Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Wednesday.

The three-member western New York-based team said it discovered the shipwreck earlier this summer in deep water off Oswego, in central New York. Images captured by a remotely operated vehicle confirmed it is the Washington, which sank during a storm in 1803, team member Jim Kennard said.   Continue reading “Explorers find 2nd-oldest confirmed shipwreck in Great Lakes”

Mail.com

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The man killed in a police shooting that sparked two nights of violence in Milwaukee suffered from cognitive and mental health issues, and he carried a gun because he had been shot more than once in the past, his grandfather said.

Sylville K. Smith had a lengthy criminal past, but was just trying to survive in the inner city, William Brookins told The Associated Press. “In this city, there’s a lot of killings going on in the street,” said Brookins, who detailed Smith’s problems in a letter to a judge last year seeking mercy for his grandson. “He was afraid for his life. He was concerned about his safety and surviving.”   Continue reading “Grandfather: Man killed by police was just trying to survive”

Mail.com

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The last tower of the iconic Riviera Hotel and Casino came tumbling down along the Las Vegas Strip early Tuesday to make way for a convention center expansion. The 2:30 a.m. demolition of the Monte Carlo wing came two months after the taller Monaco tower was leveled the same way.   Continue reading “Last Riviera casino tumbles down after Vegas Strip implosion”

Mail.com

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian warplanes took off on Tuesday from a base in Iran to target Islamic State fighters and other militants in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, widening Moscow’s bombing campaign in Syria in a major development in the country’s civil war.

The long-range bombers took off from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, around 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria.   Continue reading “Russian warplanes take off from Iran to target IS in Syria”

RT

A father and his young daughter claim they were terrorized by a highway patrolman in Arizona while they were en route to the Grand Canyon on Friday.

Ken Walton, who is from California, described the horrifying ordeal in a lengthy Facebook post where he and his 7-year-old daughter were held at gunpoint after being pulled over by the out-of-control highway patrolman.   Continue reading “Father & 7yo daughter held at gunpoint by ‘insane & violent’ police officer”

Mail.com

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston mother who calmly told an acquaintance that she had drowned her two children in a bathtub had at first tried to bury their bodies next to her home before placing them under a neighbor’s house, police said Monday.

Sheborah Thomas, 30, was charged Sunday with capital murder of a person under age 6, according to court records. She remained jailed without bond. “All indications are she is the one who acted alone” in the deaths of her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, Houston police spokesman Kese Smith told The Associated Press.   Continue reading “Houston mother charged in deaths of son, 7, and daughter, 5”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the fatal shootings of a New York City mosque leader and his associate (all times local): 11:55 a.m. New York City police detectives investigating the slayings of an imam and his associate have detained and questioned a man as part of an attempt to identify a vehicle seen after the shooting.

Authorities say surveillance footage showed the car leaving the scene of Saturday’s shooting in Queens. Investigators said Monday that the car matched the description of one involved in an unsolved hit-and-run crash in Brooklyn. The man was taken into custody Sunday night in connection with that crash.   Continue reading “Detectives question man in NYC mosque shooting”

Mail.com

EASTMAN, Ga. (AP) — A man charged in the weekend slaying of a Georgia police officer was arrested early Monday in northern Florida, where sheriff’s deputies found the suspect hiding in the trunk of his sister’s car.

Deputies in Nassau County, Florida, apprehended 24-year-old Royheem Delshawn Deeds during a traffic stop about 1 a.m., said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper. Deeds is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith, 30. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Smith was shot Saturday night while responding to a report of a suspicious person in a residential area of Eastman, about 60 miles southeast of Macon.   Continue reading “Man charged in Georgia officer killing caught in car trunk”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — To supporters, zero-tolerance policing has long represented a logical crime-fighting approach: Crack down on minor infractions before they mushroom into more serious and disruptive violence.

But a scathing federal government report on the Baltimore Police Department suggests the costs of that strategy outweigh any reduction in crime. The Justice Department report released Wednesday blames zero-tolerance policing for a legacy of discriminatory law enforcement in which black residents are disproportionately stopped and searched without cause.   Continue reading “Justice Dept. report critical of zero-tolerance policing”

Mail.com

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) — The officer who shot and killed a 73-year-old retired librarian during a police “shoot/don’t shoot” demonstration in Florida was accused of using excessive force with his police dog and resigned from another police agency in 2013 for failing to satisfactorily complete a field training program.

Officer Lee Coel, 28, was put on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates why real ammunition was used by mistake at an event designed to bring police and the public together in the small Gulf Coast city of Punta Gorda.   Continue reading “Officer who killed librarian resigned from another agency”

Mail.com

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — Two men who were reportedly killed in combat while fighting the Islamic State group in Syria left suburban Denver neighborhoods for a war zone because of camaraderie and an unshakeable drive to right an injustice, their families said Wednesday.

Jordan MacTaggart, 22, is believed to have been killed Aug. 3 while fighting in a squad that included two Americans and a Swede, and Levi Shirley, 24, was reportedly killed by a land mine July 14. It’s unclear if the two men crossed paths in Colorado or the Middle East, but their parents on Wednesday highlighted similar motivations for why they joined Kurdish forces against ISIS.   Continue reading “Families say Colorado men killed fighting ISIS shared traits”

Mail.com

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday voted to put suspended President Dilma Rousseff on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal rules in managing the federal budget. After some 15 hours of debate, senators voted 59-21, the final step before a trial and vote on whether to remove her from office, expected later this month.

The outcome was widely expected: The Senate voted in May to impeach and remove Rousseff from office for up to 180 days while the trial was prepared. Wednesday’s vote underscored that efforts to remove her have gained steam despite her attempts to woo senators who have expressed doubt about the governing ability of interim President Michel Temer.   Continue reading “Brazil Senate sends suspended President Dilma to trial”

Mail.com

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Amtrak has started settling lawsuits with victims of last year’s deadly derailment in Philadelphia, and lawyers involved in the process say a strict confidentiality provision prevents them and their clients from talking about how they’re doing or how much money they’ve received.

The railroad reached the first settlements last week, quietly resolving cases brought by two women who suffered head and other injuries in the May 2015 wreck, court records show. Dozens of other lawsuits are still pending.   Continue reading “Amtrak settlements silencing crash victims”

Mail.com

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Gunshots rang out but apparently hit no one after a car struck a protester during a peaceful demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri, on the second anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that a car drove into a group of protesters who were blocking a street during the demonstration Tuesday night to mark two years since the unarmed black 18-year-old’s fatal shooting by a white police officer. They said the car struck a young man so hard that he flew into the air.   Continue reading “Car hits protester in Ferguson, shots ring out”

Mail.com

QINGDAO, China (AP) — The visit of the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Benfold to the northern Chinese port of Qingdao this week is the latest development in a long-term effort to build trust between the countries’ militaries amid tensions and a rivalry for dominance in Asia.

Though China resents the highly visible presence of the U.S. armed forces in Asia, especially the South China Sea, it has gradually overcome its reluctance and shown a willingness to engage that the sides hope will help avoid conflicts. Below is a look at the Benfold’s visit and some of the steps the sides have taken to build their relationship:   Continue reading “US destroyer visit latest twist in China-US military ties”

Mail.com

PRINCETON, Mass. (AP) — Residents of a small Massachusetts town are being urged to take caution after a woman who went out for a weekend walk or jog while visiting her mother was found slain in the woods.

Police found the body of Vanessa Marcotte on Sunday night about a half-mile from her mother’s home in the town of Princeton, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. She was visiting from New York City, where she worked at Google. She was reported missing Sunday when she didn’t return home.   Continue reading “Woman found killed in woods; residents urged to be cautious”

Mail.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A decade after California voters were promised $400 million worth of parks in some of the state’s poorest neighborhoods, an Associated Press review finds fewer than half of the 126 projects that received the money have been built, as Democratic lawmakers push to add another $1 billion to the program.

State officials say the long wait is the result of strong oversight, but people waiting for the parks see only empty lots. In the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Florence, Jennifer Schott won’t let her kids play outdoors, nor is she willing to make the eight-minute walk through gang territory to the nearest park.   Continue reading “Parks promised to poor California areas unbuilt years later”