Cheap oil buoys consumers, shakes up global governments

Cheap oil will be sticking around for a while. That reality is wreaking havoc and causing uncertainty for some governments and businesses, while creating financial windfalls for others. Less expensive crude is delighting consumers in some regions, while leading to widespread job losses elsewhere. Oil has fallen from $107 to around $30 in the past […]

Patient climbs out of moving ambulance, is killed by car

HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) – A man suffering from a mental illness unbuckled himself from a stretcher, opened the back door of a moving ambulance and jumped out before he was struck and killed by a vehicle that then left the scene, a police official said Tuesday. Frank Ligrnetta, 51, of Bay Shore, was being taken […]

Small plane lands in ocean; occupants swim away unharmed

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Two young men swam away unharmed after a small plane they were flying crashed in the ocean off a Florida beach. Local news media outlets are citing Federal Aviation Administration officials as saying that the Piper PA-28 Cherokee crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 yards off Haulover Beach Park […]

FBI joins investigation of Flint water lead contamination

FLINT, Mich. (AP) – The FBI is working with a multi-agency team investigating the lead contamination of Flint’s drinking water, alongside Environmental Protection Agency investigators who can tackle criminal violations of federal environmental law, officials said Tuesday. Several local, state and federal officials have resigned since doctors revealed last year that using the Flint River […]

Mr. Food: Loaded baked potato casserole

What You’ll Need: 1 (32-ounce) package frozen potato steak fries 8 bacon slices, crisply cooked and crumbled 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 cup chopped scallions (about 10) 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can Cheddar cheese soup 1/2 cup sour cream What To Do: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with […]

Lake Okeechobee water releases impacting SWFL tourism

SANIBEL, Fla.- Florida Senator Bill Nelson is filing new legislation on Tuesday to speed up Everglades restoration projects in an attempt to combat the Lake Okeechobee water releases turning water off the coast of Southwest Florida brown, and threatening the ecosystem and the economy. “It’s tough fishing in a toilet bowl,” said Captain John Stark as he described the […]

Documents detail price hike decisions by Turing, Valeant

Federal lawmakers have released excerpts from thousands of documents detailing how two drugmakers hiked prices to squeeze more revenue from some life-saving medicines, a practice that has recently sparked public outrage. The congressional review of more than 300,000 pages from Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant Pharmaceuticals highlights the internal strategies the companies used to dramatically raise […]

Two elderly siblings found shot to death in North Naples

NORTH NAPLES, Fla.- Two elderly siblings were found shot to death inside their North Naples home on Tuesday, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators described the incident as a probable murder-suicide. Detectives say August Steen Jr., 85, likely shot his 92-year-old sister Edna Jarboe before turning the gun on himself. A home healthcare worker discovered the bodies around 9 […]

Bill would allow custodian to take over online accounts

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Floridians could designate a custodian to access and manage their social media, email and online financial accounts when they die or become incapacitated, under a bill moving through the state legislature. Senate Bill 494 passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday, and a companion House bill has passed its committee reviews and is […]

Prosecutor: Virginia girl stabbed to death day she vanished

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Seventh-grader Nicole Madison Lovell was stabbed to death the same day she climbed out her bedroom window, by a Virginia Tech student who got help from a university classmate both before and after the crime, authorities said Tuesday. David Eisenhauer, the engineering student accused of kidnapping and killing the 13-year-old girl, […]