In the news

In the news

• Adam Bennett, a pastor in St. Martin, Miss., called it the future of currency transactions after his Back Bay Baptist Church announced that, in addition to cash, parishioners can tithe or make donations using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

• Nat Stephens, fire chief of Geismar, La., said the state fire marshal's office is investigating after a 6-year-old child died when a fire broke out in a "makeshift fort" on a flat-bed trailer as the boy and two siblings played with a cigarette lighter.

• Devon Watts, 37, and Christopher Pullen, 24, both of Rome, Ga., have been jailed on murder charges in the deaths of two half sisters who were shot in Alabama last year during a dispute over a wallet and whose bodies were dumped off a bridge, authorities said.

• Jon Seligman, an Israeli archaeologist, said an excavation in Yavne has uncovered a large, 1,500-year-old winemaking complex that researchers believe was capable of producing 520,000 gallons of a white wine for export and domestic consumption.

• Eric Kortz, 53, of Pittsburgh surrendered to police after being accused of fatally shooting a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, telling investigators that he believed the victim, a former neighbor, had previously poisoned him and his family with cyanide.

• Frank Matthews said his family is demanding answers after the body of his cousin, 29-year-old Christina Nance, was found inside an unused Huntsville, Ala., police van parked outside headquarters and a coroner said he found no signs of foul play or trauma.

• Theresa Bentaas, 60, of Sioux Falls, S.D., was convicted of manslaughter in the death of her newborn son, whose body was found in a ditch 40 years ago, after investigators used DNA submitted to a Virginia genetics company to identify her as the biological mother.

• Charles Turner, accused of stabbing the mother of his child at a hospital surgery center in Springfield, Mo., when he was told he could not visit his daughter after the couple broke up, was charged with domestic assault, police said.

• Kevin Nagle, a Sacramento, Calif., investor, spent more than $142,000 to buy an 18-karat yellow gold and platinum belt buckle and a decorative humidor once owned by gangster Al "Scarface" Capone, as Capone's descendants made at least $3 million by auctioning off some of his prized possessions.

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