Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 88
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The cleanup continues at a southwest Oklahoma City oil well where oil leaked on to property and roadways. Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said Thursday crews worked around the clock to clean up Wednesday night's oil spill. Skinner says authorities mopped up 25 barrels of standing oil and spread biodegradable material to soak up the rest. Skinner says the spill caused no danger to area drinking water. He says the cause of the spill was an open valve. Lloyd White, president of the well's operator, W...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma health officials say seven people have died from influenza during the current flu season that began Sept. 1. The Oklahoma Department of Health said Thursday that six victims were 65 years of age or older and one was between 50 and 64. Six of the deaths were in northeastern Oklahoma and the seventh was in the state's southwest. The department says about 150 people have been hospitalized due to the flu, with 39 in Tulsa County and 10 in Oklahoma County making up nearly one-third of the hospitalizations. The Health D...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld two separate murder convictions, including one involving the drowning of a 4-year-old girl. The court on Thursday upheld the second-degree murder conviction and 20-year prison sentence of 57-year-old Esther Bales for the 2015 drowning of a girl identified only as H.M.P. The court rejected Bales' appeal of insufficient evidence that she neglected the girl when she left her and several other children alone at a swim beach at Ponca Lake. The court also upheld the f...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov.-elect Kevin Stitt has nominated a state 4-H leader to become the new state secretary of agriculture. Stitt on Thursday said he's nominating Oklahoma 4-H Foundation Executive Director Blayne Arthur to succeed Jim Reese, who has held the post since 2011 when he was appointed by outgoing Gov. Mary Fallin. If confirmed by the state Senate, Arthur would be the first woman to serve as state agriculture secretary. Prior to her work with the 4-H Foundation, Arthur spent eight years as with the state Department of A...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita art gallery says eight pieces of glass art were stolen during a break-in. The founder of Karg Art Glass, Rollin Karg, says he discovered the break-in and theft early Wednesday. Gallery officials estimated the loss was about $2,500. Police are investigating. The Wichita Eagle reports Kart Art Glass is generally regarded as the city's foremost glassblowing studio and gallery. ___ Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A gang member who fled to Mexico after a Topeka killing will be sentenced in February. WIBW-TV reports that 25-year-old Fernando Diaz pleaded guilty last week to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Christopher Galvan. In July 2015, Galvan was found wounded in a crashed car. He died three days later. Diaz initially was charged with second-degree murder and fled the state after a warrant for his arrest was issued. The U.S. Marshals Service announced this September that Diaz had been arrested in Mexico. C...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Incoming Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she doesn't see much chance of a state constitutional amendment to limit court rulings on school funding being approved in Kansas. Republican lawmakers don't have enough votes to pass an amendment in the Legislature and, even if they did, Kansas voters would reject it, Kelly said Wednesday. Kelly's remarks come as some Republicans have expressed renewed interest in the amendment in reaction to Kansas Supreme Court rulings on school funding in Kansas, The Kansas City Star r...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It's a busy time for Santa Claus, but he's making time to feed some fish in San Francisco. The California Academy of Sciences launched its holiday festivities Thursday by having a scuba diver dressed as St. Nick submerge into a coral reef exhibit while dozens of children watched from behind the glass. The "Scuba Santa" show runs through Christmas Day. It takes place during the morning feed at the Philippine Coral Reef tank at the San Francisco museum. Volunteer diver George Bell donned his Santa suit, from hat to coal b...
WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (AP) — A city council candidate in northeastern Arkansas whose runoff election ended in a tie after he didn't vote has lost his bid for the seat by a roll of the dice. The race for a seat on the Hoxie City Council was determined by Cliff Farmer and incumbent Alderwoman Becky Linebaugh rolling dice at the Lawrence County courthouse on Thursday. Deputy Clerk Ashlyn Griffin says Farmer rolled a four and Linebaugh rolled a six. Farmer had intended to vote in last week's runoff election after returning from a work-related trip t...
WESTFORD, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man who is in an ongoing dispute with his town has let officials know exactly how he feels by erecting a large wooden sculpture of a fist with the middle finger raised on his front lawn. Ted Pelkey said Thursday that he has been trying for about 10 years to move his truck repair and recycling business to his property but has been unable to get a permit. He paid about $3,000 to have the roughly 7-foot-tall (2-meter-tall) sculpture carved with a chain saw. In November, he put it on a 16-foot (4.8-meter) pole with l...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The search is on for a man in Albuquerque that police say impersonated a Walmart employee to steal televisions and pinatas. KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports the man struck an Albuquerque Walmart the day after the Black Friday shopping rush by dressing in a store employee uniform and using a six-wheeler cart to take his loot. According to police, the man went into an employee-only area where he took the cart and loaded up two televisions and two pinatas. Officials say the man then left without paying. Albuquerque police t...
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A 7-year-old girl who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her father last week died after being taken into the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol, federal immigration authorities confirmed Thursday. The Washington Post reports the girl died of dehydration and shock more than eight hours after she was arrested by agents near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The girl was from Guatemala and was traveling with a group of 163 people who approached agents to turn themselves in on Dec. 6. It's unknown what happened to the girl during t...
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — An award-winning Arizona newspaper publisher and his wife are locked in a bizarre divorce case that has morphed into something more: a journalism ethics saga. Joseph Soldwedel has accused wife Felice Soldwedel in a lawsuit of trying to kill him by poisoning him, and detailed the allegations in one of the small-town newspapers he owns, the 13,000-circulation Prescott Daily Courier. None of the three news stories in the paper named his wife. But the Courier ran an ad accusing her by name, with a photo of her, bordered w...
TORONTO (AP) — First U.S. President Donald Trump attacked Canada on trade. Then Saudi Arabia punished it for speaking up for human rights. Now China has the country in its cross-hairs, detaining two Canadians in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive on behalf of the United States. Canada is caught between two super powers and taking the punishment — and its ally to the south has been conspicuously absent in coming to its aid. "We've never been this alone," historian Robert Bothwell said. "We don't have any ser...
MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — Virgin Galactic's tourism spaceship climbed more than 50 miles high above California's Mojave Desert on Thursday, reaching for the first time what the company considers the boundary of space. The rocket ship hit an altitude of 51 miles (82 kilometers) before beginning its gliding descent, said mission official Enrico Palermo. It landed on a runway minutes later. "We made it to space!" Palermo exclaimed. The supersonic flight takes Virgin Galactic closer to turning the long-delayed dream of commercial space tourism into rea...
DALLAS (AP) — A 78-year-old prisoner who says he killed about 90 people over nearly four decades as he moved around the country pleaded guilty to murder Thursday in the 1994 strangulation of a Texas woman. Samuel Little entered his plea in the West Texas city of Odessa, where the body of Denise Christie Brothers was discovered in a vacant lot about a month after she disappeared. He received another life prison term, Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said in a statement. "Due to the efforts of law enforcement agencies from around the c...
NEW YORK (AP) — A wave of bomb threats emailed Thursday to hundreds of schools, businesses and government buildings across the U.S. triggered searches, evacuations and fear — but there were no signs of explosives, and authorities said the scare appeared to be a crude extortion attempt. Law enforcement agencies across the country dismissed the threats, saying they were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and were not considered credible. Some of the emails had the subject line: "Think Twice." They were sent fro...
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian gun-rights activist admitted Thursday that she was a secret agent for the Kremlin who tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump rose to power. Maria Butina, 30, agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. "Guilty," Butina said in a slight accent when asked how she wanted to plead. Dressed in a green jail uniform with her red hair pulled into a long ponytail, Butina spoke softly and mostly kept her eyes on the judge. The Butina case has p...
NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America deflected questions about a report suggesting it is considering seeking bankruptcy protection, though the head of the organization said it is exploring "all options" as it tries to stay afloat while facing sexual abuse lawsuits and dwindling membership. "I want to assure you that our daily mission will continue and that there are no imminent actions or immediate decisions expected," Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. Surbaugh was responding to a Wall S...
FATUKOKO, Indonesia (AP) — The stranger showed up at the girl's door one night with a tantalizing job offer: Give up your world, and I will give you a future. It was a chance for 16-year-old Marselina Neonbota to leave her isolated village in one of the poorest parts of Indonesia for neighboring Malaysia, where some migrant workers can earn more in a few years than in a lifetime at home. A way out for a girl so hungry for a life beyond subsistence farming that she walked 22 kilometers (14 miles) every day to the schoolhouse and back. She grabbe...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators voted Thursday to recommend that the U.S. end its assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen and put the blame for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a direct challenge to both the longtime Middle East ally and President Donald Trump's handling of the relationship. The succession of bipartisan votes came two months after the Saudi journalist's slaying at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and after Trump persistently equivocated over who was responsible. U...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Apple plans to build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, that will create at least 5,000 jobs ranging from engineers to call-center agents while adding more luster to a Southwestern city that has already become a bustling tech hub. The decision, announced Thursday, comes 11 months after Apple CEO Tim Cook disclosed plans to open a major office outside California on the heels of a massive tax cut on overseas profits, which prompted the company to bring about $250 billion back to the U.S. The company said it will also open...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hemp is about to get the nod from the federal government that marijuana, its cannabis plant cousin, craves. A provision of the farm bill that received final approval in Congress on Wednesday removes hemp from the list of federally controlled substances and treats the low-THC version of the cannabis plant like any other agricultural crop. THC is the cannabis compound that gives pot its high. President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law next week. The change sets the stage for greater expansion in an industry alread...
FLOYDS KNOBS, Ind. (AP) — Since its inception in 2017, Good to Grow Green's goal has been to educate students and the community about healthy eating. A marketing class at Floyd Central High School plans to take that mission a step further. The class, taught by business teacher Elexia McGowan, is collaborating with the student-led initiative to come up with ways to promote nutritional foods such as vegetables. As the students develop marketing strategies, they are also growing produce in their own classroom using a technology called vertical a...
