WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Coast Guard issued the following news: By Donna Vojvodich, Historian, SPARS Stories History Program On Jan. 1, 1944, tragedy struck the Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS) in Charleston, South Carolina. A young seaman serving as a telephone operator died in a Coast Guard ambulance enroute to the Navy hospital. She was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Who was she? Lacking a name to research, I entered her date of deat  more

RANDOLPH AFB, Texas, Nov. 13 -- The U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command issued the following news: Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Staff Sgt. Alejandra Ortega Mejia's life took a dramatic turn before she was even a year old. At just nine months, her family fled Mexico after a series of catastrophic explosions rocked their hometown, forcing them to seek safety and new opportunities in Portland, Oregon. On April 22, 1992, a series of devastating gasoline explosions ripped th  more

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Air Force Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (16th Air Force) issued the following news: Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Staff Sgt. Alejandra Ortega Mejia's life took a dramatic turn before she was even a year old. At just nine months, her family fled Mexico after a series of catastrophic explosions rocked their hometown, forcing them to seek safety and new opportunities in Portland, Oregon. On April 22, 1992, a series of devastat  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release on Nov. 12, 2024: An Oregon man pleaded guilty today to three federal hate crimes after intentionally defacing a synagogue in Eugene, Oregon, on multiple occasions. Adam Edward Braun, 34, of Eugene, pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally defacing a synagogue and one count of attempting to intentionally damage the synagogue because the synagogue was a place of religious worship for Jewish people. Ac  more

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Nov. 14 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior Crater Lake National Park issued the following news release: The National Park Service (NPS) has selected Kevin Heatley to serve as the superintendent of Crater Lake National Park beginning January 2025. Heatley currently serves as deputy chief of the Bureau of Land Management's NEPA, Planning and Decision Support Division in Washington, DC. He previously worked for the BLM on both sides of the Cascade Mountains in sout  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia issued the following news release: An Oregon man was sentenced to prison on Nov. 14, 2024, after he previously pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential electio  more