MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Long Island man caught mailing oxycodone pills in Skittles bags to 2-month-old baby in Vermont

Federal agents busted a Long Island man who allegedly thought he could outsmart the narcs by mailing bags of Skittles stuffed with oxycodone pills to a 2-month-old baby, the Daily News has learned.

Girl, 2, rescued by maintenance worker after stroller rolls onto subway tracks in Queens

A stroller carrying a 2-year-old girl rolled onto the tracks at a Queens subway station Monday while her mom stepped away to throw out garbage, but an alert maintenance worker jumped down and rescued the toddler, police said.

SNAKE IN A LAKE: Reptile on the loose in New Jersey lake is actually green anaconda which can grow to massive proportions: expert

A reptile expert claims that the giant snake slithering around a New Jersey lake is actually a green anaconda, but was “sworn to secrecy” by a local animal control official to avoid sparking panic.

Tough choices can be faced by NYPD any day: former cop

The tragic death of Eric Garner over what amounts to a trivial matter is a vivid example of all that can go wrong during a seemingly routine police call. Use of force against civilians is often awkward and imprecise.

OPINION Eric Garner, who sold loosies, shouldn't have been hounded by cops for his quality-of-life crime

Siegel: Watching the brutal video of the police bringing down Eric Garner, never to get up again, I though about Mo and his cousins at the Ditmas Park bodega I bought my loosies from for years

Rachel McAdams: I was ‘in awe’ of LiLo's talent in 'Mean Girls'

EXCLUSIVE Security company with MTA contract caught underpaying guards, will pay $1.3M settlement

AlliedBarton Security Services failed to give 143 workers, who were posted at NYC Transit office buildings, “prevailing” wages and benefits from October 2010 to March 2013, said Controller Scott Stringer.

Raissman: YES, SNY overanalyze botched endings

Was it two cases of more information than we needed? Or not enough? The Baseball Gods actually exist. How else can anyone explain the wild Sunday endings to both the Mets and Yankees games?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry will send 1,000 National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border

Texas Governor Rick Perry said he will send as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to help secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

Florida man molests four teen girls while swimming at Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon water park: cops

Perry Stiles inappropriately touched his victims while the teens played in the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Pro-Russia rebels turn over bodies, black boxes from crash site of downed airliner to Malaysian authorities

Pro-Russian rebels Monday released refrigerated train cars full of passengers’ bodies from the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and handed over the black boxes of the doomed plane.

Russia should turn over individuals involved in Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 disaster so they can stand trial: expert

Unlike the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines 370 earlier this year, there is no mystery about what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Dad pens outraged letter to Putin as plane crash victims' families plead for Russian leader to send bodies 'home'

Hans de Borst (far left) penned an angry letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin after his daughter Elsemiek (second from left) died in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash.

Obama urges Putin to 'compel' pro-Russia separatists to cooperate with investigation into downed Malaysia jet

The Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down Thursday with nearly 300 people on board. The White House has been calling for an international investigation into the crash and a cease-fire around the area.

JetBlue pilot arrested in heroin drug bust allegedly hours after landing in Boston

John Manwaring of Maitland, Fla., had arrived in Boston only five and a half hours before he and five others were charged with heroin possession Sunday evening. The 42-year-old denied being part of any drug deal and allegedly told police he was only seeking sex.

Two robbers make off with more than $181G in cash from Caesars Atlantic City

TWO BANDITS with the moxie to pull off a high-stakes heist knocked over an Atlantic City casino Monday and made off with $181,200 in cash, according to reports.

Katy leaves Matt Harvey 'frozen' after interrupting karaoke performance

Chirlane McCray's top aide close to ex-boss Sharpton following death of Staten Island dad

She's Chirlane McCray's chief of staff, but Rachel Noerdlinger has been highly visible at the side of her former boss, the Rev. Al Sharpton, since the death of Eric Garner last week. Noerdlinger, who used to be Sharpton’s spokeswoman before assuming her $170,000-a-year post at City Hall, appeared at Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem Saturday.

Man convicted of throwing wife over cliff for $4M inheritance, new life with ex-girlfriend

Charles Black, 71, now faces up to 30 years in prison after convicted of six felonies in the cut-throat plot to kill his now ex-wife, Lisa Zahn, 55. P

New York

Staff at elite New York City high school not responsible for student’s suicide: report

New York City investigators have cleared the staff of the elite High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College in the suicide of Omotayo Adeoye, who drowned herself after being caught cheating on an exam.

Chris Christie not likely to help NY GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino

Things keep getting worse for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino. On a day when a new Siena College poll showed Astorino trailing Gov. Cuomo among likely voters by a whopping 60% to 23% margin, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the head of the Republican Governors Association, said Monday he’s unlikely to help his fellow GOPer. “I will spend time in places where we have a chance to win, I said that right from the beginning,” Christie was quoted as saying by the Bergen Record at a Connecticut campaign appearance for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley.

Two-thirds of voters think Albany lawmakers are corrupt: poll

New York voters think their state Legislature is a cesspool. A Siena poll released Monday found that two-thirds of voters agree that Albany lawmakers “do what’s best for them and their political friends and it never surprises me when another one gets indicted.”

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

Owner of reBar hauled off to prison, jeered by angry brides and grooms

Former Brooklyn bar owner and confessed tax cheat Jason Stevens was hauled into the lock-up Monday to serve a sentence of 3 1/3 to 10 years for scamming the state out of some $1.4 million.

Dan Halloran uses Michael Bloomberg defense during trial

A federal judge Monday allowed into evidence a recording in which Halloran discussed the former mayor’s successful switch of party lines in 2009.

Brooke Burke-Charvet shows off her sculpted abs

Obama signs order protecting LGBT federal employees

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday ordered job protection for gay and transgender employees who work for the federal government or for companies holding federal contracts, telling advocates he embraces the “irrefutable rightness of your cause.”

'I think they rushed to judgment': Brother of Georgia dad accused of leaving son to die in hot car slams investigators for 'slinging mud'

The cop brother of a Georgia dad accused of killing his toddler son by locking him in a sweltering car called the investigators' case a "character assassination" meant to vilify an innocent man and loving pop.

Virginia dad left 1-year-old twins in hot car while he had sex with woman on nearby porch: cops

Juan Munford was charged with child endangerment and indecent exposure after he left the two girls in the car and had sex with a woman in full view on a nearby porch.

College friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect found guilty of impeding investigation into attack

Azamat Tazhayakov was found guilty Monday of obstruction of justice and conspiracy for impeding the investigation into his friend, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Move over, Hillary! List of potential Democratic presidential candidates for 2016 expands: report

Although no Democrats have confirmed a presidential run in 2016, there’s plenty of buzz with roughly two years before a candidate even gets the party’s nomination.

WWE slammed for using plane crash to ramp up drama

Body of billionaire owner of sunken South Korean ferry found

South Korean police said Tuesday that they have found a body of a fugitive billionaire businessman sought over April's ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Police officer Wu Hyung-ho told a televised news conference that the body was found in an agricultural field in the southern South Korean city of Suncheon on June 12. He said results of DNA and fingerprint tests showed they matched those of Yoo Byung-eun.

'I need out (of) this black hole before I snap': Posts reveal troubled past of Kansas man who allegedly abducted girlfriend's daughter, engaged in shootout that killed 5-year-old

Family members say Marcus McGowan (right) was the man who police said kidnapped Cadence Harris (left) and then led police on a two-state chase.

Second judge steps away from $124M wrongful conviction case

A second federal judge who previously blasted the Brooklyn district attorney’s office for prosecutorial misconduct has recused herself from presiding over a $124 million lawsuit filed by William Lopez, a man who spent 22 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Philly handymen strangle elderly couple after wife catches one stealing cash: police

A retired Philadelphia couple was strangled by two men hired to do household chores after the wife caught one trying to steal money, authorities said Monday.

Girl Scouts continue plans for own Barbie doll despite objections: 'This is product placement at its worst'

The makers of a Girl Scout Barbie are moving ahead with their product despite some criticism from groups who feel it could turn children into walking advertisements.

Sports

Yankees commit five errors in 4-2 loss to Texas Rangers

On Monday night, it wasn't easy being Greene. A sloppy, five-error effort and a slew of lifeless bats caused the Yankees to drop a 4-2 contest to the MLB-worst Rangers in front of 45, 278 in the Bronx.

Myers: Giants owner Mara looks for bounce back year, NFC East title

It’s Giants 2.0 for the Eli Manning-Tom Coughlin era — so many new players, so many new coaches showing up as they reported to camp Monday — and co-owner John Mara feels this could be a bounce-back year all the way to an NFC East championship.

Fourth-place Mets drop third straight, fall to Mariners in Seattle

It was not a very happy anniversary for David Wright. The Mets captain, marking 10 years to the day he made his major league debut Monday, had two hits and an RBI, but Jon Niese struggled in his first start coming off the disabled list and the Mets fell to the Mariners 5-2 at Safeco Field.