ABC News

Federal prosecutors charged drug distributor Rochester Drug Cooperative and its former CEO with drug trafficking charges Tuesday — the first criminal charges for a pharmaceutical company and executives in the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis.

The charges signify a groundbreaking move by the government to try to combat the opioid epidemic, which kills 130 Americans every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the first time, a pharmaceutical company and white collar executives were charged like street dealers and traffickers.  Continue reading “Feds charge Rochester Drug Cooperative and CEO in first criminal case over opioids”

New York Post

HASTINGS, Fla. — Officials say Florida firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free a Rottweiler that got her head stuck in a cinder block.

St. Johns County Fire Rescue posted on Facebook that firefighters responded to a Hastings home on Saturday.  Continue reading “Jaws of Life used to free dog’s head from cinder block”

Las Cruses Sun News – by Algernon D’Ammassa

LAS CRUCES – Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, the alleged “commander” of an armed militia group accused of illegally detaining migrants in New Mexico near the United States-Mexico border, made an initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces on Monday morning.

Hopkins was arrested in Sunland Park Saturday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a federal complaint alleging he is a convicted felon in possession of firearms. Continue reading “Alleged commander of militia group makes initial appearance in federal court”

New York Post – by Larry Celona and Ben Feuerherd

Five high-ranking NYPD cops who were forced to resign amidst a bribery scandal in the department in 2016 were awarded more than $1 million for vacation and overtime they were owed, law-enforcement sources told The Post Friday.

The cops — ex-Inspector Peter DeBlasio (no relation to the mayor) and former deputy chiefs Andrew Capul, David Colon, Eric Rodriguez and John Sprague — finalized the settlement this week after a labor-relations arbiter determined last year they were owed the compensation.  Continue reading “Ex-cops who resigned amidst bribery scandal awarded over $1M”

New York Post

The Yankees have decided to no longer run Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” during their seventh-inning stretch because of Smith’s affiliation with songs that carried racist lyrics.

Most famously, Smith sang a 1931 song, “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” which opened: “Someone had to pick the cotton, Someone had to pick the corn, Someone had to slave and be able to sing, That’s why darkies were born.”  Continue reading “Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’ out at Yankee Stadium over racist songs”

Texas Tribune – by Abby Livingstone

WASHINGTON – A number of West Houston political insiders are abuzz at the prospect that Pierce Bush, the Houston-based CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star and member of the storied Bush family, might run for the Congressional seat currently occupied by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher.

The 7th Congressional District has significant history in the Bush family: It’s the seat Pierce Bush’s grandfather, the late President George H.W. Bush, represented in the late 1960s.  Continue reading “Pierce Bush, grandson of George H.W. Bush, is considering running for Congress in his grandfather’s old district”

NBC News

A man carrying two gas cans, lighter fluid and lighters tried to enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Wednesday but was stopped by a security officer and taken into custody, an NYPD official said.

“Nothing happened inside the cathedral,” the Archdiocese of New York said in a statement.  Continue reading “Man with gas cans arrested at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York”

New York Daily News

New York City taxpayers spent a whopping $230 million to pay off 6,472 lawsuits settled against the NYPD in the last fiscal year, according to an annual report released Monday by Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office.

The amount reflects settlements made from July 2017 through June 2018, and marks a 32% decrease from the prior year, when the city paid out $335 million for lawsuits against the police department.

Continue reading “NYC spent $230M on NYPD settlements last year: report”

PIX 11

LONG ISLAND — A retired NYPD officer was scammed out of more than $22,000: the total amount taken was nearly all of his life savings.

The 80-year-old man, who lives in Nassau County where police are investigating, thought he was familiar enough with phone scams and thought he would never fall for one.  Continue reading “Retired NYPD officer scammed out of $22k”

NBC New York

A months-long investigation into possible money laundering led to a number of arrests, the dismantling of a dark web ring that supplied counterfeit drugs throughout the country and the largest pill seizure in New Jersey history, authorities say.

The probe lead by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office resulted in the arrest of three people in New Jersey in connection to the ring that had about $2.3 million in the sales of counterfeit, albeit potent, Xanax, steroids and other drugs in the past year, prosecutors say. The millions of dollars laundered was allegedly through the use of cryptocurrency. Continue reading “Monster Dark Web Takedown Seizes Up to 620,000 Fake Anxiety Meds, Yields NJ’s Largest-Ever Pill Haul: Officials”

New York Post – by Nikki Schwab, Mark Moore

WASHINGTON – Mayor Pete has made it official.

“My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me ‘Mayor Pete.’ I am a proud son of South Bend, Ind. And I am running for president of the United States,” South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced at a campaign rally in his hometown Sunday, making him the first openly gay Democrat to seek the office. Continue reading “Pete Buttigieg is officially running for president”

New York Post

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said a group of about 350 migrants broke the locks on a gate at the Guatemalan border Friday and forced their way into southern Mexico to join a larger group of migrants trying to make their way toward the United States.

The National Immigration Institute did not identify the nationalities of the migrants, but they are usually from Central America.  Continue reading “Migrants break border gate, force their way into Mexico”

KWQC 6 News

CAIRO, N.Y. (KWQC) – A woman who told police she is “deathly afraid” of spiders crashed her car Wednesday after spotting one next to her as she was driving.

Cairo Police report the accident happened on Silver Spur Road when the 54-year-old motorist who was out running errands panicked upon noticing the spider.  Continue reading “Woman crashes car after seeing spider”

Daily Advertiser – by Ashley White

The 21-year-old son of a St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputy is the only suspect thought to be responsible for the burning of three predominantly black churches, and his interests in black metal music and pagan gods is of interest in the case, authorities said Thursday.

Holden Matthews, son of Deputy Roy Matthews, was arrested Wednesday and charged with three counts of simple arson of a religious building in connection with the church burnings that took place over 10 days. Once probable cause, including surveillance video, connected the younger Matthews to the crime, he was arrested within about 12 hours, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning said.  Continue reading “St. Landry Parish fires: 21-year-old suspect in custody but authorities say ‘we are not done’”

Haaretz

The Central Elections Committee published Thursday night the final results of the Israeli election, ending two tense days of specualtion as to the makeup of the 21st Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud party has 36 seats in the next Knesset, after initially tying at 35 with Kahol Lavan, the political alliance led by former Israeli army chief of staff Benny Gantz.  Continue reading “Final Israeli Election Results: Bennett Wiped Out; Netanyahu’s Likud Gains One Seat”

New York Post – by Julia Marsh

PAHRUMP, Nevada — Mayor de Blasio landed his potential presidential campaign in the heart of UFO country — and brought the far-out message that America needs to redistribute all its wealth.

But even in a town that embraces its connection to the-truth-is-out-there lore Hizzoner’s weekend visit left local Democratic party leaders wondering why this stranger touched down for breakfast with them on Sunday.  Continue reading “De Blasio lands at ‘Area 51’ town on spacey campaign trail”

AOL

A suspected poacher was attacked and killed by an elephant before being eaten by a pride of lions in a national park in northeastern South Africa last week.

Officials with the Kruger National Park said the family of the man, who is believed to have gone into the park to poach a rhino, got a call from his partners saying he was killed by an elephant on Tuesday.  Continue reading “Suspected poacher killed by elephant then eaten by lions”

Washington Post – by Holly Bailey

IOWA CITY — Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke on Sunday described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “racist” whose outreach to far-right interests as he seeks to hang onto political power has seriously damaged the chances of peace in the Middle East.

Speaking at a town hall here at the University of Iowa, the former Texas congressman denounced Netanyahu’s pledge Saturday that he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins another term in Tuesday’s Israeli general election. Netanyahu’s proposed annexation, O’Rourke said, “will make peace in the long term impossible.”  Continue reading “Beto O’Rourke on Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Racist’”

CBS News

Going to medical school today takes more than ambition, good grades in biology in college, and an appetite for hard work. It takes a willingness to incur a crushing amount of debt. Student debt in general is in crisis in this country. All told, borrowers owe $1.5 trillion, more than people owe in credit card debt or car loans.

People have borrowed money to attend medical school for decades, but the scale of the debt has skyrocketed in recent years, along with just about every other cost in health care. The average medical student now graduates with a debt burden as big as a home mortgage.  Continue reading “How the NYU School of Medicine is going tuition-free”

Atlas Obscura – by Sabrina Imbler

FOR APPROXIMATELY $207 A DAY, the job doesn’t sound very hard. All you have to do is lie down in a precisely angled bed in a private room for a breezy 60 days (plus 29 extra days to transition and rehabilitate). Two months of absolute, compulsory rest and relaxation, all in the name of space exploration. For couch potatoes, it’s a highly regulated dream.  Continue reading “Wanted: Women Who Will Spend 60 Days in Bed, for Science”