A fire forced Union Station to be evacuated for a short time Sunday night.
DC Fire and EMS responded around 6:30pm.
They found flames in an electrical room by an escalator near the intersection of 1st Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Northeast. The incident created a good amount of smoke and forced Union Station to be evacuated.
Some Amtrak trains were affected and delayed because of the fire but a spokesperson said normal operations resumed around 7:30pm.
No injuries were reported.
Two American hikers held for years in an Iranian prison came home Sunday, declaring that they were detained because of their nationality, not because they might have crossed the border from Iraq.
Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived in New York on Sunday morning, ending their diplomatic and personal ordeal with a sharp rebuke of the country that sentenced each to eight years in jail for espionage and illegally walking into Iran. They say they may never know if they actually stepped across the border while hiking and getting lost.
“From the very start, the only reason we have been held hostage is because we are American,” Fattal said at a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. “Iran has always tied our case to its political disputes with the U.S.”
The two 29-year-olds were freed last week under a $1 million bail deal and arrived Wednesday in Oman, greeted by relatives and fellow hiker Sarah Shourd, who was released last year.
The men's families said Sunday they don't know who paid the bail.
The men's saga began in July 2009 with what they called a wrong turn into the wrong country. The three say they were hiking together in Iraq's relatively peaceful Kurdish region along the Iran-Iraq border when Iranian guards detained them. They always
maintained their innocence, saying they might have accidentally wandered into Iran.
A beaming Shourd faced reporters and cameras that packed a conference room at Manhattan's Parker Meridien hotel.
“There's a huge burden lifted off of all of our chests – so much joy,” she said. “Shane and Josh and I are beginning our lives again, and there are so many new joys that await us; I've never felt as free as I feel today.”
But her face darkened when she was asked whether the men had been mistreated in captivity. She said Bauer was beaten and Fattal forced down a flight of stairs.
The men took turns reading statements, surrounded by relatives and Shourd. They didn't take questions from reporters.
Fattal said he wanted to make clear that while he and Bauer “applaud Iranian authorities for finally making the right decision,” they “do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place.”
The hikers' detention, Bauer said, was “never about crossing
the unmarked border between Iran and Iraq. We were held because of our nationality.”
He said they don't know whether they had even crossed into Iran: “We will probably never know.”
The days following their sudden release, Fattal said, made for “the most incredible experience of our lives.”
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Randall Lee Church was a free man after serving 26 years in prison in a man's stabbing death, but the new world he faced on the outside was just too overwhelming.
So, authorities say, he set a vacant house on fire in San Antonio and confessed to the crime to go back to lockup.
"Everything had gone fast forward without me," Church, 46, told the San Antonio Express-News in a recent interview at Bexar County Jail.
He has pleaded guilty to arson in the July blaze, which came just 96 days after his release for the 1983 killing. The slaying stemmed from a drunken dispute over money.
Church said he felt out of place after getting out of prison. After all, he had entered at a time when cutting-edge technology meant a cordless phone.
"I didn't know how to use computers or cellphones or the Internet," Church told the newspaper. "The weirdest thing was walking into a store, like Walmart, and have parents hide their children from me, like I was supposed to jump at them."
On July 10, Church poured gasoline through a window of the empty house and threw in flaming rags and paper towels. Police said he later told them he did it because he wanted to go back to work as a janitor at the McConnell Unit prison in Beeville, a job in which he got all the ice and soda pop he wanted during the summers.
A few days later, Church ate a hamburger meal at a restaurant with only 31 cents in his pocket and asked the waitress to call police, to whom he eventually confessed about the arson.
"I don't mean to diminish what this man did," said Ann L. Jacobs, director of the Prisoner Re-entry Institute at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. "But when you think about what people come out to, how much the world has changed, what a disadvantage they are at and what little support they generally have, it is kind of a miracle it goes as well as it does for as many people as it does."
The slaying that led to Church going to prison for murder at age 18 happened while he was staying with James Alfred Michael. The two had met months earlier while in a Baytown jail for public intoxication.
The killing stemmed from a drunken fight over a $97 debt Church owed the 56-year-old Michael. Church told the Express-News that after the fight broke up, he was afraid Michael was going to stab him with a knife that he carried on his belt. He said he grabbed a carving knife from the kitchen and stabbed Michael in the chest when he returned.
Re-entry programs aimed at reducing the number of newly released inmates returning to prison were among a series of state prison reforms Texas implemented in 2007. According to the Texas Legislative Budget Board, 24.3 percent of the inmates Texas released that year returned to prison within three years.
Budget cuts would impede efforts to give inmates "the tools to live responsibly," said Ana Yanez-Correa, director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.
"While people are in prison, they need to be given vocational programs and counseling and cognitive thinking programming so that when they get out, they can support their families," she told the Express-News.
According to the prison website, Church received five years for arson and will be eligible for parole again in October of 2012.
President Barack Obama will raise cash and attempt to re-energize supporters when he discusses his jobs plan this week during a West Coast visit that includes fundraisers in Los Angeles.
His three-day trip, which began Sunday, includes a stop in Los Angeles. He will attend two fundraisers Sunday in Seattle and San Francisco before traveling Monday to San Diego and Los Angeles, where he plans to attend two more fundraisers.
Prop Zero: Tax and Spend Missing Link
President Obama was at the home of Microsoft exec Jon Shirley Sunday in Medina, Wash. About 65 guests paid $35,800 per couple to attend.
The trip is expected to raise more than $4 million for his re-election campaign.
Along the way, President Obama will talk about his $447 billion jobs bill. His plan combines tax cuts, unemployment benefits and public works spending.
Republicans oppose the tax increases that would be used to pay for the plan. A vote in the Senate is expected in October.
California's unemployment rate is at 12.1 percent, highest of any state except Nevada.
Obama's job approval rating dropped to 46 percent among Californians in a Field Poll this month. Among Democrats it was 69 percent, but that was down 10 percentage points from June.
"Californians voted for him by 24 points in 2008 and the Democrats and nonpartisans were the backbone of his support and he's losing some of that now,'' Mark DiCamillo, director of California's Field Poll, told the Associated Press. "I think there's a lot of frustration in California about Washington. They're looking for Obama to do something.''
The visit will mark Obama's seventh trip to Southern California as president.
Texas A&M is set to join Southeastern Conference, the league said Sunday, possibly signaling legal hurdles have been cleared for the Aggies to leave the Big 12.
The SEC announced the move will be effective next July, and said Texas A&M will participate in all sports during the 2012-13 academic year. That gives the SEC 13 members and its first addition since South Carolina and Arkansas in 1992.
The Aggies' defection from the Big 12 had been held up by the possibility of legal action from Baylor and other members. The statement released by the SEC did not mention that situation, and spokesman Charles Bloom said he could not comment.
A Big 12 administrator said neither the SEC nor Texas A&M have asked any of the Big 12 schools to waive their right to sue. The person spoke Sunday night on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
SEC presidents and chancellors voted in favor of the move on Sept. 6.
"We are excited to begin competition in the nation's premier athletic conference," Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said in the statement.
It's unclear if the SEC will add a 14th member for next season or go with unbalanced divisions. Rumored possibilities include the Big 12's Missouri and West Virginia of the Big East.
Texas A&M initiated the courtship in July, unhappy with rival Texas' Longhorn Network, and sparked another tumultuous period for the Big 12.
The Aggies, who play Arkansas on Saturday, give the SEC entry into major TV markets such as Houston and Dallas.
"Texas A&M is a nationally prominent institution on and off the field and a great fit for the SEC tradition of excellence -- athletically, academically and culturally," Commissioner Mike Slive said in the statement.
Slive, Loftin and others will hold a news conference Monday evening in College Station, Texas.
Four Big 12 teams -- Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State -- had explored moving to the Pac-12, which decided not to expand this year.
Oklahoma President David Boren said the nine remaining schools besides Texas A&M agreed last week to give a six-year grant of their first- and second-tier television rights to the Big 12. That means all revenue from the top television games -- shown currently on networks owned by ABC/ESPN and Fox -- would continue to go to the Big 12 even if a school bolts to another league.
That deal, however, had not been finalized.
The Big 12 also ousted Commissioner Dan Beebe last week after five years and replaced him with former Big Eight Commissioner Chuck Neinas on an interim basis.
"I am personally saddened to see Texas A&M depart from the Big 12, and wish I had the opportunity to visit the campus to sit down and talk with their administration," Neinas said in a release. "We will continue to work diligently in securing the long-term stability of the Big 12.
"Now that the status of Texas A&M has officially been determined, the membership can focus on the desired course for the Conference moving forward. Although no timeline has been established, an expeditious pursuit is anticipated."
A&M's official departure from the Big 12 was considered the next step needed to determine where this round of conference realignment is headed.
Once that is done, the SEC can decide on a 14th member, if it wants one and the Big 12 can replace the Aggies.
Texas A&M moved to the Big 12 after 82 years in the Southwest Conference and its departure to the SEC will mark the first time the Aggies won't be in a conference with rival Texas and Baylor.
Some are worried A&M's departure will jeopardize the future of the annual football game, currently played on Thanksgiving night, between the Aggies and Texas.
It is one of the oldest rivalries in college football, with the teams first meeting in 1894.
Loftin said he'd like to continue the rivalry no matter what conference the Aggies were in when he announced the school's plans to explore its conference options in August.
However, even if the schools were able to work out a deal to meet for a nonconference football game each season, it would be nearly impossible to guarantee that other sports such as men's and women's basketball and baseball would be able to meet their biggest rivals each season.
AP sports writer Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.
Family and friends paid tribute Sunday to a Dallas woman who was stabbed to death on her way home from church.
Shearl Bennett was supposed to perform with the choir at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church during Sunday morning's services. Instead, Bennett's family and friends prayed for those who are grieving.
Bennett was last seen at choir practice and Bible study Wednesday night. The 50-year-old woman was killed while walking from her car to her condo on Royal Lane.
"Coming from church, just got through praying to God, just asking for your Savior and everything, and then you go home and something like this happens to you," said her cousin, Eboni Jackson. "It's just not the way it should happen, because Shearl was going home to go sleep to wake up and go to work the next day."
Jackson and longtime friends of Bennett say she was quiet and reserved but giving.
"She just had a very kind and gentle spirit, always willing to help whoever was in need," said fellow church choir member Christy Byrd. "The circumstances from which she died was horrifying, but to know that she is in a better place, that she is in heaven, is very comforting for me."
As the church and her family heal, they said they hope to find justice.
"We don't hate the person, but the evil in that person that took someone, a sweet person like her, from us," said Randall Fears, minister of music. "It's definitely a tragedy for us. We will miss her."
A wake for Bennett is scheduled for Friday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the church. Her funeral is Saturday in her hometown of Jacksonville in East Texas, where her parents still live.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Virginia lawmakers are considering new statutes that would track the purchase of some over-the-counter medicines, like Sudafed and cough medicine.
The General Assembly's Joint Commission on Health Care and the State Crime Commission are considering new steps to monitor purchases of pseudoephedrine, found in over-the-counter medications.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the Crime Commission staff is studying a pharmaceutical industry-supported database that tracks PSE purchases and blocks those exceeding legal limits.
Law enforcement has been uncovering more meth labs around the state. Officials believe a reason for the uptick in meth making has come from a practice of "smurfing," where individuals buy small quantities of substances that can be used to make methamphetamine from many different drug stores.
Drug producers are also getting around PSE limits by using fake IDs.
This was one collection basket parishioners couldn't pass up.
Liquid Church of New Jersey allowed parishioners at its Sunday services to forgo donating and instead take money out of the collection basket.
Church leaders gave away $30,000 cash in unmarked envelopes containing either a $10, $20 or $50 bill.
Lead pastor Tim Lucas says the “reverse offering” is meant to teach churchgoers that faith in God - not government - is the only route to recovery in the current financial crisis.
The Christian-based church has about 2,000 members and branches in Morristown, Nutley, and New Brunswick.
Church officials plan to donate an additional $60,000 to various projects, including helping communities with flood recovery, in each of the three northern Jersey counties they serve.
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An officer is recovering after his vehicle was struck on a street in Pacific Beach by a young woman who was later arrested for suspicion of drunken driving, early morning Sunday.
The unidentified officer was in his patrol car in the 1200 block of Garnet Avenue at about 2:13 a.m., said SDPD officials.
The officer was rear-ended shortly after by a driver who was said to be going 20 miles per hour.
Police said the driver, identified as 21-year-old Illene Lockridge, ended up failing a field sobriety test and was arrested.
The officer suffered injuries to his neck and back. He was taken to the hospital and later released.
San Diego Fire officials and San Diego police said they are in the process of investigating a suspicious device found in an alley in North Park on Sunday morning.
Officials said that the device was located inside an alley entrance in the area on Robinson Avenue in between Georgia and Florida St.
It's said to be a metal canister with wires hanging out of it.
The device was reported at about 9:37 a.m. by an officer.
Hazmat was en route to the area at about 10:40 a.m.
Police have blocked off Florida St. from University Av. to Florida Court. and the 1800 - 2000 blocks of Robinson Ave.
Evacuations have been ordered for about a dozen homes.
Check back for updates on this ongoing story.
San Diego Police reported that a transient man was arrested after breaking the door to the ageny's headquaters on Saturday.
The man, identified as David Lee Glenn, smashed the glass out of a door at the SDPD headquarters at 1401 Broadway at about 7:30 p.m., said Officer David Stafford.
Glenn, said to be in his 50s, wasn't injured during the incident. He was arrested at the scene and booked into County Jail for felony vandalism, Stafford said.
Central division is investigating.
Several Camden families whose homes were destroyed or damaged by two massive industrial building fires this summer are getting some help from the city.
Mayor Dana Redd recently presented checks totaling $12,000 to the homeowners and renters. The money came from donations made to a relief fund set up shortly after the multialarm blazes occurred just days apart in June, reports the Courier Post.
Three families whose homes were destroyed received $1,750 each, five families who were burned out of their rental homes each got $750, while ten families whose homes received minor to moderate damage each got $300.
No one was seriously injured in the fires, which occurred in an abandoned factory and a vacant warehouse.
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Alcohol might have been a factor in a crash early Sunday near Lancaster that left six children injured, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two of the children were in critical condition.
The crash occurred at 6:15 a.m. when a 2002 Toyota Sequoia drifted off Avenue I -- a two-lane paved road -- and onto the dirt shoulder near 65th Street East. The vehicle flipped and some of the children were ejected from the sport utility vehicle, according to the CHP.
Two critically injured children were airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital. Four other children were transported to the hospital with moderate to minor injuries.
The children ranged in age from 10 months to 11 years old.
Stanesha Nicole Allen, a 31-year-old resident of Lake Los Angeles, was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to authorities. The injured children were also residents of Lake Los Angeles, but their relation to Allen was not immediately clear.
Allen remained hospitalized Sunday and will not be booked until she is released from the hospital, according to authorities.
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Authorities netted one pot-bellied pig Thursday, but another remains in the bush somewhere near Linthicum.
Anne Arundel County authorities have been tracking the bovine pair, which took up residence at an office park near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Animal Control Administrator Robin Small says the pig - a 26-pound female - was captured with a net on Thursday evening, the Baltimore Sun reported. Small says officials will continue their efforts to capture the second pig, which is thought to be a male of similar size.
Small says the captured female will spend five days in the shelter to allow the owner time to reclaim her, but officials are accepting applications for ownership through the Pig Placement Network, an Internet community that finds new homes for pigs.
A police cruiser slammed into a car pulling a u-turn on Sunday morning in West Philadelphia.
The cruiser, lights and sirens blaring, was on the way to a call on the 5800 block of Thomas Street at 8:37 a.m.
The police vehicle struck a civilian car on the driver side as it attempted to turn around on Thomas Avenue. The impact sent the police cruiser into a pole, and the civilian car into a wall.
The driver of the civilian vehicle was transported to the hospital with a possible broken jaw. The officer was also transported to the hospital. Both are listed in stable condition.
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A former death row inmate who was exonerated days before execution was arrested Friday, accused of stealing deodorant from a South Side Walgreens.
Anthony Porter's 1999 release from prison was key to Illinois ending the death penalty this year.
The Chicago Tribune reports the 56-year-old was arrested and charged with retail theft. He's been ordered held on $10,000 bail.
Porter served 17 years for a 1982 double murder before evidence surfaced he was innocent, thanks to the work of a Northwestern University professor and his students. At one point in 1998, he was just 48 hours shy of execution when attorneys won a stay by raising concerns about his mental competence at trial.
The Northwestern professor, David Protess, and his students obtained a confession from another man for the murders, which eventually led to Porter being set free.
At his bond hearing Saturday, prosecutors included the homicide charges as they listed Porter's criminal background. But, according to the Tribune, Porter softly asked his attorney to point out he was exonerated of those charges.
Former Gov. George Ryan has said Porter's release from prison was a reason he cleared death row in 2003.
Gov. Pat Quinn officially abolished Illinois' death penalty in March of this year.
President Barack Obama will raise cash and attempt to re-energize supporters when he discusses his jobs plan this week during a West Coast visit that includes fundraisers in Los Angeles.
His three-day trip, which began Sunday, includes a stop in Los Angeles. He will attend two fundraisers Sunday in Seattle and San Francisco before traveling to San Diego and Los Angeles, where he plans to attend two more fundraisers.
Prop Zero: Tax and Spend Missing Link
The trip is expected to raise more than $4 million for his re-election campaign.
Along the way, President Obama will talk about his $447 billion jobs bill. His plan combines tax cuts, unemployment benefits and public works spending.
Republicans oppose the tax increases that would be used to pay for the plan. A vote in the Senate is expected in October.
California's unemployment rate is at 12.1 percent, highest of any state except Nevada.
Obama's job approval rating dropped to 46 percent among Californians in a Field Poll this month. Among Democrats it was 69 percent, but that was down 10 percentage points from June.
"Californians voted for him by 24 points in 2008 and the Democrats and nonpartisans were the backbone of his support and he's losing some of that now,'' Mark DiCamillo, director of California's Field Poll, told the Associated Press. "I think there's a lot of frustration in California about Washington. They're looking for Obama to do something.''
The visit will mark Obama's seventh trip to Southern California as president.
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A magnitude-3.3 earthquake was reported Sunday in the Santa Clarita area.
Special Section: Earthquakes | USGS
The quake was centered about eight miles northeast of Santa Clarita. It was reported at 11:23 a.m.
USGS website visitors reported shaking in Sylmar, Sherman Oaks, Glendale, Palmdale, Northridge and other areas. The quake had a depth of about 0.3 miles, which is considered shallow.
There are no reports of damage or injuries.
A resident who lives about five miles from the epicenter said there was a "loud rumbling, then it started shaking." A Castaic resident said the noise caught her attention more than the shaking.
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Police say a Bronx man attacked his roommate with a machete before setting himself and his home on fire. A passer-by who saw the flames got him out of the burning building.
Authorities say the 36-year-old man slashed his roommate in the head around 9 a.m. Sunday. The Daily News reports he then poured accelerant on himself and started a fire, which spread to the two-story home on Southern Boulevard.
A man driving by saw the flames and pulled the 36-year-old out.
Police said the man was taken to the hospital in critical condition. His 51-year-old roommate was in stable condition.
Officials did not identify the 36-year-old or his roommate.
This was one collection basket parishioners couldn't pass up.
Liquid Church of New Jersey allowed parishioners at its Sunday services to forgo donating and instead take money out of the collection basket.
Church leaders gave away $30,000 cash in unmarked envelopes containing either a $10, $20 or $50 bill.
Lead pastor Tim Lucas says the "reverse offering" is meant to teach churchgoers that faith in God — not government — is the only route to recovery in the current financial crisis.
The Christian-based church has about 2,000 members and branches in Morristown, Nutley, and New Brunswick.
Church officials plan to donate an additional $60,000 to various projects, including helping communities with flood recovery, in each of the three northern Jersey counties they serve.
Heartland Fire are reporting that one person was injured in a house fire in El Cajon on Sunday morning.
The blaze was reported in the 1100 block of Costinda St. in a single family residence at about 7:15 a.m., officials said.
One person was transferred to UC San Diego Medical Center with unknown injuries.
Two cars collided in a Silver Spring intersection, resulting in one fatality.
The accident happened at 4:36 a.m., at the intersection of Tech Road and Route 29.
Police said a BMW 325i, driven by 49-year-old Dorene Francine Ennels, was traveling west bound on Tech Road. Montgomery County police said Ennels drove through the intersection after encountering flashing red lights.
Coming southbound on Route 29 was Ryan Michael Segretto, 26, driving a Hyundai Elantra. In the passenger seat was Marisol Angela Gutierrez, 29. Segretto entered the intersection after encountering a flashing yellow light at the intersection.
The two cars met in the intersection. Guiterrez was killed in the impact. Both drivers survived, and were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation into the crash continues.
Two bicyclists were hospitalized Saturday after they were struck by a vehicle as they rode along Mission Bay Drive Saturday morning.
The bicyclists were traveling northbound on 3500 Mission Bay Dr. as a1990 Ford Taurus was traveling southbound on the same street, officials said.
The Ford’s driver reportedly failed to negotiate the curve and drove into one of the bicyclist, causing the other bicyclist to ride into a light pole.
One of the victims sustained a fracture of the left lower leg and facial abrasions. The other victim had a complaint of pain, officials said.
Thought the cause of the accident wasn’t immediately known, officials said alcohol was not a factor.
Both victims were transported to a local hospital and the driver of the Ford later returned to the scene.
An attempted carjacking was stopped cold when the victim refused to put her car in drive, police said.
The two car-jacking suspects had just been involved in a hit-and-run in Hanover, Md., officers said. Gregory Allen Lassiter, 19, of Baltimore, together with a 15-year-old male accomplice, had stolen the 2007 Chevy involved in the accident from a woman in Montgomery County, according to investigators. The pair also stole an ATM card from the woman, reportedly an acquaintance of Lassiter.
Police said the pair drove the Chevy into the back of a 2010 Toyota vehicle on Rt. 100 westbound, around noon on Saturday. Lassiter and the 15-year-old then jumped out, according to police, and forced their way into another vehicle on the roadway there.
Lassiter jumped into the passenger seat, and the 15-year-old hopped into the backseat. According to investigators, the two demanded that the driver, a female, drive them to the closest 7-Eleven convenience store.
But police said the driver, scared, shifted the car into park and refused to drive anywhere.
An off-duty police officer was inside his patrol car not far behind the victim. He saw part of the incident take place, jumped out of his car, and detained the two suspects until on-duty officers arrived.
Police said they found a small quantity of marijuana inside the stolen Chevy.
Members of United Food and Commercial Workers ratified a three-year contract agreement that covers 62,000 employees of Ralphs, Vons/Pavilions and Albertsons.
Details of the agreement reached early last week were not made public. Workers will pay about $7 per week for individual health insurance, and family insurance will require a payment of about $15 per week, according to reports.
A tentative deal was announced at mid-day Monday. Workers ratified the contract late Saturday.
Vote totals were not released.
The contract covers workers from Santa Maria south to the Mexico-U.S. border.
"We're all very grateful to our customers for their support over this eight-month process, and are very grateful that we can continue to serve them,'' United Food and Commercial Workers local spokeswoman Ellen Anreder said after the vote.
Union officials urged their rank-and-file to ratify the contract. It addressed concerns about funding for the employees' health plan, according to union officials.
The supermarkets said after agreeing to the deal that it would allow them to remain competitive.
Ralphs indicated it would initially close all 250 of its stores if there had been a strike; Albertsons said it could shutter up to 100 locations; Vons said its stores would remain open.
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Diana Nyad was nearly 70 nautical miles into her Havana-to-Key West endurance swim when a second sting from a Portuguese Man-of-War forced the 62-year-old to end the attempt.
Swimming the Dream: Diana Nyad's Pursuit of Her Goal
That was after 40 hours of swimming and two stings to the face.
"The medical team said I should not go another two nights in the water and risk additional likely Man-of-War stings, which could have a long term cumulative effect on my body," she said on her website. "But for each of us, isn’t life about determining your own finish line? This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues."
Nyad's attempt came to an end at about 8 a.m. PT.
In the 1970s, Nyad accomplished several endurance feats, including a lap around Manhattan Island in just under eight hours. She also made the 102.5 mile swim from Bimini to Florida. Her 1978 attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida ended at just under 42 hours because of poor weather and strong currents.
She stopped swimming for about three decades before setting her sights on another Cuba-to-Florida swim. It's the second time in as many months that Nyad has made the attempt. In August, she covered 60 miles in almost 29 hours.
Nyad received medical treatment Saturday after the first string, but returned to the water Sunday morning before suffering a second painful sting.
Man-of-wars, also known as bluebottles, are invertebrates made up of several different organisms. The man-of-war's tendrils have a venom used to paralyze and kill fish.
Nyad is a sports journalist and regular commentator on KCRW radio in Santa Monica.
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Two groups recently began running television ads advocating for a reduction in the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country each year, but their message has not been received well, even among some of the most conservative members of Congress, including some local representatives.
Numbers USA, a Virginia-based group that lobbies for tougher immigration laws, ran a spot during Thursday night's televised GOP presidential candidates debate.
The ad says that given the nation's high unemployment rate, Congress should reduce the number of legal immigrants the federal government allows in each year.
Authorities in northern New Jersey say three people were wounded in separate shootings in Paterson early Sunday, but none of their injuries appear to be life-threatening.
The first incident occurred around 3 a.m., when a 16-year-old boy walking on a city street was shot in the right arm. The youth told police he ran off when he heard multiple shots being fired, then realized he had been struck.
A short time later, two 20-year-old men were shot after they became involved in an argument with several other people in a local park.
One victim remained hospitalized Sunday afternoon after being shot twice in the right leg and having his head grazed by another bullet. But the other victim was treated and released for a bullet wound to his left arm.
A San Fernando Valley company is recalling several brands of protein supplement products that may contain wheat, gluten or other ingredients that are not listed on the labels and could cause allergy problems.
Prolab Nutrition Inc. issued a news release Saturday warning that people with an allergy or severe sensitivity to Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, eggs, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, tree nuts, sulfites and walnuts, or gluten allergens, may run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume some Prolab products.
Prolab initiated this recall immediately following the discovery that labels of some of its protein food did not reveal the presence of wheat and gluten allergens in the products, said Jenia Khudagulyan, chief operating officer for Prolab's parent company.
The recalled products, according to the company, include some two- and five-pound containers of "Advanced Pure Whey Protein," "Pure Whey," and "Whey Isolate Protein" in milk chocolate, vanilla creme and wild strawberry flavors. They were sold in California and 33 other states, as well as in Australia, Canada, Malaysia and Russia.
Exact product codes and further information can be obtained by calling the company at (800) 262-8765.
The company said the only problem with the protein was the improper label. It said full refunds are available from the place of purchase.
Just a few weeks ago, we posted about how brain patterns can reveal almost exactly what you're thinking. Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have figured out how to extract what you're picturing inside your head, and they can play it back on video.
The way this works is very similar to the mind-reading technique that we covered earlier this month. A functional MRI (fMRI) machine watches the patterns that appear in people's brains as they watch a movie, and then correlates those patterns with the image on the screen. With these data, a complex computer model was created to predict the relationships between a given brain pattern and a given image, and a huge database was created that matched 18,000,000 seconds worth of random YouTube videos to possible brain patterns.
With this database in place, the Berkeley research group was then able to feed brain scans into their computer model, which would go pick out the 100 video clips that most closely matched the brain pattern on a second-by-second basis. All of these best-guess clips were smushed together into a single video, and when these videos were compared to the original clips that the test subjects were watching, there was a substantial, if slightly surreal, correlation:
Comparing the brain-scan video to the original video is just a way to prove that the system works, but there's nothing stopping this technique from being used to suck video out of people's heads directly. With a bit of refinement of the algorithm and sensor resolution, you could go stick yourself into an fMRI machine, close your eyes, picture a duck, and the machine would be able to project an image of a duck (or something duck-like) onto a screen. You could even fall asleep in one of these, and record video of your dreams.
Of course, from a slightly more sinister angle, it's also possible someone could put you in an fMRI machine and suck your memories out. And while the researchers comment that this technology is "decades from allowing users to read others' thoughts and intentions," they're also saying that yeah, in a decade or two, they'll be able to do that.
Berkeley, via SciAm and io9
Dozens of schools -- from Big 10 universities to small liberal arts colleges -- showed up for a college fair aimed at Chicago's LGBT youth.
The event was held Saturday at the Center on Halsted, in the Lake View neighborhood, the Sun-Times reported.
The fair gave students, like transgender high school student Alex Sennello, a safe place to ask questions about the college experience.
About 75 students showed up, along with 35 schools. College representatives like Chuck Erickson, of Lawrence University, told the Sun-Times they wanted to make students feel safe and welcome.
The national not-for-profit group Campus Pride sponsored the event. Click here for more information, and a list of colleges that have taken part in this and similar events.
There are still partial lane closures in both directions of the West Side Highway after a water main break Saturday afternoon.
Two lanes are closed on both the northbound and southbound sides of the West Side Highway.
As a result, there are northbound delays from the 70s to 90s street numbers and southbound delays from the 110s to the 90s.
The Dallas City Council moved closer to picking its new council district map Saturday after a four-hour public meeting.
The mayor and council listened to public comments for nearly two hours, as 80 people registered to speak at the meeting.
While no final decision on a map was made, the speakers' comments highlighted several areas of public concern. The most notable concern is that the Redistricting Commission's suggested district map reduces the number of majority black districts from four to three.
Marvin Crenshaw and Roy Williams were among the most outspoken against that map and in favor of one called 16D Amendment 1. Crenshaw and Williams were the original plaintiffs in the 1988 Voting Rights lawsuit that created the city's current district system.
Crenshaw said that while they support the growth of Hispanic districts from four to five districts, it is should not happen at the cost of a black district.
"That means we're going back," he said. "We're not going to let them take one seat from us that they don't have any reason to do."
Crenshaw said the Department of Justice ultimately would not accept the plan if the number of majority-black districts is reduced.
The other plan that received the most public support was Map 3C, brought forward by Mayor Mike Rawlings and designed by Dallas resident Bill Betzen.
Rawlings said Map 3 works because it is tight and compact and has the strongest minority numbers in each district.
"When I look at all the maps, this one did the best job of that," Rawlings said. "It was definitely the tightest."
Betzen agreed that it strengthens the existing black districts, but said he supports it because it has a greater likelihood of lasting well beyond the next Census.
"I want that map to continue working 10 years, 20 years, 30 years," Betzen said. "I don't want major changes to be done in 30 years; I want a stable map that doesn't change."
Many people also said they were frustrated with the process of the public meeting. Some challenged Rawlings over the rule that allowed public speakers only one minute each to give their opinions.
"I'm physically disturbed by the fact that you wanted to hear what the citizens wanted to say and then to limit us," said Sandra Crenshaw.
"Mr. Mayor I'm disappointed at you," Williams said. "An issue this important, and we're only getting one minute to speak -- that's not fair. That's not justice."
But several council members said they felt the meeting was positive. They said they're on the right path to picking a map in the next two weeks.
"We're going to take that map (recommended by the commission), put an overlay and do some tweaking and make sure we have at least four winnable black districts," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins.
"But with the tweaks, we'll try to satisfy as many concerns as possible," Councilwoman Sandy Grayson said. "I just don't know if we'll be able to satisfy all concerns."
"We had a good meeting today," Councilman Dwaine Caraway said. "And we're right there to be able to deliver on all the concerns that we heard, and now we just got to put them altogether where they make sense."
In addition to the issue of four black districts, other concerns raised at the meeting included Hispanic growth being represented, fair representation and neighborhoods staying together.
A final map must be picked by Oct. 15. Atkins said he believes a vote could come as early as one week from Wednesday.
On Saturday, an hours-long warrant sweep in the East County ended with over a two-dozen arrests, said officials with the San Diego County Sheriff’s department.
From about 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. police officials covered ground in El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee, and the unincorporated areas of El Cajon, Alpine and Lakeside, according to a published report.
Officials said 33 suspects were apprehended on outstanding misdemeanor and felony warrants.
One suspect who was to be arrested for possession of heroin was in possession of the substance when officials arrived, officials said.
During the sweep, 42 warrants were cleared, including six felonies and 36 misdemeanors.
Officials from the Sheriff's Departments Court Services, Field Unit, and the San Diego Fugitive Task Force participated in the sweep.
Police in Chester are looking for the suspect responsible for an early morning shooting.
Investigators said the incident happened at 1:39 a.m. on the 1400 block of West Congress Street.
Responding officers discovered a man laying on his back unconscious at the location, suffering from a gunshot wound.
The victim was reported in critical condition on Sunday morning.
Anyone with information on the crime has been asked to contact Chester Police Detective Robert Whitaker at 610-447-8420.
More than a foot of rain hasn't stopped the fire from burning at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.
Despite all the rain and moisture, the nearly 2-month-old wildfire continues to smolder.
It started Aug. 4, and has scorched more than 6,000 acres -- nearly 6 percent of the refuge that straddles the border of Virginia and North Carolina. Smoke from the fire has been seen, and smelled, as far north as Washington.
The fire is now 90 percent contained, and officials think the cause was a lightening strike that was fed by fallen timber and thick layers of decomposed vegetation.
No one has been injured in the fire, but hundreds of acres of Atlantic white cedar have been destroyed.
An unspecified problem put cell phone towers out of service Saturday evening, leaving some AT&T customers without wireless service.
Most of AT&T's wireless network was believed to be working again early Sunday morning. Late Saturday, AT&T tweeted about the issue and said crews were working to restore service.
"Los Angeles area AT&T customers may have issues with wireless service," the company said in a statement. "We are working now to resolve. We apologize for any inconvenience."
The network appeared to be working at 4 a.m. in downtown LA and West LA. Problems began at about 3 p.m. Saturday and continued into the night.
Vote totals were not released.
"We're all very grateful to our customers for their support over this eight-month process, and are very grateful that we can continue to serve them,'' United Food and Commercial Workers local spokeswoman Ellen Anreder said after the vote.
Union officials urged their rank-and-file to ratify the contract. It addressed concerns about funding for the employees' health plan, according to union officials.
The supermarkets said after agreeing to the deal that it would allow them to remain competitive.
Ralphs indicated it would initially close all 250 of its stores if there had been a strike; Albertsons said it could shutter up to 100 locations; Vons said its stores would remain open.
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An anonymous text message led police to a house in Valparaiso, which had been converted into a massive pot-growing operation.
Police said the basement and first and second stories of the house had been completely converted to grow cannabis.
About 50 plants, plus numerous containers of fertilizer, growing tents and indoor plant grow-lights were stored and set up throughout the building at 506 Michigan Ave., police said.
The Porter County Narcotics Unit investigated the initial tip from earlier this week and found enough evidence to obtain a search warrant. Although no one was at the house when police arrived to search it at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, the owner drove past at about 4:15 p.m. while police were still there. Officers recognized the vehicle and stopped and arrested Sean Nuetzmann, 30, of Illinois. Police said he'd been routinely visiting the house to take care of his crop.
Nuetzmann is charged with two felonies, cultivating marijuana and maintaining a common nuisance; and a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
A second person in the vehicle also was arrested. David Finney, 28, of New Lenox, Ill., is charged with visiting a common nuisance, a misdemeanor.
Two Americans held for more than two years in an Iranian prison on accusations of spying returned to the U.S. on Sunday, ending a diplomatic ordeal that began with what they called a wrong turn into the wrong country.
Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York City at about 11 a.m.
The two were released from prison last week. They arrived Wednesday in Oman under a $1 million bail deal and were embraced by relatives.
They were detained along with fellow hiker Sarah Shourd in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. They say they were only hiking in Iraq's relatively peaceful Kurdish region and may have wrongly ended up in Iran.
Before boarding the plane in the Omani capital of Muscat on Saturday night, the men made brief statements and thanked Oman's ruler for helping secure their release.
"We hope to someday return to this wonderful country, but for now we are eager to go home at last," Fattal told reporters.
Bauer said he won't forget the feeling of seeing their loved ones waiting for them in Oman.
"The joy of embracing them all after so long will stay with us forever," he said.
A furious diplomatic effort led to the release of Shourd about a year ago, and negotiations continued for the two men. Last month, Fattal and Bauer were sentenced to eight years in prison each for illegal entry into Iran and espionage.
The first hint of change in the case came last week when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Fattal and Bauer could be released within days. But wrangling from within the country's leadership delayed efforts. Iranian defense attorney Masoud Shafiei secured the necessary judicial approval Wednesday for the bail — $500,000 for each man.
Hours later, the gates of Tehran's Evin prison opened and the Americans headed in a convoy with diplomats to Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
Iran's Foreign Ministry called their release a gesture of Islamic mercy.
Until their release, the last previous direct contact family members had with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010, when their mothers were permitted a short visit in Tehran, which Iranian officials used for high-profile propaganda.
Since her release last year, Shourd has lived in Oakland, Calif. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from Elkins Park, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb.
Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while they were in jail.
As disappointing as it was to commit four turnovers and lose to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, the San Diego Chargers can at least tell themselves that things aren't as bad as they are with the Kansas City Chiefs.
A season after ending the Chargers' run of four straight AFC West titles, the Chiefs (0-2) are a mess, burdened by blown knees, blunders and blowouts.
They've lost a high-profile player to a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in each of the last three games. It started with tight end Tony Moeaki in their exhibition finale, then continued with Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry in the opener and All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles in last week's debacle in Detroit. Each is lost for the year.
They've done a lousy job of taking care of the ball, having committed nine turnovers already, against only two takeaways. That's why it's no surprise the Chiefs were routed 41-7 at home by Buffalo then 48-3 by the Lions.
Now they've got to travel for Sunday's game against the Chargers (1-1), who have turnover issues of their own but did manage to tidy up a few messes and win their opener against Minnesota. The Bolts are still somewhat miffed at Kansas City for knocking them off what they think is their rightful perch atop the AFC West, and irritated at themselves for going only 3-3 in the division and missing the playoffs last year.
The Chiefs have been so awful going back even to their last two games of 2010 that their division title seems like a mirage.
"I just want to refrain from really making judgments out of a lot of things right now until, you know, we get a little further down the road," coach Todd Haley said. "Everybody on this team needs to play better, starting with the quarterback, and he knows that. He's excited about the challenge and that's what we're going to do. But it's not just him. It's not just anybody."
So that would seem to indicate that it's everybody, although Matt Cassel is an easy culprit after throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble in two games. Last year, he was picked off only seven times.
"I think the No. 1 thing we haven't done this year that we did last year was take care of the football," Cassel said. "It starts with me. If you're in the minus column at the end of the day, you're going to end up with an L. That alone will help this team."
San Diego's Philip Rivers can feel his pain. Rivers also has been picked off four times and lost a fumble. Turnovers ruined any chance the Chargers had against the Patriots, and Rivers had three of them. In two games, the Chargers have six turnovers and one takeaway.
The Chargers and Chiefs can talk all they want about trying to limit turnovers, but they still have to do something about it.
Asked what he can do, Rivers said: "Don't throw it to them. That's it. It's that simple. Don't throw the ball. For the most part, I don't throw it to the other team very often. Here in the first two, they've gotten four of them. Two of them, I can't say were unlucky, but a little unfortunate. The other two, they're poor throws. Both of them are down inside the 30 going in."
The Chargers have also trailed by double digits in the first half of both their games. They rallied against the Vikings to win 24-17, but ran aground against the Patriots.
Again, Rivers has a simple answer.
"Score. Score sooner," he said. "You never like to be playing catch-up. It can change the game plan, obviously depending on where you are in the game, and it can make it tough on the defense and both sides of the ball. We certainly want to get going. Again, it's a matter of finishing drives. We haven't necessarily been out of sync. We've got to finish drives and we'll do all we can to get that done. But if we fall 10 behind this week, we're not going to quit. We're still going to try to win the game."
The Chargers did gain 470 yards against the Patriots. But their retooled defense, under new coordinator Greg Manusky, allowed New England to gain 504 yards, including 423 passing by Brady.
Moments after that 35-21 loss, Chargers coach Norv Turner said he was "so excited about our football team," a statement that raised eyebrows around the NFL, given the Chargers' continued problem with turnovers and other mistakes.
Now they get a shot at a team with far more problems, plus a chance to redeem their mediocre performance in the AFC West last year.
The Chiefs stunned the Chargers in the 2010 opener in Kansas City, and San Diego never had as much as a share of the division lead the rest of the way. San Diego got a bit of revenge when it beat the Chiefs 31-0 on Dec. 12, a game Cassel missed after having an emergency appendectomy.
Two weeks later, though, the Chargers tanked at Cincinnati and were eliminated from playoff contention.
One of the big shocks about last season for the Chargers, besides sitting at home in January, was their .500 record in the division, including two losses to Oakland.
"We know what these kind of games mean," Rivers said. "Like I said, 3-3 last year is not going to get it done. We've got to get off to a great start in the division, and we get a chance to do that this week."
President Obama has a lot on his plate right now, so you can’t blame him for being a little stressed out.
And what better way to beat that stress by hitting the links?
The president snuck away for a round of golf at Andrews Air Force Base, and had quite the partner in his foursome.
Former President Bill Clinton joined the current Commander in Chief along with Obama’s chief of staff William Daley and longtime Clinton adviser Doug Band.
The White House released a statement saying “Periodically, the two have gotten together to discuss the unique honor and extraordinary opportunity to lead this country.”
Both presidents took up golf once they got into the White House, but neither would divulge their scores.
