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10/06/2026

Felon admits to importing radioactive material from Russia, illegally selling to dozens of US customers
A convicted Massachusetts pe*****le admitted to illegally importing radioactive materials from Russia and selling them across the US, according to authorities.

Jacob D. Miller, 44, pleaded guilty to importing dangerous plutonium from Russia and mailing it to his home in South Hadley for his business called “Collect The Periodic Table,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Monday.

Miller was convicted in February 2004 of possessing child po*******hy and possessing an explosive device and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and 10 years of probation, federal prosecutors said.

After his release, he started Collect The Periodic Table, selling samples of elements, including radioactive plutonium and the highly toxic element thallium.

Miller sold the elements directly through his business and through an online third-party retailer, Bonanza, officials added.

The creep entrepreneur sold plutonium to roughly 67 customers between Dec. 30, 2020, and March 31, 2025 — even shipping the radioactive element through the US mail, prosecutors said.

He also sold thallium to a whopping 71 customers throughout the US, according to the feds.

Plutonium is a radioactive, silver metal that can be used for nuclear weapons. It is a deadly poison if it enters one’s body through inhalation, open wounds, or ingestion. Thallium is an extremely toxic heavy metal that is odorless, tasteless, and slow-acting.

During an April 2025 search of Miller’s home, investigators uncovered a box containing bottles of explosive powder, numerous rounds of am******on, and six fi****ms he illegally owned, prosecutors said.

Authorities also disturbingly unearthed more child s*x abuse material from his laptop and cell phone, which he had accessed as recently as the day before the search warrant.

A grand jury indicted him on April 17, and he has been behind bars since his arrest that month, according to court filings.

The convicted felon has pleaded guilty to a slew of charges, including one count of being a felon in possession of am******on, one count of being a felon in possession of explosive materials, one count of importing nuclear material without lawful authority, one count of mailing hazardous materials, and one count of possession of child po*******hy.

Miller is slated to be sentenced by US District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni on Jan. 21, 2027.

10/06/2026

Florida man who fatally shot 15-year-old boy looking for phone won’t be charged: cops

A man who fatally shot a teen searching for his phone in a gated Florida community will not be criminally charged, according to authorities.

The shooter, who is in his mid-20s, fatally gunned down the high-school freshman — identified by family as 15-year-old Heitor Amaral — in a Tampa apartment complex Sept. 20, said the Tampa Police Department and Tampa Bay Times.

Investigators have concluded that they will not be able to charge the unidentified gun-wielding resident based on a “comprehensive review of the evidence,” police announced Thursday.

Heitor lost his cellphone and teamed up with two of his friends later that day to locate it — using tracking-technology pings to trace it to the complex on River Willow Place, cops said.

After complying with a request to move the vehicle, they went door-to-door to ask questions and, after receiving no answer at a resident’s door, entered an enclosed back patio and banged on a glass sliding door, police said.

The unidentified resident put on a mask and armed himself to scare off the teens, and as two of them fled, a “physical altercation” broke out between Amaral and the resident.

The gun-wielding man told investigators that Amaral placed him in a headlock — spurring him to discharge a single round at the boy in fear for his life.

Amaral was critically injured by the gunshot and died of his injuries at the scene.

The Tampa Police Department presented its probe into the deadly shooting to the state’s attorney’s office, which determined that it would be unable to refute that the man shot the 15-year-old in self-defense.

“We recognize the profound pain and concern this tragedy has caused for the family and friends of those involved, and for our entire community,” the department wrote in a statement.

Cops did not release the boy’s name, but his sister, Maysa Amaral, told the Tampa Bay Times that her brother, who had just started his freshman year of high school, was the teen who died.

Yessenia Gonzalez, whose son Julio, 16, was with Amaral on the boys’ crusade to find the missing phone, claimed that there was no physical altercation before the shooting and that the group was all running before the resident opened fire.

“I want the truth out there,” Gonzalez told the outlet. “There was no fighting. These kids had no weapons.

“My son said, ‘I don’t know what scared me more, the guy wearing a mask in his own house or the gun,’ ” the mother added, stating her son described the shooter as looking like he “had a new toy” and was “jumping up and down” ready to use the fi***rm.

Gonzalez and Maysa Amaral said her brother, who was short and skinny, was not the type to start a fight.

The heartbroken sister said her brother was the youngest of three children, always did his chores, loved playing video games and enjoyed riding an electric bike his father gave him.

“He was such a good kid,” Maysa Amaral said. “He absolutely did not deserve what happened to him.”

A GoFundMe she started for Amaral’s funeral costs and funds for his family to hire a lawyer has raised more than $6,000 of its $10,000 goal.

“I want people to know that my brother was a loving and caring kid who had so much more life ahead of him, and now he is resting,” the fundraiser said.

10/06/2026

Nobu chef killed on PCH as speeding teen crashes into him
A longtime chef at the famed Nobu Malibu restaurant was killed in a multi-vehicle crash early Saturday after a teenage driver slammed into his parked car on Pacific Coast Highway, The California Post has learned.

The 51-year-old chef, who had been with the restaurant from its early days, was found dead in the back seat of a vehicle after the crash around 7 a.m. near Carbon Canyon Road, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The chef had reportedly arrived early for work and fallen asleep in his car. He was preparing for a catering job in Santa Monica, sources told The Post. Restaurant staff said he had worked at the Malibu location the night before.
The crash involved a sport utility vehicle driven by a 16-year-old boy, who was traveling eastbound on PCH at what appeared to be above the speed limit, a sheriff’s watch commander told The Post.

The SUV reportedly veered across the road’s fog line, the white stripe separating the traffic lane from the shoulder, and struck the parked vehicle. The impact sent that car into another vehicle, which was pushed into a third.

According to 99.1 FM, the teenager was driving at least 50 mph when he swerved and hit the parked car.

The chef’s identity has not been released.

The deadly collision unfolded just steps from Nobu Malibu, the celebrity-favorite restaurant perched along the coast that has become a destination for high-end Japanese cuisine and oceanfront dining. The restaurant, known for its sushi, signature black cod miso and celebrity clientele, was closed Saturday as staff grappled with the loss.

The scene was somber, with sheriff’s deputies cordoning off part of PCH with crime scene tape as detectives investigated. Photos from the scene showed a black sedan with extensive front-end damage.

The California Highway Patrol issued a Sigalert at 7:51 a.m., shutting down the two left lanes for an undetermined amount of time.

The crash marks another devastating loss for California’s restaurant industry. In April, Rainer Schwarz, 59, the co-owner and executive chef behind Laguna Beach favorites Driftwood Kitchen and The Deck on Laguna Beach, died in a crash in Dana Point.

For the Nobu Malibu team, Saturday’s tragedy struck especially close to home, taking the life of a chef who had helped build the restaurant’s operation and was still preparing to serve its next meal.

10/06/2026

LA’s Italian festival is abruptly cancelled as popular comedian and founder dies suddenly
Los Angeles’ popular LA Italian Festival was abruptly cancelled after it’s founder died suddenly on the eve of the eighth edition.

Joey Sorice, the CEO of the festival and a comedian, suffered a heart attack at his home Saturday morning, organizers announced.

The event was supposed to have been held at the iconic intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, on Sunday, Oct. 4.

A member of the organizing team posted on Instagram, requesting people to share cancellation information at the festival venue if people still showed despite the last minute cancellation.

“I was able to contact the food vendors to cancel them but I was unable to find where Joey kept the information on merchandise vendors,” the team member wrote.

“We were just preparing a piece about tomorrow’s festival when we heard this sad news. May his family find peace, and may his legacy live on in further years at the festival he so loved,” the Little Italy Podcast posted.

However, some disappointed would-be attendees said organizers should have gone ahead with the festival.

“Wouldn’t it make sense to hold the event in his honor?,” Caitlin Haurie commented on Instragram.

Sorice was widely recognized as half of the comedy team Jimmy and Joey, a duo whose impact earned them a permanent spot on the walls of The Comedy Store.

The duo had also auditioned for season 10 of America’s Got Talent.
Members of the local entertainment community and comedy scene in LA mourned his loss. Ron Swallow, a fellow comedian, called him an “interesting guy” and that “the world will be a little less jolly and hopeful without him.”

“We have done some of the craziest gigs and I watched his duo act crush in rooms that made no sense for it to crush in. I’m sad that I’ll never get a call asking me to do some wild ass project with him,” Swallow posted on social media.

10/06/2026

Coast Guard suspends search for Boston-bound plane that vanished off coast of Nantucket

The US Coast Guard is suspending its search for a medical transfer plane that mysteriously disappeared off Nantucket over the weekend, just after the agency discovered debris from the craft floating in the ocean near the Massachusetts island.

The Coast Guard made the difficult call Sunday evening, more than 40 hours after the Gulfstream G100 twinjet, carrying six passengers from Bermuda, lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration before it was scheduled to land in Boston around 1:30 a.m.

“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, Commander of the Northeast District, said in a statement.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragedy and our gratitude for our partner agencies who helped support search efforts,” he continued.

Six people were on board — four Canadians, including two medics and two pilots, as well as a Bermudian patient and their relative, the Coast Guard and Latitude Air Ambulance, the missing plane’s owner said.
The air ambulance, which was making its way from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport to Boston Logan International Airport, disappeared off FAA radar just before its scheduled landing, officials said.
The missing craft reportedly plummeted from 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet in just three minutes, not long before it vanished, according to FlightAware data.

Chilling audio captured the plane’s last muffled communications with air traffic controllers, appearing to possibly declare an emergency before abruptly losing communication with the controller.
The Coast Guard sifted through debris floating in the ocean to identify the plane Saturday night, before calling off the search the following day.

Officials said the missing passengers’ next of kin have been notified of the end of the search, and that an investigation into what happened to the plane will follow.

10/06/2026

Arrestee, 54, dies after experiencing medical episode in custody at NYPD precinct

A man arrested by the NYPD on drug charges died a day after experiencing a medical episode while being detained at a Brooklyn precinct, police said.

Reginald Newkirk, 54, was being held at the 67th Precinct in Flatbush while awaiting transfer to criminal court for his arraignment when his health rapidly declined, according to the NYPD.

Emergency responders rushed Newkirk, of Brooklyn, to a local hospital just before 2:15 p.m. on Saturday with an unspecified illness, cops said.

He remained in the hospital and was pronounced dead on Sunday, police said. His cause of death is not yet known.

Newkirk was arrested on Friday for criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to court records.

His death follows that of a 46-year-old detainee on Sept. 9, who suffered a medical episode inside the Central Courts Building in Downtown Brooklyn and died, AMNY reported.

In April, Hector Sierra, 51, and Zamiqua Miller, 33, both died after suffering withdrawal symptoms in NYPD custody, police said.

The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division will investigate Newkirk’s death.

10/06/2026

Out-of-control hayride tractor crashes, injuring 14 — including 3 critically — at upstate NY youth outing

An out-of-control tractor pulling a hayride flipped and crashed at a weekly youth outing in upstate New York Sunday, leaving three people in critical condition and over a dozen others injured, according to cops and local reports.

The hayride was carrying 19 people — mostly children — when it rolled while attempting to make a turn around 4:30 p.m. in Wellsburg, a small village just across the Pennsylvania border, WENY reported.

The John Deere driver was pulling the hay wagon down Comfort Hill Road toward Berwick Turnpike when the tractor tried to turn at an intersection too fast, Chemung County Sheriff Bill Schrom said.
The tractor appeared to lose control as it sped toward the intersection and the driver swerved to the right, causing it to overturn and the wagon to disconnect — and eject everyone on board, Schrom told the New York Times.
At least 14 people were injured, Schrom said. One individual was airlifted to a hospital and at least five others were transported to Robert Packer Hospital by ambulance. Another eight were taken to the hospital by private means.

Three of the wounded are in critical condition, RochesterFirst reported.

It’s unclear how many of the injured are children, but witnesses said most of the riders were kids.

The group taking the hayride were German Baptists, a religious Anabaptist sect that was holding a youth gathering the day of the crash, RochesterFirst reported.

Authorities said that an investigation is ongoing to determine what led up to the crash.

10/05/2026

High school runners stumble upon human remains at NY park, possibly solving year-long missing person’s case

A teen who disturbingly stumbled upon human remains in a quaint Long Island park may have helped solve a year-long missing persons case.

A local high school track team was running on trails through Plandome Pond Park in Manhasset around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday when one runner, an Eagle Scout, spotted skeletal remains in the brush, according to the Nassau County Police Department and NBC New York.

They were running adjacent to the train tracks, and they were coming through to the park. He discovered the remains,” Plandome Heights Mayor Kenneth Riscica told the outlet.

Cops are now probing whether the remains belong to Shi Hua Xu, a 79-year-old grandmother who vanished from her home in the neighboring town of Great Neck in December 2025.
She was not wearing her tracker on the day she disappeared, and her family has been desperately searching for her ever since.

“It is a female. We are looking to positively identify the body by the end of the day. We don’t believe it to be criminal in nature,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told the outlet.

The missing grandmother’s family has positively identified a piece of clothing recovered at the scene as belonging to Xu, according to the report.

The medical examiner’s office is awaiting positive identification from DNA testing to confirm whether the body was Xu.
Despite the grim discovery, the teen who found the remains told detectives he was “doing fine” and was happy to bring a family some closure.

“When the detectives asked him how he was doing, his response was ‘I’m doing fine. I only hope this brings closure to a family that lost someone’,” Riscica said.

10/05/2026

Portland teen faces terrorism, attempted murder charges after school cafeteria chemical scare

An Oregon high school cafeteria chemical scare that left a student in critical condition has escalated into a domestic terrorism and attempted murder case against the same teenager school staff rushed to save.

The 15-year-old Benson Polytechnic High School student faces 19 criminal counts after authorities said he brought chemicals from home and mixed them inside the Portland school Sept. 8, releasing toxic gases that endangered students and staff.

“Safety in our schools is not something that can be negotiated,” Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said during an Oct. 2 news conference.

“That violence or the threat of violence in a school… it doesn’t just stay in that building. It follows families home. It sits at the dinner table with them.”

Investigators uncovered “concerning behaviors and statements” before the incident, including an interest in hazardous chemicals, explosives and violence, Portland Police Bureau Public Information Manager Mike Benner said.

The teenager, whose name has not been released because of his age, faces 10 counts of attempted aggravated murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder, one count of first-degree domestic terrorism and one count of second-degree domestic terrorism.

Additional charges include unlawfully manufacturing and possessing a destructive device, possessing a weapon in a public building, unlawfully using a weapon and recklessly endangering another person.

The teen’s lawyers denied the allegations and said he is receiving treatment at an inpatient mental health facility, The New York Times reported.

Vasquez said his office would seek to move the case from juvenile court to adult court, emphasizing the safety of the students and staff.

“And I want to be clear, they’re teenagers, but these are children, and they deserve a safe environment,” he said.

But the prosecutor sharply criticized what he called a broader failing of Oregon’s juvenile system, which ends its oversight at age 25 even if the person still poses a danger to the public.

“I think that that is wrong,” Vasquez said, arguing that the cutoff fails to account for the danger someone convicted of multiple killings or domestic terrorism could still present.

“I’m looking at conduct and how dangerous that is and what I consider to be safe for the community going forward,” he said.

The chemical incident unfolded shortly before 8:30 a.m. while numerous students and staff were near the teenager, Assistant Chief of Investigations Franz Schoening said.

Teachers and administrators moved students away as the school nurse began treating the teen before first responders arrived. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition but survived.

“Those first few moments were critical in preventing further harm and lives being lost,” Schoening said.

More than 100 students and staff were assessed after evacuating, and at least seven required medical care following the incident, he said.

Sgt. Jim DeFrain, who supervises the investigation and the Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit, said initial testing indicated the presence of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas.

An Oregon National Guard team agreed with that assessment. Samples were sent to an FBI laboratory for further testing, with results still pending at the time of the briefing, DeFrain said.

The FBI was also examining electronic equipment seized during searches.

Vasquez said the investigation remained open and that anyone else found to have criminal involvement could face charges.

“If we determine or find any links, if there are people that can be charged, this office will charge them,” he said.

10/05/2026

Mayor Karen Bass and rival Nithya Raman square off at contentious rally as final sprint to election day approaches

Mayor Karen Bass and Nithya Raman turned a South Los Angeles campaign forum into a preview of the increasingly bitter fight for City Hall, with the challenger accusing the mayor of wrecking the city’s finances and Bass firing back that Raman simply isn’t telling the truth.

Bass and City Council member Raman took turns hammering each other the KBLA Talk 1580 Town Hall and Ballot Forum on Saturday at the SEED School in South LA, hosted by Tavis Smiley, with Election Day just a month away.

Raman, who represents the 4th District, argued that basic city services have deteriorated under Bass, pointing to trash, graffiti and potholes.

“Our quality of life is worse today than it was just a few years ago. But we did not get to this moment by accident. In 2023, Mayor Bass led a contract to give LAPD raises that everyone in city hall knew our city simply could not afford,” Raman said.

“The police union is now funding her reelection campaign in return for receiving what their own leadership call the ‘the largest raises in LAPD history.”

Raman said the contract helped fuel the city’s budget crisis, pointing to a roughly $1 billion deficit and subsequent cuts to city services.
Raman also accused Bass of backing away from aggressive housing policies.

“On a debate stage with the Sherman Oaks homeowners association, Mayor Bass promised the audience that she would protect their communities by keeping housing out.”

Asked why she had turned against a mayor she once supported, Raman said she saw a pattern of what she called politically convenient decision-making at City Hall.

She accused Bass of making “politically convenient decisions” instead of “decisions that mattered for Angelenos.”

Bass, meanwhile, defended her record on homelessness and housing took direct aim at Raman.

Bass said after becoming mayor she found out how “profoundly” broken the homeless system was and argued that Los Angeles needs greater control over a system now split between the city and county.

“Right now the city of Los Angeles gets people housed, but then we want to move them out of interim housing into permanent housing,” Bass said. “But we don’t control who moves into permanent housing, the county does.”

She then took a swing at her opponent and claimed Raman’s record on affordable housing is poor.

“If you look, by council district, who has built the most affordable housing and the least, she’s number 14 out of 15,” Bass said, claiming this is an area where they are different.

Bass also hit back at Raman’s claim that the budget problems were due to the police raises, calling it a “lie.”

“I really think when you go to vote, you gotta vote for somebody that tells the truth,” Bass said.

Bass also accused Raman of taking credit for a 49% drop in homelessness in her district that the mayor said was driven by her Inside Safe program.

Smiley pointed that homelessness remains a major issue despite Bass making it a centerpiece of her 2022 campaign. Bass responded that homelessness has declined for two consecutive years and blamed some of the continuing pressure on reduced state funding.

But this year’s Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count showed the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city rose about 3.4%, while the unsheltered population jumped roughly 7.9%, reversing two consecutive years of declines.

The county has already begun mailing ballots ahead of the general election on Nov. 3, launching the final month of a packed election featuring contests not only for mayor but California governor and Congress, along with numerous local and statewide measures.

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