Astronaut takes spacewalk right before setting US record

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – NASA’s yearlong spaceman, Scott Kelly, took his first spacewalk Wednesday just hours before setting a new U.S. flight record. Kelly and Kjell Lindgren tackled a long overdue list of maintenance chores outside the International Space Station. They removed insulation from an electronic switching unit and covered an antimatter and dark […]

Army blimp breaks loose, drifts over Pennsylvania

MUNCY, Pa. (AP) – An unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its moorings in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours Wednesday with two U.S. fighter jets on its tail, triggering blackouts across the countryside as it dragged its cable across power lines. The bulbous, 240-foot helium-filled blimp finally came down near Muncy, a […]

Florida math scores sink on new national test

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Math scores for Florida’s eighth grade students are dropping according to a new national assessment. The scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress which was released Wednesday. They showed that only 26 percent of eight graders scored at the proficient or advanced levels in math. That’s a significant dip […]

GOP nominates Ryan as speaker, House set to OK budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans nominated Rep. Paul Ryan on Wednesday to become the chamber’s next speaker, rallying behind a youthful overachiever they hope will guide them out of weeks of internal feuding and disarray and point the party toward accomplishments they can highlight in next year’s elections. Ryan, R-Wis., was his party’s 2012 vice […]

US official: Congress shouldn’t control tribal recognition

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A Republican proposal allowing Congress to decide whether American Indian tribes deserve federal recognition would add more delays to what was long a broken system, an Obama administration official said Wednesday. The comments came as a House committee considers legislation to block a recent overhaul of the tribal recognition process. House […]

Photo Credit: MGN

Ukraine faces years of dependence on Western aid

VELYKI PRYTSKY, Ukraine (AP) — Looking on from her vegetable patch at the motorcade of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Ukrainian villager Olha Voloshchenko says she’d seen the lady on the TV news the night before, but “then the lights went off at our place.” The U.S. hopes agriculture in places like this dilapidated […]

1 dead following shooting at Cypress Court Apts.

FORT MYERS, Fla.- One person is dead following a Wednesday afternoon shooting at the Cypress Court Apartments on Seminole Avenue, Fort Myers police said. The male victim, who is in his early 20s, was found lying outside an apartment just after 2 p.m. with a gunshot wound. Police say he died at the scene. Friends and […]

Drug scare at California high school leads to arrest of teen

PINOLE, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a San Francisco Bay Area high school student was arrested on suspicion of distributing a prescription anxiety medication that sent five students to the hospital with overdose symptoms. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1W8P2Tc ) Wednesday that police spokesman Sgt. Matt Avery says the Pinole Valley High School student, […]

Orlando man to be executed for killing family

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A central Florida man convicted of stabbing to death his young daughter, his ex-wife and her mother and sister 30 years ago is scheduled to be executed months after his execution was postponed so attorneys could litigate whether a sedative used in Florida’s executions was constitutional. Jerry Correll is set to […]

2 ex-Tampa police detectives indicted on tax fraud charges

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Two former Tampa police detectives have been indicted on federal tax fraud charges. The Tampa Tribune (http://bit.ly/1S9qOHS ) reports that Eric and LaJoyce Houston turned themselves in to U.S. Marshals Wednesday and are scheduled to be arraigned in the afternoon. Authorities disclosed in court documents evidence of tax refund fraud being […]