​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. Officials in Philadelphia have dismantled a massive drug ring operating out of a sham coffee shop, run largely by longtime, senior figures in the criminal world, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Sunday.. The sweeping takedown, dubbed “Operation Cocaine and Coffee,” was launched and primarily targeted a storefront known as Cumberland Coffee and Snacks, where authorities say the second floor was used to cook and package crack cocaine for street-level distribution.. At least 17 suspected members of the operation were arrested, many described by officials as well past middle age and deeply entrenched in the drug trade.. Authorities said the group, allegedly run by 56-year-old Lewis Alexander, plagued the community with “absolute harm” for more than a decade and is believed to have ties to violent crime.. FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST 12 ALLEGED MEMBERS OF LA’S MASSIVE 18TH STREET GANG DRUG TRAFFICKING OPERATION. “Well, today, North Philadelphia’s, the Lewis Alexander drug trafficking organization, they have a new turf and it’s inside a correctional facility,” Sunday said.. “Some of the defendants here are in their 50s, 60s and 70s,” he added. “Many of these defendants have been at this a very long time. They were menaces to society, to people and families who just want to live free without concern of violence and crime in their everyday life.”. While the raid centered in North Philadelphia, the operation’s reach reportedly extended well beyond the coffee shop, with officials serving warrants at roughly 30 locations across Philadelphia, Delaware County and New Jersey.. DRUG KINGPIN ON PAROLE CAUGHT WITH ENOUGH FENTANYL TO KILL MOST OF COUNTY, DA SAYS. Prosecutors described the organization as a persistent blight on the neighborhood, with a nearby bar and barbershop also swept up in the investigation as authorities worked to dismantle the network.. “The criminal organization has remained like weeds as families and homeowners have moved in and out of residences in the area,” Sunday said.. The takedown resulted in 17 arrests and the seizure of 27 firearms, roughly four pounds of cocaine, more than 130 pounds of marijuana, as well as fentanyl, ecstasy and cash, according to officials.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. The defendants face a range of felony charges, including running a corrupt organization, drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession.. Alexander is currently incarcerated on $750,000 bail.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. A South Florida city leader was found dead in her home Wednesday, and her husband was in police custody, authorities said.. Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was found by police officers at around 10 a.m. Wednesday after they began an investigation into her “well-being,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.. Police Chief Brad Mock didn’t provide any details about the circumstances of Bowen’s death, saying it was being investigated as a “domestic violence incident.” Bowen’s husband, Stephen Bowen, was in police custody, Mock said.. WANNABE BURGLARS STORM REAL HOUSEWIVES STAR’S MANSION – ONLY TO GET SPOOKED BY ALARM, CRASH GETAWAY CAR: COPS. The chief said there were no other suspects being sought.. Bowen was first elected to the Coral Springs City Commission in 2020 and was re-elected in 2024. She was appointed by the commission last November to serve a second, one-year term as vice mayor, according to her bio on the city’s website.. Before being elected to the commission, Bowen worked as an environmental scientist who formerly served on the Broward County Soil and Water Conservation District, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.. Bowen’s family confirmed her death on her social media accounts.. “Throughout her years in public office, she led with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering sense of purpose,” the family’s statement said.. “She believed in bringing people together, listening to those she served, and working tirelessly to create positive change in her community. To us, she was a source of strength, wisdom, and love — someone who always put others before herself.. REPEAT OFFENDER ALLEGEDLY STABS PREGNANT MOM IN RANDOM GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT ATTACK ‘WITH A STEAK KNIFE’. “While many knew her as a leader and advocate, we knew her as a sister, a daughter, and a friend whose warmth and laughter filled every room. Her legacy will live on not only in the policies she helped shape, but in the countless lives she touched.”. The Coral Springs government Facebook page paid tribute to Bowen, calling her “leadership grounded in compassion, strength, and an unwavering commitment to others.”. “Her impact on Coral Springs is immeasurable, and her loss leaves a void in our hearts. We ask our community to keep her family, loved ones, and all who are grieving in your thoughts and prayers. In this difficult time, we stand together as one city. We will carry her light, even in this darkness.”. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, D-Fla., said he was saddened to hear of Bowen’s death, remembering her as a “tireless advocate, a dedicated progressive leader, and a powerful voice for her community.”. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said she spoke with Bowen a few days ago.. “I held her in a hug at our party’s leadership summit, never imagining it would be one of our last moments together,” Fried said in a statement.. “Nancy was my f  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. At least three firefighters in the North Dallas suburbs were arrested Thursday on several child sex abuse charges involving the same juvenile victim, according to court documents.. The charges come after two of the suspects were reportedly honored with awards for their service to the community.. The three men, all affiliated with the Howe Fire Department in Grayson County, have been identified as David Yosimar Perez-Glass, Dalton Joe McCaslin and Joshua Todd Ryals. They are facing multiple felony counts of either sexual assault of a child or indecency with a child involving sexual contact.. According to the complaint, the three men allegedly targeted a 16-year-old junior firefighter who began volunteering at the department in January 2022.. Perez-Glass allegedly began harassing the girl within her first month at the department, with behavior that quickly escalated during times that they were alone at the station.. “Perez’s behavior scared her, and it eventually led to him hugging, grabbing her, and throwing her onto the sofa,” documents stated.. The victim said that despite her saying she was a virgin and “did not like what he was doing to her,” Perez-Glass allegedly assaulted her more than 20 times orally and had intercourse with her less than 10 times over the course of a year.. TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALIST GETS 14 YEARS FOR SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENT SHE KEPT CONTACTING. He also repeatedly threatened to rape her, kill her and “do things to her parents” if she ever reported their interactions, the documents said.. The alleged assaults reportedly ended when the victim turned the “legal age” of 17 and Perez-Glass no longer wanted to engage in a relationship.. During the year the alleged abuse occurred, Perez-Glass was reportedly named Firefighter of the Year by the Howe Fire Department and promoted to lieutenant.. Court documents also noted that McCaslin had a “consensual” sexual relationship with the girl beginning December 2022.. During that period, the victim reportedly visited an apartment McCaslin shared with another firefighter in Van Alstyne.. The complaint alleged that private interaction occurred between McCaslin and the girl while the other roommate was asleep.. TEXAS SUBSTITUTE TEACHER CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX OFFENSES, ‘NO LONGER EMPLOYED’ BY SCHOOL DISTRICT. Separately, Ryals also admitted to inappropriate contact with the victim while alone at the Howe Fire Station, court documents said.. The Melissa Fire Department said Ryals resigned the week before his arrest, when he was honored as Paramedic of the Year by the department on March 16, Fox 4 News said.. Texas Rangers officers ultimately arrested the three suspects following an investigation.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. Perez Glass and McCaslin both face three counts of sexual assault of a child, while Ryals was charged with two counts of indecency with a child involving sexual contact.. All three were booked into the G  

​The Artemis II crew launched into history on Wednesday, blasting off aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a mission around the moon—the first crewed journey beyond low-Earth orbit in more than five decades. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of the United States, along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, boarded the 322-foot Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B in the afternoon, just hours before liftoff at 6:35 p.m. The mission is expected to travel around the moon and back, marking the first crewed venture beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. Although Artemis II will not land on the lunar surface, it is designed to carry the four-person crew farther from Earth than any crewed mission since the Apollo era.

NASA describes the Orion spacecraft as the most powerful launch system it has ever built. Standing 322 feet tall, the rocket will send the spacecraft and its crew into deep space for the first time, testing critical systems ahead of proposed future lunar landing missions. With the crew now in space, they are expected to spend several days aboard, including a multi-day journey around the far side of the moon before returning to Earth for a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA has laid out ambitious plans for future missions, including additional lunar exploration in the coming years. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I test flight and is a major step toward missions such as Artemis III, which will involve testing with a lander from SpaceX, Blue Origin, or both, while in Earth’s orbit. Although Artemis III originally aimed to land on the moon, the focus has shifted toward Artemis IV for a landing, with the broader program designed to support long-term lunar exploration and pave the way for human missions to Mars.

President Donald Trump established the Artemis program during his first term in 2017 as part of a broader push to return American astronauts to the moon. Hours before the rocket launch, Trump celebrated the Artemis II mission, saying, “America is going back to the Moon! America doesn’t just compete, we dominate, and the whole World is watching. God bless our incredible astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the Greatest Nation ever to exist, the United States of America!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson also praised the crew and NASA on Wednesday, offering prayers for the crew’s safety as they pursued this historic milestone.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. More than half a century after NASA’s final Apollo mission, astronauts prepared Wednesday to return to the moon, but this time, they will not land.. Instead, four crew members aboard Artemis II will fly past the moon on a 10-day mission, traveling farther into space than any humans since the Apollo era.. The mission is designed as a crewed lunar flyby, a critical test of NASA’s deep-space systems before attempting future landings, according to NASA.. Launched aboard the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft will first enter Earth’s orbit before following a precise path known as a “free-return” trajectory.. NASA BEGINS INFRASTRUCTURE OVERHAUL UNDER ISAACMAN AS TRUMP PUSHES AMBITIOUS SPACE EXPLORATION GOALS. Scientists said the route uses the combined gravitational forces of Earth and the moon to carry the spacecraft around the far side of the moon and safely back home without requiring major course corrections.. Artemis II will mark the first time astronauts fly aboard both the Orion spacecraft and the SLS rocket, making it a key demonstration of NASA’s human deep-space capabilities.. The mission will test how well the spacecraft and its systems work with astronauts on board, including navigation, life support and communication far from Earth.. NASA RACES TO BUILD MOON BASE AS US CHALLENGES CHINA IN NEW SPACE RACE. It also will give NASA a better understanding of how crews operate during deep space travel, officials said.. Astronauts will take part in experiments during the flight, including one called A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response (AVATAR), which uses “organ-on-a-chip” technology to study how radiation and weightlessness affect the body.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. NASA claims Artemis II is a necessary step before attempting a moon landing on a future mission.. By proving the spacecraft and crew can safely travel to deep space and back, the mission moves the agency closer to returning humans to the lunar surface and eventually sending astronauts to Mars.