A Los Angeles hospital paid a ransom of about $17,000 to hackers who infiltrated and disabled its computer network because paying was in the best interest of the hospital and the most efficient way to solve the problem, the medical center’s chief executive said Wednesday. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid… Read More

When he was in second grade, Denny Hamlin wrote a letter to himself wishing for a Daytona 500 victory. His childlike cursive stated he wanted to win the race in 1998. Hamlin had to wait considerably longer, just not as long as team owner Joe Gibbs. With a Hail Mary… Read More

Oregon lawmakers have approved landmark legislation that propels the state’s minimum wage for all workers to the highest rank in the U.S., and does so through an unparalleled tiered system based on geography. The state House of Representatives on Thursday passed Senate Bill 1532, which now heads to Democratic Gov…. Read More

Iowa State University researchers are moving ahead with a long-delayed project in which a dozen students will be paid to eat genetically modified bananas. The Des Moines Register reports that the bananas were developed by scientists at Queensland University of Technology in Australia and have a gene that’s supposed to help… Read More

The federal government is using eye scans and facial recognition technology for the first time to verify the identities of foreigners leaving the United States on foot — a trial move aimed at closing a longstanding security gap, officials announced Thursday. Before now, foreigners who left the country were rarely… Read More

Police say an 81-year-old Pennsylvania woman chased down robbers who stole her purse, ramming their car with hers and leaving damage that helped officers apprehend them. The woman was sitting her car in her Mount Pocono driveway on Tuesday when she was approached by a man and woman. As she… Read More

Bill Cosby is demanding that the accuser in his criminal case repay a confidential sex-abuse settlement because she cooperated with police who reopened the case and arrested him last year. Cosby filed a sealed breach-of-contract lawsuit this month that said the settlement barred Andrea Constand from “voluntarily” discussing the case… Read More

A man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing his mother two days after he completed a 30-year prison sentence for killing a neighbor. Steven Pratt pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing Gwendolyn Pratt, 64, at their Atlantic City home in October 2014. An autopsy found that she died from massive… Read More

A suburban New York family is seeking snow donations to help its 14-foot snowman last until spring — and some cold weather would help, too. Newsday reports that members of the Fregoe family of Massapequa Park wrapped their indomitable snowman tightly in plastic before heavy rain hit Monday. Then 51-year-old Mike… Read More