ORLANDO, Fla. — A candidate for a Lake County-based state Senate seat is charged with stealing $47,722 from a homeowners association whose finances she managed and is facing trial in September.

Cheryl Blancett, who goes by CJ, has been charged with grand theft of $20,000 or more, a second-degree felony. The charges were first reported by ...Read more

NEW YORK — A Long Island man who authorities said gave fireworks to an 11-year-old, who then set two homes on fire, has been arrested on arson charges and related offenses, police said Friday.

Karamjit Singh, 33, is accused of giving the child fireworks outside his home in Levittown, in the Town of Hempstead, on the morning of July 4, Nassau ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A July 4 gathering in Southwest Philadelphia descended into chaos on Thursday night when a gunman opened fire into the crowd, killing one teen and injuring eight others, including four juveniles, police said.

At around 11:30 p.m., police said, a man fired multiple shots from the passenger side window of a passing SUV into a ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As legal observers predicted, Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a partial pause of the government’s classified documents case against the former president so she can weigh how it might be impacted by the Supreme Court’s fresh ruling on presidential immunity.

Trump has argued ...Read more

Textbook authors were told last month that some references to “climate change” must be removed from science books before they could be accepted for use in Florida’s public schools, according to two of those authors.

A high school biology book also had to add citations to back up statements that “human activity” caused climate change ...Read more

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Friday morning that it had evacuated a major campground and outdoor enthusiast area in the Pinelands because of a wildfire.

The fire service announced the closure about 11:30 a.m. The wildfire was at least 100 acres in size, and none of it had been contained as of early afternoon.

Officials ordered ...Read more

A day after a powerful Hurricane Beryl swept Jamaica’s southern coast, bringing floodwaters and ripping off rooftops, hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans remain without power and water, while others are trying to pick up the pieces of their shredded lives.

United Nations representatives in the Caribbean say it is still too early to put a price...Read more

Hurricane Beryl did its best to shut down Jamaica, but the country’s airports and seaports were up and running on Friday, according to the ministry of tourism.

In Kingston, Norman Manley International Airport reopened at 5 a.m. July 5. In Montego Bay, Sangster International Airport resumed service at 6 p.m. July 4. And in Ocho Rios, Ian ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As discussion continues about whether Lauderdale-by-the-Sea will pay for lifeguards and if the majority of residents even want them, elected officials have made it illegal to dig deep holes in the sand in an effort to prevent another tragedy after a 7-year-old girl died while she was buried alive in the sand earlier ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Andy Beshear reiterated Friday he intends to serve out his second term as Kentucky’s governor — but he didn’t slam the door on higher office, including potentially being vice president.

“The only other way I would ever consider anything other than this job — which I love — is if I felt that I could help this ...Read more

NEW YORK — The 44-year-old drunk driver who barreled into a Lower East Side park on the Fourth of July, killing three people — including a mother and son — is a substance abuse counselor and lecturer who was arrested for assault last year when he punched someone who disagreed with his teaching methods, the New York Daily News has learned. ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Western Pennsylvania congressman wants the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Norfolk Southern intentionally provided misleading information after its train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to what appeared to be an unnecessary release and burn of vinyl chloride.

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, made ...Read more

Beryl made landfall in Tulum, Mexico, early Friday morning as a stronger-than-expected Category 2 hurricane, but that strength quickly bled out as it sped across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Forecasters expect Beryl — now a tropical storm — to re-emerge over the Gulf of Mexico later Friday, where it has just enough time to re-strengthen again ...Read more

Kate Middleton’s parents were spotted at Wimbledon Thursday as the princess continues her cancer treatment.

Carole and Michael Middleton were seen in the Center Court royal box at the London tennis tournament, with Carole sporting a floral dress and cream-colored blazer, and Michael in a blue suit and yellow tie.

The appearance come just ...Read more

A Cleveland police officer killed while serving a warrant on the city’s east side was a New York native and the son of an upstate cop.

Jamieson Ritter was fatally shot outside a home in the Hough neighborhood on Thursday around 1:30 a.m. He was among several officers trying to arrest 24-year-old Delawnte Hardy on a felony assault warrant at ...Read more

CHICAGO — For the second time this year, the majority of serious Chicago police misconduct cases are on hold as attorneys for the rank-and-file CPD officers’ union prepare to submit a challenge to a Cook County judge’s order that mandated those hearings be publicly accessible.

There are 19 pending cases currently before the Chicago Police...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho court this week dismissed a lawsuit from college educators over the right to teach about abortion in class, primarily because Attorney General Raúl Labrador said professors who dealt with the subject in school would not be prosecuted under a 2021 anti-abortion rights law.

The Gem State drew national headlines in the ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Last year, the state of Florida purchased more than 11,000 acres for nearly $30 million from the powerful Collier family near Everglades City for conservation. Now, a former employee of Parker J. Collier — the matriarch of the family from which Collier County gets its name — claims most of that land is toxic.

In a ...Read more