ASTRONAUT BREAKS U.S. SPACE RECORD
cape canaveral, fla.» Astronaut Peggy Whitson on Monday broke the U.S. record for most time in space and talked up Mars during a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump.
The International Space Station’s commander surpassed the record of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes for most accumulated time in space by an American.
“This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight,” Trump said. His daughter and close adviser, Ivanka Trump, also offered congratulations to Whitson from the Oval Office.
Whitson said it’s “a huge honor” to break such a record. “It’s an exciting time” as NASA prepares for human expeditions to Mars in the 2030s, the astronaut said.
Arkansas executes two inmates in one night B
little rock, ark.» Arkansas has put to death inmate Marcel Williams, marking the first double execution in the United States since 2000.
Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m. Monday, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. Inmate Jack Jones was executed earlier in the evening.
Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he’d kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas. The state had scheduled eight executions over an 11-day period before the end of April, when its supply of one lethal injection drug expires. One inmate was put to death last week, though the first three executions were canceled because of court rulings.
Criticism over State Depatment’s Mar-a-Lago promotion. The U.S.
State Department has removed its promotional posting about President Donald Trump’s resort in South Florida, after a storm of ethics criticism Monday.
In an April 4 blog post that was republished by several U.S. embassies abroad, Mar-a-Lago was described as “Trump’s Florida estate,” where he has hosted foreign leaders. “By visiting this ‘winter White House,’ Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer,” the post said.
Left unsaid: Mar-a-Lago is part of Trump’s business empire. After his election, the resort doubled its membership fee to $200,000. As president, Trump has visited the property seven times, and its restaurant fills up when he’s in town.
The State Department said late Monday its intention was “to inform the public about where the president has been hosting world leaders” and that it regrets “any misperception.”
B tiller, ore.» Almost an entire Oregon town is for sale for $3.5 million — or about $3.9 million if you also want the local elementary school, which is a separate deal.
The tiny community of Tiller, encircled by the Umpqua National Forest, has been shrinking since environmental rules sharply curtailed logging on federal forest land several decades ago.
As the timber mill closed and people moved away, one longtime resident bought up properties, and now his estate is selling them all.
Oregon town for sale
B tallahassee, fla.» Florida is making it easier for people to help remove invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials announced Monday new incentives to report and remove the giant constrictors blamed for decimating populations of native animals.
Under the Python Pickup Program, anyone submitting the location and a photograph of a python removal on certain state-managed lands will receive a T-shirt and be entered into monthly prize drawings.
T-shirts for python hunters China urges restraint over North Korea B As the
washington» world braces for a possible North Korean nuclear test, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Donald Trump. America’s U.N. envoy warned of a strike if Pyongyang attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Xi’s phone call with Trump came amid signs that Pyongyang could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test explosion since 2006, or the latest in a rapid series of missile tests.