Neither side giving ground in "fiscal cliff" talks

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• Neither side giving ground in "fiscal cliff" talks
• Lawyers for accused Colorado shooter to subpoena Fox News reporter
• Marijuana smokers get nod to light up in Colorado as pot legalized
• Michigan protests unlikely to stop "right-to-work" laws
• Thousands in New York protest China's rule of Tibet, urge U.N. action
• Parents of ex-U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico say he's losing hope
• Unaccounted graves found at former reform school in Florida
• New York Hasidic counselor found guilty of child sexual abuse
• Texas officials investigating nightclub linked to Cowboys crash
• Lucasfilm studio wins appeal of pregnancy discrimination verdict
• Detroit oversight board signals support for state review of city
• Strauss-Kahn, NYC hotel maid settle suit over alleged sexual assault
• Obama takes his case to people for "fiscal cliff" deal
• Ex-policeman gets life in recently solved 1957 Illinois child killing
• New Jersey governor says indicted mayor of state capital should resign
• First-round bids for NYC's Sony Tower due on Monday
• U.S. envoy to Sudan, South Sudan stepping down
• More "fiscal cliff" talks but neither side giving ground
• Strauss-Kahn, NYC hotel maid settle civil lawsuit over alleged assault
• Arizona winner of $587.5 million Powerball jackpot identified
• Illinois governor says pension woes hurting infrastructure program
• U.S. approves upgrades of Japan's Aegis missile systems
• U.S. loosens rules aimed at healthier school meals
• Obama opposes proposed "right to work" measures in Michigan
• North Carolina barred from issuing "Choose Life" license plates
• Nephew of Chicago's Daley pleads not guilty to manslaughter
• Washington state bar owner tells pot smokers to light up

Neither side giving ground in "fiscal cliff" talks Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:45 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's office held more negotiations on Monday on ways to break the "fiscal cliff" stalemate, although neither side showed any public signs that they were ready to give ground. The talks gained urgency after Republican Boehner met at the White House with President Barack Obama on Sunday, raising hopes of progress in averting the onset of tax increases and spending cuts that kicks in on January 1 unless Congress intervenes. ...

Lawyers for accused Colorado shooter to subpoena Fox News reporter Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:26 PM PST CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - An attorney for accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes said in court on Monday he will subpoena a Fox News reporter to reveal her source for a news story about the massacre, setting up a potential First Amendment showdown. Public defender Daniel King said he plans to subpoena New York-based correspondent Jana Winter, who days after the July 20 rampage reported Holmes had sent a notebook to a psychiatrist detailing his plans to commit mass murder. ...

Marijuana smokers get nod to light up in Colorado as pot legalized Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:01 PM PST (Reuters) - Pot smokers formally gained the right to light up in Colorado on Monday as Governor John Hickenlooper signed into effect a controversial ballot measure legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use in what proponents hailed as a "historic day." Hickenlooper's signature, largely a formality, made Colorado the second U.S. state after Washington to legalize recreational pot use, and put it on a possible collision course with the federal government - which calls marijuana an illegal drug. ...

Michigan protests unlikely to stop "right-to-work" laws Posted: 10 Dec 2012 03:15 PM PST LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - Republicans are likely to approve contentious "right-to-work" measures in the union stronghold of Michigan on Tuesday despite thousands of people converging on the state capital to protest proposed laws they say would lower wages and hurt workers. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 unionized workers to go to the state capital of Lansing on Tuesday, some taking a day off from jobs, to demonstrate against the laws which would make union membership and dues payment voluntary. ...

Thousands in New York protest China's rule of Tibet, urge U.N. action Posted: 10 Dec 2012 03:36 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations on Monday calling for an end to Chinese rule in Tibet, where dozens of Tibetans have set themselves on fire in recent weeks to protest China's control of their homeland. The "Solidarity Rally for Tibet" consisted of thousands of mostly Tibetan protesters who marched from Manhattan's West Side to the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the U.N. headquarters by the East River. The marchers repeated chants such as "We want justice, wake up U.N. ...

Parents of ex-U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico say he's losing hope Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:49 PM PST MIAMI (Reuters) - The mother of a former U.S. Marine jailed in a notoriously violent corner of northern Mexico said on Monday that her son was losing hope after being arrested in August for possessing a shotgun that was a family heirloom. Jon Hammar, 27, was heading to Costa Rica to go surfing when he crossed into Matamoros, Mexico, from Brownsville, Texas, in a beat-up old Winnebago motor home he and a friend bought especially for the trip. He had registered the shotgun with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on the U.S. ...

Unaccounted graves found at former reform school in Florida Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:01 PM PST TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Investigators in Florida using ground-penetrating radar and soil samples said on Monday they had found at least 50 graves - 19 more than officially reported - on the grounds of a former state reform school for boys. The Dozier School has been the target of numerous allegations of abuse and mysterious deaths of children during the more than 100 years of its existence. ...

New York Hasidic counselor found guilty of child sexual abuse Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:37 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - An ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor was found guilty of sexually abusing a young female patient in the insular Brooklyn community where they lived, prosecutors said on Monday. A jury in New York State Supreme Court convicted Nechemya Weberman, 54, of sexual conduct against a child, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child. He faces 117 years behind bars when sentenced on January 9. ...

Texas officials investigating nightclub linked to Cowboys crash Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:30 PM PST DALLAS (Reuters) - The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating a nightclub where Dallas Cowboys players may have been drinking before a one-vehicle crash in which player Jerry Brown Jr. died early Saturday morning, a commission official said Monday. Commission officials would not identify the club, but a club called Privae Dallas issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the commission and with police as they investigate. ...

Lucasfilm studio wins appeal of pregnancy discrimination verdict Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:51 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California appeals court on Monday reversed a $1.2 million discrimination verdict against "Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm in a case brought by a woman who said she lost a job at the company because she was pregnant. A three-judge panel in San Francisco said the jury had received improper instruction before it ruled in favor of the woman, Julie Veronese. In a decision issued on Monday, the judges sent the case back to the trial court for a retrial and reversed the $1.2 million award of attorneys' fees to Veronese. ...

Detroit oversight board signals support for state review of city Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:55 PM PST DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's oversight board unanimously voted on Monday to support a move by Michigan's treasurer to begin a process that will likely lead to the state appointing an emergency financial manager for the city. Frustrated by the slow pace of fiscal reform and worried about Detroit's long-term viability, the state is poised to start a 30-day preliminary review as early as Tuesday to determine the extent of the city's financial crisis, said Terry Stanton, a spokesman for the Michigan Treasury Department. ...

Strauss-Kahn, NYC hotel maid settle suit over alleged sexual assault Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:02 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a New York hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexual assault on Monday settled her civil lawsuit against him for an undisclosed sum, ending one chapter of a scandal that cost him his job and a chance to become president of France. At a brief hearing in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx, Justice Douglas McKeon said the terms of the deal would remain confidential. Strauss-Kahn, 63, was not required to appear in New York and remained in Paris. ...

Obama takes his case to people for "fiscal cliff" deal Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:57 PM PST REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - Making no visible headway in direct talks with Republicans, President Barack Obama took to the road on Monday to apply pressure on his political opponents to agree to a "fiscal cliff" deal that would raise taxes on the richest Americans. Wearing shirtsleeves with no suit coat and speaking in front of an array of auto workers, Obama plunged into his new campaign a month after winning re-election on a vow to raise taxes on the wealthiest and take care of the middle class. ...

Ex-policeman gets life in recently solved 1957 Illinois child killing Posted: 10 Dec 2012 03:43 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - A 73-year-old former policeman - convicted this fall of kidnapping and murdering a 7-year-old Illinois girl in a crime that remained unsolved for over half a century - was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, prosecutors said. Jack McCullough, a Seattle resident and one-time police officer, was found guilty in September of killing Maria Ridulph, a second grader who disappeared while playing near her home in Sycamore, Illinois, just before Christmas 1957. Ridulph's badly decomposed remains were found four months later about 100 miles away near Galena, Illinois. ...

New Jersey governor says indicted mayor of state capital should resign Posted: 10 Dec 2012 02:30 PM PST TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Monday urged the mayor of the state capital Trenton to resign following his indictment on federal corruption charges. Trenton Mayor Tony Mack's indictment last week, which accuses him of taking bribes in connection with a proposed parking garage on city-owned land, affects his ability to do his job, Christie said at a news conference. "I think that once you're indicted, you should resign," Christie said. ...

First-round bids for NYC's Sony Tower due on Monday Posted: 10 Dec 2012 03:37 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - First-round bids for Sony Corp's U.S. headquarters were due on Monday, in one of the most watched sales of a Manhattan office building this year. The 37-story, 800,000 square-foot Sony Tower is expected to fetch between $800 to $1,000 a square foot, according to two real estate sources, who asked not be named because the bidding process is ongoing. Sony is expected to move out of the building over the next three years, leaving the new owner to find tenants. ...

U.S. envoy to Sudan, South Sudan stepping down Posted: 10 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veteran U.S/ diplomat Princeton Lyman is stepping down as President Barack Obama's special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, the White House said on Monday. Lyman's departure comes after a nearly two-year stint as Obama's troubleshooter for the region, a tenure that saw South Sudan secede last year under a U.S.-backed peace deal that ended decades of civil war. But unresolved disputes between the two countries, including renewed border hostilities, have impeded normalization of ties. ...

More "fiscal cliff" talks but neither side giving ground Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:28 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's office held more negotiations on Monday on ways to break the "fiscal cliff" stalemate, although neither side showed any public signs that they were ready to give ground. The talks gained urgency after Republican Boehner met at the White House with President Barack Obama on Sunday, raising hopes of progress in averting the onset of tax increases and spending cuts that kicks in on January 1 unless Congress intervenes. ...

Strauss-Kahn, NYC hotel maid settle civil lawsuit over alleged assault Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:20 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a New York hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexually assaulting her agreed on Monday to settle her civil lawsuit against him for an undisclosed sum, ending one chapter of a scandal that cost him his job and derailed his political career in France. At a brief hearing in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx, Justice Douglas McKeon said the terms of deal, which includes settlement of a countersuit filed by Strauss-Kahn, would remain confidential. ...

Arizona winner of $587.5 million Powerball jackpot identified Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:41 PM PST PHOENIX (Reuters) - Lottery officials on Monday identified a Phoenix-area man who claimed half of a record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot, putting an end to the man's hopes of remaining anonymous. Matthew Good, who had previously been described only as a married, Phoenix-area man in his 30s, was named by officials in response to public records requests. Last week he declined to participate in a news conference announcing his winning ticket, telling officials that he preferred to remain anonymous. ...

Illinois governor says pension woes hurting infrastructure program Posted: 10 Dec 2012 02:50 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' inability to fix its woefully underfunded public pension system could derail plans by the state to continue to issue debt to fund an ongoing infrastructure improvement program, Governor Pat Quinn said on Monday. "You can't do that building and issue those bonds if you have this severe situation overlooking you," the Democrat governor said at a media briefing hosted by Bloomberg News, adding that the state could face more downgrades of its already relatively low credit ratings. ...

U.S. approves upgrades of Japan's Aegis missile systems Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department on Monday notified Congress that it had approved an arms sale valued at $421 million to Japan for upgrades to its Aegis missile defense system built by Lockheed Martin Corp, and related equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, said Japan had requested the upgrades as part of the modernization of two of its Atago class destroyers. U.S. lawmakers now have 30 days to block the deal, although such action is rare. If approved, Lockheed would be the prime contractor. ...

U.S. loosens rules aimed at healthier school meals Posted: 10 Dec 2012 11:12 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are relaxing school meal rules aimed at reining in calories and portion sizes after some students, parents and lawmakers complained that new stricter policies left many children hungry. Under the adjustment, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would suspend daily and weekly maximum amounts for grains and meat or meat alternatives. That means school districts this year can serve larger portions of those items without penalty. ...

Obama opposes proposed "right to work" measures in Michigan Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:35 PM PST REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday threw his support behind labor unions opposed to a Republican-led drive for "right-to-work" laws in Michigan, saying efforts to pass such measures were not about economics but about politics. Obama used a visit to an auto plant in the cradle of the American labor movement to weigh in on the controversial push in the state legislature to impose new restrictions on unions, part of the Democratic president's political base that helped him win re-election last month. ...

North Carolina barred from issuing "Choose Life" license plates Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:47 AM PST WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - A federal judge has permanently blocked North Carolina from issuing an anti-abortion specialty license plate, ruling that offering plates with a "Choose Life" slogan without an alternative supporting abortion rights is unconstitutional. The lack of a plate promoting reproductive freedom in the state constitutes "viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," Senior U.S. District Judge James C. Fox said on Friday. ...

Nephew of Chicago's Daley pleads not guilty to manslaughter Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:48 AM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Richard J. Vanecko, nephew of former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley and grandson of the late mayor Richard J. Daley, pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2004 death of a suburban Chicago man. The case sparked controversy in the nation's third-largest city because of a long-running Chicago Sun-Times investigation into why Vanecko was not charged when he allegedly threw a punch that caused the death of David Koschman, 21. ...

Washington state bar owner tells pot smokers to light up Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:25 AM PST OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Thanks to a successful ballot initiative last month, Washington state residents can legally smoke marijuana in the privacy of their living rooms as of Thursday. When that gets old, bar owner Frank Schnarr suggests, area stoners have another option: grab a booth at Frankie's Sports Bar & Grill in Olympia and toke up there. Schnarr, 62, says he is not acting out of a love of cannabis - he says he hasn't smoked the stuff since he was a soldier stationed in Southeast Asia in the 1970s. Rather, he's looking for new sources of income. "I stay up at night," he said. ...

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