Wildfires reach across Colorado
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Two wildfires destroyed thousands of acres of land in Colorado on Wednesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Black Forest Fire spread across 8,500 acres. Terry Maketa, El Paso County Sherriff, predicted the fire will destroy another 3,000 acres. The other fire, named the Royal George Fire, is about half the size of the Black Forest Fire and has destroyed 3,800 acres.
About 9,000 people were ordered to evacuate a 55 square mile area of the state, affecting more than 3,400 households. [...]
Ariel Castro going to court
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Ariel Castro, the man accused of keeping three women captive in his home will appear in court on Wednesday. Castro has hundreds of charges against him, including 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping. He has also been charged with aggravated murder after he deliberately terminated one of the women’s pregnancies.
Castro was arrested in May, when one of the women he held captive was able to break a door and call for help. He is currently in prison [...]
Jury selection begins for Zimmerman trial
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Jury selection for the case of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin, began in Seminole County, Florida on Monday. Zimmerman is facing a charge of second-degree murder. He has pled not guilty.
Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in February 2012, starting a national discussion about gun laws in the United States. Charges were not immediately filed against Zimmerman, resulting in the removal of the town police chief and the selection of a new prosecutor.
NSA leaker revealed
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Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA, is responsible for leaking information last week about NSA collecting of phone records for surveillance. Snowden revealed himself to American and British newspapers during the weekend. He is currently in a hotel in Hong Kong, seeking asylum.
U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Peter King, said he hopes Snowden will be handed over to American authorities and prosecuted. King remarked, “This person [...]
White House: Phone records help fight terrorist threats
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The White House spoke out about a court order permitting the U.S. government to have access to telephone records, calling the process an important tool for protecting citizens from threats. According to White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, the order helps U.S. intelligence agencies to find terrorists who are participating in operations which could be threaten the safety of U.S. citizens.
Earnest indicated that Congress has been informed about the process and the whole program is supervised by a legal order. [...]
Verizon gives phone records to government
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Verizon gave up millions of phone records daily to the US government after they were served with a court order, according to the Guardian newspaper. The court order demands that the company give the National Security Agency phone numbers along with the place, time of day, and the length of time of phone calls. The details of the phone conversations, however, were not released.
The Guardian also stated that the FBI’s request to receive access to the phone records was [...]
Hawaii earthquake had a magnitude of 5.3
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The earthquake which occurred off the southeast coast of Hawaii on Tuesday had a magnitude 5.3, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred approximately 34 miles southeast of Pahala at a depth of 25 miles. Earlier reports stated the earthquake was a 5.6.
Residents near where the earthquake struck said they felt shaking on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawaii County Civil Defense Director, Darryl Oliveira reported that there haven’t been any immediate reports of damage. Officials do not believe the [...]
TV storm chasers killed by tornado
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Three professional storm chasers were killed on Friday while following a tornado in Oklahoma. Carl Young, Tim Samaras and his son, Paul Samaras were killed when a tornado changed its predicted path and went towards them. It is believed the men are the first to be killed when following a tornado according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.
Young and Tim Samaras were best known for starring in the Discovery Channel television show, “Storm Chasers.” The show planned [...]
Disneyland employee arrested after explosion in park
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An employee at the Disneyland theme park in Southern California was arrested on Tuesday after a small explosion occurred within the theme park. Police identified the suspect as Christian Barnes. The charge against Barnes is suspicion of possessing a destructive device.
Around 5:30pm on Tuesday, there was “a small bang” that came from a trash can in the Toontown section of the park, according to park attendees. According to the Anaheim police, the noise was caused by a water bottle [...]
Boston marathon bombing suspect committed earlier murder
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According to federal law enforcement officials in Orlando, Florida, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was also responsible for a brutal triple murder outside Boston in 2011. He was assisted by Ibragim Todashev, a Chechen who was killed Wednesday after confessing his direct role in the killings, while naming Tsarnaev as his partner. Todashev was shot after attacking an FBI agent during questioning about the murders and his relationship with Tsarnaev.
The unsolved murder caught the interest of authorities after [...]
Cruise ship catches fire at sea
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The Royal Caribbean ship, Grandeur of the Seas caught fire Monday morning, forcing its 2,200 passengers to return to Baltimore a few days early. The fire began at 2:50 a.m. and was extinguished about 2 hours later. There were no injuries.
The ship left Baltimore on Friday to sail to CocoCay, Bahamas on a seven-night cruise. The ship was able to properly dock in the Bahamas on Monday afternoon. The crew of the ship arranged flights back to Baltimore for all [...]
Oklahoma City Area Deals With Tornado Tragedy
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24 people were pronounced dead after the area outside Oklahoma City was hit by a huge tornado on Monday afternoon. Seven of these victims were children, killed when the tornado struck Plaza Towers Elementary School, leaving it a pile of rubble. The National Weather Service has designated the tornado as an EF5, putting it in the same league as some of the most dangerous and damaging tornados in United States history.
Today, emergency workers are continuing to go through the [...]