Penn State accreditation in jeopardy due to abuse scandal

Penn State accreditation in jeopardy due to abuse scandal
Exclusive: Bond insurer sues California over development agencies
Burglar hit Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' house -prosecutor
Arkansas, N. Carolina ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate
Obamas tap White House home beer
Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping
Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state
Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children
Defense seeks Illinois mistrial again in Drew Peterson murder case
Texas gunman's illness led to shooting, mother says
U.S. boosts intelligence after Afghan insider attacks
Asian-American rift over Supreme Court affirmative action case
Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children
U.S. evangelist Billy Graham released from hospital
Municipal bankruptcy a risk, even where it's disallowed: Fitch
Ryan to meet campaign donors in Las Vegas behind closed doors
Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state
U.S. has life of pi as population hits math milestone
Arkansas, NC ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate on high corn
Toddler killed in suburban New York house explosion
Giant Burmese python sets Florida record for size, fertility
Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping
Top farm lender worried by drought, politics
Little relief seen from U.S. drought despite cooler trend
California urges power conservation due heat wave
Vt. jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping
Trayvon Martin killer makes another appeal for a new judge
Penn State banks on BNY Mellon executive to fix reputation
White House hopeful on renewal of wind tax credit
$500,000 for New Jersey school kids forced to eat on floor
Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping
Arkansas, N. Carolina ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate
Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children
Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state
Exclusive: Bond insurer sues California over development agencies
Obamas tap White House home beer
Defense seeks Illinois mistrial again in Drew Peterson murder case
U.S. boosts intelligence after Afghan insider attacks
Burglar hit Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' house -prosecutor

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 10:21 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania State University has been warned it could lose its accreditation because of the child sex scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education told Penn State last week that its accreditation was in jeopardy because of the findings of an independent investigation into the Sandusky scandal and sanctions imposed on the high-profile football program. Accreditation guarantees the educational standards of a university and the validity of its degrees. ...

Exclusive: Bond insurer sues California over development agencies

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:48 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bond insurer Syncora Guarantee has filed a lawsuit to prevent California from eliminating the state's 400 local redevelopment agencies, claiming that the plan unfairly deprives bondholders of money they are owed. The lawsuit, filed on August 1 in California Superior Court in Sacramento, is part of a rapidly expanding battle between Wall Street and California as the state, and individual cities, look at ways to avoid debt payments to alleviate an ongoing budget crisis. ...

Burglar hit Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' house -prosecutor

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:41 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A thief burglarized Steve Jobs' house in the high-tech hub of Palo Alto, California, stealing the late Apple co-founder's wallet, more than $60,000 in jewelry and several computers, but was unaware of whose home he had broken into, authorities said. Kariem McFarlin, 35, was charged with burglary and selling stolen property after the July 17 break-in, when the house was unoccupied during renovations, said Scott Tsui, a Santa Clara County prosecutor. The July 17 burglary came just over nine months after Jobs died in October at age 56 after a battle with cancer. ...

Arkansas, N. Carolina ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:30 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The governors of North Carolina and Arkansas joined two of their Northeast peers on Tuesday in asking the federal government to temporarily suspend the ethanol quota, piling pressure on President Barack Obama to make a tough choice months before the election. The worst drought in 50 years has sent corn prices to record levels, straining meat and dairy producers that use the grain as feed. Governors Mike Beebe from Arkansas and Beverly Purdue from North Carolina sent the requests in letters to the Environmental Protection Agency. "We've gone ahead and filed our letter. ...

Obamas tap White House home beer

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:20 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has become one of the first modern day U.S. presidents known for enjoying a cold beer that is brewed and tapped right at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Obama aides on Tuesday confirmed the small brewery during a three-day re-election campaign tour across Iowa. An official admitted the Obamas have their own alcoholic beverage made and kept in stock at the White House. Revelations about the White House beer came to light after the president gave a bottle of it to a patron at a coffee shop he was visiting in Iowa. ...

Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:10 PM PDT

BURLINGTON, Vermont (Reuters) - A Mennonite minister was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding a kidnapping by helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders giving visitation rights to her former lesbian partner. The case drew widespread attention as gay rights groups and evangelical Christian groups took opposing sides in the legal battle between the two women over Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now 10. ...

Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Firefighters battled wildfires across the U.S. West on Tuesday, including a massive out-of-control blaze that has destroyed 60 homes and burned more than 20,000 acres between two national forests in Washington state. Another 400 homes were evacuated in the rolling hills between the northwest Washington towns of Cle Elum and Ellensburg, at the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains, prompting Governor Christine Gregoire to declare a state of emergency in two counties. ...

Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:18 PM PDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A man convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her two young children in 1993 and burying them in a shallow grave was executed on Tuesday in Oklahoma after an unsuccessful last-ditch challenge to the state's three-drug execution protocol. Michael Hooper, 39, was convicted of driving his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Jarman and her children, Timothy, 3, and Tonya, 5, to a field where he shot each of them twice in the head and then buried them in December 1993. Their bodies were found three days later. ...

Defense seeks Illinois mistrial again in Drew Peterson murder case

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:08 PM PDT

JOLIET, Ill (Reuters) - Lawyers for former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson, accused of murdering his wife, asked on Tuesday that the judge declare a mistrial after prosecutors introduced barred evidence. This was the third mistrial request from Peterson's defense. The previous two were denied, and Will County Judge Edward Burmila will rule on the latest on Wednesday. Peterson is accused of killing Kathleen Savio, his third wife, while they were engaged in a contentious divorce in 2004 and then staging her death to look like an accidental drowning. ...

Texas gunman's illness led to shooting, mother says

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:13 PM PDT

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A gunman who killed a law enforcement officer and a bystander near Texas A&M University on Monday before he was shot and killed by police had suffered from mental health issues, his mother said on Tuesday. "He had been ill. It breaks our hearts his illness led to this," Linda Weaver said in a brief statement about her son, 35-year-old Thomas Alton Caffall III, whom she called Tres. ...

U.S. boosts intelligence after Afghan insider attacks

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday it was expanding counterintelligence staff in Afghanistan after a rise in insider attacks by Afghans thought to be friendly to U.S. forces but who have killed 37 coalition troops so far this year. Last Friday, six U.S. troops were killed in two separate incidents, one which saw an Afghan police commander and several of his men kill three U.S. Marines after inviting them to a Ramadan breakfast to discuss security. ...

Asian-American rift over Supreme Court affirmative action case

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT

(Reuters) - On Monday, dozens of Asian-American organizations filed amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that universities should be allowed to consider race in admissions decisions. Five Asian-American groups were not among them. That's because those groups already filed their briefs in the closely watched University of Texas case -- on the other side. They argued in May that the school's race-conscious admissions policies hurt Asian-Americans by giving less qualified candidates a leg up on admissions. ...

Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:31 PM PDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A man convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her two young children in 1993 and burying them in a shallow grave was executed on Tuesday in Oklahoma, a prison spokesman said. Michael Hooper, 39, was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. local time at the state prison in McAlester, the spokesman said. Hooper drove his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Jarman and her children, Timothy, 3, and Tonya, 5, to a field where he shot each of them twice in the head and then buried them in December 1993. Their bodies were found three days later. ...

U.S. evangelist Billy Graham released from hospital

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:49 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Christian evangelist Billy Graham was released from a North Carolina hospital and returned home on Tuesday after two days of treatment for bronchitis, his representatives said. Graham, 93, is among the most influential U.S. religious leaders of the 20th century. He was taken to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, on Sunday after coming down with a slight temperature, his representatives and the hospital said. "Mr. Graham had a quick recovery and responded very well to his treatment," Dr Daniel Fertel said in a statement. ...

Municipal bankruptcy a risk, even where it's disallowed: Fitch

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:25 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Barely half of U.S. states allow their local governments to file for bankruptcy, but Fitch Ratings will continue to factor in the probability of a Chapter 9 filing for all tax-supported local debt it rates, the agency said on Tuesday. Fitch added a new section on the legal and structural framework of debt in its criteria for rating U.S. local government bonds supported by taxes, highlighting growing concerns for municipal bankruptcies and explaining its views of the ties between local and state governments. ...

Ryan to meet campaign donors in Las Vegas behind closed doors

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 02:51 PM PDT

DENVER (Reuters) - Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will meet behind closed doors with donors and fundraisers in Las Vegas at the Venetian hotel, owned by casino mogul and formidable campaign donor Sheldon Adelson. The Wisconsin congressman will meet with members of the Nevada finance team on Tuesday evening - his first such event as part of Mitt Romney's campaign - but members of the media will not be allowed to attend. ...

Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:20 PM PDT

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Firefighters in Washington state fought a wildfire on Tuesday that has destroyed 60 homes and burned more than 20,000 acres between two national forests east of the capital, Olympia. Another 400 homes were evacuated in the rolling hills between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, two towns in northwest Washington at the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains. The massive blaze was among more than a dozen wildfires burning across the U.S. West, which is wilting under a heat wave that has sent temperatures into the triple digits. ...

U.S. has life of pi as population hits math milestone

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:13 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Figuring out the number of American residents got as easy as pi on Tuesday as the United States touched a rare mathematical and demographic milestone. The Census Bureau said that the United States reached 314,159,265 residents, or the mathematical ratio pi times 100 million, shortly after 2:29 p.m. EDT (1829 GMT). Pi, or 3.14159265, is the mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It often is approximated as 22/7. "This is a once in many generations event ... ...

Arkansas, NC ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate on high corn

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. governors asked the United States government on Tuesday to waive this year's mandate for making ethanol from corn, adding pressure on it to relieve meat producers from high corn prices spurred by the worst drought in more than 50 years. Governors Mike Beebe from Arkansas and Beverly Purdue from North Carolina sent the requests to the EPA administrator (Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Charles Abbott; Editing by Gary Hill)

Toddler killed in suburban New York house explosion

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:57 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An explosion at a house in a New York suburb killed an 18-month-old boy and left 14 people injured on Tuesday, police said. It was too early to know the cause of the explosion in Brentwood, Suffolk County police said, but it leveled the house and damaged property on either side. Brentwood is on Long Island, about 45 miles east of midtown Manhattan. Police said there was at least one 200-pound (90-kg) propane tank on the property, but it was not clear if it was connected to the blast. They said natural gas was not used in the house. ...

Giant Burmese python sets Florida record for size, fertility

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 12:36 PM PDT

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Burmese python found in Florida set records as the largest such snake ever captured in the state at 17-feet, 7-inches and the most prolific reproducer carrying a record load of 87 eggs, according to researchers. The previous Florida record setters were a 16-foot, 8-inch python and 85 eggs. "It was huge," said Paul Ramey, spokesman for the Florida Natural History Museum at the University of Florida in Gainesville. ...

Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 02:36 PM PDT

Top farm lender worried by drought, politics

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 12:02 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. agriculture has plenty of financial reserves to get through the worst drought in more than 50 years, the top regulator of U.S. farm banks says. But Leland Strom, chief executive officer of the Farm Credit Administration, said the drought now affecting more than half of U.S. counties has set off alarm bells across the government as grain prices soar, livestock and ethanol and dairy producers are squeezed, and food inflation fears rattle economic planners. ...

Little relief seen from U.S. drought despite cooler trend

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 10:24 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Midday weather maps indicate drier conditions this week for the already drought-stricken U.S. crop region than earlier forecasts had shown, an agricultural meteorologist said on Tuesday. "The big thing is less rain from the Plains into the Delta, basically the mid-South. It now looks dry for the Delta while earlier indications were for up to 0.50 inch," said Drew Lerner, a meteorologist for World Weather Inc. The U.S. Delta, located roughly in the lower Mississippi River Valley basin, is a lush farming region known for large areas of soybean, cotton and rice production. ...

California urges power conservation due heat wave

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 12:45 PM PDT

(Reuters) - As homes and businesses crank up air conditioners to escape a lingering heat wave, California's power grid operator again urged customers to reduce their energy use for just one more day to avoid stressing the electric system. Demand for power reached 46,847 megawatts (MW) on Monday, the highest so far in 2012, and was expected to break that record again on Tuesday, the state's grid operator, the California ISO, said Tuesday. The ISO forecast that demand on Tuesday would reach 47,497 MW. ...

Vt. jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:25 PM PDT

BURLINGTON, Vermont (Reuters) - A Mennonite minister was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding and abetting international kidnapping by helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders giving visitation rights to her former lesbian partner. The case has drawn widespread attention as gay rights groups and evangelical Christian groups have taken opposing sides in the legal battle between the two women over Isabella Miller-Jenkins, now 10. ...

Trayvon Martin killer makes another appeal for a new judge

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 07:50 AM PDT

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The lawyer for George Zimmerman, who is charged in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, filed an appeal on Monday in a renewed attempt to seek a new judge in the case. Mark O'Mara told reporters he asked a Florida appeals court to reconsider a ruling by Judge Kenneth Lester refusing to step down from the case. In a motion filed last month, O'Mara claimed Lester made "gratuitous" and "disparaging remarks" about Zimmerman and showed bias in a July 5 ruling that raised Zimmerman's bond from $150,000 to $1 million. ...

Penn State banks on BNY Mellon executive to fix reputation

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:12 AM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Karen Peetz's Penn State homecoming can't be what she imagined, or what her employer had in mind, for that matter. When the successful New York banker joined the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees two years ago, the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal was still hidden from the public eye. But then the scandal exploded, tarnishing Penn State's sterling football program and gutting the reputation of one of America's great universities. ...

White House hopeful on renewal of wind tax credit

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 03:29 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is hopeful Congress will renew a $12 billion tax credit for wind power production, a senior Obama administration official said, as a government report warned that thousands of U.S. jobs would be lost if the incentive runs out. "You can expect to see this will be a top priority for the administration," a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters about the so-called Production Tax Credit, or PTC, in a teleconference on the report released Tuesday by the Energy Department. ...

$500,000 for New Jersey school kids forced to eat on floor

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:43 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Seven students at a Camden, New Jersey, school forced to eat lunch on a gymnasium floor for two weeks as punishment won a $500,000 legal settlement, their attorney said on Tuesday. The 2008 incident involved fifth-grade students at the Charles Sumner Elementary School who were disciplined after one child spilled water as he tried to lift a jug onto a cooler, said the lawyer, Alan Schorr. The students filed a federal lawsuit against the Camden Board of Education, which agreed to the settlement, the attorney said. ...

Vermont jury finds Mennonite minister guilty of aiding kidnapping

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 06:10 PM PDT

Arkansas, N. Carolina ask EPA to waive ethanol mandate

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:30 PM PDT

Oklahoma executes man who killed ex-girlfriend and her two children

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:18 PM PDT

Wildfire destroys 60 homes, burns 20,000 acres in Washington state

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT

Exclusive: Bond insurer sues California over development agencies

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:48 PM PDT

Obamas tap White House home beer

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 04:20 PM PDT