ONE ACQUITTED IN DEADLY FIRE IN WAREHOUSE
» A jury on OAK L A ND , C A LIF .
Thursday acquitted one man of involuntary manslaughter but could not reach a verdict for the leader of an artists’ commune accused of turning a San Francisco Bay Area warehouse into a cluttered maze that trapped 36 partygoers during a fastmoving fire Dec. 2, 2016.
Sobs erupted from family and friends of the victims who have packed the courtroom for the emotional three-month trial. Relatives had objected to a plea agreement last year that would have put both men in prison for several years, saying the sentences were too lenient.
Jurors found Max Harris, 29, not guilty but said they could not unanimously agree on whether to convict or acquit Derick Almena, 49, of involuntary manslaughter after deliberating since Aug. 26.
U.S. investigation of priest sex abuse produces first charges.
PHIL A DELPHI
Federal prosecutors A filed their first charges Thursday in a sweeping investigation of child sexual abuse by clerics in Pennsylvania, accusing a former Roman Catholic priest of lying to the FBI about whether he knew an accuser and his family.
Robert Brennan, 81, was arrested in Maryland, authorities said.
Brennan told FBI agents in April that he did not know accuser Sean McIlmail from his years at a northeast Philadelphia parish from 1993 to 2004, according to the indictment.
Brennan was indicted on related state sexual assault charges in 2013.
Singer says opera’s Domingo harassed her, grabbed her breast.
Weeks after The Associated Press published a story outlining allegations of harassment against opera star Placido Domingo, 11 more women have come forward to say that the singer groped, harassed them or behaved inappropriately.
One singer said Domingo grabbed her breast under her robe in an opera company makeup room.
In a statement, Domingo’s spokeswoman called the allegations “riddled with inconsistencies” but provided no specifics.
U.S. woman arrested at Manila airport with newborn in bag charged with human trafficking.
PHILIPPINES» An
M A NIL A,
American woman who attempted to carry a 6day-old baby out of the Philippines hidden inside a sling bag has been arrested at Manila’s airport and charged with human trafficking, officials said Thursday.
They said Jennifer Erin Talbot was able to pass through the airport immigration counter Wednesday without declaring the baby boy but was intercepted at the boarding gate by airline personnel.
Scientists monitoring new marine heat wave.
TTLE» Federal scientists SE A said Thursday they are monitoring a new ocean heat wave off the West Coast, a development that could disrupt marine life including salmon, whales and sea lions.
The expanse of unusually warm water stretches from Alaska to California, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. It resembles a similar heat wave about five years ago that was blamed for poorer survival rates for young salmon, more humpback whales becoming entangled in fishing gear as they hunted closer to shore, and an algae bloom that shut down crabbing and clamming.
“Given the magnitude of what we saw last time, we want to know if this evolves on a similar path,” said Chris Harvey, a scientist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
NOAA said the water has reached temperatures more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit above average. — Denver Post wire services