Three members of the Minnesota National Guard have died after the Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed 16 miles southwest of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference Thursday.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced Thursday night that three Army National Guard soldiers were killed in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash in Stearns County.
Minnesota National Guard officials say say the aircraft’s three-member crew lost contact with air traffic controllers at St. Cloud Army Aviation Facility at about 2:05 p.m. The crew was conducting a maintenance test flight.
A mayday call was put out, leading to the activation of the Minnesota Aviation Rescue Team (MART), which includes the assistance of St. Paul firefighters and a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter — which found the Black Hawk about 90 minutes after it went missing.
(credit: CBS)
The aircraft was found tangled in trees on a farm in Kimball, located about 16 miles southwest of St. Cloud.
Gov. Walz, a former Minnesota National Guard soldier, cancelled the lighting ceremony of the Governor’s mansion Christmas tree Thursday evening to travel to St. Cloud.
“Words will never ease the pain of this tragic loss, and the state of Minnesota is forever in debt of these warriors,” Walz said. “The coming days will be dark and difficult. The state of Minnesota stands at the ready to assist the families of all fallen heroes.”
The identities of the victims have not been released. A state lawmaker has said they were members of the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Investigators from the Army Safety Center out of Fort Rucker in Alabama are expected to arrive Friday to begin investigating the cause of the crash.
J.M. Smucker Co. is voluntarily recalling one of its canned wet cat foods amidst health concerns.
Cat owners, beware, as a line of wet, canned cat foods was recalled Thursday over health concerns regarding poor-quality ingredients.
J.M. Smucker Co. announced it is voluntarily recalling some of its Special Kitty wet, canned cat food product line, in particular its Special Kitty Mixed Grill Dinner Pate, which the company said didn’t meet its quality and safety standards. The recall is being conducted alongside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to the company’s recall alert.
The recalled product in question is sold both individually as well as in variety packs, and the company urged cat owners to throw away any Special Kitty wet, canned cat food and stop feeding it to their pets immediately.
Nearly an hour-long police chase ensued in Coral Gables, Florida Thursday, ending in gunfire and multiple people shot dead.
A harrowing police in South Florida on Thursday ended in gunfire with as many as four people -- including a United Parcel Service driver -- shot dead, according to law enforcement.
Also among the dead were two robbery suspects, who had hijacked the UPS driver's truck, and a fourth person traveling in a nearby vehicle, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Coral Gables police said the ordeal started with a robbery at Regent Jewelers at 386 Miracle Mile. Shots were fired and the two robbers jumped into the UPS truck and sped off, taking the delivery driver with them.
A woman was shot in the head at the jewelry store, Miami's WPLG-TV reported. Her condition was unknown.
Police surrounds UPS truck after pursuit ends in gunfire (WPLG)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Four people were killed Thursday after a multi-county police pursuit ended in gunfire on Miramar Parkway following an armed robbery in Coral Gables.
The pursuit ended in a hail of bullets on live television as police fired into the UPS truck taken along with the driver during the robbery over 25 miles away. The firefight occurred after the truck was slowed by traffic and surrounded by police.
Soon after the truck stopped, police opened fire into the vehicle with the suspects and UPS driver inside.
A man could be seen attempting to exit the truck on the passenger’s side during the gunfire, but it’s not known whether he was the UPS employee or one of the suspects.
An FBI spokesperson says the two suspects armed with handguns attempted to rob Regent Jewelers at 1261 Mariana Avenue near the intersection of Miracle Mile and LeJeune Road.
The owner of the store reportedly exchanged gunfire with the suspects. A woman inside the store was shot in the head during the shooting and was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
“This is what dangerous people do to get away,” said Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak. “And this is what people will do to avoid capture.”
A bullet hit a window at Coral Gables’ City Hall, which was locked down, Hudak said. No one inside City Hall was believed to be injured, Hudak said.
Hudak said officers responded within 90 seconds, including one officer on foot who was involved in a nearby traffic stop. It was not immediately clear if anything from the jewelry store was taken, Hudak said.
Following the jewelry store shooting, the suspects fled in the UPS truck, leading police north on Florida’s Turnpike to I-75 before getting off near Century Village in Pembroke Pines and then heading to the Miramar area.
Hours after the chase ended, medical gauze, wrappers and other debris remained strewn across the Miramar roadway’s middle lane, next to the truck which still had its right rear door open. Traffic remained snarled, and it was not clear how long it would take investigators to clear the scene.
UPS spokesman David Graves said they are staying in touch with authorities. He didn’t share any information about the driver.
Police are looking for a suspect accused of stealing an older woman's pocketbook while she was eating lunch at Panera, then going on a shopping spree.
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – Police are looking for a suspect accused of stealing an older woman’s pocketbook while she was eating lunch at Panera, then going on a shopping spree.
Police say on Nov. 27 around 11:30 a.m., a 71-year-old woman was eating lunch a Panera Bread in Hempfield Township. The suspect allegedly took the 71-year-old’s pocketbook from her purse.
Pictured female used a stolen cc to buy an IPAD for $1059 @ Best Buy Hempfield Twp. The stolen card belonged to a 71 YOA female that had her purse stolen while she was eating at Panera Bread Hempfield Twp on 11/27. Anyone w/ info call Tpr Mitchell 724-832-3288 pic.twitter.com/9ToBmjKoOs
— Troop A Public Information Officers (@PSPTroopAPIO) December 5, 2019
The suspect then allegedly went to a Best Buy in Hempfield Township and bought an iPad for nearly $1,060. She’s accused of using the victim’s stolen credit card to make the purchase.
The suspect pictured in photos shared by state police is a white woman with medium-length light brown hair. At the time of the theft, she was wearing a black puffer coat with a furry hood and was carrying a silver crossbody purse.
(Photo Credit: Pennsylvania State Police Troop A)
Anyone with is asked to call Trooper Mitchell at 724-832-3288.
In his closing statement, Rep. Doug Collins comes to President Trump’s defense, and says the Democrats have not revealed sufficient evidence to support the impeachment inquiry. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
Nancy Pelosi lashed out at a reporter for asking if she hated Donald Trump after her statement announcing that the Democrats would move forward with articles of impeachment against the president. 'As a Catholic, I resent your using the word "hate" in a sentence that addresses me,' she said. 'I don't hate anyone ... I pray for the president all the time.' Nancy Pelosi on impeachment: Trump 'leaves us no choice but to act' – live
Greensburg police arrested two area men Wednesday for allegedly providing a fentanyl-laced heroin dose that killed a 48-year-old woman last summer.
Julian V. Cancro, 37, of Greensburg, and Matthew T. Caughey, 46, of Youngwood, were charged with drug delivery resulting in death in connection with the Aug. 30 death of Darice R. Franke, 48.
Police were called to Cancro’s apartment on the 500 block of Highland Avenue at 4:22 a.m. Aug. 29 for a report of a woman who had overdosed. Detective Sgt. John Swank said Franke was “unresponsive” on the bathroom floor with two empty stamp bags of heroin and a hypodermic needle lying nearby.
Franke, who has lived in Greensburg and Jeannette, was taken by ambulance to Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg where she died the next day, Swank reported.
Source: Greensburg police arrest 2 men in woman’s overdose death | TribLIVE.com
(WKBN) – Some Ready-to-eat salads, sushi and spring rolls sold at several retailers in Ohio and other states are being recalled.
The recalled salads were produced by Fuji Food Products and distributed to Giant Eagle, Trader Joe’s, Walgreens and other outlets.
The products are being voluntarily recalled because they could have been contaminated with listeria during production.
The problem was discovered in Fuji’s Brockton, Massachusetts, facility during a routine inspection by the FDA, but no illnesses have been reported.
Exposure to listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems.
The product was sold and/or distributed in the following states and includes the following retailers:
Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Stores that sold the products are 7-Eleven, Walgreens, Food Lion, Hannaford, Trader Joe’s, Giant Eagle Supermarkets, Porkys, Bozzutos, Supreme Lobster and Superior Foods.
Consumers who purchased any of the products should not eat them and should discard or return them.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering a significant expansion of the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East, including dozens more ships, other military hardware and as many as 14,000 additional troops to counter Iran, U.S. officials said.
The deployment could double the number of U.S. military personnel who have been sent to the region since the start of a troop buildup in May. President Donald Trump is expected to make a decision on the new deployments as soon as this month, those officials said.
Trump, facing an election next year, has long sought to exit foreign entanglements and avoid new conflicts. But on Iran — and partly at the behest of Israel — he is convinced of the need to counter the threat his aides say Tehran poses, the officials said. He also could approve a smaller U.S. deployment, the officials said.
Source: U.S. may deploy 14,000 more troops to Middle East - MarketWatch
At least one person was injured Wednesday when someone opened fire on the Jackson State University campus in Mississippi. A university spokesman said an individual was shot in the leg.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a reported fatal crash in McCandless early this morning.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a reported fatal crash in McCandless early this morning.
(Photo Credit: KDKA Photojournalist Scott Danka)
The crash was reported around 8 a.m. at Cumberland Road and Babcock Boulevard. It was slowing traffic in both directions.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office was also called to the scene.
Celina Pompeani
✔@CelinaPompeani
Crash in McCandless affecting both directions of Cumberland Rd near Babcock Blvd @KDKA
West Penn Power in Greensburg is alerting customers they should be aware of scammers who may try to trick them into paying fictitious bills this winter on the false pretense that their electricity will be shut off.
FirstEnergy, the Ohio-based parent of West Penn Power and nine other utilities, said its companies have received more than 1,600 reports of scams from its customers, which is 200 more than the number of reported scams last year. The actual number of scam attempts is even higher because many incidents go unreported to the company or law enforcement, FirstEnergy said.
While the scammers work throughout the year, they are more active in winter and summer, when customers are more concerned about losing their heat or air conditioning. FirstEnergy is joining with more than 100 electric and gas companies and related organizations to prevent customers from becoming victims.
“Scammers can be very convincing and often target our most vulnerable customers, particularly senior citizens,“ said Gary W. Grant, vice president of customer service for FirstEnergy Utilities in Akron.
FirstEnergy customers should be aware of the following information:
• Customers behind on their accounts receive written notices of a possible disconnection and how to prevent it. FirstEnergy representatives will not call or email to demand immediate payment to avoid a same-day shutoff.
• While FirstEnergy representatives often make courtesy calls to customers about an outstanding balance, they would explain how a payment can be made using the established payment options. They would never require a customer to purchase a pre-paid money card as the only way of making a payment.
• FirstEnergy employees do not ask for a customer’s personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account information
When in doubt about their bill or to confirm the identity of a FirstEnergy employee, FirstEnergy customers should contact the company using the phone number listed on its website, Grant said. West Penn Power customers should call
The California senator took a deep look at the campaign’s resources over the holiday and decided she did not have a path to the nomination.
Kamala Harris is ending her presidential campaign after months of failing to lift her candidacy from the bottom of the field — a premature departure for a California senator once heralded as a top-tier contender for the nomination.
Harris told aides of her intentions in an all-staff call on Tuesday, and a person familiar with the conversation said she sounded distraught. While Harris had qualified for the December debate in her home state later this month, she was running dangerously low on cash — lacking the resources to air TV ads in Iowa — and her staff was gripped by long-running internal turmoil.
MCMURRAY (KDKA) — Multiple fire companies respond for hours Monday night in Peters Township.
The fire broke out in a home at the end of a secluded road where an elderly couple lived.
When firefighters arrived the wife was out of the home but her husband was not able to make it out.
Firefighters had to go in to rescue him. The first time they tried to reach him, the smoke was heavy and they had to wait for a pumper truck to arrive.
“And they had said that there was entrapment inside the house,” said Chief Michael McLaughlin, of the Peters Township Fire Department.
A neighbor called 911 shortly before 5:30 p.m. after seeing smoke coming from the home at the end of the street on Clara Lane.
Neighbors told fire crews that an elderly couple lived at the end of the cul-de-sac. The wife had made it out, but her husband was still inside.
“We stretched the line into the house and we were able to stretch the line and continue our search, they found a victim at that time, inside of the house,” Chief McLaughlin said.
Cold weather has damaged potato yields in North America, which is now threatening the availability of french fries in the US, Bloomberg reported Monday.
In some places, harvests were lost altogether, Bloomberg said, while frosts also stunted the growth of the long potatoes that are preferable for making french fries.
The US Department of Agriculture said on November 8 that potato production for the 2019 crop year was forecast at 22.4 million tons, down 6% from the prior year.
"French-fry demand has just been outstanding lately, and so supplies can't meet the demand," Travis Blacker, the industry-relations director with the Idaho Potato Commission, told Bloomberg.
Cold weather from September to November affected potato yields in Alberta, Idaho, Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
A customer at a GetGo in Carnegie won $800,000 on Saturday after purchasing a jackpot-winning lottery ticket.
The Pennsylvania Lottery reported that someone purchased a Cash 5 ticket at the gas station that matched all five of the winning numbers 05-07-15-24-26.
The odds of matching five out of five numbers is about one in a million, according to the lottery.
The GetGo that sold the winning ticket will earn a $5,000 bonus.
The identity of the ticket holder won’t be known until the ticket is redeemed. Christy Hooub, a GetGo employee who was working the day the ticket was sold, said the store doesn’t have any ideas as to who the winner might be. Hooub said it is really exciting to have sold the winning numbers.
Source: Carnegie GetGo sells jackpot Cash 5 ticket worth $800,000 | TribLIVE.com
Former president Jimmy Carter, main, was admitted to a south Georgia hospital, inset, over the weekend. America's oldest living president has overcome several health challenges of late.
The former president was admitted to a south Georgia hospital over the weekend
'He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon' a spokesman said
America's oldest living president has overcome several health challenges of late
He was released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta last Wednesday after recovering from surgery to relieve bleeding on the brain from a series of falls
New York (CNN Business)Another week, another box office record broken by Disney.
"Frozen 2," the studio's sequel to the 2013 animated phenomenon, set the record for the highest-grossing weekend in Thanksgiving history. It made $123.7 million domestically over the five day holiday weekend, breaking the record held by "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which made $109 million in 2013.
The film, which continues the adventures of Princess Anna, Queen Elsa and Olaf the snowman, has made $738.6 million globally in just 12 days.
The animated movie broke records when it opened last weekend, pulling in $130 million domestically. That was the highest-grossing debut for Walt Disney Animation Studios. The sequel also set the record for the biggest global opening for an animated film ever, making $358 million worldwide.
(CNN)An emergency landing went horribly wrong Sunday night as a plane crashed in San Antonio, leaving three dead, according to fire officials.
The small, single-engine plane was leaving Sugar Land and headed to Boerne, Texas, when it developed engine trouble, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told CNN affiliate KSAT-TV.
The pilot wanted to make an emergency landing at San Antonio International Airport, Hood said, but ended up crashing into the street.
Fire Chief Charles Hood said the twin-engine plane crashed in a commercial and industrial area killing all three people on board. Hood says the plane had taken off in Sugar Land and was on its way to Boerne when they developed engine problems. The pilot notified the San Antonio International Airport that they were going to divert to the airport to make an emergency landing, but they weren't able to make it to the airport before crashing.
When firefighters arrived on the scene they found the wreckage beside a street. No one on the ground was hurt. Firefighters have blocked off a wide area around the 600 block of Rhapsody recovering any debris that might have fallen off the plane during the approach and crash. Hood says "as tragic as it is, it could have been much worse" had the plane come down on busy Highway 281 nearby or into a business or apartment complex.
The shootout happened around noon in the small town of Villa Union, a town in Coahuila state located about an hour’s drive southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Coahuila state Gov. Miguel Angel Riquelme told local media that four of the dead were police officers killed in the initial confrontation and that several municipal workers were missing. On Sunday, the Coahuila state government said that security forces killed seven additional members of the gang, bringing the death toll to at least 21.
'The armed group of suspected cartel members stormed the town of 3,000 residents in a convoy of trucks, attacking local government offices and prompting state and federal forces to intervene. Ten alleged members of the Cartel of the Northeast were initially killed in the response.
Three others on board are being treated for critical injuries.
"The men and women of law enforcement, first responders and medical professionals should be commended in their heroic actions to rescue the victims in the extreme weather conditions," according to a statement from Brule County States Attorney Theresa Maule Rossow, which was posted to the Brule County Sheriff's Office Facebook page Saturday evening.
The Pilatus PC-12 had taken off at the Chamberlain Municipal Airport and was heading to Idaho Falls, Idaho, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
Two children are among those who died and there were 12 people on board the plane, KSFY-TV reported. BRULE COUNTY, S.D. (KSFY) - UPDATE 9:45 p.m. - KIFI reports members of an Idaho Falls family were killed Saturday afternoon in a South Dakota plane crash near Chamberlain.
The crash took nine lives, including prominent businessmen Jim and Kirk Hansen, the pilot, 2 young children, and four other males.
Three others survived the crash and are being treated at a local hospital.
The Hansen's own K & J Super Stores, oil company Conrad and Bischoff and founders of the health and wellness company Kyani.
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Chamberlain Municipal Airport around 12:30 p.m. in a nearby farm field.
Family friends told KIFI the men were on a traditional Thanksgiving hunting trip in South Dakota and were returning home.
Conditions poor at time of crash
Though the cause of the crash hasn't been released, Chamberlain and central south-central South Dakota were under a winter storm warning at the time.
The NWS said visibility was a half a mile with light winds reported at the airport at 12:30 p.m. There have been no snowfall totals reported for Chamberlain, but Gregory, which is south of Chamberlain, reported eight inches of snow as of 2 p.m., the NWS said.
Interstate 90 has been closed all day from the Wyoming border to Chamberlain.
Human service workers at the Persad Center in Lawrenceville voted to unionize. The unit of 24 workers — including therapists, program coordinators, case managers, and administrative staff, all focused on serving the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS community in Pittsburgh — announced its intention last month to file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The Persad workers organized with the United Steelworkers (USW), which represents more than 850,000 members nationally.Source: Workers at LGBTQ service center Persad vote to unionize with United Steelworkers | News | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper
