Boston Herald - Boston Herald

I-5 bridge collapses into Wash. river, injuring 3

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 02:04:34 -0400

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers who searched the chilly waterway north of Seattle.

Authorities said it appeared nobody was killed, but three people were injured in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans and cut off the main route between Seattle and Canada.

Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 23:13:06 -0400

PHOENIX — Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias' fate couldn't decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.

Judge Sherry Stephens gave a heavy sigh as she announced a mistrial in the penalty phase of the case Thursday and scheduled a July 18 retrial.

"This was not your typical trial," she told jurors. "You were asked to perform some very difficult duties."

Weiner gets started stumping in NYC mayoral race

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:03:26 -0400

NEW YORK — Anthony Weiner set out to reintroduce himself to voters Thursday as he embarked on a mayoral bid after leaving Congress in a sexting scandal. He found a much more supportive reception in his first day of campaigning than he did from the state's top Democrat, who bluntly criticized his candidacy a day earlier.

At a Democratic political forum in the Bronx in which he faced some of his political opponents for the first time, Weiner was greeted with warm applause after delivering a speech that included an apology.

NYPD: Merchant held for ransom, tortured for month

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:01:52 -0400

NEW YORK — A businessman was snatched from a New York City street in broad daylight, then held captive for more than a month in a warehouse where he was bound and burned with acid as he was held for a $3 million ransom his family back in Ecuador did not have, authorities said.

Hobby Lobby tests birth-control coverage mandate

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:19:31 -0400

DENVER — In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. asked a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.

The Oklahoma City-based arts-and-crafts chain argued that businesses — not just the currently exempted religious groups — should be allowed to seek exception from that section of the health law if it violates their religious beliefs.

Correction: Oklahoma Tornado story

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:19:26 -0400

MOORE, Okla. — In some early versions of a story May 22 about damage estimates from the tornado in Moore, Okla., The Associated Press misspelled the name of the city's mayor. He is Glenn Lewis, not Glen.

The correct version of the story is below:

Okla. tornado damage: Thousands of homes, $1.5-$2B

Oklahoma tornado ripped through as many as 13,000 homes, damage could top $2 billion; 24 dead

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and SEAN MURPHY

Associated Press

New rules for labeling meat go into effect in US

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:11:58 -0400

MILWAUKEE — Shoppers in the U.S. will soon have more information about where their meat comes from after new federal labeling rules went into effect Thursday.

The rules require labels on steaks, ribs and other cuts of meat to say where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. Earlier U.S. Department of Agriculture rules only required that countries of origin to be noted, so a package might say "Produce of U.S. and Canada." Now, the label will specify "Born in Canada, raised and slaughtered in the United States."

Ohio kidnap case hero gets year of free McDonald's

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:39:22 -0400

CLEVELAND — The man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for years in a Cleveland house will get free McDonald's for the next year, a company spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

Local franchisees in Charles Ramsey's neighborhood have offered him free food at their restaurants, said Heidi Barker, a spokeswoman for Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp.

Little known about suspect in Wash. ricin case

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:38:26 -0400

SPOKANE, Wash. — A 37-year-old who has been charged with threatening to kill a federal judge in a case that involves letters containing the poison ricin (RY'-sin) is a registered sex offender who lives in a rundown apartment building near downtown Spokane.

Matthew Ryan Buquet is originally from Bogota, Colombia.

He remains in jail after appearing in federal court Wednesday and pleading not guilty to a charge of mailing a threatening communication.

Deputies arrest man they say posed as a Disney

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:03:04 -0400

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Authorities say a man has been arrested after claiming to be a member of the Walt Disney family and giving away invalid Disneyland passes.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man called himself "Stephen Disney" and had a fake driver's license and tax forms that falsely claimed income from the Walt Disney Corp.

The statement says he gave Disneyland passes to a woman for a raffle. When the winner took the passes to Disneyland, she learned they hadn't been activated.

84-year-old NM woman indicted for drug trafficking

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:27 -0400

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An 84-year-old Albuquerque woman on an oxygen tank has been indicted for drug trafficking.

KRQE-TV reports that Lillie Smith was recently indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury for trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession.

Court documents show the charges stem from a warrant served at her apartment in 2011.

Hofstra petition seeks better off-campus security

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:55:56 -0400

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — More than 2,000 people have signed a petition asking Hofstra University to beef up off-campus security following the killing of a student.

Andrea Rebello, a Hofstra junior, was accidentally shot by a police officer during a May 17 home invasion. The intruder, a prison parolee, was also killed.

The petition was launched by a former Hofstra homecoming king and queen. It demands that Hofstra increase security in areas neighboring the campus, especially at night.

Report: Nation's kids need to get more physical

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:18:53 -0400

WASHINGTON — Reading, writing, arithmetic — and PE?

The prestigious Institute of Medicine is recommending that schools provide opportunities for at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day for students and that PE become a core subject.

The report, released Thursday, says only about half of the nation's youngsters are getting at least an hour of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity every day.

Colorado killer's reprieve sharply criticized

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:09:52 -0400

DENVER — Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper's decision to block the execution of convicted killer Nathan Dunlap for as long as he is governor infuriated victims' relatives and drew quick criticism from Republicans ahead of the 2014 election.

Hickenlooper on Wednesday granted an indefinite reprieve to Dunlap, who is on death row for the ambush slayings of four people — three teenagers and a 50-year-old mother — in an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993.

Bronx 'ghetto' tours stop amid residents' outrage

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:15:37 -0400

NEW YORK — A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City "ghetto" has stopped the bus rides under protest from an outraged neighborhood.

Real Bronx Tours, which took mostly European tourists from Manhattan to see life in the South Bronx "from a safe distance," issued a statement this week saying it would immediately cease all tours there.

Three times a week, the $45 ride took visitors past food-pantry lines, a housing project and a park a guide described as a pickpocket hangout.

Bronx 'ghetto' tours stop amid residents' outrage

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:15:37 -0400

NEW YORK — A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City "ghetto" has stopped the bus rides under protest from an outraged neighborhood.

Three times a week, the $45 ride took visitors past food-pantry lines, a housing project and a park a guide described as a pickpocket hangout.

Solar plane completes 2nd leg of trip in Texas

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:31:15 -0400

DALLAS — A solar-powered plane has landed in Texas, completing the second leg of a trip across the United States.

The Solar Impulse is making the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S.

The plane landed early Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after taking off Wednesday from Phoenix.

The plane flew its first leg from California in early May. From Dallas, it will fly to Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport near Washington and New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

Weiner launches comeback bid to become NYC mayor

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:09:02 -0400

NEW YORK — Anthony Weiner knows there may be a lot of New Yorkers who would never consider voting for him again, but he says he's running for mayor because he wants to bring his ideas to the fore — and win.

"I don't kid myself. I know that this is going to be a difficult slog, and I'm going to have to have a lot of difficult conversations with people along the way," the former congressman, whose career imploded in a rash of raunchy tweets two years ago, said by phone Wednesday after officially launching his mayoral bid.

Boy Scout leaders to vote on lifting gay ban

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:18:53 -0400

GRAPEVINE, Texas — As protesters made one last stand, the Boy Scouts of America's leadership began a conference Wednesday that was expected to culminate in a long-anticipated vote on whether to allow openly gay Scouts — a decision that, either way, could deeply affect the organization's membership and funding.

Rickie Fowler planning $100K donation to Oklahoma relief

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:26:58 -0400

FORT WORTH, Texas — Rickie Fowler is encouraging fans attending the Colonial to contribute to relief efforts after the deadly tornado this week in Oklahoma.

And Fowler is going to do his part for the state where he spent two years playing college golf at Oklahoma State.

Fowler said Wednesday he will match the first $100,000 given by Colonial fans with a donation of his own.

While he doesn't know anybody personally in Moore, Okla., Fowler says he has friends who know people around there, and that it was hard to watch and "pretty tragic to see."