Florida judge revokes bond for Trayvon Martin killer

Florida judge revokes bond for Trayvon Martin killer
Army drops one charge against soldier accused in Afghan massacre
John Edwards, fresh off court victory, begins public penance
Edwards' lover Rielle Hunter writes tell-all memoir
Lockheed hires temps at strike-hit Fort Worth plant
Rare copy of Book of Mormon reported stolen from Arizona store
Utah school district restricts access to book about lesbian family
Embattled U.S. Postal Service gets help from rural America
Escaped inmates may have hid blade in folder: officials
Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeks
Louisiana's bold bid to privatize schools
New Mexico's largest wildfire ever is 10 percent contained
Medical marijuana legalized in Connecticut
Romney calls May jobs report "devastating news"
NY mayor blasts sugar ban critics: "That's a lot of soda"
Colorado researchers raise Atlantic storm forecast
Hospitals fight drug scarcity, fear patients harmed
Justice Department tells Florida to end voter purge
Wal-Mart chairman: Integrity 'is our business'
Murder suspects who broke out of Arkansas jail apprehended
Court rejects Sandusky bid for sex abuse trial delay
Clinton: Iran must take concrete nuclear steps
Wisconsin recall tests conservatives' ground game
More "Twist" is needed, Fed's Rosengren says
Reality TV family won't face bigamy charges in Utah: prosecutors
San Diego eighth grader wins National Spelling Bee with "guetapens"
Illinois lawmakers put off vote on pension reforms
California pension fund slashes official's record $45,000 monthly payment
The Queen's 60th anniversary party gets under way
Rare copy of Book of Mormon reported stolen from Arizona store
John Edwards, fresh off court victory, begins public penance
Utah school district restricts access to book about lesbian family
Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeks
Lockheed hires temps at strike-hit Fort Worth plant
Escaped inmates may have hid blade in folder: officials
Wal-Mart chairman: Integrity 'is our business'
Army drops one charge against soldier accused in Afghan massacre
Florida judge revokes bond for Trayvon Martin killer

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:22 PM PDT

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida judge on Friday revoked bail for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, and ordered him to surrender within 48 hours. The bail revocation came after prosecutors accused Zimmerman of withholding one of his two valid passports and said his wife did not tell the court about money donated for his legal defense. Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. ...

Army drops one charge against soldier accused in Afghan massacre

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:29 PM PDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The U.S. Army on Friday dropped one of the murder charges against the soldier originally accused of killing 17 Afghan villagers in March, reducing the number of murder counts to 16 due to the double-counting of one of the dead, officials said. The amended complaint now also accuses Staff Sergeant Robert Bales of wrongfully possessing and using steroids and unlawfully consuming alcohol while deployed. The March 11 mass shooting in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations, already frayed by a decade of war. ...

John Edwards, fresh off court victory, begins public penance

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 05:06 PM PDT

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate John Edwards began his public rehabilitation on the steps of a federal courthouse shortly after the end of his trial on campaign finance charges. For a man widely scorned for cheating on his wife as she battled cancer and then lying about his child with videographer Rielle Hunter, it will not be an easy road back. It's also uncertain where that road will take Edwards. One thing is clear, observers said: It's far too soon for the former senator to consider a return to politics. ...

Edwards' lover Rielle Hunter writes tell-all memoir

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:58 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Rielle Hunter, the woman whose affair with John Edwards wrecked both his U.S. presidential ambitions and his good name, will publish a tell-all memoir later this month. One day after the former U.S. Senator was acquitted on one charge of illegally using almost $1 million in campaign contributions to cover up the affair and the child he fathered, publishers BenBella Books told People magazine that the memoir will hit shelves on June 26. ...

Lockheed hires temps at strike-hit Fort Worth plant

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:37 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's biggest supplier, said on Friday it has hired about 145 temporary production and janitorial employees at its Fort Worth, Texas, plant, where a big machinists union has been on strike for six weeks. Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said the company had brought in 70 assembler, painters and flight line mechanics, as well as 75 janitorial workers so far, and expected to hire more on Monday, when the plant will return to a two-shift operation. ...

Rare copy of Book of Mormon reported stolen from Arizona store

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 05:24 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Police searched on Friday for clues to the suspected theft of a rare, first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon, valued at $100,000, that was reported stolen from a suburban Phoenix bookstore over the Memorial Day weekend. The authorities said they were in the early stages of an investigation into the disappearance of the 1830 leather-bound volume, which its owner said has became a must-see artifact for young Mormons worldwide before embarking on church missions. ...

Utah school district restricts access to book about lesbian family

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 05:02 PM PDT

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Students in a Utah school district will need permission from their parents to read a book about a lesbian couple raising a family following the decision by a special committee to keep it behind library counters instead of on bookshelves. The book "In Our Mothers' House," by Patricia Polacco, became the subject of controversy in January when the mother of a student who brought the book home complained to the school. ...

Embattled U.S. Postal Service gets help from rural America

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:10 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. Postal Service limps along, bleeding billions of dollars every financial quarter, congressional leaders are looking to a group of outspoken rural lawmakers for help with a dramatic restructuring of the agency. Rural Americans say they regard their local post offices as the centers of their communities. With UPS and FedEx service limited or more expensive in some areas, many rely on the Postal Service to deliver medicines, while families need it to pay bills and small businesses and craftsmen use it to ship goods to customers. ...

Escaped inmates may have hid blade in folder: officials

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:35 PM PDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - Authorities in Arkansas are investigating whether two escaped murder suspects may have been slipped a hacksaw thin enough to conceal inside the folders that inmates carry to court hearings and that law enforcement officials are not allowed to inspect. That is one theory being examined as part of an investigation that also involves a look at whether any sheriff's office employees were involved in the Monday jail escape, Miller County Sheriff Ron Stovall said Friday. ...

Louisiana House approves bill banning abortions after 20 weeks

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:50 PM PDT

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The Louisiana state House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would prohibit abortion beyond 20 weeks after fertilization unless the mother's life is in danger. Georgia a month ago became the seventh state to ban most or all abortions after 20 weeks. Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and North Carolina also have such restrictions. Under the Louisiana measure, doctors who violate the 20-week provision could face up to two years in prison. ...

Louisiana's bold bid to privatize schools

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:06 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Louisiana is embarking on the nation's boldest experiment in privatizing public education, with the state preparing to shift tens of millions in tax dollars out of the public schools to pay private industry, businesses owners and church pastors to educate children. Starting this fall, thousands of poor and middle-class kids will get vouchers covering the full cost of tuition at more than 120 private schools across Louisiana, including small, Bible-based church schools. ...

New Mexico's largest wildfire ever is 10 percent contained

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:17 PM PDT

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Firefighters gained some containment on Friday of a blaze that has torn through the mountains of southwestern New Mexico and this week became the largest wildfire in the state's history. The Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire has grown to 216,650 acres but is now 10 percent contained, Fire Information Officer Nancy Guerrero said. Higher humidity levels and calmer winds allowed firefighters to begin containment efforts on Thursday for the first time since the blaze was started by lightning on May 16. ...

Medical marijuana legalized in Connecticut

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:11 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Connecticut on Friday became the 17th U.S. state to legalize the medical use of marijuana. The state's Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law legislation allowing licensed physicians to certify an adult patient's use of marijuana for medical purposes, according to a statement from the governor's office. The new law puts in place restrictions to prevent the kind of abuse that has plagued some of the 16 other states and the District of Columbia where pot is legal for medical use. ...

Romney calls May jobs report "devastating news"

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 10:50 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called a disappointing U.S. jobs report for May "devastating news" on Friday and a sign that President Barack Obama's economic policies have failed. Romney moved quickly to take political advantage of the Labor Department's report that U.S. unemployment had moved up slightly to 8.2 percent in May from 8.1 percent, with the economy adding only 69,000 jobs for the month, far fewer than anticipated. "Today's weak jobs report is devastating news for American workers and American families," he said in a statement. ...

NY mayor blasts sugar ban critics: "That's a lot of soda"

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 10:03 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered a full-throated defense of his proposed ban on large-size sugary sodas on Friday, calling criticism of the proposal "ridiculous" and saying his city is again leading the way in taking on critical health issues. "I look across this country, and people are obese, and everybody wrings their hands, and nobody's willing to do something about it," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. "I would criticize the federal government for not doing anything," the health-conscious Bloomberg added on WOR radio's John Gambling show. ...

Colorado researchers raise Atlantic storm forecast

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 08:20 AM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Colorado State University researchers on Friday raised their forecast for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season to 13 tropical storms, with five hurricanes and two major hurricanes. In April they forecast 10 tropical storms, with four strengthening into hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 miles per hour during the six-month season that began on Friday. ...

Hospitals fight drug scarcity, fear patients harmed

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:09 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, pharmacists are using old-fashioned paper spreadsheets to track their stock of drugs in short supply - a task that takes several hours each day. Most of the hospital's medicines - with usage estimated at $100 million a year - are tracked by automated systems that allow for quick reorders when the supply runs low. But these automated systems, designed to help the hospital avoid purchases and storage costs of unused pills and vials, do not work if it is uncertain when the next batch of drugs will come in. ...

Justice Department tells Florida to end voter purge

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:18 PM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Justice Department has asked Florida, a key electoral battleground state where a small number of ballots can swing a presidential race, to end a controversial voter purge effort. In a two-page letter on Thursday, T. Christian Herren Jr., chief of the Justice Department's Voting Section, said the effort appeared to violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities. ...

Wal-Mart chairman: Integrity 'is our business'

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:54 PM PDT

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc executives told shareholders they would not stand for unethical behavior at the world's largest retailer, whose shares have soared to 12-year highs as strong results more than offset concerns about bribery allegations. Friday's annual shareholders meeting was the first time that Chairman Rob Walton, a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, publicly addressed the issue of possible bribery in Mexico. ...

Murder suspects who broke out of Arkansas jail apprehended

Posted: 31 May 2012 09:52 PM PDT

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Two murder suspects who used a hacksaw to break out of their second-story cell in an Arkansas county jail were apprehended on Thursday after a four-day manhunt, authorities said. The Miller County Sheriff's Office said on Thursday that murder suspect Quincy Vernard Stewart, 36, and his cell mate Cortez Rashod Hooper, 23, were back in the county jail, but gave scant details on how they were tracked down. The pair escaped on Monday after using a hacksaw to remove bars on their cell, according to authorities. ...

Court rejects Sandusky bid for sex abuse trial delay

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:23 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A Pennsylvania appeals court rejected former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's bid for a delay in his high-profile child sex abuse trial on Friday. The ruling by the Superior Court in Harrisburg means Sandusky's case will go ahead starting with jury selection on Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to start on July 11. The court turned down without comment a request for a delay filed late on Thursday by Sandusky's lawyers Joe Amendola and Karl Rominger, according to a filing on the court's website. ...

Clinton: Iran must take concrete nuclear steps

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 10:21 AM PDT

OSLO (Reuters) - Major powers will know within a few weeks if Iran plans to take concrete action to demonstrate that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday. Six major powers are scheduled to hold a third round of talks with Iran in Moscow on June 18-19 that the West hopes will persuade Iran to answer questions about its nuclear program, which the West suspects is designed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. ...

Wisconsin recall tests conservatives' ground game

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 09:05 AM PDT

OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Robin Milaeger whoops for joy and punches her fist in the air when the man at her door asks if she wants a yard sign supporting Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, who faces a contentious recall election on June 5. "I was wondering when you would show up," Milaeger says to Mike Kozaria, who is canvassing voters in her conservative neighborhood in Oconomowoc, some 30 miles west of Milwaukee. "Walker promised he'd make tough choices to fix Wisconsin and he kept his word. ...

More "Twist" is needed, Fed's Rosengren says

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 05:05 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The economy needs a bigger dose of the medicine the Federal Reserve is now administering, says Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, and even more aggressive policy moves would be warranted if the jobless rate starts to rise. Rosengren, a dovish central-bank policymaker who this week upped the ante for more Fed stimulus, said the best course of action would be prolonging a program known as Operation Twist, in which the Fed extends the maturities of its bonds in an effort to lower rates and spur borrowing and growth. ...

Reality TV family won't face bigamy charges in Utah: prosecutors

Posted: 31 May 2012 10:16 PM PDT

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A polygamous family made famous on reality TV show "Sister Wives" will not face Utah criminal charges of bigamy, state prosecutors said on Thursday, as they sought to have a federal judge dismiss a challenge to Utah's law against multiple marriage partners. A bigamy investigation - centered on Kody Brown, the four women he lives with and their 17 children - was launched by Utah County prosecutors in October 2010, shortly after the family made their lifestyle public on their show on cable network TLC. ...

San Diego eighth grader wins National Spelling Bee with "guetapens"

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:58 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Snigdha Nandipati, a 14-year-old eighth grader from San Diego, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday by spelling "guetapens," a French word for ambush or trap. "It's a miracle!" Nandipati, who reads encyclopedias for fun, said after winning the contest with her correct spelling. Second place went to Stuti Mishra, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Orlando, Florida, who finished in second place after misspelling "schwarmerei," a German word for excessive enthusiasm. ...

Illinois lawmakers put off vote on pension reforms

Posted: 31 May 2012 09:10 PM PDT

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - Divided Illinois lawmakers on Thursday put off a vote on proposed changes to its vastly underfunded public employee pension system, risking further credit rating downgrades of the state. Tom Cross, the Republican leader of the state House of Representatives, announced that too few House Democrats would support the current form of the legislation so he had agreed with Governor Pat Quinn not to call for a vote on it. "We have to be willing to find some common ground," a weary-sounding Cross told fellow lawmakers. "We need to let emotions settle down. ...

California pension fund slashes official's record $45,000 monthly payment

Posted: 31 May 2012 08:51 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's pension fund for public employees said on Thursday it would slash the retirement benefits of the former administrator of a tiny industrial town who secured monthly payments of more than $45,000. The California Public Employees' Retirement System said Bruce Malkenhorst Sr, would now receive $9,654 a month, after the pension fund preliminarily concluded that his $45,073 pension was "illegally based on unpublished pay rates, overtime and an inflated longevity allowance. ...

The Queen's 60th anniversary party gets under way

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 06:25 PM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen gets four days of celebrations to mark her 60 years on the British throne under way on Saturday with one of her favourite pastimes, a trip to the horse races, as tributes to the long-serving monarch pour in. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on London over the next few days for Diamond Jubilee festivities, with millions attending street parties across the country as the nation marks the Queen's personal milestone. "The Queen has given incredible service," Prime Minister David Cameron said. ...