Fond farewells to Jackie the eagle: ‘Soar free’
Jackie, the beloved bald eagle who fascinated millions of viewers on Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam in the San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California, has died after weeks of rehabilitation and illness at a wildlife center. She had been rescued near the nest she shared with her partner, Shadow, after an apparent fight with two subadult eagles and remained critically ill as a team of veterinarians struggled to diagnose and treat her, including with a blood transfusion from another eagle and oxygen therapy. “Our team is heartbroken,” the Ojai Raptor Center, where Jackie was treated. said on social media. “Soar free Jackie.”
Will Amelia Earhart’s plane finally be found?
After almost 90 years, historians could
finally be close to an answer to one of aviation’s most fascinating mysteries. An expedition to find the plane Amelia Earhart flew in her quest to become the first person to fly around the world is set to depart in October for a remote Pacific island called Nikumaroro, where satellite imagery in 2020 revealed an unusual shape known as the “Taraia object” in the island’s lagoon. Searchers believe it’s the plane that carried Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, when it vanished on July 2, 1937. “I am feeling very confident about this,” the expedition’s Richard Pettigrew told USA TODAY. “I’m pumped.”
Cyclospora, meet salmonella
Another illness scourge, same possible source. Taylor Farms, the producer of lettuce linked to a widespread outbreak of the diarrhea-causing infection cyclosporiasis, has now recalled products containing jalapeños linked to an outbreak of salmonella. Hundreds of people have been stricken by the bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, after the products were sold at grocery stores including Walmart, Target and Trader Joe’s in 26 states. Health authorities also issued a public health alert for meat and poultry products containing jalapeños. Cyclosporiasis and salmonellosis cause similar symptoms, but the two outbreaks do not appear to be related.
Trial begins in the killing of Tupac Shakur
Will we ever know who killed Tupac Shakur? Thirty years after the hip-hop icon was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, a jury selection has begun in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is accused of instructing gang members to shoot Shakur on Sept. 7, 1996. Davis, 63, a former South Side Compton Crips gang leader and the only person arrested in the case, has pleaded not guilty; if convicted, he could face life in prison. Shakur was 25 and at the peak of his career when he was shot. Some of the biggest names in the history of hip-hop are expected to testify.
Baseball’s biggest night could be Halloween
Halloween night could be an especially big party for one lucky team. Major League Baseball released its 2026 postseason and World Series schedule, beginning with a wild-card quadrupleheader on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and ending − if the Series stretches to a Game 7 − on Saturday, Oct. 31. The wild-card playoffs will air on NBC/Peacock; division series games and championship series games can be seen on TBS/truTV/HBO Max (for the American League) and Fox/FS1 (for the National League); and the World Series, which begins Oct. 23, will air on Fox. − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eclipse show, Amelia Earhart's plane, tears for Jackie: Week in review
