Author: rpnadmin

Florida authorities arrested and charged a woman with trying to run over a Secret Service agent and then local police officers after she was stopped at a security checkpoint by President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Palm Beach County court records show Alexa Rae Scharf, 29, was charged with aggravated assault with a vehicle, felony fleeing and resisting arrest in the Tuesday incident that started with the suspect’s bizarre behavior close to the president’s Florida home. The court filing, obtained by WPEC-TV, said Ms. Scharf drove up to the checkpoint around 6:05 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities soon told her that the checkpoint was…

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is facing misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property stemming from what police described as a physical confrontation with his girlfriend. Jacobs was arrested May 26 after police were called to his home to investigate a disturbance and was released from jail the next day. The charges were announced Thursday by Brown County District Attorney David Lasee. “Our office sought to ensure a fair and complete review of available evidence, some of which only recently became available to our office due to significant, ongoing forensic efforts by law enforcement,” Lasee said…

WASHINGTON — Three staff members from the Stars and Stripes military news outlet are suing to challenge their recent firings by the Pentagon, accusing the Trump administration of violating their First Amendment free speech rights to speak out against government interference in their work. Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte are named as plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Washington, D.C. The Pentagon, which partially funds the news outlet, fired them last week. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the suit’s allegations. Slavin says he was dismissed for…

A federal judge barred the Defense Department from enforcing its ban on using technology from Anthropic, a leading AI firm, calling the prohibition more a fit of rage than a well-founded policy. Judge Rita Lin, a Biden appointee to the Northern District of California in San Francisco, said the administration’s justification for the ban was “slim,” and mostly fabricated after the fact. She said the ban boiled down to anger at Anthropic’s criticism of the Trump administration. That, she ruled, wasn’t sufficient. “Neither the Constitution nor the federal statute invoked by defendants allows them to impose sweeping penalties based principally…

LAS VEGAS — The murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur is headed to closing arguments after the defense rested Thursday following testimony from three former Las Vegas police officers. Jurors are scheduled to return Monday for closing arguments before beginning deliberations in the only prosecution brought in the killing of the hip-hop icon. The presentation of evidence ended after nine days of testimony. Davis, 63, did not take the stand. Shakur was riding in a BMW on Sept. 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled up next to it at a red…

KISANGANI, Congo — Congo on Thursday began vaccinating people against Ebola as health authorities work to slow the country’s deadliest outbreak of the disease on record. The vaccination campaign was officially launched in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, in the country’s east, Health Minister Roger Kamba said. Health workers and other people working on the front lines of the Ebola response are among the first to receive the vaccine. “We have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine to protect first those who are on the front line, therefore our health care providers, but also people who have been in…

A second-grade teacher in Atlanta has created a designated corner in her classroom where students can pass gas without leaving the classroom — a solution that has gone viral on TikTok and sparked a broader debate about classroom etiquette. Candy Sydney-Browning, 36, calls the spot the “gas station,” with a specific area she has nicknamed the “gusty winds area.” She keeps air freshener nearby and marks the corner with a small yellow sign, according to TODAY.com. Ms. Sydney-Browning said she designed the system after noticing students would ask to leave class or make a scene when they needed to pass…

The pilot and three passengers killed when a small plane crashed in shallow waters near a remote coastal town in Alaska have been identified. Alaska Department of Public Safety on Thursday identified the pilot as Eric Middlebrook, 68 of Anchorage. It identified the passengers as Ronald Schmidt, 65, Lance Schmidt, 20 and Daniel Simons, 82, and said in its statement that all three were from California. The Piper PA-24 was headed Wednesday for the airport in the small town of Seldovia after taking off from Anchorage when it crashed. Seldovia’s airport is about 135 miles (220 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.…

ICE Officer Christian Castro walked out of a Texas jail early Thursday, free for the first time in 90 days, after Minnesota’s bid to get him extradited to face assault charges stalled. Officer Castro had been held for 90 days — the maximum time under Texas law — while he resisted extradition. Minnesota said Texas was required to transfer him, but Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has said he needs more time to consider the case. He questions whether Office Castro counts as a “fugitive” from Minnesota. A federal judge on Wednesday rebuffed Minnesota’s request for a restraining order directing…

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Dolly formed Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean far from land, and forecasters said it could bring heavy rain to portions of the Caribbean. The storm was about 1,555 miles (2,500 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Dolly was moving west. The storm and its name had no connection to Dolly Parton’s death Tuesday. Storm systems are named by procedures set by the World Meteorological Organization, and the lists of names are reused every six years. For the Atlantic…