Correction officer trainees in West Virginia regularly gave the Nazi salute “as a sign of respect” for their instructor in the weeks prior to the release of a photo of the cadets with arms raised that triggered widespread outrage, state investigators said in a report Monday.

A group photo of West Virginia correction officer trainees giving what appears to be the Nazi salute has been released as the state’s governor ordered those involved to be fired. The image was made public Thursday and shows more than two dozen trainees with their arms raised and faces blurred. Officials have described the image of Basic Training Class Number...

With billions in federal aid and seats in Congress at stake, some states are dragging their feet in carrying out one of the Census Bureau’s chief recommendations for making sure everyone is counted during the 2020 census. Five states — Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas — have not set up “complete count committees” that would create public awareness...

Four New England states were among the top 10 heaviest drinking in the country, according to a new study. QuoteWizard analyzed CDC alcohol consumption datat to see where heavy drinking is most prevalent. The CDC defines heavy drinking as adult men who consume 14 drinks per week and women who consume seven drinks a week.

Three handwritten letters by former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger have been put up for auction. The letters, written to a woman named Jackie, are being auctioned off by Lelands. Bulger writes in one letter, “If you need some one whacked, give me a call. Your friend, James Whitey Bulger 1428AZ.”

A television show is reportedly in the works about federal authorities’ long pursuit of Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger. Variety reports that the show is based on the upcoming book “Hunting Whitey” by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge, who also wrote the Boston Marathon bombings book “Boston Strong: A City’s Triumph Over Tragedy” — which was adapted for the...

By the time drug enforcement agents swooped into his small medical office in Martinsville, Virginia, in 2017, Dr. Joel Smithers had prescribed about a half a million doses of highly addictive opioids.

Catherine Greig, the longtime companion of James “Whitey” Bulger, is finishing her sentence at a home in Hingham, Massachusetts. She was spotted by the Boston Globe this week. Her twin sister Margaret McCusker confirms the home belongs to a Bulger family member.

The family of former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger has filed a wrongful death claim against the federal government, saying he was “deliberately placed in harm’s way” when he was transferred to a new prison and placed in general population less than 24 hours before he was beaten to death. The Wall Street Journal reported the filing on Friday...

Mine owner Blackjewel LLC filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 1 was a big hit to the region straddling northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, where coal has quietly supported the economies of both states for decades and fuels a shrinking number of power plants in 28 states. Negotiations that could reopen the two Wyoming mines under new ownership...

Rhode Island launched mobile sports betting at one casino and plans to add it to a second casino next week. The mobile application launched Wednesday at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, according to the state revenue department. The department said Thursday there were no major issues, although some gamblers found the casino application slow to load. Paul Grimaldi, spokesman for...

More than 10,000 people in Appalachia will sigh with relief this month after two donors from the region helped nonprofit RIP Medical Debt purchase and forgive $10 million of medical debt. But it’s just a drop in the bucket of the $88 billion of medical debt racked up in the United States over the past year, NBC News reports. “We’re...

Accident investigators in the Bahamas are going well below the surface of the water to try to figure out what went wrong in the moments before a helicopter crashed after takeoff and killed seven people, including West Virginia coal magnate Chris Cline. The Air Accident Investigation Department of the Bahamas said via Twitter late Friday that salvage teams were conducting...

The longtime girlfriend of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger is back in Massachusetts after her release from a federal prison in Minnesota. Catherine Greig arrived in Boston Wednesday morning after being released from the Federal Correctional Institution-Waseca. According to a letter sent to the family of one of Bulger’s alleged victims, Greig is being sent to a halfway house in...

The longtime girlfriend of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger is back in Massachusetts after her release from a federal prison in Minnesota. Catherine Greig arrived in Boston Wednesday morning after being released from the Federal Correctional Institution-Waseca. According to a letter sent to the family of one of Bulger’s alleged victims, Greig is being sent to a halfway house in...

Nearly two decades after the Aryan Nations’ Idaho compound was demolished, far-right extremists are maintaining a presence in the Pacific Northwest. White nationalism has been on the rise across the U.S., but it has particular resonance along the Idaho-Washington border, where the Aryans espoused hate and violence for years. The neo-Nazi group was based near Hayden Lake, Idaho, starting in...

A serial killer who terrorized Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives of 10 women was put to death Thursday, his execution witnessed by the woman who survived one of his attacks and aided in his capture.

The halt on China’s imports of wastepaper and plastic that has disrupted U.S. recycling programs has also spurred investment in American plants that process recyclables. U.S. paper mills are expanding capacity to take advantage of a glut of cheap scrap. Some facilities that previously exported plastic or metal to China have retooled so they can process it themselves. And in...