Author: rpnadmin

WORCESTER, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman wanted in connection with the death of her police officer husband was found dead near a hospital Monday during an intensive law enforcement search that included drones, boats and tracking dogs, authorities said. Karen Solomon, an advocate who called for improvements and greater awareness of police mental health problems, had disappeared after Kurt Solomon, who served 31 years with Worcester police, was found dead at their home Tuesday morning. Officials had named Karen Solomon a suspect. “We believe this case is a tragic murder-suicide that occurred,” Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said at a…

An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana has died after being infected by an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater, her family says. Lillian Smart died over the weekend after being diagnosed with an infection from Naegleria fowleri, according to a spokesperson for her family. Health authorities describe it as a “brain-eating amoeba” that thrives in freshwater bodies around the U.S. and can shoot up the nose and cause an infection that almost always proves fatal. On average there are fewer than 10 cases annually in the U.S. “Last night Lillian ran from our arms to the arms…

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday postponed a trial in the U.S. for a Libyan man charged in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, citing the discovery of new evidence that defense attorneys want to examine. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Wednesday for the federal trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi in Washington, D.C. His trial is the first in the U.S. for the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich’s order didn’t specify the nature of the newly discovered evidence. Al-Marimi, a former Libyan intelligence official, is charged in the U.S. with…

AGUA PRIETA, Mexico — Mexico resumed live cattle exports to the United States on Monday after they were halted for nearly two years by restrictions imposed by the Trump administration following a screwworm outbreak. Even under strict limitations, the reopening of the trade channel brought relief to Mexico’s ranching industry, which was dealt an economic blow by the controls. The flesh-eating worm is now present on both sides of the border. In the sprawling desert mountains along the U.S.-Mexico border, hundreds of cattle began to cross from the Mexican town of Agua Prieta in the state of Sonora to the…

GARY, Ind. — Things became all-too familiar for Kimya Williams after storms rumbled through Gary, Indiana, earlier this month leaving big chunks of the mostly Black city in the dark for two weeks. The power outage reminded the 50-year-old of what she experienced in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina knocked out electricity to many. Williams’ home was one of more than 38,300 homes and businesses in Gary to lose power from the Aug. 11 storms. She initially tried to stick it out and stay put, but the darkness got the best of her and Williams’ left for Indianapolis…

Lindsay Clancy did not have acute psychosis when she killed her three children but rather took their lives so they wouldn’t “suffer” after she took her own life, a forensic psychologist testified Monday in her murder trial Kirk Heilbrun said he ruled out acute psychosis with command hallucinations because he didn’t believe Clancy when she said she heard a voice telling her to “kill the children so you can kill yourself.” “The way she described this as happening is that she heard a voice that she’d never heard before, experienced a hallucination and she’s never experienced it since. But she…

Public health experts are blaming a surge in unregulated marijuana, following state laws legalizing the drug, for driving a 97% rise in addiction among adults aged 40 to 50 since 2017. University of Michigan researchers reported this month that an annual analysis of self-disclosed drug use in National Institutes of Health surveys found the share of the 40-50 age group with cannabis use disorder symptoms jumped from 3.3% in 2017 to 6.5% last year. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the study notes the disorder occurs when people consume large amounts, use marijuana longer than expected, feel unable…

The man suspected of killing five people at a rural Oregon home took his own life after fleeing to Washington state, police said Sunday night. Authorities in Washington County, Oregon, said Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, was found dead inside a car in the Seattle exurb of Enumclaw — almost 150 miles away from the crime scene. “It is believed he died by suicide,” Sheriff Caprice Massey said. “Detectives do not believe there is a danger to the public.” Investigators said Mr. Parker was the lone suspect in the case, but they did not discuss a motive or his connection to…

U.S. forces have struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs, the Department of Defense said Monday, in the first attack announced in about two months. The death toll in the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing boats allegedly trafficking drugs now exceeds 210 after more than 60 strikes off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” U.S. Southern Command said on social media. As with most of the military’s statements…

An out-of-control wildfire that jumped over fire trucks and made it difficult for crews to reach hot spots destroyed homes in northwest Reno, Nevada, on Sunday. Shifting winds challenged firefighters trying to bring it under control, and authorities urged some 90,000 people to evacuate. At least six people — three first responders and three civilians — were injured. Officials said the fire was “human-caused” but did not provide details on how they reached that conclusion, or whether it was intentionally set or accidental. The Hawk Fire began Saturday and grew to more than 23 square miles (60 sq. km.) as…