The Homeland Security Department is unveiling an update to the National Terrorism Advisory system and issuing its first “bulletin.” Secretary Jeh Johnson says adding a bulletin to the alert system is an effort to better inform the public about evolving terrorist threats. Wednesday’s bulletin, reminding people of ongoing concerns over… Read More

A man shown in a surveillance video crashing his pickup into the front desk of a northwestern Oklahoma hotel and nearly hitting two women is facing charges. The Enid News and Eagle reports the incident happened last Thursday at Alva Comfort Inn and Suites after a bill dispute. Police say… Read More

A Texas school district is reviewing a sixth-grade assignment that had students make a step-by-step plan showing how cocaine gets from a drug cartel to a street dealer. KTVT-TV reports that a teacher in Keller, northeast of Fort Worth, gave out a science class assignment called “The Cocaine Trade: From… Read More

It’s not every day that justice is so sweet. Deputies say a wife thought her husband was having an affair when she found a 22-year-old woman wearing his pajamas. Turns out the woman was just hiding from the law. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday… Read More

While big-city jails get most of the attention, lockups in small and medium-sized counties have actually driven the overall explosion in the U.S. inmate population, according to a new analysis of 45 years of jail statistics. U.S. jails now hold nearly 700,000 inmates on any given day, up from 157,000… Read More

Northern California authorities say a driver is lucky to be alive after a large metal beam pierced the windshield of his SUV while on a San Jose freeway. San Jose Fire Department Capt. Christopher Salcido says the beam fell off of a flatbed truck, crashing through the windshield and lodging… Read More

Merriam-Webster has picked a small but powerful suffix as word of the year: ism. But not just any ism. The top isms to earn high traffic spikes and big bumps in lookups on the dictionary company’s website in 2015 over the year before are socialism, fascism, racism, feminism, communism, capitalism… Read More

Pete Rose’s application for reinstatement to baseball was rejected Monday by Commissioner Rob Manfred, who concluded the career hits leader continued to gamble even while trying to end his lifetime ban and would be a risk to the sport’s integrity if allowed back in the game. Rose agreed to the ban… Read More

Seattle on Monday became the first city in the nation to allow drivers of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions. Supporters erupted into cheers after the City Council voted 8-0 in favor of the legislation, which is seen as a test case… Read More

Fire tore through a 96-foot-tall Christmas tree outside a Southern California hotel, sending a bright chute of flames and then smoke into the air. The tree outside the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa was destroyed early Monday. Photos showed just its burned-out shell still standing at the hotel… Read More