu, 23 May 2013 22:55:35 -0400

Jennifer Tyrrell hugs Pascal Tessier after a resolution passed to allow openly gay scouts in the Boy Scouts in GrapevineBy Marice Richter GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts in a major victory for gay rights activists, but the decision means a sea of change for an organization that depends heavily on faith-based groups. More than 60 percent of the group's National Council, comprised of some 1,400 delegates, voted in favor of ending the ban, effective January 1, 2014, the group said in a statement. A prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place. ...


Fri, 24 May 2013 00:23:55 -0400

I-5 Bridge Collapses On Skagit River In WashingtonBy Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Part of a four-lane freeway bridge over a river in a rural area north of Seattle collapsed on Thursday, sending vehicles and people into the frigid water below, authorities said. The collapse on Interstate 5 over the Skagit River happened at about 7 p.m. local time between the towns of Mount Vernon and Burlington, 55 miles north of Seattle, Washington State Patrol spokesman Trooper Mark Francis said. "I've got reports of vehicles and people in the water," Francis said. He added that he did not know if anyone was injured. ...


Fri, 24 May 2013 00:15:10 -0400
(Reuters) - A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck in Northern California on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the quake was located 2 miles north-northeast of the town of Canyondam, the USGS said. An initial report said the quake was magnitude 5.9. A 5.7 magnitude quake is considered moderate, but has the potential to cause considerable damage. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. (Writing by the Americas Desk)
Thu, 23 May 2013 19:55:38 -0400
[Updated at 6:55 p.m. CT] DALLAS – The Boy Scouts of America, one of the country’s largest and oldest youth organizations, decided on Thursday to break 103 years of tradition by allowing openly gay members into its ranks. The controversial move was approved by more than 60 percent of the approximate 1,400 votes cast by [...]
Thu, 23 May 2013 13:56:38 -0400
A year after Superstorm Sandy, residents along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts should prepare for "an extremely active" 2013 hurricane season, U.S. forecasters say. There is a "70 percent likelihood" that will be three to six major hurricanes this year with winds above 111 mph, according to the 2013 hurricane outlook unveiled by the National [...]
Thu, 23 May 2013 13:10:56 -0400
MOORE, Okla. — Some of the photos are crumpled. Others coated in crud. But what the monster tornado couldn’t obliterate are the memories captured in the images. A girl playing kitchen with her pink toy stove. Colleagues clowning around the office. A father posing with his young girls at a daddy-daughter dance. “These are things [...]
Thu, 23 May 2013 12:52:27 -0400
MOORE, Okla.—As a helicopter pilot for KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, Jim Gardner had flown over deadly mudslides and earthquakes, covered car chases and was shot at by snipers during the L.A. riots. Yet Gardner was perhaps best known for giving the world its first glimpse of O.J. Simpson’s infamous white Bronco leading police on a [...]
Thu, 23 May 2013 12:20:46 -0400
Five-year-old Tatum Raetz was cheered on by hundreds of police officers on Wednesday at her kindergarten graduation. What was going to be a happy occasion took a heartbreaking, tragic turn when her father, Phoenix Police Officer Daryl Raetz, was struck and killed by a car on Sunday during a DUI arrest. The officers were there [...]
Fri, 24 May 2013 02:07:45 -0400
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A magnitude 5.7 earthquake was widely felt as it rattled Northern California Thursday night, breaking dishes and shaking mirrors off walls. But authorities said there were no immediate reports of injury or serious damage.
Fri, 24 May 2013 02:04:49 -0400

The collapsed Interstate-5 bridge is seen in ruins and partially submerged in the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Wash., Thursday, May 23, 2013. At least two vehicles went into the river in the collapse. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers who searched the chilly waterway north of Seattle.


Fri, 24 May 2013 01:03:59 -0400

To match Feature DETROIT/GLOOMBy Steve Neavling DETROIT (Reuters) - As part of his efforts to solve Detroit's financial crisis, the city's emergency manager Kevyn Orr has asked for an appraisal of the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts, sparking fears in artistic and philanthropic circles that he means to auction off the city's artistic jewels. Orr was appointed in March by Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder to tackle the shrinking city's long-term debt problem, which the emergency manager estimated at $15 billion in a recent report on the state of Detroit. ...


Fri, 24 May 2013 00:58:38 -0400
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping several vehicles into the water as authorities investigated the cause of the collapse that cut off the state's main north-south thruway and sent three people to the hospital.
Fri, 24 May 2013 00:38:02 -0400
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Authorities say there were no fatalities when an Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed.
Fri, 24 May 2013 00:24:43 -0400
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water.
Fri, 24 May 2013 00:22:17 -0400

Jodi Arias listens as the verdict for sentencing is read for her first degree murder conviction at Maricopa County Superior Court in PhoenixBy Tim Gaynor and David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona jury failed on Thursday to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Jodi Arias should be put to death for the brutal murder of her ex-boyfriend, prompting the judge to set a date for a new sentencing phase of the trial. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty this month of murdering Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face. ...


Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:29 -0400
Today is Friday, May 24, the 144th day of 2013. There are 221 days left in the year.
Thu, 23 May 2013 23:14:53 -0400

Jodi Arias stands as the jury is excused after the verdict for sentencing was declared a hung jury for her first degree murder conviction at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday, May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, David Wallace, Pool)PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias' fate couldn't decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.


Thu, 23 May 2013 23:00:33 -0400

Funnels confiscated during an investigation dubbed "Operation Swill," in which 29 bars and restaurants in New Jersey are accused of putting cheap booze in premium brand liquor bottles and selling it, are displayed during a news conference, Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Trenton, N.J. Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located in central and northern New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water — and apparently not even clean water at that.


Thu, 23 May 2013 22:43:33 -0400

Funnels confiscated during an investigation dubbed "Operation Swill," in which 29 bars and restaurants in New Jersey are accused of putting cheap booze in premium brand liquor bottles and selling it, are displayed during a news conference, Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Trenton, N.J. Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located in central and northern New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey company that operates 13 TGI Fridays restaurants accused of secretly replacing premium liquor with low-quality booze says it's shocked at the allegations.


Thu, 23 May 2013 22:32:17 -0400
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A once-prominent swimming coach who trained thousands of children was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing one of the girls he instructed.
Thu, 23 May 2013 22:30:38 -0400
BEAN STATION, Tenn. (AP) — An East Tennessee pharmacy owner and a customer have been killed during a robbery that left a pharmacy tech and another employee wounded.
Thu, 23 May 2013 22:23:05 -0400

In this photo made May 12, 2013, Sergio Garcia, of Spain, left, shakes hands with Tiger Woods at the end of the third round of The Players championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Garcia apologized to Woods on Wednesday, May 22, 3013, for saying he would have "fried chicken" at dinner with his rival, a comment that Woods described as hurtful and inappropriate. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:


Thu, 23 May 2013 22:04:03 -0400

New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner discusses his policies with a passerby while greeting commuters during a campaign event outside a Harlem subway station, Thursday, May 23, 2013 in New York. Weiner, who ran for mayor in 2005 and nearly did in 2009, is getting into the race to succeed three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg about two years after a series of tawdry tweets, and obfuscating explanations that capsized his promising congressional career. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Weiner set out to reintroduce himself to voters Thursday as he embarked on a mayoral bid after leaving Congress in a sexting scandal. He found a much more supportive reception in his first day of campaigning than he did from the state's top Democrat, who bluntly criticized his candidacy a day earlier.


Thu, 23 May 2013 22:02:17 -0400

In this image taken from surveillance video and provided by the New York City Police Department, an unidentified man who tries to withdraw funds from the bank account of New York City accountant Pedro Portugal is shown. Portugal was snatched from a city street in broad daylight, and then held captive for more than a month in an attempt to extort ransom from his family in Ecuador. Detectives rescued Portugal on May 20 after noticing a light upstairs in an otherwise dark Queens, N.Y. warehouse. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)NEW YORK (AP) — A businessman was snatched from a New York City street in broad daylight, then held captive for more than a month in a warehouse where he was bound and burned with acid as he was held for a $3 million ransom his family back in Ecuador did not have, authorities said.


Thu, 23 May 2013 21:57:03 -0400
NEW YORK (AP) — Procter & Gamble Co. is bringing back its former CEO, as the world's largest consumer-products maker tries to spur global growth.
Thu, 23 May 2013 21:55:56 -0400

Britain's Prince Edward Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam at the Governor's Mansion on Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. Edward is visiting Nashville in support of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, part of a royal charity that benefits youth and education. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Prince Edward, has visited Tennessee to promote one of the British royal family's charities, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.


Thu, 23 May 2013 21:22:23 -0400
By Barbara Liston and Mark Hosenball ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special Federal Bureau of Investigation team from Washington on Thursday began reviewing the death of a Chechen immigrant linked to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, a day after he was shot and killed by an agent during questioning in Orlando. The dead man, Ibragim Todashev, 27, was a friend of suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and was under investigation for alleged ties to a triple homicide in Massachusetts in 2011, according to media reports citing law enforcement officials. ...
Thu, 23 May 2013 21:22:23 -0400

FBI personnel walk through the complex surrounding the apartment, where Ibragim Todashev was shot and killed by FBI, in OrlandoGROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - The father of a Chechen immigrant killed during questioning over his links with one of the Boston Marathon bombings suspects said on Thursday he plans to travel to the United States where he thinks his son was tortured and killed. Ibragim Todashev, 27, was killed by a federal agent in his apartment complex when he became violent during questioning over his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of two brothers suspected of planting two bombs at the marathon on April 15. ...


Thu, 23 May 2013 21:16:04 -0400

FILE - In this May 14, 2013 file photo, Donald Trump arrives at federal court in Chicago to testify at a civil trial where he is accused of cheating an 87-year-old Jacqueline Goldberg in a condo deal. On Thursday, May 23, 2013, jurors sided with Trump and against Goldberg. Goldberg claimed the real estate mogul-turned-TV star carried out a bait and switch by offering her profit sharing in his namesake Chicago tower and reneging only after she committed to buy. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)CHICAGO (AP) — An 87-year-old grandmother took on billionaire Donald Trump. And on Thursday, she lost.


Thu, 23 May 2013 21:08:07 -0400
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — Police at the University of Rhode Island could soon be carrying firearms following a vote Thursday by state education officials to end Rhode Island's distinction as the only state to prohibit police on public campuses from carrying guns.
Thu, 23 May 2013 21:07:33 -0400

In this April 18, 2013 photo, Maine Gov. Paul LePage smiles during a ceremony at the Blaine House in Augusta, Maine. Maine Democratic legislative leaders say Gov. Paul LePage is threatening to move his office space out of the State House by July 1. LePage's decision stems from a disagreement over a television screen in the State House hall of flags outside LePage's office. LePage on Thursday, May 23, 2013 accused Democrats of a pattern of "toxic" censorship, noting that Democrats declined to let him speak at a recent budget committee meeting. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine's governor, who has gained attention in the past for telling the NAACP to "kiss my butt" and comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo, has moved out of his office at the State House and says he'll work out of the governor's mansion because of a dispute over a television screen.


Thu, 23 May 2013 20:58:31 -0400

Boy Scouts salute early Saturday morning, May 21, 2011 during New Jersey's Boy Scouts Camporee in Sea Girt, N.J. The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts, Thursday, May 23, 2013. Of the local Scout leaders voting at their annual meeting in Texas, more than 60 percent supported the proposal. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, file)GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.


Thu, 23 May 2013 20:52:02 -0400

File photo of the accused Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes at his arraignment in CentennialBy Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Lawyers for accused Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes argued on Thursday the state's insanity defense law was unconstitutional because it forces him to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists or forfeit the right to raise mental-health issues at sentencing. Prosecutors countered during a hearing before Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. that without an independent examination, there would be no way to evaluate defense claims that Holmes was legally insane at the time of the crime. ...


Thu, 23 May 2013 20:49:15 -0400
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Charges that an Army sergeant secretly photographed and videotaped women at West Point are part of a military-wide pattern of sexual misconduct, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Thursday.
Thu, 23 May 2013 20:28:19 -0400
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The state's highest court on Thursday dismissed Ralph Nader's lawsuit against Democrats he had accused of trying to keep him off ballots in Maine and other states during his failed presidential run in 2004.
Thu, 23 May 2013 20:26:49 -0400

Members of the audience cry during a memorial ceremony for victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, attended by U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Baylor University in WacoBy M.B. Pell (Reuters) - A dispute between government agencies over the investigation into the deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant intensified on Thursday when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives hit back after being criticized by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). The board's allegations that its investigation into the causes of the April 17 tragedy was hindered by the ATF or the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office is a misrepresentation of what actually occurred, the ATF said. ...


Thu, 23 May 2013 20:26:30 -0400

In this May 22, 2013, file photo rescue personnel work near the scene of a rockslide in St. Paul, Minn. Authorities said Thursday, May 23, 2013, they’ve recovered the body of a child missing since a rockslide killed a classmate and left two others injured at the park along the Mississippi River. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Nicole Norfleet) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUTMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — St. Paul authorities shut down a popular fossil-hunting area in a riverside park Thursday, one day after two children were killed and two others injured by a landslide.