Crews make gains against New Mexico wildfire, largest in US

Crews are making progress in stopping the nation’s largest active wildfire from spreading

ByPaul Davenport Associated Press

May 31, 2022, 2:02 AM

1:13

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Crews were making progress in stopping the nation's largest active wildfire from spreading on Monday, the fourth straight day of warnings of extreme fire conditions in northern New Mexico.

The nearly 8-week-old fire was surrounded by containment lines cut and scraped around half of of its perimeter, enclosing 493 square miles (1,276 square kilometers) of forested mountains and foothills east of Santa Fe.

Nearly 3,000 firefighters and other personnel were assigned to the blaze, the largest in New Mexico's recorded history.

Red flag warnings were issued for Saturday through Monday because of high winds and low humidity, but crews backed by bulldozers and aircraft dropping water by midday Monday were able to jump on hot spots and allow only minimal growth, officials said.

With forecasts calling for improved weather conditions beginning Tuesday, fire officials said they were reducing the frequency of livestreamed evening “community meeting" briefings from daily to three times a week.

“This change is a direct result of the positive progress firefighters have made in containing this fire and limiting fire growth,” officials said in a statement.

In another reflection of gains make to check the fire's growth, San Miguel County on Saturday lifted evacuation orders for several areas on the fire's western flank and downgraded pre-evacuation warnings in others.

Thunderstorms could develop in the area during a period beginning Wednesday night and ending Friday, said incident meteorologist Bruno Rodriguez. However, “we're not expecting widespread, wetting rain with it."

Initial estimates say the fire has destroyed at least 330 homes but state officials expect the number of homes and other structures that have burned to rise to more than 1,000 as more assessments are done.

The fire started in early April as a result of prescribed burns that either got of control or smoldered for months before bursting in to flames with drier and warmer weather.

Most of the large fires so far this spring have been in Arizona and New Mexico in a region where many fire managers have described forests as “ripe and ready to burn” due to a megadrought that has spanned decades and warm and windy conditions brought on by climate change.

Man who won $10M lottery prize sentenced to life in prison

 Man who won $10M lottery prize sentenced to life in prison

A North Carolina man who won a $10 million lottery prize in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2020 fatal shooting of his girlfriend

ByThe Associated Press

May 31, 2022, 1:43 AM

BOLIVIA, N.C. -- A North Carolina man who won a $10 million lottery prize in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2020 fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

The News & Observer reports that Michael Todd Hill, 54, of Leland, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced Friday in the killing of 23-year-old Keonna Graham of Navassa. Graham was reported missing on July 20, 2020. She was later found dead in a hotel with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

In a news release from the 15th Prosecutorial District of North Carolina, prosecutors said surveillance footage from the hotel showed Hill was the only person in the room with Graham. They said Hill later confessed to shooting Graham after she had been texting with other men while at the hotel.

Hill won $10 million from a scratch-off ticket in August 2017, WECT-TV reported.

Cops: Gunfire at Phoenix house party kills 1 and injures 5

Phoenix police say gunfire erupted over the weekend at a house party, killing a young man and injuring five teenagers

Video byNam Cho

ByThe Associated Press

May 30, 2022, 11:25 PM

2:18

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PHOENIX -- Gunfire erupted at a weekend house party in Phoenix, killing one young man and injuring five teens, police said.

Phoenix police said Monday that they are trying to determine what led up to the shooting overnight Saturday into Sunday. Neighbors told KNXV-TV that they heard multiple gunshots before several vehicles drove away from the scene.

Police said the gunfire killed an 18-year-old man and five other people ranging in age from 16 to 18 were wounded.

No identities were released and a police statement provided no details about the injuries of the people who were wounded.

There was no information provided about a suspect or suspects but investigators were appealing for information from the public.

 Police: 6 wounded in Tennessee shooting were children

Police say six people wounded in weekend gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, business district were all children

ByThe Associated Press

May 30, 2022, 11:14 PM

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Six people wounded in weekend gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, business district were all children, police said Monday.

Five of the victims were 15 and one was 13, Chattanooga Police said in a statement.

Officers were patrolling the area Saturday night when they heard gunfire and responded to find multiple people shooting weapons and numerous people fleeing the area. Some officers provided first aid while others began securing the scene, the statement said.

The shooting involved two groups of people that appeared to be advancing toward each other at the beginning of an altercation when two individuals in one group pull guns and fired at the other group, police said.

Authorities believe one or more teens were targeted, but that some victims were hit unintentionally.

The area, dotted with residential buildings, has restaurants and shops within walking distance and is popular with tourists.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Chattanooga Police Department, authorities said.

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California man, 78, gets high school diploma 6 decades later

California man, 78, gets high school diploma 6 decades later

For 60 years, Ted Sams regretted missing his high school graduation

ByThe Associated Press

May 31, 2022, 2:04 AM

PASADENA, Calif. -- For 60 years, Ted Sams regretted missing his high school graduation.

Now 78, Sams can finally call himself a graduate after donning a cap and gown and receiving his diploma Friday with the class of 2022 at Southern California's San Gabriel High School.

Back in 1962 when he was a high school senior, Sams got in trouble and was suspended five days before the end of the school year. He said he missed a crucial final exam and had to make it up over the summer.

“When I went back with my grade, they wouldn’t give me my diploma because I owed $4.80 for a book," Sams told KABC-TV. “And so I just walked away and said forget it.”

The school still had Sams’ original diploma locked away in an old filing cabinet. He beamed as he walked across the graduation stage at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and received the diploma.

“Over the years, I complained to my kids a number of times about how $4.80 kept me from having my diploma,” he said.

Sams said he plans on hanging the diploma on a wall at his home.

Cops investigate swastika painted on Black Missouri church

Cops investigate swastika painted on Black Missouri church

A black swastika was painted on the outside wall of an historically Black church in southwestern Missouri and police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime

ByThe Associated Press

May 27, 2022, 11:43 PM

3:38

On Location: May 27, 2022

Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A black swastika was painted on the outside wall of an historically Black church in southwestern Missouri and police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.

Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church in Springfield reported that the swastika was spray painted on the building on May 18 or 19. The NAACP and the Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the vandalism. A county parks crew removed the swastika.

During a news conference with the NAACP at the church Friday, the pastor, the Rev. Tracy Wolff, said her congregation was particularly disturbed that their church was targeted given recent violent hate crimes nationwide, including the deadly mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, that investigators have said was racially motivated.

“I want to be clear that this is not simply tagging. This is not graffiti. This is not vandalism," Wolff said. "This was a hate crime, and it is unacceptable.”

Pitts Chapel is Springfield's oldest historically Black church, Wolff said. It was founded in 1847 by a group of enslaved Africans.

“Though we are historically Black, on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m., we’re becoming one of the most diverse places in town. I don’t think a lot of people know that," she said.

Police have not identified a suspect and are asking witnesses or anyone with information to contact police. In the meantime, Wolff said, the church is beefing up security.

California investigating sick and dying brown pelicans

 California investigating sick and dying brown pelicans

Wildlife authorities are trying to determine why large numbers of California brown pelicans are being found sick and dying

ByThe Associated Press

May 28, 2022, 12:05 AM

3:38

On Location: May 27, 2022

Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.

LOS ANGELES -- Wildlife authorities are trying to determine why large numbers of California brown pelicans are being found sick and dying.

Hundreds of the pelicans, which are a protected species in the state, have been admitted to wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Southern and Central California since about May 13, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

“The pelicans have been found emaciated and frequently with secondary injuries or broken wings. Many of these birds died shortly after arrival at a facility,” it said.

Results of postmortem examinations and testing of pelicans brought to rehabilitation facilities indicate the birds are dying from starvation-related problems, and there are no indications of disease or unusual parasites.

“CDFW is unable to provide information on the underlying cause of this event at this time,” the department said.

The brown pelicans are an important part of the Pacific Coast ecosystem, feeding on northern anchovy, Pacific sardine and mackerel.

Wildlife authorities urged the public to call a local wildlife rehabilitation facility if they see a sick or injured pelican, and also email the state Wildlife Health Laboratory. But they cautioned people to not touch or try to feed the birds.

People can use an online mortality reporting form when they find a dead pelican.

The impact of the pesticide DDT, which caused eggshell thinning, led to the listing of California brown pelicans as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1970.

After DDT was banned, the species recovered and was removed from the U.S. endangered list in 2009. It remains protected under state law.

Man gets life in prison, plus 45 years, in beheading case

 Man gets life in prison, plus 45 years, in beheading case

A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was has been sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years

ByHolly Ramer Associated Press

May 28, 2022, 1:26 AM

FILE - Armando Barron looks toward the jury during the first day of his trial at Cheshire County Superior Court, on May 17, 2022 in Keene, N.H. A jury on Thursday, May 26, 2022, convicted Barron of first-degree murder for killing his wife’s cowork...

The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. -- A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 45 years.

Armando Barron, 32, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. A judge imposed additional time as recommended by prosecutors for other crimes, including kidnapping, criminal solicitation and assault.

“Your actions were brutal. They were also horrific, they were selfish, and they were completely senseless,” Judge Elizabeth Leonard told Barron. “The abject cruelty, the pain and suffering and all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night is unfathomable.”

Barron was accused of assaulting his wife after discovering she had been texting with her co-worker, 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault, in September 2020. Prosecutors said he used his wife’s cellphone to lure Amerault to a park, where he beat and kicked him before forcing him into his own car and fatally shooting him.

Barron's lawyers argued that his wife shot Amerault, which she denied.

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Britany Barron, 33, testified that after Amerault was shot, she was forced to drive the car 200 miles (320 kilometers) north to a remote campsite, with Armando following behind her. There, she said, she was forced to behead Amerault. Her husband eventually left her at the site, telling her to dispose of the body, she testified.

Their voices shaking with anger and sadness, Amerault’s parents both called Barron a disgusting leech Friday.

“The only good thing I see about all this heinous, heinous crime is that you are not 40 years old, 50 or 60, but only 30 years old. You have a long, long time to fade away and rot in prison,” Kenny Amerault said.

“My son Jonathan was a thousand times more of a man than this lowlife could ever even dream of being,” Justine Amerault said. “The loss of Jonathan to this world is incredibly sad.

"But the saddest part of all is that in spite of him being surrounded by so many wonderful people, this evil creature just slithered right through us all and took him from us. And the last hours of Jonathan’s beautiful life were in the company of this ugly, hideous, demented creature.”

Barron, who did not speak at the sentencing hearing, plans to appeal his convictions, his lawyer said.

The Associated Press had previously not been naming the couple in order not to identify Britany Barron, who said she suffered extreme abuse. Through her lawyer, she recently agreed to the use of her name.