Ten years later, DC sniper says he felt like "scum"

Ten years later, DC sniper says he felt like "scum"
Texas quake rattles nerves but causes no injuries, damage
Youths serving life without parole get second chance in California
Bonnie, Clyde guns stay together after high bidder pays $500,000
Preserving old ships is dear to U.S. veterans, costly for museums
"Speed Freak" killer breaks silence on where the bodies are
California bans gay "conversion" therapy for minors
CVR Energy probing cause of Oklahoma refinery blast
Canada beef warning broadened to new products
Los Angeles drivers see minimal traffic in "Carmageddon 2"
Youths serving life without parole get second chance in California
Texas quake rattles nerves but causes no injuries, damage
Bonnie, Clyde guns stay together after high bidder pays $500,000
California bans gay "conversion" therapy for minors
Ten years later, DC sniper says he felt like "scum"
CVR Energy probing cause of Oklahoma refinery blast
"Speed Freak" killer breaks silence on where the bodies are
Canada beef warning broadened to new products
Preserving old ships is dear to U.S. veterans, costly for museums
Los Angeles drivers see minimal traffic in "Carmageddon 2"

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 11:19 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Convicted Washington sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said the devastated reaction of a victim's husband 10 years ago made him feel like "the worst piece of scum on the planet," The Washington Post reported on Sunday. In a rare interview, Malvo, 27, urged the families of victims to try to forget about him and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, so they can get on with their lives. Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the start of Malvo and Muhammad's deadly rampage in the Washington area. ...

Texas quake rattles nerves but causes no injuries, damage

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 03:35 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A small earthquake rattled a suburb west of Dallas over the weekend but caused no serious injuries or damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 3.4 quake struck on Saturday at 11:05 p.m. local time about 2 miles north of Irving, Texas. Pat McMacken, emergency management coordinator for Irving, told local media the quake prompted hundreds of calls to the city's 911 line but caused no injuries or damage. McMacken did not immediately return an e-mail or phone call from Reuters on Sunday. Irving is located about 14 miles west of downtown Dallas. ...

Youths serving life without parole get second chance in California

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 03:39 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Sunday a measure that grants juvenile offenders sentenced to life in prison without parole the chance to petition for their release after serving 25 years. Roughly 300 inmates in California's prison system have been sentenced to a lifetime behind bars for offenses committed as teenagers, according to the bill's sponsor, state Senator Leland Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco. Those inmates will now be eligible for parole after serving at least 25 years in prison. ...

Bonnie, Clyde guns stay together after high bidder pays $500,000

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 03:19 PM PDT

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Two pistols found on the bodies of famed Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after they were killed by a posse in 1934 have sold at auction on Sunday for $504,000. A snub-nosed .38 special found taped to the inside of Parker's thigh with white medical tape fetched $264,000 at an auction in Nashua, New Hampshire. A Colt .45 recovered from the waistband of Barrow's pants was purchased for $240,000. The guns owned by Parker, who died at age 23, and Barrow, who was 25, were purchased by a Texas collector who wished to remain anonymous. ...

Preserving old ships is dear to U.S. veterans, costly for museums

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 05:07 AM PDT

MOUNT PLEASANT, South Carolina (Reuters) - The Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, a popular tourist spot in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor, is facing the same challenge as other U.S. Navy ship museums: keeping retired, once-storied warships afloat. Its World War Two destroyer, the USS Laffey, just had a nearly $13 million restoration. The almost 70-year-old World War Two aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, will need eventual repairs at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. ...

"Speed Freak" killer breaks silence on where the bodies are

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 09:23 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler's mother dropped her off at Franklin High School in Stockton, California, the morning of October 7, 1985. "I love you," the 16-year-old said as she left the car. Paula Wheeler never saw her daughter again. She still recalls in chilling detail the scene 16 years later, when the man convicted of killing her daughter and three others turned to her and her husband in court and highlighted the painful fact that their child's body had never been found. ...

California bans gay "conversion" therapy for minors

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 01:36 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill banning a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality in minors, his office announced on Sunday, making California the first state to ban a practice many say is psychologically damaging. The move marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say so-called conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. ...

CVR Energy probing cause of Oklahoma refinery blast

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:10 AM PDT

(Reuters) - CVR Energy Inc on Sunday said it launched an internal investigation into the cause of a boiler explosion at its Wynnewood, Oklahoma, refinery on Friday that killed one employee and critically injured another. "Our focus is to determine how this accident occurred and what steps must be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident," CVR Energy Chief Executive Jack Lipinski said in a statement. The explosion occurred on Friday at about 6:20 p.m. ...

Canada beef warning broadened to new products

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 08:50 AM PDT

(Reuters) - A public warning in Canada on Friday about beef possibly tainted with E. coli has been updated to include additional products. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Sunday released a list of dozens of products made from beef voluntarily recalled by XL Foods, whose plant in Brooks, Alberta, was temporarily shut by the agency after contaminated beef products sickened several people. The list ranges from ground beef to roasts and steaks, and includes products from retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp, and smaller chains. ...

Los Angeles drivers see minimal traffic in "Carmageddon 2"

Posted: 29 Sep 2012 08:07 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Drivers in Los Angeles saw limited congestion on Saturday near a key freeway corridor shut down this weekend in what has been dubbed "Carmageddon 2," due to fears of gridlock from a 53-hour construction project, officials said. A 10-mile (16-km) stretch of the 405 Freeway at the Sepulveda Pass, normally the nation's busiest thoroughfare, was closed at midnight on Friday for a $1 billion freeway widening project. ...