The balloonist who took off from northern Maine early Thursday morning on what he hoped would be a record-breaking trans-Atlantic flight is on the ground after landing in Newfoundland around 6:30 p.m. Few details are available on what cut Jonathan Trappe’s cluster balloon flight short, but according to a post he made on his Facebook page he is in a …

Residents of a Buffalo, N.Y., neighborhood plagued by skunk odors now know what caused the stink: Trapped critters that were shot and stored at a shuttered police station. The Buffalo News reports (http://bit.ly/18myscv ) that the city’s public works commissioner confirmed Monday that humanely trapped skunks have been taken to an old police station in South Buffalo, where they’re shot …

Police in Volusia County are trying to find a man who may have tried to pay for his water bill with cocaine. They said the man rode up to a Deltona water utility center on his bicycle, walked in and handed the clerk an envelope, then walked out and biked away. The clerks said they found a powdery substance inside …

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — It was one of the most notorious kidnapping cases in our country. This week, survivor Elizabeth Smart visited a women’s benefit in Metro Detroit. WJBK reports that on Wednesday, the 25-year-old spoke out about abuse and victim support at the Women of Vision benefit in Southfield, which was hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women. “I …

Former POW Jessica Lynch today may still look and sound a lot like she did as a 19-year-old U.S. Army private first class, but she says the past decade has taught her a lot about pain, loss and perseverance. “No matter how bad the pain is, smile,” she said during an interview Thursday. “Smile, and you just go on.” Lynch …

We love breastfeeding. We especially loved breastfeeding when we were small, bald and toothless. It’s a beautiful thing, and no woman should ever be told when or where she can or can’t breastfeed. Because when baby hunger strikes, Mother Nature abides, mmk? But what we can’t figure out is why Jamie Lynn Grumet’s breastfeeding four-year-old Aram always gets the urge …

This April marks the ten-year anniversary of when Elián González was forcibly removed from the home of relatives in Miami and returned to his father in Cuba. The Cuban propaganda machine, ever aware of the symbolism of Elián, has no qualms about exploiting the boy, now 16, when it serves the regime’s purpose. The AP reports the government released today …

The NBA might be gone from Lower Queen Anne, but one former Sonic is back. Shawn Kemp and his wife, Marvena, opened Oskar’s Kitchen last month at 621 1/2 Queen Anne Ave. N. across from the MarQueen Hotel last month. The restaurant, in the space formerly occupied by Acadia Bistro, features the Bubble Room lounge with a large fish tank …

Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to visit communist leader Kim Jong Un, spurring hopes that a jailed American tour operator might be freed as a gesture of friendship between the two eccentrics. Rodman, on his second visit to the Hermit Kingdom this year, appealed to Kim after his first visit in February to …

Ricky Williams has had a hazy past and a brilliant one — as a former Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Texas and NFL All Pro. Now, he has decided to take the life lessons learned from a colorful past and share them with others as a coach. ”If you took slices of my life and you pushed pause, …

The U.S. Pacific state of Hawaii is about to become the 15th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry. On Tuesday, the Hawaiian state senate gave final approval to a bill extending marriage rights to same-sex couples in the state long popular as a wedding and honeymoon destination. As the vote took place, hundreds of supporters who …