Category: News

Marin County Sheriff’s Office(MARIN COUNTY, Calif.) — Nearly a week into the search for a married couple in their 70s who vanished at their vacation cottage, Northern California authorities have said those efforts now are a “recovery mission.” “We’ve worked tirelessly combing through all leads and areas surrounding the cottage they were vacationing at, and are now calling this a recovery mission,” the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday. Carol Kiparsky, 77, and Ian Irwin, 72, have been missing since noon on Friday, Feb. 14, authorities…

uatp2/iStock(WASHINGTON) — For the second year in a row the number of people who died in car crashes declined in 2019, according to the National Safety Council’s preliminary estimates released on Thursday. The data showed an estimated 38,800 people died in motor vehicles on the road last year — a 2% decrease from 2018. This was also a 4% drop from 2017 — where more than 40,000 car crash fatalities were reported, according to the council. While last year’s numbers did move in the right direction, NSC president and CEO…

California Highway Patrol(NAPA, Calif.) — A California Highway Patrol pilot said he was momentarily blinded and is still suffering some pain in his left eye after his aircraft was hit by a blue laser on a return flight to the airport. “It’s pitch black. We’re flying and all of a sudden, it’s like the sun just came out,” pilot Jan Sears with the patrol’s Golden Gate Division Air Operations told CBS13 in Sacramento. “It took me a minute to get my bearings.” Authorities said the laser incident occurred around 10:50…

Chmiel/iStock(FORT BRAGG, N.C.) — Fort Bragg welcomed home 800 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division Thursday. They had been rushed to the Middle East in late December to assist with regional security after protesters attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. It was unclear when the remaining 2,700 soldiers who were deployed to Kuwait in the days that followed, will return to the United States as well. The bulk of the 82nd Airborne’s 1st Brigade rushed from North Carolina to the region as tensions with Iran were heightened following the U.S.…

Buckner International(ALLEN, Texas) — An 8-year-old boy who spent 1,553 days, nearly half his life, in foster care was adopted Monday in a ceremony that featured a crowd of 300 people, a high school drill team and even Batman. Nike Schwartz came to his adoptive family at the age of four as a foster child. “We got a call asking to take him in and we said yes and he showed up at our door at midnight on May 4, 2016,” said Nike’s mom, Kristi Schwartz, now a mom of…

KSFN-TV(PORTERVILLE, Calif.) — A second firefighter has been found dead in a powerful arson blaze that ripped through a California library, leaving a fire department in mourning. The fire — allegedly started by two 13-year-old boys — erupted Tuesday at the city library in Porterville, about 80 miles southeast of Fresno, authorities said. The books and furniture ignited quickly, making the fire especially difficult to fight, officials said. The blaze eventually caused the ceiling to collapse into the building, officials said. Porterville Mayor Martha Flores called the firefighters “heroes” whose…

Auburn Police Department(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — Alabama’s House Judiciary Committee has passed a bill in the name of Aniah Blanchard, the 19-year-old who was kidnapped and murdered last year, that would make it easier to hold suspects accused of violent crimes to be held without bail. House Bill 81, named Aniah’s Law, would allow judges to hold those accused of committing violent Class A felonies. It was unanimously approved by the House on Wednesday and will now move to the Senate. Currently, the Alabama constitution allows bail for all persons “unless…

New Canaan Police Department(NEW YORK) — A friend of Fotis Dulos pleaded not guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit murder charges in connection to the disappearance of Dulos’ wife, Jennifer Dulos. Jennifer Dulos went missing in May 2019 amid a custody dispute with her estranged husband. Fotis Dulos died by apparent suicide in January, weeks after he was charged with Jennifer Dulos’ murder. Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos and an attorney himself, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in January. Fotis Dulos’ girlfriend told police Fotis Dulos…

Kuzma/iStock(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein’s fate remains in the hands of jurors, as the third day of deliberations begins. On Thursday morning, the jury’s day is starting with their review of Paul Feldsher’s testimony. He was the first defense witness who challenged Annabella Sciorra’s claim that she was raped by Weinstein in the winter of 1993-94. Jurors will also take a look at PowerPoint slides from the testimony of Dr. Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychologist who studies the behavior of sexual assault victims. They will also review correspondence between Weinstein…

Paul Archuleta/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — The ex-boyfriend of Hollywood therapist Dr. Amie Harwick was lying in wait before allegedly throwing her over a balcony to her death, prosecutors said. Gareth Pursehouse, 41, was charged Wednesday with murder and residential burglary with the special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. Pursehouse could face the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors said, though a decision on whether to seek the death penalty has not yet been determined. Harwick was allegedly killed in the early hours…