Andrew Blake

Stress study suggests ocean views influence mental health

An ocean view can help cure the blues, according to a new study. Researchers compared mental health with visibility of blue and green spaces among residents of Wellington, New Zealand and determined that individuals residing near bodies of water are less psychologically distressed that those surrounded by forests and parks.

May 4, 2016

Feds arrest man for spraying produce in Michigan grocery stores with mouse poison

The FBI has arrested a man accused of contaminating food at several grocery stores in Michigan recently with a liquid mixture that contained mouse poison.

May 4, 2016

Jerry Dean Clark, Iowa man, charged with attempted murder and kidnapping of Arkansas woman

Police in Arkansas have charged a Glenwood, Iowa, man with attempted murder and kidnapping after his ex-girlfriend told authorities he abducted her from a hotel last month and tried to drown her in a nearby river.

May 4, 2016

Convicted rapist who changed named to Avril Lavigne arrested in Oregon

Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested a 30-year-old convicted rapist who changed his name to Avril Lavigne for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender.

May 4, 2016

Protective order in Bundy ranch case challenged by AP, Nevada newspapers

The Associated Press has filed court documents in hopes of keeping federal prosecutors from withholding material from the press regarding the 2014 land rights standoff at Cliven Bundy's Bunkerville, Nevada, ranch.

May 4, 2016

Igor Zyazin, Russian man, dies in U.S. custody; Moscow seeks answers

Representatives of the Russian Federation on Wednesday demanded answers from the United States after a Russian national died over the weekend while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

May 4, 2016

Warrantless searches targeting U.S. persons doubled between 2013 and 2015: report

The National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency searched an intelligence community database designed to target foreigners more than 4,000 times last year without warrants using queries explicitly linked to U.S. people, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged in a transparency report released Monday.

May 4, 2016

Sonya Ross, AP race and ethnicity editor, sues for discrimination

The Associated Press' race and ethnicity editor, Sonya Ross, sued her employer Monday in federal court over alleged discrimination.

May 3, 2016

Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan to play star-studded 3-day ‘Desert Trip’ concert

Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters will headline a three-day concert in California later this year that will also feature Bob Dylan, Neil Young and The Who, organizers confirmed Tuesday.

May 3, 2016

Wi-Fi network named ‘Mobile Detonation Device’ causes panic on Australian airliner

A Wi-Fi network dubbed "Mobile Detonation Device" aboard a flight from Melbourne to Perth last weekend left dozens of passengers refusing to fly, Australian news outlets reported Monday.

May 3, 2016

Tavis Sellers, Virginia dad, arrested after boxing teenage son in Facebook video

Domestic assault and battery charges have been brought against a Woodbridge, Virginia, man who police say recorded himself boxing his 17-year-old son and shared the footage on Facebook.

May 3, 2016

James Medina, Florida man, arrested over plot to bomb synagogue in Miami suburb

An FBI sting operation ended Friday evening with the arrest of a Florida man blamed with trying to blow up a suburban Miami synagogue, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton said Monday.

May 2, 2016

Gas station prompts outrage with sign: ‘Closed on Sundays so we can prep for the crusade’

Signage outside a Nashville gas station drew mixed reactions from customers over the weekend, including from some who reportedly accused the establishment of hate speech.

May 2, 2016

Russian ‘eternal flame’ honoring Soviet World War II troops replaced with cardboard image

Officials in the Russian village of Pereslavskoye are taking heat for replacing the eternal flame at a World War Two memorial with a piece of painted cardboard.

May 2, 2016

CIA criticized for recounting bin Laden raid in agency’s Twitter account

The CIA on Sunday commemorated the five-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death by recounting the events of May 1, 2011, with minute-by-minute tweets that left social media users questioning the agency's intentions.

May 2, 2016

Woody Harrelson’s marijuana dispensary application denied by Hawaii

Actor Woody Harrelson's plans for opening up one of Hawaii's first medical marijuana dispensaries have officially gone up in smoke. The state's Department of Health on Friday announced the names of eight businesses selected to start growing and selling pot for patients, but declined to include the "Cheers" star's company, Simple Organic Living LLC.

May 2, 2016

Oxford, Alabama’s new anti-transgender bathroom ordinance prompts legal backlash, copycats

An ordinance passed in Oxford, Alabama, this week prohibiting people from using bathrooms that don't match their biological sex.

April 30, 2016

Paris terror-attack photograph blamed by Facebook for huge spike in censorship

Facebook said government requests for user data and content restrictions spiked in the second half of 2015, citing a single photograph taken from inside the Bataclan Theatre in Paris for causing state-ordered censorship to nearly triple.

April 29, 2016

Julieane Jablonski, Colorado mom, found guilty of giving marijuana to son who jumped out window

The mother of a teenager who jumped out of a third-story window after eating a pot brownie was convicted in Colorado on Wednesday of a misdemeanor drug charge.

April 28, 2016

‘Birthday Pothole’ repaired in Jackson, Miss., after resident’s celebration goes viral

A pothole in Jackson, Mississippi, was finally paved over the weekend, but only after a resident threw a birthday party for the crater when more than a dozen calls to the city went unanswered.

April 28, 2016