Author: rpnadmin

Florida wildlife researchers have found an unlikely ally in the battle against invasive Burmese pythons: the opossum. Opossums are a key food source for Burmese pythons, which are top predators in the Everglades and have established a permanent breeding population in South Florida, severely harming the ecosystem by wiping out native animals, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The technique was discovered accidentally in 2022 while researchers were studying the movements and behaviors of small mammals. The team had fitted GPS collars to opossums and raccoons on Florida’s southern coast and found an unexpected bonus — they could also…

The FBI on Tuesday raided nearly two dozen childcare centers in Minnesota as part of a larger investigation into fraud schemes in the Twin Cities area. Officials said law enforcement teams executed 22 search warrants at childcare and daycare centers throughout Minneapolis beginning early Tuesday. “Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” the Justice Department said in a statement. Childcare fraud in the state has frequently been connected to Minnesota’s Somali community, which came into focus last year following a video report from…

A Wyoming judge has blocked a new state law that bans abortions beyond the earliest stages of pregnancy while a lawsuit challenging the provision moves ahead. It’s the first court ruling affecting the legal status of abortion in Wyoming since the state Supreme Court struck down sweeping abortion and abortion pill bans in January, finding that the laws violated the state constitution. The new law, which would ban abortion after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, is likely to be overturned on similar grounds, Natrona County District Judge Dan Forgey wrote in granting a temporary restraining order against it Friday.…

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fast-moving storms pummeled parts of the Midwest with hail, strong wind and heavy rain Monday, flooding streets and leading to stranded commuters who needed to be rescued, with more storms on the way, authorities said. More than 64 million people in the Midwest were at risk of severe storms into the afternoon and evening, with the St. Louis region at moderate risk for multiple long-track tornadoes and large hail, the National Weather Service said. “The greatest area of concern is across central Missouri into southern Illinois and into southeast Missouri,” Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the…

United Airlines’ CEO confirmed Monday that he approached rival American Airlines about a potential merger – his first public acknowledgment of his proposal – saying it would benefit travelers despite American’s refusal to engage in talks. “I was confident that this combination, which would have been about adding and not subtracting, creating a truly great airline that customers love, could get regulatory approval,” Scott Kirby wrote in a statement released Monday. “I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door.” Kirby’s confirmation comes after weeks of public…

Prosecutors in Utah are seeking the extradition of a man from California on murder charges in connection with a deadly shooting in January at a church parking lot in Salt Lake City that left two people dead, according to court documents unsealed Monday. Law enforcement took 32-year-old John Vea Uasike Jr. into custody on April 14 in connection with six felony charges including two counts of murder and weapons violations, the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office said in a news release. It was unclear if Uasike has an attorney who could comment on his behalf. The shooting took place…

NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge has tossed the murder conviction of a man who spent 25 years in prison after a review of his case revealed new evidence that may have been withheld by prosecutors, including thousands of dollars in payments made to the mother of their key eyewitness. The man, Harry Ruiz, has maintained his innocence since his 1994 conviction for the fatal shooting of Emmanuel Felix, an alleged drug dealer in Harlem. Ruiz, now 58, was released on parole in 2019. “I feel like I can finally breathe again,” he said on Monday, leaving the courthouse flanked…

A federal appeals court blocked a lower court ruling that had found ICE went too far in suppressing riots in Portland, Oregon, saying the officers weren’t retaliating against protesters but rather trying to clear out an unruly crowd. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision Monday, said demonstrators were engaged in clearly illegal activity but state and local authorities refused to respond, due to their “sanctuary” policies.  So U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had to take matters into its own hands. The court said some of ICE’s conduct may have strayed over the line, but they…

WASHINGTON — Kid Rock and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both flew in Army Apache attack helicopters at a base in Virginia on Monday, a defense official said, coming weeks after military pilots drew scrutiny for hovering near the entertainer’s Tennessee home. Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said the flights supported a “community relations event” for a White House-led initiative, called Freedom 250, that is coordinating events for America’s 250th anniversary commemoration. “Robert ‘Kid Rock’ Ritchie participated in multiple troop touches with service members and filmed videos for Memorial Day, America’s 250th birthday, and for his Freedom 250 tour,” Parnell…

Please fasten your seatbelt, make sure your tray table is in an upright and locked position, and prepare for delivery. A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta gave birth to a healthy 5 1/2 pound (2.5 kg) girl just before the Boeing 737 landed at Portland International Airport in Oregon on Friday night. Two paramedics who happened to be on the flight assisted, borrowing blankets from other passengers and using a shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord. Baby Brielle Renee Blair came in about two weeks ahead of schedule; the plane, about 20 minutes. Her mom,…