| More than 100 same-sex couples wed in Seattle after state law change Posted: 09 Dec 2012 06:08 PM PST  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hundreds of well-wishers braved cold and rain to celebrate 133 weddings at Seattle City Hall on Sunday, marking the first day that same-sex couples could marry in Washington state. Washington, Maine and Maryland last month became the first U.S. states to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by a popular vote, in a leap forward for gay rights. "It means that I can use the word husband without question or explaining," said Corianton Hale, a 34-year-old graphic designer, who was one of the first to tie the knot at City Hall. ...
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| Colorado students accused of sickening class with pot-laced brownies Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:01 PM PST BOULDER, Colo (Reuters) - Two University of Colorado at Boulder students are accused of bringing marijuana-laced brownies to a college class, sickening their unsuspecting professor and five classmates, police said on Sunday. Thomas Cunningham, 21, and Mary Essa, 19, were arrested Saturday on suspicion of second-degree assault, fraudulently inducing the consumption of a controlled substance and conspiracy charges, university police spokesman Ryan Huff said. ... |
| In shift, Obama accepts corporate funding for inauguration Posted: 09 Dec 2012 03:02 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's inauguration committee is accepting corporate donations to help fund the parade and other events associated with his January 21 inauguration after tapped-out Democratic donors spent huge sums helping him get elected. The move is a shift for Obama, who did not accept corporate donations for his first inauguration in January 2009. Aides from the Presidential Inaugural Committee confirmed it would accept money from "individual and institutional" givers to help cover the cost of public events not paid for by taxpayers. ...
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| NJ Democrat Cory Booker weighing runs for governor or U.S. Senate Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:33 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newark Mayor Cory Booker is giving serious thought to challenging Chris Christie when the New Jersey governor runs for re-election next year and will announce his plans within two weeks, Booker said on Sunday. "I am absolutely considering running for governor, as well as giving other options some consideration," said Booker, one of the state's leading Democrats and an early favorite to challenge Christie next November. Booker, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation" program, said he is also weighing a run for the U.S. Senate. "Life, ultimately, is not about a position. ...
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| New York police fatally shoot man brandishing pellet gun Posted: 09 Dec 2012 05:11 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New York police detectives shot and killed a convicted felon who approached them and pointed a pellet gun as they handcuffed a suspect late on Saturday night, police said. Police have not released the name of the man but said he was carrying a CP99 compressed air pistol, which resembles a Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun and is illegal in New York, chief New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said on Sunday. ... |
| Suspect dead after three killed on California Indian reservation Posted: 09 Dec 2012 07:02 PM PST  (Reuters) - The man suspected of a shooting rampage in California at the Tule River Indian Reservation in which three people were killed and three others wounded, including two young daughters of the suspect, has died, county officials said on Sunday. Hector Celaya, 31, who lived on the central California reservation, fled the scene of the shooting with his daughters and was shot during a low-speed car chase as authorities attempted to take him into custody, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said. They later declared him deceased. The two girls, ages 5 and 8, also suffered gunshot wounds. ...
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| Obama meets with Boehner on fiscal cliff: aides Posted: 09 Dec 2012 04:48 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama met with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner on Sunday at the White House to negotiate ways to avoid the "fiscal cliff," according to White House officials and a congressional aide. The two sides declined to provide further details about the unannounced meeting. Obama and Boehner aides used the same language to describe it. "This afternoon, the president and Speaker Boehner met at the White House to discuss efforts to resolve the fiscal cliff," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. ...
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| U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera feared dead in plane crash Posted: 09 Dec 2012 04:10 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera is feared dead after Mexican authorities said they found the wreckage of a plane she was traveling in on Sunday. A spokesman for the state government of Nuevo Leon said investigators had found the remains of Rivera's Lear jet, which disappeared off the radar 62 miles from the northern city of Monterrey at about 3:30 a.m. local time/0930 GMT. Alejandro Argudin, director general of Mexico's civil aviation authority, said there were no survivors at the crash site in the municipality of Iturbide, south of Monterrey. ...
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| Republicans want to move beyond tax rate fight on the wealthy Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservatives have no choice but to give into White House demands on higher tax rates for the wealthy, if the fiscal debate is to move to their main goal, overhauling big government benefits programs, several Republicans said on Sunday. "There is a growing group of folks who are ... realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before yearend," Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. ...
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| Three killed in shooting on California Indian reservation Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:41 AM PST  (Reuters) - California police have detained a suspect in a shooting at the Tule River Indian Reservation in which three people were killed and three were wounded, including two young daughters of the suspect, county officials said on Sunday. Hector Celaya, who lived on the central California reservation, fled the scene of the shooting with his daughters and was shot during a low-speed car chase as authorities attempted to take him into custody, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said. The two girls, ages 5 and 8, also suffered gunshot wounds. ...
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| Dozens of same-sex couples wed in Washington state for first time Posted: 09 Dec 2012 02:06 PM PST  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hundreds of well-wishers braved cold and rain to celebrate 140 weddings at Seattle City Hall on Sunday, marking the first day that same-sex couples can marry in Washington state. Washington, Maine and Maryland last month became the first U.S. states to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by a popular vote, in a leap forward for gay rights. "It means that I can use the word husband without question or explaining," said Corianton Hale, a 34-year-old graphic designer, who was one of the first to tie the knot at City Hall. He married freelance copywriter Keith Bacon, 44. ...
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| Charleston, like many cities, on edge of "fiscal cliff" Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:08 AM PST CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - For 37 years straight, Joseph P. Riley Jr. has sat behind the mayor's desk here, shaping this city and its budget. On a recent afternoon, Riley, 69, reached for a draft copy of next year's spending plan and wondered aloud about what might get cut should politicians in Washington fail to find an agreement this month, unleashing $600 billion worth of spending reductions and tax hikes next year. Hiring new police officers for the city of 123,000 could be put on hold, Riley said. A new piece of equipment for the fire department would have to wait. ... |
| Obama met Boehner on Sunday over fiscal cliff: aides Posted: 09 Dec 2012 02:34 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner on Sunday at the White House to negotiate ways to avoid the "fiscal cliff," according to White House officials and a congressional aide. The two sides declined to provide further details about the unannounced meeting. Obama and Boehner aides used the same language to describe it. "This afternoon, the president and Speaker Boehner met at the White House to discuss efforts to resolve the fiscal cliff," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. ... |
| Storm clobbers Midwest with snow, wind, frigid air Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:09 AM PST (Reuters) - A wintry storm unleashed high winds, frigid air and heavy snowfall across the Upper Midwest on Sunday, with Minneapolis expecting as much as 12 inches of snow by evening, meteorologists said. The blizzard-like conditions stretching across the Dakotas, Minnesota and into Wisconsin cut visibility and made for hazardous driving conditions that were expected to worsen as the storm picks up toward nightfall, weather forecasters said. "That wind and snow is making a combination that is a lethal one," said meteorologist Nick Walker on Weather.com. ... |
| Plane carrying U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera is missing Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:49 AM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera is missing after the plane she was travel ling in disappeared shortly after leaving the northern Mexican city of Monterrey early on Sunday. The Mexican transportation and communications ministry said Rivera's Learjet went off the radar about 62 miles from Monterrey after taking off at 3:15 a.m. local time/0900 GMT. Rivera was heading for the city of Toluca in central Mexico after a concert in Monterrey on Saturday night. The singer, two pilots and four other passengers are all missing, the ministry said. ... |
| Sex offender Sandusky limited in prison due to safety concerns Posted: 09 Dec 2012 03:14 AM PST  PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Imprisoned serial child sex offender Jerry Sandusky lives under tight restrictions for his own safety, a corrections official said on Saturday, after the former Penn State football coach asked for more prison privileges. "He is being housed in the appropriate facility in order to assure his safety," said Susan McNaughton, press secretary for the Pennsylvania state Department of Corrections. She responded to questions from Reuters after one of Sandusky's lawyers complained that his client was confined to his cell 23 hours a day. ...
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| Michigan unions to protest "right-to-work" measures this week Posted: 09 Dec 2012 03:11 AM PST DETROIT (Reuters) - Union members and others opposed to Michigan becoming a "right-to-work" state plan major protests in the state capital this week to try to stop Republicans from restricting labor unions in the cradle of the unionized U.S. auto industry. Right-to-work opponents will begin to converge on Lansing on Monday, organizers said, and they expect thousands at the rally on Tuesday when the state legislature reconvenes. ... |
| Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage for first time Posted: 08 Dec 2012 07:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the gay marriage debate for the first time on Friday by agreeing to review two challenges to federal and state laws that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The high court agreed to review a case against a federal law that denies married same-sex couples the federal benefits heterosexual couples receive. It also unexpectedly took up a challenge to California's ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, which voters narrowly approved in 2008. ...
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