New Tough Mudder course to include tear gas in 2015

Tough Mudder is thought by many to be a fun, adrenaline-inducing alternative to a 10K or half marathon. The addition of obstacles makes the notion of running long distances seem much more tolerable to many of those not keen on doing the same repetitive motion for several miles. 

But in recent years, the popular adventure race company has added several hellacious obstacles, including an electric shock army crawl obstacle and something called an “Artic Enema.” But the company’s latest addition to the course will literally make you cry.

Upcoming Oktibbeha County Justice Court races flush with Democrats

Election matchups for a variety of county-level seats began taking shape Monday as 21 candidates filed qualification paperwork to enter this year’s race. 

As of the end of business hours, a number of intra-Democratic Party races manifested, including primary challenges for all three of Oktibbeha County’s justice court seats, sheriff and a constable position. 

Black Lakewood man: A KKK member saved me

John Brown was wounded while serving in Vietnam. He said a member of the KKK saved his life.(Photo: ANDREW FORD // ASBURY PARK PRESS)

This is another in Asbury Park Press’ series of conversations on race, featuring community members’ reflections and thoughts on how they believe race has – or hasn’t – impacted their lives. We would like to hear your stories. Email them to: yourviews@app.com.

Ryan Costello set to take seat in 114th Congress

Politicians from West Chester who have served as U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District hold remarkable and sometimes colorful biographical histories.

Like the private in the U.S. Army during the Civil War (Smedley Darlington, who served from 1887-1891) who grew to be a banker and the eventual grandfather of a military man known as the “Fighting Quaker;” and the businessman who began his career (William Everhart, 1853-1855) in Congress 30 years after surviving the sinking of the ship Albion off the coast or Ireland; and the war veteran (John Hickman, 1855-1863) who led the impeachment hearing of a federal judge from Tennessee in the 1860s; and the Everhart scion (James Bowen Everhart 1883-1887) who supplemented his work as a Harvard-educated attorney by publishing works of poetry, notably “The Fox Chase.”

Edward Brooke, first African-American elected to the US Senate, dies at 95

Brooke, a liberal Massachusetts Republican, was one of only two African-Americans to serve in the Senate in the 20th century.

Edward W. Brooke, who in 1966 became the first African-American popularly elected to the U.S. Senate and who influenced major anti-poverty laws before his bright political career unraveled over allegations of financial impropriety regarding private loans, died his home in Naples, Fla. He was 95.

Algorithms that can ‘see’ images on the Web

Thanks to smartphones, photos are the new language of the Web. Each day people upload 1.8 billion new images to the Internet. The only problem with all that pic-sharing? The Web’s entire infrastructure is built around text. (Even Google’s image search function relies on text to identify images.) So how do we search, sort, browse, and navigate a rapidly growing sea of images? We teach our computers to actually see them. As you can imagine, that’s no small challenge.

Is Ultron working for Thanos in Avengers 2: Age of Ultron?

With Avengers 2 Age of Ultron just around the corner, there are still so many questions to be answered about Marvels future and Phase 3. How does Ultron fit into the grand scheme of the MCU? Will Thanos be in Avengers 2? What will be happening in Avengers 3?

Recently revealed in new Avengers 2 promo art was this description of Ultron’s origins…

Runners keep it festive at holiday race

CARMEL VALLEY Christmas may have come and gone, but that didn’t stop thousands of runners from getting into the holiday spirit Sunday morning during the second annual San Diego Holiday Half Marathon.

About 2,800 runners took to the 13.1 mile course, which started in Rancho Peñasquitos and ended at the picturesque Torrey Pines State Beach. The mostly downhill race features a 714-foot drop in elevation and gives runners a good shot at setting a personal record, according to the event’s website.

World Digest: Dec. 28, 2014

About 1,000 suspected Boko Haram fighters from Nigeria attacked five towns in northern Cameroon during the weekend and briefly occupied a military camp Sunday before being removed by the air force, an army spokesman said.

The group attacked the military camp in Achigachia near the Nigerian border early in the morning. After an intense battle, the army abandoned the camp, Lt. Col. Didier Badjeck said.

With his star hitched to Boehner, Stivers on the rise

WASHINGTON – When Rep. Steve Stivers begins his third term in the House next month, the Columbus Republican will have a new spot at the center of the legislative action.

That’s because GOP leaders, in a surprise move, awarded Stivers a seat on the powerful House Rules Committee in the 114th Congress. The panel sets the terms of debate for nearly every piece of legislation that goes to the House floor and decides which amendments, if any, will receive a vote.