CNN – National

By Zoe Sottile, CNN In addition to a state dog (the Boston terrier) and a state bird (the chickadee), Massachusetts now has an official state dinosaur: the swift-footed lizard of Holyoke. On Wednesday, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, surrounded by a group of paleontologists and lawmakers, celebrated the law naming the swift-footed lizard, also known as

By Raja Razek and Sara Smart, CNN A single-engine airplane crashed into a home Friday evening near an airport in New Hampshire, killing both people on board, officials said. Although parts of the multifamily home where eight people lived erupted in flames following the crash, no fatalities were reported on the ground. “There were no

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Rusty, the red panda who made headlines in 2013 following his successful escape from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC, has died. Rusty escaped his enclosure at the National Zoo in June of 2013, as CNN reported at the time. City residents spotted the small panda wandering through DC’s trendy

By Shimon Prokupecz, Matthew J. Friedman, Rachel Clarke and Elizabeth Joseph, CNN Sgt. Juan Maldonado, a Texas state trooper who was among the first to respond to the Uvalde mass school shooting in May, has been fired from the state Department of Public Safety, spokesperson Ericka Miller told CNN on Friday. The public safety department

By Amanda Musa and Tina Burnside, CNN Authorities in western Michigan are searching for a family of four that “unexpectedly left their home” in Fremont on Sunday after a call to the police from the father that raised concern about the family’s welfare. Anthony Cirigliano, 51, and Suzette Cirigliano, 51, are missing, along with their

By Hira Humayun, CNN A Houston-area couple was arrested in Louisiana on Tuesday after two abused children turned up at a home early that morning near their Texas neighborhood, according to authorities and a court document. Harris County deputies responded around 5:30 a.m. ET Tuesday to a home in Cypress for a welfare check on

By Claudia Dominguez and Raja Razek, CNN A Virginia mother is facing felony murder and child neglect charges in the accidental death of her 4-year-old son after, according to authorities, doctors found a high level of THC in the child. Authorities believe the child ingested “a large amount” of THC gummies, according to a news

By Kevin Dotson, CNN A college community is grieving the loss of 18-year-old football player Camdan McWright. The San José State University freshman was killed Friday morning while riding an electric scooter, according to the San José State Athletics department and the California Highway Patrol. Camdan McWright was a running back and had appeared in

By Josh Campbell, Jason Kravarik and Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN Sadie Acevedo is living an endless cycle of grief. Her sister, Anthonette Cayedito, went missing from the family home in Gallup, New Mexico, one evening in 1986 and has not been seen since then. Acevedo believes Cayedito’s disappearance may have been tied to a relative.

By Carolyn Sung, CNN Ethan Crumbley, the teenager accused of fatally shooting four students and injuring seven others at a Michigan high school last year, is expected to plead guilty to murder charges next week, prosecutors said Friday. Crumbley, who was 15 when the shooting took place, is set to plead guilty to all 24

By Kiely Westhoff and Jason Hanna, CNN A ruling on the cause and manner of death of a Princeton University student may take weeks, a county prosecutor’s spokesperson said Friday, after her body was discovered near campus tennis courts following a dayslong search. Misrach Ewunetie, 20, of Ohio, was found dead Thursday afternoon on the

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN It’s a striking image that reveals one family’s struggle and a major change at the US-Mexico border. A Venezuelan father’s eyes well up with tears, and his 4-year-old son tries to wipe them away. The photo — taken in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, this week by Reuters photographer José Luis González

By Alexandra Meeks, CNN If you’re flying American Airlines on an upcoming trip outside of the US, the front of the plane will look a bit different. The airline said it is eliminating its first-class cabin on international flights because customers aren’t purchasing the increasingly expensive tickets. Here’s what else you need to know to

By Andy Rose, CNN The family of a victim who was among the 10 people killed in a crowd surge last year at a concert in Houston settled a lawsuit against the organizers of the event, according to a family attorney. The suit from the estate of Axel Acosta Avila sought more than $750 million

By Taylor Romine and Amanda Jackson, CNN Authorities investigating the mystery surrounding a vehicle buried on a residential property near San Francisco said no humain remains were found at the scene, a day after cadaver dogs had indicated their presence in the area. The vehicle buried in the backyard of a home in Atherton, California,

By Taylor Romine and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN A former UCLA obstetrician-gynecologist who worked for the university for decades has been found guilty of sexually assaulting patients in his care, prosecutors announced Thursday. James Heaps, 65, was convicted of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person,

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN A man in Washington state has been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with a 2018 attack on a Jehovah’s Witnesses’ place of worship, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Mikey Diamond Starrett, 50, is accused of shooting at and damaging the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall of Yelm, Washington,