Catalytic converter thefts soar along with the price of precious metals
CBSN
Motorists across the U.S. are increasingly being met with a roaring noise when they turn on the ignition due to surging thefts of catalytic converters, law enforcement officials say.
The devices look like a muffler and are attached to a vehicle's emissions system. They're increasingly coveted by thieves because they contain platinum, palladium or rhodium, precious metals that help convert hazardous exhaust emitted by an engine into less harmful gases. In recent years, the values of all three metals have spiked, with rhodium valued at $14,500 an ounce in December, palladium at $2,336 an ounce and platinum fetching $1,061, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit devoted to combating insurance fraud and vehicle theft.Rodeo star Spencer Wright and his wife are making end-of-life preparations for their 3-year-old son after he was found unconscious in a creek, a close family friend said in updates posted on social media and confirmed to CBS affiliate KUTV. The boy had been playing on his tractor before he ended up in the water and a mile downstream.
The launch of Boeing's star-crossed Starliner spacecraft on its first piloted test flight is slipping to at least June 1 to give engineers more time to assess a small-but-persistent helium leak in the capsule's propulsion system, and its potential impact across all phases of flight, NASA announced Wednesday.
Washington — As former President Donald Trump's "hush money" criminal trial in New York proceeds to closing arguments next week, the legal focus is moving south. His attorneys and longtime aide Walt Nauta appeared before Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon, where they sparred with prosecutors during two contentious, day-long hearings on Wednesday.