Cheryl K. Chumley

Steven Sotloff spokesman: Team Obama ‘bullied and hectored’ family

A spokesman for the family of the second beheaded American journalist, Steven Sotloff, said they wanted to rescue him from the grips of the Islamic State, but officials working for President Obama "bullied" them into softening their approach.

September 17, 2014

LAPD acquires drones, but outcry forces them under lock and key

Los Angeles police have acquired two mini-helicopter drones that were barred by voter backlash from staying with Seattle's cops -- but now they're facing the same outcries, and an independent police watchdog has stepped in and taken possession.

September 17, 2014

Joan Rivers’ doctor accused of snapping selfie in lead-up to cardiac arrest

Joan Rivers' personal doctor reportedly performed a biopsy on his famous client without her prior consent — and then snapped a selfie of himself next to her while she was under anesthesia — just moments before she went into cardiac arrest, a new statement to investigators revealed.

September 17, 2014

Luis Gutierrez: Securing border ‘sounds good,’ but ‘not effective’ solution

Rep. Luis Gutierrez traded fiery jabs with television's Sean Hannity in a recent broadcast, telling the Fox News host that cracking down on the border as a first priority counter-terrorism measure is futile.

September 17, 2014

John Boehner jabs GOPers who buck party line as ‘knuckleheads’

Speaker John Boehner said that he's got a "few knuckleheads" to deal with, and that's largely why the Republican majority in the House looks good on paper but doesn't always pan out with votes.

September 17, 2014

Bill Clinton tries to save the queen, begs Scotland to stay

Former President Bill Clinton made a last-minute appeal to Scotland to keep the status quo and stand tall with the European Union.

September 17, 2014

Scotland minus EU equals higher whiskey prices: bank report

A Dutch bank is warning that if Scotland does secede from the European Union that the price of scotch whiskey could skyrocket.

September 17, 2014

New York man charged in plot to kill U.S. troops for Islamic State

The FBI charged an upstate New York man, Mufid Elfgeeh, on terror-related counts after they unearthed his alleged plot to buy guns to carry out an Islamic State attack on U.S. troops.

September 17, 2014

Ferguson government meeting marked by angry protests — again

Angry protesters disrupted a local government gathering of Ferguson authorities, shouting for justice for fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown — the second time St. Louis residents have staged such an outburst at an official meeting in a week's time.

September 17, 2014

Virginia college student, 18, disappears on walk home from party

Police are searching for Hannah Elizabeth Graham, a University of Virginia student who disappeared while walking home from an off-campus party.

September 17, 2014

U.S. man caught swimming to North Korea ‘trying to meet’ Kim Jong-un

A U.S. man of Arabic descent was captured while trying to swim across the Han River to North Korean lands — a desperate attempt to "meet with supreme leader Kim Jong-un," he said during his post-arrest interrogation.

September 17, 2014

Islamic State warns Obama: ‘Fighting has just begun’

Islamic State terrorists sent out a threatening video to hit back at President Obama's vow to destroy their operations: More fighting is "coming soon," they warned.

September 17, 2014

FBI’s facial recognition technology goes fully operational

The federal government's Next Generation Identification System — a biometric database that relies largely on facial-recognition technology — is now fully operational, the FBI announced Monday.

September 16, 2014

Jon Stewart rips Obama for ‘chaotic and confused’ Islamic State dealings

Comedian Jon Stewart ripped into President Obama during his recent "Daily Show," calling into question the commander-in-chief's discombobulated approach to dealing with Islamic State terrorists.

September 16, 2014

Welsh mom shocked by Barbie doll’s F-bomb drop

A Welsh mom said she was shocked and outraged after hearing her daughter's talking Barbie doll drop an expletive that begins with the letter "f."

September 16, 2014

Mike Huckabee makes waves with 2016 White House talk

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said another run at the White House is a distinct possibility and that he's in a much better spot than he was in 2008 — better known, a better money draw.

September 16, 2014

Pro-Hillary Clinton groups arm for Benghazi battle

Three Democratic Party groups with hopes of seeing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton make a run for the White House in 2016 — or at least emerge from upcoming Capitol Hill hearings on Benghazi unscathed — are rallying around their leader and gearing up for a public relations battle.

September 16, 2014

Trump Plaza closes after long decline: ‘They had no bedspreads’

For Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, it's lights out — but its closure, the fourth casino to shutter operations on the Boardwalk this year, is hardly a surprise.

September 16, 2014

Syrian aircraft crashes in Islamic State-held city, killing family

A plane belonging to the Syrian military crashed in the northeastern city of Raqqa, a site held by members of the terror group, Islamic State.

September 16, 2014

Oscar Pistorius’ judge faces threats for not-guilty murder verdict

The judge who issued Oscar Pistorius a not-guilty finding for murder — but guilty verdict for culpable homicide — is now facing harsh criticisms and even threats, and police have circled to protect her.

September 16, 2014