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New Jersey house explosion leaves 3 dead, 1 missing, 2 children injured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

BUENA, N.J. (AP) — An explosion destroyed a New Jersey house, killing three people, seriously injuring two children and leaving another person missing.The cause of Thursday morning’s explosion in Buena, about 40 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, is being investigated. It damaged several nearby homes, but no other injuries were reported.Two men, ages 52 and 73, and four children — a 2-year-old boy and three girls ages 1, 3 and 16 — were likely in the home at the time.Two bodies were found Thursday in the rubble, and a third was found Friday, but authorities have not been able to determine their age or sex. The year-old infant and the 16-year-old girl were flown to a hospital in Philadelphia, where the infant was in critical condition and the teen was stable.Authorities have not released the victims’ names or said whether they are related.The Associated Press

A Southern California judge has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife in the couple’s home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife in the couple’s home, authorities said Friday.Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested late Thursday after police received reports of a shooting at the home and found the judge’s wife, Sheryl Ferguson, shot inside, said Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock.She was pronounced dead at the scene in the upscale neighborhood of Anaheim Hills. The 72-year-old judge was arrested and taken to jail. He is being held on $1 million bail and is expected to appear in court in Santa Ana, California, on Monday. He has not yet been formally charged.McClintock said one other person was at the home at the time but declined to say who the person was or whether they were among the callers who notified police of the shooting. Telephone and email messages seeking comment were left for Ferguson’s attorney, Paul S. Meyer.Ferguson was elected as a judge in 2014 and took o...

How six Mississippi officers tried to cover up their torture of 2 Black men

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Men who had sworn an oath to protect and serve were huddled on the back porch of a Mississippi home as Michael Corey Jenkins lay on the floor, blood gushing from his mutilated tongue where one of the police officers shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.As Jenkins writhed in pain, the six white officers devised a scheme to cover up dozens of stunning acts of brutality that they had just carried out during a 90-minute period of terror against Jenkins and a second Black victim. The officers planted drugs. They stole surveillance footage from the house. They tried to dispose of other evidence. They agreed on a set of lies that would further upend their victims’ lives.And that was just the cover-up.Careful to avoid security cameras at the house, they burst in without a warrant, starting the torture session of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. They handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup ...

North Dakota regulators deny siting permit for Summit carbon dioxide pipeline; company will reapply

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators denied a siting permit Friday for a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would cross five states.The North Dakota Public Service Commission denied the permit for the Summit Carbon Solutions Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, which planned a 320-mile (515-kilometer) route through North Dakota. Summit proposed the $4.5 billion, 2,000-mile (3,219 kilometer) pipeline network to capture carbon dioxide from more than 30 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, and to store it deep underground in North Dakota.In a statement, Summit said it “respects the decision by the North Dakota Public Service Commission, and we will revisit our proposal and reapply for our permit. We’re committed to understanding and incorporating the considerations outlined in the decision. We are confident that our project supports state policies designed to boost key economic sectors: agriculture, ethanol, and energy.”The project raised ...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts following mixed reports on US job market, Big Tech earnings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Friday following mixed reports about the U.S. job market and profits at two of Wall Street’s most influential stocks.The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in afternoon trading after giving up slight gains from earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 32 points, or 0.1%, at 35,178, as of 2:24 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.Taking some pressure off stocks were falling Treasury yields in the bond market. They dipped after a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report said hiring was a touch weaker last month than economists expected, though wages for workers rose more than forecast.The job market is in a precarious place, where investors want a reading that’s neither too hot nor too cold. On one hand, investors want it to remain strong enough to keep the economy out of a long-predicted recession. On the other, they don’t want wage growth in particular to be so strong that the Federal Reserve sees it putting upward pre...

Power at the gas pump: Oregon lets drivers fuel their own cars, lifting decades-old self-serve ban

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — For the first time in 72 years, Oregon motorists can grab a fuel nozzle and pump gas into their cars without an attendant, since a decades-old ban on self-serve gas stations has been revoked.Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill on Friday allowing people across the state to choose between having an attendant pump gas or doing it themselves. The law takes immediate effect. That leaves New Jersey as the only state that prohibits motorists from pumping their own gas. A few countries also ban it, including South Africa, where attendants offer to check fluid levels and clean the windshield, with tipping expected.“It’s about time. It’s long overdue,” said Karen Cooper, who lives in Salem, said shortly before the bill was signed.“I’ve spent a lot of time in California,” Cooper said. “I know how to pump my own. Everybody should know how to pump their own gas.”At the same gas station, T.J. Rogers climbed into his pickup truck after squeegeeing his windshield. He expressed a differ...

What you need to know about checking for and identifying melanoma

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

A lifelong sunscreen user, London, Ont., resident Maureen Meehan was always aware of the dangers of sun exposure and says she was diligent about protecting her skin — her fair complexion means she’s prone to burning easily.“I’ve always worn a sunscreen or a sunblock. I stayed out of the sun during peak times. I never laid outside and worked on my tan,” she says. “So I think I always had a little bit of that consciousness in the back of my mind.”When a mole on her right arm became raised and began to itch, she knew it wasn’t something to ignore.“So I went to my GP and initially she wasn’t as concerned as I was. I went back to her a few weeks later and I said, ‘you know, I really am concerned about this mole.’ And she said okay and she referred me to a tissue specialist,” she says.Two days after a punch biopsy, she received a call that she describes as “life-altering.”“[He said] You have a ...

Pentagon warns of disruptions as Army, Marines both lack confirmed leaders for first time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief stepped down Friday, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history.Speaking during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Austin said the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe. The confirmation of the next Army chief and Marine commandant are among more than 300 military nominations stalled by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican, over the Pentagon’s policy to pay for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. “Today for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, two of our services will be operating without Senate confirmed leadership,” said Austin. “Great teams need gr...

Glendale Heights village president accused of lying about assault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. — Prosecutors say a suburban mayor lied about being the victim of an assault on two separate occasions after a long-running and heated dispute with a village trustee.Glendale Heights village president Chodri Ma Khokhar, 66, is charged with two counts of disorderly conduct which is a Class 4 Felony, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. The indictment alleges Khokhar filed a false report with Glendale Heights police and the state’s attorney’s office on April 26 and again on May 12 — claiming he had been the victim of a threatened assault by a village trustee. The indictment says the village president filed a report claiming “Mohammad Siddiqui, a Glendale Heights village trustee, threatened to bite the defendant knowing at the time it was false.”WGN Investigates reviewed months of video recordings of village board meetings to better understand the animosity between the two.“You are ruining this city,” Trustee Siddiqui told Mayor Khokhar at a ...

Central Illinois community mourns loss of girl who died after county fair accident

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 08:56:52 GMT

CHARLESTON, Ill. (WCIA) -- People across Central Illinois are mourning the death of Harper Finn after the news broke of her passing Thursday morning.The five-year-old girl from Altamont died at St. Louis Children's Hospital on Wednesday, three days after a tragic accident at the Effingham County Fair. She was hit by a car-mounted starting gate during a harness racing event at the fair.The news of Harper's death sent shockwaves across the region, but especially in the horse racing community. The Finns are well known in that community, going back generations. Fairgoers at the Coles County Fair held a prayer on Wednesday and two of them said it is a heartbreaking feeling and they can't imagine what the Finns are going through.Coles County Fair Director Tom Niemeyer said the entire situation is devastating."These kids of things happen and it's tragic to lose a little girl like that," Niemeyer said.But he went on to say that these kinds of things haven't happened at his fair."We're never...