Author: rpnadmin

Two Texas men were charged with stealing official team gear from England’s national soccer team while a dozen people were arrested in a human trafficking sting that was organized just before the tournament kicked off. Prosecutors in Jackson County, Missouri, said Saturday that they charged Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal with receiving stolen property after the two men allegedly swiped signed national team jerseys, several pairs of cleats, goalkeeper gloves and a World Cup soccer ball. Authorities said the two suspects stole the equipment as England’s team was preparing to leave their pre-tournament training grounds in Florida for their longer-term…

BUTLER, Mo. — A plane carrying passengers planning to spend a sunny afternoon skydiving crashed Sunday in Missouri, killing all 12 people aboard, authorities said. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were on the scene, assisting the Butler Police Department & Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The crash occurred near the Butler Memorial Airport. The small town of Butler has a population of around 4,300 people and is roughly 65 miles south of Kansas City. Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Justin Ewing said the plane was taking people up to skydive. Emergency responders got a call that…

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former Yosemite National Park ranger who was fired after flying a giant transgender pride flag from a rock wall that looms over the California park’s main thoroughfare. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston found on Friday that Shannon “SJ” Joslin, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronoun they, must follow the process set out by the Civil Service Reform Act. Since Joslin was still a probationary employee at the time of their firing last year, that means they must file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, which they…

An Ohio police chief accused in a yearslong pattern of child sex abuse against a former student was arrested last week in Florida. Clermont County, Ohio, authorities on Thursday brought sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor charges against Bethel Police Chief Chad Essert after the top cop was accused in an abuse scheme that happened while he worked as a teacher. “It takes tremendous courage for a victim to come forward, especially when the accused wears a badge and holds a position of authority,” Clermont County Sheriff Chris Stratton said following the indictment. “[The] indictment demonstrates that…

NEW YORK — It was bedlam on Broadway as the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday night, with exuberant celebrations marred by mayhem and violence, including gunshots in Times Square. Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Soon after, rowdy fans were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to…

An investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has determined that the mammoth Hollywood media merger is not likely to harm competition in the industry or be harmful for consumers. The agency said Friday that it closed its probe into the deal, with regulators at its antitrust division concluding that the impact of the merger “will be to increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.” David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in late February. Paramount’s victory came after…

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A group of U.S. Democratic lawmakers promised Puerto Ricans on Friday that they would try to speed up the island’s sluggish recovery from destructive hurricanes and earthquakes, a process that relies heavily on federal funds. Mississippi Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, ranking member of the House Committee of Homeland Security, said he and other legislators met with Puerto Rico mayors as part of a two-day trip to the U.S. territory and heard their concerns including delays in reimbursements and project approvals. “We’ll move some of those concerns into corrective actions,” he said at a news conference.…

TRACY, Calif. — Officials in a Northern California city urged people sensitive to smoke to keep indoors as firefighters spent a third day Saturday battling a fire in a huge medical equipment warehouse. Air quality on the south side of Tracy, a city of 100,000 people where the Medline warehouse fire has been burning since Thursday, was in the “unhealthy” range, according to air monitors. Firefighters expected the next few days to remain smoky amid a lengthy effort to put out the fire inside the building, South San Joaquin County Fire Authority Fire Chief Randall Bradley said in a statement.…

A medical examiner has ruled the death of a Haitian asylum seeker after being released from federal custody a homicide. An attorney representing her family said he expects her relatives to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with her death. Daphy Michel, 31, died March 2. She was found at a bus shelter. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office found her cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner a homicide, “indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual” and should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in…

Customs and Border Protection agents working at a border crossing near Buffalo, New York, found over 1,600 pounds of marijuana in a purported shipment of chocolate. The agents, working at the Peace Bridge crossing over the Niagara River, found the weed on Tuesday while examining a shipment listed on a manifest as chocolate. Upon further examination of the truck and trailer, they found 56 boxes containing vacuum-sealed packages, which in turn contained over 1,600 pounds of marijuana, CBP said in a release Friday. “In this case, it was manifested as a shipment of chocolate. It was sitting, appeared to be…