Columbiana

The Latest: Edison increase estimate of possible power cuts

Southern California Edison is warning it could cut power to 308,000 customers in seven counties to prevent winds from damaging electrical equipment and starting wildfires. The utility nearly doubled its estimate of the number of homes and businesses that might lose electricity as a pre-emptive measure. Earlier in the day, Edison said a possible outage Thursday affect about 160,000 people.

Shutdown of nuke plant has a surprising stinging consequence

The shutdown of one of the nation's oldest nuclear power plants last year is having a surprising, stinging consequence for a New Jersey bay considered one of the nation's most fragile. The environmental group Save Barnegat Bay held a conference Wednesday where scientists noted the increase of tiny jellyfish near the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. The stinging sea nettles that had been sucked into the plant and killed by heated water are now thriving and multiplying.

Lawyer for Kavanaugh accuser to investigate Baltimore police

A former federal prosecutor who represented one of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's accusers has been picked to lead an independent review of a corruption-plagued unit of the Baltimore Police Department, the department's chief announced Wednesday. Michael Bromwich will have "full autonomy" to conduct the review of the department's Gun Trace Task Force "without interference from us," said Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. Bromwich was the Justice Department's inspector general from 1994 to 1999 and served as the nation's top offshore drilling regulator after BP's deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.

Grim find: 39 dead in one of UK's worst trafficking cases

Authorities found 39 people dead in a truck in an industrial park in England on Wednesday and arrested the driver on suspicion of murder in one of Britain's worst human-smuggling tragedies. Police were reconstructing the final journey of the victims as they tried to piece together where they were from and how they came to be in England. The truck and the trailer with the people inside apparently took separate circuitous journeys before ending up on the grounds of the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of London on the River Thames.

Maryland's attorney general sues Kushner apartment company

Maryland's attorney general on Wednesday sued a real estate company once run by President Donald Trump's son-in-law over allegedly illegal and harmful rental practices, including the kind of rodent infestations the president has accused Baltimore leaders of failing to address. Attorney General Brian Frosh announced his office's Consumer Protection Division has filed charges against New Jersey-based Westminster Management, a subsidiary of the Kushner Cos. Frosh said there have been "numerous" violations of consumer protection laws, which harmed thousands of Maryland residents.

Here's everyone who has been sentenced in the college admissions scandal so far

Felicity Huffman became the first parent in the college admissions scandal to be sentenced. Here's everyone else facing jail time or fines.

Navy lieutenant and wife charged with conspiracy to defraud the US with inflatable boats, guns

A Navy lieutenant and his wife have been arrested for conspiracy to defraud the government, making false statements to investigators and illegally possessing a firearm, according court documents. The indictment accuses Fan Yang, a Navy lieutenant who was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida and held a top secret clearance and his wife, Yang Yang, of attempting to transport inflatable boats through Hong Kong with their final destination being the People's Republic of China.

Always to remove female symbol from sanitary pads for transgender and nonbinary inclusivity

Always to remove female symbol from sanitary pads for transgender and nonbinary inclusivity originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.comThe company Always said this week that it will remove the female symbol from the wrappers of its menstruation and sanitary products as a statement of inclusion.“For over 35 years, Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so. We’re also committed to diversity & inclusion and are on a continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. ...

Judge: Florida school shooting trial will begin in January

A judge insists the trial will begin in late January for Florida school shooting defendant Nikolas Cruz in the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said at a hearing Wednesday that she won't delay the trial expected to start Jan. 27 with jury selection. It is not going to drag on for years and years and years," Scherer said.

Condemned man maintains innocence, won't ask for clemency

A Georgia man scheduled to be executed next week has made the unusual decision not to file a clemency petition seeking to reduce his sentence and spare his life, his lawyers said Wednesday. Ray Jefferson Cromartie, 52, is scheduled to be put to death Oct. 30 at the state prison in Jackson. Cromartie also was convicted of shooting and gravely injuring another convenience store clerk a few days earlier.

California deputy fatally shot investigating marijuana theft

A Northern California sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday while responding to a call regarding a theft from a private marijuana garden in the rural Sierra Nevada foothills, officials said. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office said Deputy Brian Ishmael was fatally shot in the community of Somerset and that a ride-along passenger with him, an off-duty deputy from the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, was also shot and injured. The off-duty deputy returned fire and tried to save Ishmael, Sheriff John D'Agostini said at a news conference.

2 being charged in death of missing girl found in trash

Police say they will charge two people with kidnapping and capital murder in the death of a 3-year-old Alabama girl whose body was found amid trash 10 days after being kidnapped outside a birthday party. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said at a news conference Tuesday that the body of a child, believed to be Kamille McKinney, was found in a dumpster that had been taken to a county landfill. Kamille, who was affectionately known as Cupcake to her family, vanished on the evening of Oct. 12 while playing outside at the Tom Brown Village Housing Community.

California sheriff's deputy and father of 3 shot dead while responding to early morning call

A Northern California sheriff's deputy -- and husband and father of three -- was shot and killed at the scene of a call Wednesday morning. El Dorado County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Ishmael was responding to a report of a theft from a marijuana garden at a private home when he immediately came under fire, El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini said. In Ishmael's patrol vehicle at the time was an off-duty San Joaquin County deputy who was there for a ride-along, the sheriff said.

Former AP civil rights reporter Kathryn Johnson dies

Kathryn Johnson, a trailblazing reporter for The Associated Press whose intrepid coverage of the civil rights movement and other major stories led to a string of legendary scoops, died Wednesday. Johnson was the only journalist allowed inside Martin Luther King Jr.'s home the day he was assassinated. When Gov. George Wallace blocked black students from entering the University of Alabama, she sneaked in to cover his confrontation with federal officials.

Prosecutor: Guards won't face charges after clash at protest

Prison guards involved in a clash outside a detention center during a protest of federal immigration policy won't face charges, Rhode Island's attorney general said Wednesday. Democrat Peter Neronha announced the criminal investigation's conclusion, with the grand jury reporting that no criminal charges are warranted. "I am sure that they had to deal with complicated legal and factual issues, including determining the intent of those whose conduct was within the scope of their investigation and whether that intent rose to the level of criminal misconduct," Neronha said in a statement.

Mom whose 'ghost baby' scare goes viral speaks on her 'silly parenting story'

On Oct. 17, Maritza Dominguez of Naperville put her son Lincoln to sleep as she does every night. When she got downstairs, however, she saw something strange in the baby monitor. Dominguez texted her husband Corey, who was at work at the time, to get his input.

Beast mode! Great-grandmother lost 70 pounds doing CrossFit

Beast mode! Great-grandmother lost 70 pounds doing CrossFit originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.comNo cross stitching for this great-grandmother -- she’s more into CrossFit.Rosa Rodriguez lost over 70 pounds working out at Beast Mode CrossFit in Friendswood, Texas.The 60-year-old weighed 210 pounds and had trouble breathing before a friend convinced her to take a class. Rodriguez said she had never exercised before, let alone lifted 100-pound weights.(MORE: Is Haley Adams the next CrossFit phenom?)"As soon as I walked in, I said there’s no way," she told "GMA." "I’m too old for this. ...

The Latest: Top spy critical of efforts to catch bin Laden

The former CIA chief for Pakistan says the United States "just didn't do enough" to capture Osama bin Laden before he escaped from Afghanistan and masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks. Mark Kelton spoke at a news conference Wednesday about his role in an exhibit called "Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Laden." It opens in November at the national Sept. 11 memorial. The exhibit is organized as a whodunit that follows the search for bin Laden over a decade.

Exclusive: U.S. FAA must restore 'public confidence' in plane certification - inspector general

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must work to restore "public confidence" in aircraft certification efforts after two deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes, the U.S. Transportation Department's inspector general said on Wednesday in a report seen by Reuters. The long-standing practice of delegating certification tasks to aircraft manufacturers has come under criticism from lawmakers and others after the two crashes in October 2018 in Indonesia and March 2019 in Ethiopia, which killed 346 people. The report said that by March 2020, the FAA plans to introduce "a new process that represents a significant change in its approach to overseeing" aircraft designation efforts.

A 9-year-old has been charged with murder after a house fire killed five of his relatives. Juvenile justice advocates say the charge is 'unusual' and 'wholly inappropriate.'

A 9-year-old boy was arraigned on murder and arson charges on Monday, in a connection to a fire in his mother's mobile home in Goodfield, Illinois.