Author: rpnadmin

NEWARK, N.J. — Democratic members of Congress on Wednesday said they observed dire conditions within a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey where protesters have been demonstrating for days and asserting that detainees are on a hunger strike. U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark are being given small portions of food that “very often” contain maggots and that the only medication they receive is Tylenol. One woman, he said, had a lump in her breast but was still waiting on a mammogram more than a month into her detention. Another detainee…

High costs for beef products have taken a toll on the barbecue industry in Texas, leading some restaurants to close. The price of beef for producers last month was 14.2% higher year over year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Meanwhile, the total amount of restaurant sales nationwide in April was lower than the year prior when adjusted for inflation. Brisket, a popular item in Texas barbecue, is part of the problem for the restaurant owners. “The brisket for us barbecue restaurants specifically, it’s everyone’s most popular, it’s everyone’s most expensive, and it’s our worst yield. … To have a…

NASA is paying two companies millions to provide specialized lunar vehicles to help support the agency’s moon base missions. The agency said Tuesday it’s paying Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million for their work on the first phase of the moon plans. The Astrolab Crewed Lunar Vehicle, or CLV-1, will move astronauts and supplies in support of remote operations on the moon, NASA said. The CLV-1 will weigh about 2,000 pounds and go as fast as 6 mph on level terrain. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover will be lighter and drive up to 9 mph. Astronauts will be able…

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he’s working on a plan that would shut down international flights that land at airports in sanctuary jurisdictions — a move to pressure anti-ICE politicians. Mr. Mullin confirmed the idea, which he reportedly raised with travel executives last week, in an interview Tuesday on Fox News’ “Hannity” program. “We’re currently drawing up plans to say listen, these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities, either,” the secretary said. He stressed the idea…

LONGVIEW, Wash. — A massive chemical tank holding nearly a million gallons of a highly corrosive liquid imploded and collapsed Tuesday at a Washington paper mill, killing at least one worker and leaving nine others unaccounted for with no hope for rescue, authorities said. Another nine people were injured, some severely, in the spill at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview. The cause remained unclear. “At the moment we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made,” Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said during a Tuesday evening news conference in which officials repeatedly referred…

Federal safety rules prohibit prescribing the abortion drug mifepristone to terminate pregnancies after 10 weeks’ gestation, but that’s not stopping the booming online abortion-pill business. A report released Tuesday by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute found 81% of online providers that report their data will ship abortion drugs to women whose pregnancies exceed 70 days’ gestation, a violation of the Food and Drug Administration safety protocol. That’s not all. The report found that eight companies mail mifepristone to states in defiance of their abortion restrictions, such as prohibitions on using telehealth to prescribe the pills and mail them directly to…

PORTLAND, Maine — The fire and subsequent explosion at a Maine lumber mill that killed a firefighter and injured a dozen other people was accidental and originated at the base of a silo, authorities said Tuesday. The May 15 fire and explosion at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont killed Andrew Cross, 27, of the Morrill Volunteer Fire Department. The injured people include members of the family that runs the lumber mill and other emergency responders. The fire sent plumes of black smoke into the sky and required hundreds of firefighters from dozens of departments to suppress it. Rapid ignition of particulate…

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A Michigan house explosion early Tuesday left one person dead and one in critical condition, authorities said. Authorities have not yet determined what caused the fire and explosion, which happened around 4 a.m. in Plainfield Township, north of Grand Rapids. When authorities arrived, the home was destroyed and the debris was on fire, according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. One person was dead. Two neighbors pulled a woman out of the home after hearing her yelling. “I had to get in there and get her out,” one of the neighbors, Tim Johnson, told WOOD-TV. He…

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Clarence B. Jones, a former speechwriter and confidante of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who helped pen his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, has died. He was 95. Jones died Friday at a senior living community in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Cupertino, according to a statement released by the family, who was at his side. “Our father lived a life of conscience,” the Jones’ family said Tuesday. “He believed, until his final days, that an idea” is “more powerful than the march of any army. We are grateful beyond words for…

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The head of Puerto Rico’s key economic development agency announced his resignation on Tuesday as he criticized the U.S. territory’s administration of Jenniffer González, accusing it of interfering in the department’s work. The departure of Sebastián Negrón Reichard from the powerful Department of Economic Development and Commerce comes at a critical moment for Puerto Rico as it seeks to revive its economy and attract wealthy investors. Negrón Reichard noted in his statement that more than 10 officials with leadership roles at the agency – including its chief of staff, general counsel and the finance chief…