Cheryl K. Chumley

Confederate flag, blackface flaps lead Catholic school to expel 4

Administrators with a Catholic high school located on Long Island have given the boot to four students after finding two brought a Confederate flag to one school-sponsored event and the other two posted a blackface photo on a social media site.

April 17, 2014

California tourist community evacuated over suspected explosive device

Hundreds of homes and businesses in one community in the central region of California have been evacuated after local officials found what they believe could be an explosive device.

April 17, 2014

Obama to use executive seat to push private companies onto solar

President Obama on Thursday is set to issue what's being billed as a challenge to private businesses — but will likely come off more as an executive dictate — to start using solar power rather than coal-based energy sources.

April 17, 2014

‘X-Men’ director Bryan Singer accused of sexually abusing a boy

Bryan Singer, the director of "X-Men," has been accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a teenage boy 15 years ago.

April 17, 2014

Tennessee ammunition site explodes, killing 1

An explosion rocked a Tennessee plant where several ammunition businesses are based, leaving one dead and three injured.

April 17, 2014

Teen taking selfie by train: ‘Wow, that guy just kicked me in the head’

A thrill-seeking teenager who was trying to take a selfie with an oncoming train as a backdrop was handed a valuable life lesson when the conductor stuck out a quick leg and knocked him in the head.

April 16, 2014

Iran mulls ban on vasectomies, decrease on abortions to bolster population

Iran lawmakers say population levels are dropping — and to reverse that, they want to ban vasectomies and scale back abortions.

April 16, 2014

Alec Baldwin gets advice from Tracy Morgan: ‘Chill out, raise your family’

It's not just paparazzi and fed-up fans who think Hollywood's Alec Baldwin has been taking his frustration over media intrusions into his family life a bit too far.

April 16, 2014

Sneaky Nebraska toddler traps self inside claw machine game

A 3-year-old in Nebraska who wandered from his mother and skirted his apartment in Lincoln was discovered safe and sound at a nearby bowling alley — trapped inside the "Bear Claw" toy machine, playing with all the stuffed animals.

April 16, 2014

Michael Bloomberg: I’ve ‘earned my place in heaven’ for anti-gun crusade

Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, said it's his work for more gun control — along with his anti-smoking and healthy eating campaigns — that have won him God's favor and a sure spot behind the Pearly Gates.

April 16, 2014

US Airways declines to fire worker who tweeted porno pic: ‘Honest mistake’

US Airways announced that the employee who inadvertently sent out a picture of a naked woman posed in a sexual situation with a toy airplane in a Twitter reply to a complaining customer will not be fired.

April 16, 2014

Atheists rush to stage Easter display: ‘Jesus Christ is a myth’

An atheist group upset at a Concerned Women for America Easter display that includes a Christian cross and various anti-abortion materials has now countered with an addition of their own: A sign that labels Jesus Christ as nothing more than a myth.

April 16, 2014

Josh Romney swipes Harry Reid with photo tweet of dad paying taxes — ‘your paycheck’

Josh Romney took a quick potshot at Sen. Harry Reid this week with a Twitter post of his famous father, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, standing in line to pay his taxes.

April 16, 2014

Angry New Yorkers shred gun registrations in deadline day protests

Firearms' owners and Second Amendment activists in New York made it loud and clear to lawmakers that they weren't on board with a new gun registration law that took effect on Tax Day, gathering in downtown Buffalo and shredding the very documents they were supposed to fill out and sign.

April 16, 2014

Climate change causing fish to lose their minds, researchers say

Climate change's latest casualty appears to be fish — or more specifically, fish brains — as researchers say the carbon dioxide that's being absorbed into the ocean is causing the scaly creatures to lose their survival instincts.

April 16, 2014

Great Britain tops World’s Most Sexist Nation list

When it comes to sexist nations, Great Britain leads the world. That's the finding of a human rights expert from South Africa who reported her assessment to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

April 16, 2014

Aaron Hernandez investigated for threatening to kill prison guard

Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez is being investigated behind bars over allegations that he threatened to kill a prison guard over a dispute over food.

April 16, 2014

Russia’s Putin tells Germany’s Merkel that Ukraine is on the brink of civil war

Russia's President Vladimir Putin reportedly told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a quick telephone call that he thought the Ukrainian crisis had teetered toward the edge of civil war.

April 16, 2014

San Antonio mayor to Obama: Give amnesty to illegals with legal families

Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, said he wants President Obama to do for certain illegal immigrants who have been in the country 10 years or more the same thing he did for children of illegals — grant them amnesty.

April 16, 2014

NYPD disbands unit that spied on Muslims to go after ‘real bad guys’

The New York Police Department has disbanded its special unit that was tasked with putting Muslim communities under surveillance.

April 16, 2014