Latest news with #Ames
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Importance of teen-driver safety
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Accidents involving teen drivers increase between Memorial Day and Labor Day. According to Triple A, crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows the 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day see a significant increase in teen driver fatalities. Indiana State Police Sergeant Matt Ames advises safe road precautions. He says it's important not to be distracted while driving. 'Make sure you're setting a good example for that young driver so than when they get ready to drive, they know and understand the rules of the roadways and they make it safe for themselves and everyone else that's traveling out there,' said Ames. A reminder for teen to be aware and safe on the roads. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NDTV
6 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Betrayal At Langley: A CIA Man Who Became US' Most Infamous Double Agent
It began with silence. One by one, CIA assets deep inside the Soviet Union vanished. Some disappeared without a trace. Others turned up dead. Behind closed doors in Washington, panic quietly took hold. For years, no one could understand why America's closest secrets were unravelling like a spool of thread yanked in the dark. Thousands of kilometres away, Oleg Gordievsky, a Russian colonel secretly working for Britain's MI6, sat alone in a safehouse, still trying to make sense of how the KGB had nearly caught him. "For nearly nine years I have been guessing," he would later say, "who was the man who betrayed me?" The answer came on April 28, 1994, when a bespectacled CIA veteran named Aldrich Ames stood in a US courtroom and confessed to being the mole. The man who, for nine years, sold secrets to the Soviets, not for ideology, but for cash, and left a trail of betrayal behind him. Ames's fall from grace began not with a whisper of discontent against the US, but with a chalk mark on a mailbox. That signal, a dead drop, was another handoff of top-secret intelligence to the KGB. For years, Ames passed plastic-wrapped CIA documents detailing everything from surveillance tech to names of American assets within the USSR. These actions systematically dismantled nearly every US spy network operating in the Soviet Union. "I felt a great deal of financial pressure," Ames would later admit. "In retrospect, I was clearly overreacting." But overreaction doesn't begin to cover the scale of his betrayal. A Career That Should Have Ended Sooner Ames wasn't a rising star. He bumbled through early assignments, struggled with alcohol like his father (also a CIA man) before him, and was known for poor work habits. Once, he even left a briefcase full of classified documents on a subway. Still, somehow, he kept climbing the ranks. By 1983, despite a questionable track record, Ames was appointed head of the CIA's Soviet counterintelligence branch - a post that gave him nearly unrestricted access to the Agency's deepest secrets. That same year, his financial woes deepened. Amid a costly divorce from his first wife and mounting expenses from his second, Rosario, Ames began to drown in debt. So, in April 1985, with a few drinks for courage, he walked into the Soviet Embassy in Washington and offered up names of agents working secretly for the CIA within the USSR for $50,000. The Price Of Betrayal Ames didn't stop there. Over the next nine years, he pocketed more than $2.5 million, the highest known sum ever paid to a Soviet spy, and handed over the identities of more than 30 agents and compromised over 100 CIA operations. "It was about the money," said FBI agent Leslie Wiser, who later led the investigation. "And I don't think he ever really tried to lead anybody to believe it was anything more than that." The consequences were swift and brutal. In 1985, Soviet agents working with the CIA began to disappear. One by one, they were arrested, tortured, and in many cases, executed. Among them was General Dmitri Polyakov, a high-ranking Soviet army officer and long-time CIA asset. Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB colonel who had been secretly spying for MI6 from London, narrowly avoided that fate. "I was enthusiastic. I liked the Americans," Gordievsky told the BBC. "I wanted to share my knowledge with them, and now I realise [Ames] was sitting there... which means that everything, all the new answers of my information, he must have passed to the KGB." Tom Mangold, reporting for Newsnight, described the tragic irony best. "The top KGB defector was debriefed by the top KGB mole," he said. Cracks In The Armour For nearly a decade, America's worst intelligence disaster was walking its hallways in plain sight. While the CIA searched high and low for the mole within, Aldrich Ames bought a Jaguar, paid for his wife's liposuction in cash, and moved into a $540,000 house in Arlington. All on a $60,000 government salary. His position meant he could meet Russian handlers without raising suspicion. His downfall came not from a brilliant counterintelligence breakthrough, but from old-fashioned scrutiny of his spending habits. By the early 1990s, the CIA and FBI grew suspicious. A joint task force finally zeroed in on Ames. On February 21, 1994, after a lengthy surveillance operation, Aldrich and Rosario Ames were arrested outside their Arlington, Virginia, home. Ames cooperated, offering a full confession in exchange for a lighter sentence for Rosario, who served five years. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A sentence he is currently serving in a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. His case shook the CIA to its core, much like the exposure of Kim Philby rocked British intelligence decades earlier. "He regrets getting caught. He doesn't regret being a spy," said FBI's Leslie Wiser of Aldrich Ames.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Metro pools delay Memorial Day weekend opening due to cool weather
DES MOINES, Iowa — Several metro pools have announced they are postponing their usual Memorial Day weekend opening due to cooler-than-usual temperatures. However, some still plan to offer scheduled weekend activities. Originally set to open this weekend, Adventureland announced that Adventure Bay wouldn't open due to 'unseasonable cooler temperatures' and would instead open on Friday, May 30th. The City of Ames announced that the Furman Aquatic Center would also be delaying their opening. They are planning to open on Wednesday, May 28th. What weather to expect for the Memorial Day weekend The City of Ankeny says both Prairie Ridge and Cascade Falls are now on pause until temperatures warm up, saying temperatures need to reach 68 degrees and up to open doors. They are now planning on opening doors on Tuesday, May 27th. The Clive Aquatic Center also stated that 'chilly forecasted temps' were delaying their original Memorial Day weekend opening. They now plan to open on Saturday, May 31st, with regular hours. Holiday Aquatic Center and Valley View Aquatic Center in West Des Moines are also staying closed over the forecast chilly weekend. West Des Moines Parks and Recreation says they are now planning on opening doors on Saturday, May 31st. However, the American Legion Park Sprayground is still set to open as planned this weekend. The Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department isn't deterred by the forecasted chilly temps. Saturday through Monday Teachout Aquatic Center plans to open for their first aquatic weekend. City of Des Moines says those waiting for warmer weather can still enjoy the May 31st through June 1st pre-season weekend. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Indiana State Police give travel tips ahead of holiday weekend
FARMERSBURG, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and many people will be traveling. Local police are urging drivers to be safe on the roadways. Sgt. Matt Ames with the Indiana State Police Putnamville Post said the busiest travel time is expected to be Friday through Saturday afternoon. He said people should be aware of reckless drivers, and he shared some tips for people who are traveling. 'When it's time to drive, be ready to drive,' said Sgt. Ames. 'Make sure your vehicle is ready to go, you're fueled up, have good tires, the windshield wipers are working, and you're stowing your phone so therefore all your attention is on driving.' He reminded travelers to be well-rested, have plenty of gas, and plan routes accordingly to avoid rushing and heavy traffic. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A Ship That Vanished 100 Years Ago Was Just Discovered by a Fisherman on Lake Michigan
On a foggy evening, fisherman Christopher Thuss came across a large sunken vessel in Lake Michigan The boat, later identified as the J.C. Ames, was a 160-foot tugboat built in 1881 that was intentionally sunk in 1923 A research coordinator with Wisconsin's Shipwreck Coast said the vessel was notable because "we don't have any other versions of tugboats that are quite this big"A fisherman discovered a piece of history while on Lake Michigan one foggy May evening. When he peered under the water's surface, he spotted the remains of a large vessel that hadn't been seen in more than 100 years. 'I didn't know exactly what I was looking at at first," Christopher Thuss told NBC affiliate WGBA. "I turned over that direction and the whole ship was right there." Thuss had been using sonar equipment when he came across the wreckage of a tugboat north of the Manitowoc breakwater on Tuesday, May 13. At 160 feet, the vessel, which currently rests in only nine feet of water, is notable for its size. "We don't have any other versions of tugboats that are quite this big," Caitlin Zant, research coordinator with Wisconsin's Shipwreck Coast, told the outlet. Thuss is following his family's tradition of finding shipwrecks. His step-grandmother, 'Shipwreck Suzze' Johnson, has become a local legend, locating a number of shipwrecks over the years, including three sunken vessels in three days in 2015, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS). The WHS did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Now, the younger generation is making its mark. After making his discovery, Thuss contacted Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist from the historical society, who then worked with Brendon Baillod, the president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association, to identify the wreck. They determined it was the J.C. Ames, which was built in 1881 for the lumber trade, according to the historical society. The vessel was 'one of the largest and most powerful tugs on the lakes, developed 670 horsepower with her fore-and-aft compound engine… She reportedly cost $50,000 to build,' according to a passage from Green Bay Workhorses: The Nau Tug Line that was shared by WHS. Beyond tugging other watercraft, the J.C. Ames was used in the pulpwood trade and had multiple owners. When it aged and became less functional, it was taken apart and intentionally sunk in Lake Michigan in 1923, the WHS said. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The J.C. Ames is far from the first shipwreck to be discovered in the Great Lakes. Last fall, two maritime historians found the wreck of the John Evenson, which was lost to the water in 1895. In March, the steamship Milwaukee was found in Lake Michigan after it sank following a collision with another vessel in 1886, CBS News reported. The historical society warns divers not to remove artifacts or pieces of the ship, which is a crime. The WHS said maritime archaeologists will begin the process of listing the J.C. Ames in the State Register of Historic Places. Read the original article on People
