Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy

Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy
Bernard Madoff's brother to plead guilty, U.S. says
States hope to implement immigration laws after Arizona ruling
Businessman pleads guilty to bribing New Orleans official
Final bills for California budget sent to governor
Alaska debris said to be from 1952 Air Force crash
U.S. seizes cargo ship in search for stowaways
Saudi student in Texas convicted of terrorism, Bush a target
Miami face-eating attacker had marijuana in his body
U.S. recovery varies greatly by state, county, city
Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy
Chicago decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana
Moody's cuts Stockton, California's various ratings to Caa3
U.S. court: OK for jurors to take indictment home
California's Stockton rating cut to default: S&P
Arizona executes killer who fought clemency board
Extreme heat roasting Central Plains, moving east
Mississippi's sole abortion clinic sues over new law
Clemens' ex-trainer to pursue defamation lawsuit
Cook County, Illinois faces $267.5 million budget hole
Provo, Raleigh ranked as best U.S. business cities
Illinois aims to head off sex abuse scandals like at Penn State
Scorching heat forecast for struggling U.S. corn, soy
Stockton, California to file for bankruptcy
Insight: Evidence suggests anti-foreclosure laws may backfire
Trayvon Martin's killer never identified himself: police
Arizona to execute man convicted in 1986 murder, rape
'Monster' Colorado wildfire rages; Obama plans visit
Final bills for California budget sent to governor
Alaska debris said to be from 1952 Air Force crash
Stockton, California's ratings fall ahead of bankruptcy
Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy
Businessman pleads guilty to bribing New Orleans official
States hope to implement immigration laws after Arizona ruling
Moody's cuts Stockton, California's various ratings to Caa3
Bernard Madoff's brother to plead guilty, U.S. says
Saudi student in Texas convicted of terrorism, Bush a target

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 05:38 PM PDT

STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton, California, is expected to file for bankruptcy before the end of the week, becoming the largest U.S. city to seek protection from its creditors. No one in the city of nearly 300,000 is relishing the prospect, though some see no choice. Stockton, which boomed a decade ago with workers from the San Francisco Bay area seeking affordable housing, is the most recent casualty of the housing bust of the past few years. ...

Bernard Madoff's brother to plead guilty, U.S. says

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:25 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Peter Madoff, the brother of imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff, is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges on Friday, the first family member to do so since the Ponzi schemer's fraud was uncovered in December 2008. In a letter filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Peter Madoff is expected to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other crimes, as well as falsifying records. He agreed not to seek a sentence other than 10 years in prison. Madoff, who had been chief compliance officer at Bernard L. ...

States hope to implement immigration laws after Arizona ruling

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 04:10 PM PDT

(Reuters) - U.S. states with immigration laws modeled after Arizona say they hope to implement their own legislation soon after a mixed Supreme Court ruling let stand the most controversial element of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants. Five states followed Arizona's example in crafting laws requiring police to notify federal authorities when they have reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally, and sometimes imposed other strictures as well. ...

Businessman pleads guilty to bribing New Orleans official

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 05:02 PM PDT

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A guilty plea in federal court in New Orleans on Wednesday by a businessman closely associated with a previous city administration intensified the focus on former mayor Ray Nagin. In federal court on Wednesday, Frank Fradella, who owned Home Solutions of America Inc., which received contracts from the city beginning in 2007, told U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan that he was guilty of conspiracy to bribe a public official through payoffs of cash and other items. The identity of that official has not been made public. ...

Final bills for California budget sent to governor

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:39 PM PDT

STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - California lawmakers approved on Wednesday a state budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1 that closes a $15.7 billion deficit, the leader of the state Senate said. The legislation, which would also leave California with a reserve of more than $800 million, has been forwarded to Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg said. The bills put into print the budget deal reached last week by Brown and fellow Democrats who control the legislature. ...

Alaska debris said to be from 1952 Air Force crash

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:07 PM PDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Likely wreckage of a U.S. Air Force plane that crashed into the side of an Alaska mountain 60 years ago - killing all 52 servicemen on board - has been found on a glacier miles from the point of impact, military officials said on Wednesday. A military spokeswoman said some debris collected by a recovery team at the glacier was definitely that of the C-124 Globemaster cargo plane that crashed in November 1952, although the identification was still tentative. ...

U.S. seizes cargo ship in search for stowaways

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 12:57 PM PDT

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A cargo ship believed to be carrying stowaways was seized at a New Jersey port on Wednesday after it arrived in the United States following stops in India and Egypt to pick up freight, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Agents said they heard what sounded like people in a container buried beneath others in the ship's hold, Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said. The container had not been opened hours after the ship was stopped and was being moved by crane to a dock so it could be checked, he said. ...

Saudi student in Texas convicted of terrorism, Bush a target

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:23 PM PDT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. federal jury convicted a Saudi Arabian citizen on Wednesday of attempting to build a weapon of mass destruction to attack several targets in the United States, including the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. Khalid Aldawsari, 22, who was a student at South Plains College near Lubbock, Texas, referred to Bush's home in an e-mail as a "tyrant's house. ...

Miami face-eating attacker had marijuana in his body

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 02:53 PM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Miami man killed by police after he chewed off a big chunk of the face of a homeless man had marijuana in his system but no other drugs, authorities said on Wednesday. Police had speculated that Rudy Eugene, who was found naked gnawing on his victim's face on the off-ramp of a downtown Miami bridge, may have been under the influence of a synthetic drug known as bath salts at the time of the attack. The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department said in a statement that results from toxicology tests identified only components of marijuana. ...

U.S. recovery varies greatly by state, county, city

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 02:32 PM PDT

(Reuters) - In a twist on the old aphorism about real estate, the three most important factors for the current U.S. economic recovery seem to be location, location, location. Growth right now is "extremely concentrated" in a few states, said Chris Mauro head of U.S. Municipal Research Strategy at RBC Capital Markets, adding that there has been "a general stagnation, with the exception of some of the resource-rich states." Three reports released on Wednesday show wide variations in the rebound from the 2007-09 economic recession, both at the state and local levels. ...

Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 04:16 PM PDT

STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton, California, is expected to file for bankruptcy before the end of the week, becoming the largest U.S. city to seek protection from its creditors. Officials said that the city of nearly 300,000 could file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy by Friday afternoon, after the city council approved on Tuesday a budget that includes savings from the bankruptcy. ...

Chicago decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 02:13 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - People caught with small amounts of marijuana in Chicago will be ticketed instead of arrested under a new ordinance passed by the city council on Wednesday, as the third largest U.S. city became the latest to support more lenient penalties for using the drug. The council voted 43-3 in favor of the measure, which was backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Under the ordinance, police in Chicago can issue a written violation with a fine of between $250 and $500 for possession of 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of marijuana or less rather than make an arrest. More than a dozen U.S. ...

Moody's cuts Stockton, California's various ratings to Caa3

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:38 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday cut to Caa3 various general fund-supported debts of the City of Stockton, California, citing the city's announcement that it likely will file for bankruptcy after talks with its creditors failed. "The city is running out of cash and faces limited time and options to fix its structural imbalance," the Wall Street credit agency said in a statement. The downgrade puts Stockton's ratings in the "substantial risk" category, just one notch above the "may be in default, extremely speculative" grouping. ...

U.S. court: OK for jurors to take indictment home

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 09:26 AM PDT

(Reuters) - You can take it with you. A federal appeals court in New York refused to overturn the conviction of a man who claimed he was denied a fair trial because jurors were allowed to take his indictment home to read after deliberations had begun. In what it called the first case of its kind, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday acknowledged a "marginal" extra risk of taking indictments home, noting that human nature and the Internet already leave jurors exposed to outside influences. ...

California's Stockton rating cut to default: S&P

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 02:16 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Standard & Poor's downgraded Stockton, California to default from selective default on Wednesday, citing expectations that the city will not pay "substantially" all of its obligations as they come due. Stockton's elected officials approved a 2013 budget on Tuesday night based on the city filing for bankruptcy as soon as Wednesday. A bedroom community of 300,000 some 85 miles east of San Francisco and a casualty of the real estate bust, Stockton is set to become the most populous U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. It has $700 million of outstanding debt. ...

Arizona executes killer who fought clemency board

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 12:26 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A convicted murderer who challenged the fairness of Arizona's clemency board and won a temporary reprieve was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday for raping, beating and stabbing a woman to death in 1986. Samuel Villegas Lopez, 49, was executed at the state prison complex in Florence, about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix. The execution began at 10:08 a.m. local time and he was pronounced dead at 10:37 a.m., state officials said. ...

Extreme heat roasting Central Plains, moving east

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 01:37 PM PDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Temperatures soared toward and above 100 degrees in many Central Plains states on Wednesday, creating dangerous conditions that are expanding eastward and meteorologists expect little relief over the next couple of weeks. Parts of Colorado and Kansas have reported temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several days. Chicago on Thursday is expected to reach the century mark for the first time since 2005, prompting health warnings, and triple-digit highs are expected to reach into Tennessee. ...

Mississippi's sole abortion clinic sues over new law

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 01:21 PM PDT

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - The lone abortion facility in Mississippi asked a federal court on Wednesday to block a new state law that will require doctors who perform the controversial procedure to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The law, set to take effect on Sunday, threatens to make Mississippi the only U.S. state without an abortion clinic. Some anti-abortion state lawmakers say they hope that would mean an end to abortions there. ...

Clemens' ex-trainer to pursue defamation lawsuit

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:20 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A trainer who testified that he injected Roger Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs intends to proceed with a defamation lawsuit against the baseball legend despite Clemens' recent acquittal on perjury charges, his lawyer said on Wednesday after a court hearing in Brooklyn. Brian McNamee filed the civil lawsuit in 2009, seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages from Clemens, who he trained with during stints at the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. ...

Cook County, Illinois faces $267.5 million budget hole

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 12:17 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cook County, Illinois, is facing a $267.5 million fiscal 2013 budget gap due to a planned rollback of the sales tax rate and a decline in other revenue, including patient fees at public hospitals, officials said on Wednesday. The second largest county in the United States and home of Chicago is projecting $1.98 billion in general fund revenue in the fiscal year that begins in December and $2.25 billion in expenditures. The funding gap is smaller than shortfalls of $487 million in fiscal 2011 and $315 million in fiscal 2012. ...

Provo, Raleigh ranked as best U.S. business cities

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 09:39 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Provo, Utah, the home of Brigham Young University, displaced Raleigh, North Carolina, as the best U.S. city for business in a new ranking released on Wednesday. The third-largest city in Utah, located about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, topped the Forbes.com list thanks to its robust job growth and low crime rate. "Provo had job growth of 3 percent in 2011, which was third in the United States, and they ranked tenth-lowest in crime," said Mike Ozanian, an executive editor at Forbes. "Brigham Young University provides a stabilizing presence to their economy," he added. ...

Illinois aims to head off sex abuse scandals like at Penn State

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The state of Illinois on Wednesday added sports coaches and university employees to the list of people required to report suspected child sexual abuse, a move aimed at stopping cases like the one that involved convicted former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. "Young people place their trust in coaches and university officials, and it is their responsibility to report any suspected abuse," Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing that he signed legislation passed unanimously by the state's General Assembly. All U.S. ...

Scorching heat forecast for struggling U.S. corn, soy

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 10:50 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A heat wave, with highs that could top 100 degrees Fahrenheit, is forecast for the southern U.S. Midwest this week and next week, which should put more stress on corn and soybean crops, agricultural meteorologists predicted Wednesday. "There's not much change in the midday forecast. Still above to much-above normal temperatures for the Midwest for next week," said Anthony Chipriano, meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather. Scorching heat of up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit were reported Tuesday in the western Plains states and the heat wave was moving east. ...

Stockton, California to file for bankruptcy

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 01:13 AM PDT

STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton, California will become the largest U.S. city to seek protection from its creditors after its leaders approved a budget on Tuesday night based on the city filing for bankruptcy. A Chapter 9 bankruptcy by the city of nearly 300,000 in California's Central Valley, about 85 miles east of San Francisco, could come as early as Wednesday. Stockton's city council voted six to one in favor of the 2012-2013 budget after a contentious five-hour meeting where angry retired city workers pressed council members to reject the $155 million spending plan. ...

Insight: Evidence suggests anti-foreclosure laws may backfire

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 04:48 AM PDT

(Reuters) - State and federal laws enacted to protect homeowners from eviction in the wake of the 2008 housing crash may be extending the slump, according to a growing number of economists and industry experts. Foreclosures have all but ground to a halt in Nevada, which passed one of the stiffest borrower-protection laws in the country last year. Yet the housing market is further than ever from recovery, local real estate agents say, with a lack of inventory feeding a "mini-bubble" in prices that few believe is sustainable. A recent U.S. ...

Trayvon Martin's killer never identified himself: police

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 04:29 AM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, the man charged in the killing of Trayvon Martin, failed on at least two opportunities to identify himself as a neighborhood watch volunteer before he shot the unarmed teenager, a police investigator wrote in a report made public on Tuesday. Pages of the report were among a batch of new evidence released in the case by Florida's state attorney's office. The records included video and audio recordings of Zimmerman and written statements by him and police. ...

Arizona to execute man convicted in 1986 murder, rape

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 07:45 AM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A convicted murderer who challenged the fairness of Arizona's clemency board and won a temporary reprieve is set to be executed on Wednesday for raping, beating and stabbing a woman to death in 1986. Samuel Villegas Lopez, 49, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 10 a.m. local time inside the state prison in Florence, about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix, an Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman said. ...

'Monster' Colorado wildfire rages; Obama plans visit

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:53 PM PDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - Firefighters struggled on Wednesday to beat back a fiercely aggressive wildfire raging at the edge of Colorado Springs that has forced at least 35,000 people from their homes and was nipping at the edges of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The so-called Waldo Canyon Fire, fanned by gusting winds, has gutted an unknown number of homes on the wooded fringes of Colorado's second-most populous city and prompted more evacuations as flames roared out of control for a fifth day. ...

Final bills for California budget sent to governor

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:39 PM PDT

Alaska debris said to be from 1952 Air Force crash

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 06:07 PM PDT

Stockton, California's ratings fall ahead of bankruptcy

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 05:38 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The credit ratings of Stockton, California, were slashed on Wednesday by two Wall Street credit agencies because the city plans to file for bankruptcy soon. Standard & Poor's downgraded Stockton to default from selective default on Wednesday, citing expectations that the city will not pay "substantially" all of its obligations as they come due. Moody's Investors Service cut Stockton's pension obligation debt to Caa3 from B3 and its lease revenue debt to Caa3 from Caa1. ...

Stockton, California, to file for bankruptcy

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 05:38 PM PDT

Businessman pleads guilty to bribing New Orleans official

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 05:02 PM PDT

States hope to implement immigration laws after Arizona ruling

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 04:10 PM PDT

Moody's cuts Stockton, California's various ratings to Caa3

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:38 PM PDT

Bernard Madoff's brother to plead guilty, U.S. says

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:25 PM PDT

Saudi student in Texas convicted of terrorism, Bush a target

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 03:23 PM PDT