Author: rpnadmin

As dry, windy weather fueled a big wildfire near a city in central Oregon, a fourth firefighter died after he and several colleagues last month were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border. Nathan Matthews, 43, of Lincoln, Nebraska, died Friday, the federal Interior Department said in a release Saturday. Meanwhile, several fierce wildfires in a summer of big ones continued burning across the western U.S. One of the worst – and the one deemed top priority for firefighting efforts – was just a few miles (5 kilometers) north of Sisters, a central Oregon city of about 3,000…

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office says a hiker found dead in a California national forest in April died due to alcohol withdrawal seizures. Victim Joanna Shields, 37, was found dead near the Sykes Hot Springs inside Los Padres National Forest, 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles, on April 9. At the time, the sheriff’s office said her death was “suspicious.” On Thursday, Monterey County Sheriff-Coroner Tina Nieto released her findings in the case, determining that Shields died naturally from “probable alcohol withdrawal seizures due to chronic alcohol use disorder.” The sheriff’s office also mentioned previous media reports of witnesses who…

Deputies are investigating a house fire in Michigan as arson in the aftermath of a possible murder-suicide after eight were found dead, some of them having been shot. The eight deceased were found at a home in Grand Haven Township, 185 miles northwest of Detroit, before noon Friday, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jacob Sparks said at a news conference reported by The Associated Press. The fire started at around 8:30 a.m., according to local news site MLive. The dead family members, who have not been publicly identified, included six children between the ages of 5 and 15 and two…

Former state lawmaker Troy Jackson won the Democratic nomination for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat on Saturday, capping nearly three weeks of political drama following the collapse of Graham Platner’s campaign. Hundreds of Democratic delegates chose Jackson — a logger and former Maine Senate president — to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall. Mr. Jackson faced only one opponent, Saundra Pelletier, a biopharmaceutical executive making her first run for office, after all of his better-known rivals withdrew once his supporters dominated the prior weekend’s delegate-selection process. The fifth-generation logger initially ran as a Republican in 2000, lost, then won…

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new pill Friday that has the active ingredients of both Tylenol and competitor Aleve. The medicine will be the first to include both acetaminophen, used in Tylenol, and naproxen sodium, used in Aleve, containing 650 mg of the former and 220 mg of the latter per dose, Tylenol maker Kenvue said in a release.  The product, to be sold as “Tylenol with Naproxen,” promises 12 hours of relief starting within 30 minutes of taking a pill. Each standard dose is two pills, with each pill containing 325 milligrams of acetaminophen and 110 milligrams…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating complaints that race-based student dormitories at some flagship state universities violate federal anti-discrimination laws. Two complaints filed this month with the agency’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity accuse the University of Minnesota and University of Connecticut of practicing de facto segregation by clustering Black and Hispanic students into separate residences. The Equal Protection Project, a nonprofit that supports colorblind civil rights policies, argues in the documents that the practice violates the Fair Housing Act by illegally steering others away from the publicly funded dwellings. “We reviewed those complaints carefully…

LOS ANGELES — Text messages between singer D4vd and Celeste Rivas Hernandez shown in court Friday indicate she had gotten pregnant and had an abortion more than a year before she was killed. In the exchange in early January 2024, D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, apologizes for “putting her through this.” “It’s okay,” she said in a text, “neither of us are capable of watching and taking care of the baby. it’s for the best no?” He apologizes again before asking if it’s his, and she replies “of course it’s yours.” The testimony came during a preliminary hearing where…

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that a third person has been confirmed killed by catastrophic floods this month that prompted more than 500 rescues, damaged homes and businesses, and are still making some areas inaccessible. Abbott said a person attempting to drive through floodwaters was swept away Monday. The governor went to the city of Cotulla, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio, for a flyover to assess the damage of floodwaters he said have left some areas of the city still unreachable. The Nueces River reached major flood stage at 29 feet (8.8…

First responders were able to save all 11 people on board a seaplane that crashed off the coast of Washington state Thursday with no fatalities, and one person in critical condition. The plane crashed near Sucia Island, 84 miles northwest of Seattle, around 5:15 p.m. local time Thursday, seaplane operator Kenmore Air said in a release.  All 11 people on board were “accounted for,” the company said, with six passengers going to one hospital, four passengers going to another hospital and the pilot going to a third hospital. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said on social media that one…

Two sons of a man shot by immigration officers in Houston this month testified at a congressional hearing Friday, describing the horror and confusion of learning their father had been killed, and demanding a transparent investigation into how he died and why. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers chased his white work van through the streets, then shot him through the window in front of his work crew, including his brother. Salgado Araujo’s sons read from prepared remarks at a Houston hearing with Democratic members of Congress. The sons’ voices often choked with…