Author: Grace Thompson

A brush fire broke out Friday night in Prospect Park, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, amid a drought that has been plaguing the northeastern U.S. for weeks. The New York City Fire Department posted about the fire on X at around 8 p.m. Shortly after, it said units were using drone technology to find hot spots. "The fire's under control, and there are some hotter spots," FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said at a news conference . Firefighters would be at Prospect Park all night to ensure the fire is contained and that no fires break out from embers carried on the wind, Tucker said. The fire was in an “extremely dense” part of Prospect Park on a hill, and there were no structures nearby to be threatened, he said. The cause of the fire is under investi...

While supporters and relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez have advocated for their resentencing and possible release from prison , current and former prosecutors who tried the brothers in the 1990s told NBC News that they believe the men are cold-blooded killers and should remain where they are — behind bars. In an exclusive interview, one of the prosecutors cast doubt on a new piece of potential evidence the brothers have presented in court to challenge their convictions. “They killed their parents. They slaughtered their mother,” former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich, who prosecuted the brothers in their first trial, told “Dateline.” “Why should they live among us?” The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of...

Calmer winds helped California firefighters battle the once out-of-control Mountain Fire on Friday as they continued to defend homes from the destructive blaze, officials said. By Friday evening, the fire had burned 20,630 acres, with firefighters achieving 14% containment amid improving weather, Andrew Dowd, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson, said at a news conference Friday evening. The fire did not expand and made very little movement by the end of the workday on Friday, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at the news conference. “The fire has laid down,” he said. “That is fantastic.” Evacuation orders have been lifted for 3,500 homes, with another 2,000 still covered by the orders, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. Residents of about 1...

Former President Donald Trump has clinched a second term in the White House, and his Republican Party has won control of the Senate. But control of the House of Representatives is still up for grabs, as is the size of the incoming Senate majority. In the fight for the House, Democrats are facing an uphill climb to net the four seats needed to flip the chamber, while Republicans only need to win a handful more competitive races to hold onto the majority. With more than a dozen House races still uncalled and many looking close, Democrats would need to hang onto all of their competitive seats and flip a few Republican-held seats to get to the 218 seats needed for the majority. With votes still being counted, here's a look at the key races that remain uncalled by the NBC News Decision De...

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has won re-election in Nevada, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Sam Brown and holding on to an important seat for her party in a swing state. The victory gives the first-term Rosen another six years in the Senate , continuing Democrats’ winning streak in a state that has become increasingly competitive on the federal level. While the polls showed a tight race for the presidential contest in Nevada, which President-elect Donald Trump ended up winning , the Senate battle was different: Rosen had opened up a lead in the last few months of the race, with Republicans fearing it was slipping away as they were being outspent on the airwaves. Although the margins are often close, Republicans haven’t won a Senate race in Nevada since 2012. ...

In the summer of 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez burst into the den of their family’s Beverly Hills home armed with shotguns and opened fire, killing their mother and father. After the brothers were charged in the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez , they said they gunned down their parents after years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of their father — an allegation disputed by prosecutors, who argued the claims were false and the siblings were motivated by financial gain. Their televised trial, which captured the brothers recounting the alleged abuse in grim and graphic detail, ended when the jury could not reach a verdict. After a second trial, the siblings were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In October, ...

President-elect Donald Trump raised eyebrows when he decided to hold a campaign rally in the Bronx in late May. The New York City borough has been one of the most Democratic-leaning counties in the country for years. Trump won just 15% of the vote there in 2020 and 9% in 2016. Democrats viewed it as a stunt amid his criminal trial in Manhattan . Some suggested the crowd was made up of supporters far from the borough’s borders. In the end, the rally stood out not because of anything Trump said or did, but because of who showed up. It was one of the most diverse rallies of his entire political career. And as Tuesday’s results started pouring in, it was clear Trump was on to something bigger, not just in the Bronx but throughout the country. His coalition had changed. R...

Five people were stabbed in an apparently random attack in Seattle on Friday, and police are investigating whether the suspect may have stabbed five other people since Thursday morning. Two people were in critical condition after the attack that occurred around 2 p.m. in the city's Chinatown-International District, police and a spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center said Friday. Five other people were also stabbed in separate incidents in the same area since Thursday morning. The attacks are similar in randomness and the description of the assailant, Seattle police Deputy Chief Eric Barden said. "It’s certainly plausible that the suspect involved in today’s stabbing is the same suspect involved with the previous five incidents, but the investigation is ongoing," Barden said. ...

Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida said Friday that police notified him this week about an arrest in connection with a “potential threat on my life” in his district, which covers parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties. Moskowitz, a Democrat, said in the Friday s tatement that the Margate Police Department notified him about an alleged “potential plot” on his life on Monday, a day before Tuesday’s general election. “I am deeply worried about congressional member security and the significant lack thereof when we are in the district,” Moskowitz said. “Regardless of our political affiliations or differences, we all have families we want to keep safe.” Margate police confirmed on Friday that officers had arrested 41-year-old John Lapinski of Margate in connection with the in...