Author: rpnadmin

WASHINGTON — A polarizing Harvard astronomer known for splashy theories about alien visits has been tapped by the White House to lead a team of outside scientists to study the national security risks posed by UFOs. Avi Loeb, a cosmologist who studied black holes and served as head of Harvard’s astronomy department until 2020, was recently appointed to helm a new scientific advisory council tasked with investigating the origins of mysterious orbs and other objects reported by military personnel in recent years. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s push to declassify more information about the issue. Loeb’s team will report…

NEW YORK — The Trump administration on Tuesday said it would freeze federal funding for New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a state agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting fraud in the safety-net government healthcare program. In a letter sent to New York officials, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Thomas March Bell accused the state of not securing enough criminal indictments and convictions and said millions of dollars in funding would be suspended through at least Sept. 30. The move is the second suspension of a state Medicaid fraud unit this year by the Republican Trump…

Emergency crews descended Tuesday afternoon on Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, after a CSX freight train derailed near the Neshaminy Falls Train Station, prompting a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents and the evacuation of some homes. CSX said one of its trains derailed multiple cars at around 2 p.m. near the crossing of East Bristol Road and Grove Avenue. Bensalem Township police said between 5 and 10 freight cars came off the tracks. Police, Fire, EMS and hazmat teams responded to the scene between Street Road and the Neshaminy Falls Train Station. No injuries were reported, a CSX spokesperson confirmed. Authorities declared…

The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly. One of the killed firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, created this year without customary congressional approval by drawing personnel from four agencies within the Interior Department. The victims were part of an elite, helicopter-based crew that got trapped Saturday in a fast-growing wildfire near the Utah border as they attacked the blaze on the ground. Authorities say…

LAS VEGAS — A book co-written by the man who prosecutors allege ordered the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur can be used in trial, a judge ruled Tuesday. The defense attorney for Duane “Keffe D” Davis tried to bar the 2019 memoir “Compton Street Legend” from being used in trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 10, as well as statements Davis had made to police in 2008 and 2009. Davis, 63, faces one charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in the drive-by shooting of the…

DETROIT — Nature’s oven was on high Tuesday for millions of people in the Midwest and Great Lakes states as intense heat and humidity baked the regions with no immediate relief before the misery shifts to the eastern U.S. The National Weather Service was blunt: Conditions were “dangerous” as the heat index, a combination of air temperature and humidity, exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. It warned about a risk for heat-related illnesses, especially among people without air conditioning. Detroit’s air temperature was in the high 90s, the Weather Service said, and could even reach 100 at some point…

A University of Tennessee professor who was fired after calling Charlie Kirk a “disgusting psychopath” in the wake of his assassination would receive $1.9 million under a tentative settlement approved by the university system’s Board of Trustees Audit and Compliance Committee in a nonpublic session held after the board’s annual meeting Monday, eight months after she sued the school over the firing.  The settlement does not restore Tamar Shirinian, a former assistant professor of anthropology, to her position at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. It still must be approved by Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti before…

A spokesman for Maine’s largest labor federation set off a backlash this week after suggesting on social media that Democratic critics of Senate nominee Graham Platner would be “first up against the wall when the revolution comes,” a remark he later said was a joke. Andy O’Brien, communications director for the Maine AFL-CIO, a statewide federation representing 160 local unions, made the comment in response to an opinion piece in The Hill by Democratic strategist Laurie A. Watkins, who argued that her party should not stay silent about character concerns surrounding Mr. Platner simply because he carries the Democratic label.…

The body of a newborn was discovered inside a portable toilet at a Michigan music festival over the weekend, prompting Michigan State Police to appeal for the public’s help. The body was found by an employee of the bathroom company during routine maintenance Sunday morning, the last day of the Electric Forest festival. Police described the baby as a neonate — younger than 28 days old — and said the remains were located in the festival’s camping area. Sources told WOOD-TV News 8 that it appeared the baby had been born inside the portable toilet, with the placenta and umbilical…

A robotaxi partnership between Uber and Waymo in Phoenix has ended. The two companies are still working together in Atlanta and Austin, Texas. The pilot program, which lasted almost three years, allowed Uber users in the Phoenix market to use the rideshare app to hail autonomous vehicles from Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet. The pilot program then expanded to let Waymo vehicles deliver food for Uber Eats, according to TechCrunch. Uber users in Atlanta and Austin will still be able to use the rideshare app to order rides in Waymo vehicles. The Waymo vehicles in those markets…