Recently in National Category

A New York man was arraigned Wednesday after admitting to police three killings of women, two of which occurring nearly 20 years ago, Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley reported.

Mount Vernon, NY resident Lucius Crawford, 60, told the NYPD to alert Long Island officials of his confession as they were searching for a suspect in the murders of 10 women whose bodies have been discovered in recent years. Crawford was taken into custody after police discovered the body of Tanya Simmons, 41, in his apartment.

Crawford was not home at the time of their discovery.

"We're glad to have this man off the streets," a Mount Vernon police officer said. "He's harmed so many people over the years, and now it's finally over."

CNN by Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley

The nanny being charged in the murders of two children pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in a Manhattan, Kristina Sgueglia reported.

Yoselyn Ortega, 50, is accused of allegedly stabbing a six- and two-year-old to death while they were under her care. According to police, the mother came home to find her two children stabbed to death and the nanny laying nearby.

Ortega did not speak and had her lawyer deliver the plea for her. She is currently expected to undergo psychological evaluation.

Her next court date is January 16.

CNN by Kristina Sgueglia

A man with a prosthetic leg made history when he climbed the 103 flights of a Chicago skyscraper on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Zac Vawter, 31, was wearing a "bionic" leg being controlled by his mind during his ascent to the top of Wills Tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. The event, "SkyRise Chicago", was put on to raise money for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chiacgo.

Vawter's climb with the bionic leg was the first public glimpse of the new technology, the Associated Press wrote.

Vawter made it to the top in 45 minutes.

MSNBC by Associated Press

The highly anticipated Hurricane Sandy has left New York City scrambling after knocking out power and disabling its subway system on Tuesday, James Eng reported.

The hurricane slammed into New York and New Jersey, flooding the streets with saltwater. The saltwater is especially detrimental, Eng wrote, due to the fact that it will affect the railways in the subway system and the electronic components. The flooding has rendered the famous subway system useless for the foreseeable future.

"The work of getting our mass transit grid and our power grid restored ... is going to take more time and a lot of patience," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a Tuesday morning press conference. "Our administration will move heaven and earth to help them."

MSNBC by James Eng

A woman in New York City discovered her two children stabbed to death in the bathtub next to their dying nanny on Thursday, Wayne Drash reported.

Marina Krim, the mother, found her two 6-year-old children stabbed in their bath tub. The nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, 50, was lying nearby with a self-inflicted would to her neck and wrists.

Krim had left two of her three children with the nanny and planned to meet back up with them for a dance lesson, Drash wrote. When they did not arrive, Krim returned to their apartment to find the grisly scene. According to police, when Krim arrived Ortega began stabbing herself.

The nanny was taken to a hospital, where she is in critical condition.

CNN by Wayne Drash

A U.S. Senate candidate from Indiana said that a pregnancy conceived during a rape is something that God intended on Tuesday, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite reported.

Richard Mourdock, the Indiana GOP candidate, sparked a flurry of backlash with his words when asked about whether abortion should be allowed in the event of incest or rape. He received questions regarding his words during a debate the following day.

Part of Mourdock's platform is the opposition of abortion.

Washington Post by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Files describing alleged sexual abuse accusations in the Boy Scouts were published online by lawyers on Thursday, Miranda Leitsinger reports.

Over 1,200 reports of sexual abuse, ranging from 1965 to 1985, were made public after media organizations sued for their release. In one instance, a Cub Scout leader was caught sleeping naked with boys on trips and showing them pornography, Leitsinger wrote.

"While we can read through the files, for us it represents the pain and anguish of thousands of untold scouts," said attorney Paul Mones.

MSNBC by Miranda Leitsinger

Elizabeth Escalona, 23, was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Friday. This comes after Escalona was found guilty of savagely beating her 2-year-old daughter and gluing her hands to their apartment wall after experiencing difficulty with potty training. Authorities reported Escalona as having beaten her daughter with a milk jug, kicked her in the stomach, and ultimately applied Super Glue to her hands and stuck them on the wall. "I should be put away," Escalona said, while on the stand. "But I also think I should be given a second chance."

MSNBC by NBC News and Wire Services