Wednesday, August 22, 2012

California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town

California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town


California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:50 PM PDT

A hillside lies scorched by the Ponderosa Fire near Red BluffRED BLUFF, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties on Wednesday after a wildfire that has already destroyed 50 buildings advanced with 75-foot flames on a tiny community at the doorstep of a national park. Firefighters scrambled to head off the so-called Ponderosa Fire, which had already scorched 24,000 acres, before it reached the outskirts of Mineral, a community of less than 200 people just south of Lassen National Volcanic Park. ...


U.S. says surprised by Navy SEAL's book on bin Laden raid

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:05 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government was surprised by the news that a Navy SEAL who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan has written a book about the operation in which the al Qaeda leader was killed, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden" was written by a Navy SEAL under the pseudonym Mark Owen with co-author Kevin Maurer and is to be released next month on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It was not vetted by government agencies to ensure that no secrets were revealed. ...

Man indicted in shooting at conservative group's office in Washington

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:35 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A Virginia man was indicted on federal and local charges for last week's shooting of an unarmed security guard at a Christian lobbying group in Washington, federal authorities said on Wednesday. A grand jury in U.S. District Court returned an indictment against Floyd Lee Corkins II, 28, of Herndon, Virginia, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen Jr. said in a statement with James McJunkin, assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, and Washington police chief Cathy Lanier. ...

California town settles dispute that prompted bankruptcy

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:03 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Mammoth Lakes, one of three communities in California to recently declare bankruptcy, said on Wednesday it reached a tentative agreement to settle the legal dispute that threatened to swamp the town's finances. The resort town of about 8,000 residents in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains said on its website that it settled a $43 million court judgment awarded to a developer over a property dispute. The terms of the agreement will remain confidential until fully documented and executed, according to the town's statement. ...

Man accused of threatening Obama appears in Seattle court

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:42 PM PDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Seattle-area man appeared in federal court on Wednesday on charges of threatening to assassinate President Barack Obama in a taunting email to the FBI and assaulting a federal agent sent to arrest him. Caluori, 31, was arrested at his apartment south of Seattle on Tuesday after the FBI notified the Secret Service about the alleged threat. He had five guns, including two assault rifles, when arrested, according to the criminal complaint against him. "I will kill the president!" Caluori wrote in a profanity-laden email, according to the complaint. "Come get me. ...

Ex-Penn State president blasts Freeh report on child sex abuse

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:05 PM PDT

Dr. Graham Spanier, former president of Penn State, speaks to ABC News' Josh Elliott about the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal during an interview with the networkPHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Penn State's ex-president assailed a report that accused him of covering up a pedophilia scandal as "absolutely wrong," saying on Wednesday he never heard even a hint of child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky. Graham Spanier, in an interview broadcast by ABC News, said he has a heightened sensitivity to child abuse because as a boy he suffered beatings by his father that were so severe he required four surgeries to correct the physical damage. "I've never met anyone who had a higher level of awareness," Spanier, 64, told ABC News. ...


Cousins get 2 days in jail for starting Arizona's largest fire

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:24 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Two cousins who admitted to accidentally starting the largest wildfire in Arizona history by leaving a still-smoldering campfire unattended were each sentenced to 48 hours in jail on Wednesday and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. Caleb Malboeuf, 27, and David Malboeuf, 25, were also placed on five years' probation by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Aspey in Flagstaff, Arizona, for the raging wildfire that torched 840 square miles (2,178 square km) in eastern Arizona and New Mexico last summer, according to assistant U.S. attorney Patrick Schneider. ...

Top court halts Texas execution of convicted triple murderer

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:32 PM PDT

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A man convicted of fatally shooting three sleeping teenagers in 1998 won a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, less than an hour before he was due to be put to death in Texas. It was the third time that John Balentine, 43, has been granted a stay of execution. Justice Antonin Scalia reviewed Balentine's emergency appeal and referred the case to the full court for consideration. Balentine, 43, also got a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court last year on the day he was scheduled for lethal injection, and from the U.S. ...

House committee seeks IRS documents on healthcare law

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:36 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of a House of Representatives investigatory panel sought documents on Wednesday from the Internal Revenue Service in a battle with the White House over the Democrats' controversial healthcare law. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa demanded all documents and communications between the IRS and President Barack Obama's White House after the healthcare overhaul law was signed into law in March 2010, in a letter released on Wednesday. ...

Georgia men accused in attack plot get 5 years in prison

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:39 PM PDT

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Two Georgia men accused of being part of a domestic militia were sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for conspiring to obtain equipment and explosives for attacks on government buildings and federal employees. Frederick Thomas, a 73-year-old man described by federal authorities as the group's leader, and Dan Roberts, 68, both pleaded guilty in April in federal court to conspiracy charges in the case. ...

White House says hiring push for vets, military families tops target

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:57 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Obama administration program to encourage businesses to hire and train U.S. military veterans and their spouses has exceeded its target and helped secure work for 125,000 people, the White House said on Wednesday. The jobs initiative, called "Joining Forces," which was unveiled more than a year ago, has already topped its original goal of providing employment aid for 100,000 by the end of 2013, first lady Michelle Obama said in a speech announcing new participation by U.S. companies. ...

Indiana inmates accused of running meth ring from prison

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:22 PM PDT

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The FBI said on Wednesday it broke up a methamphetamine dealing ring coordinated by two Indiana prison inmates helped by corrections officers that brought illegal drugs from California to Indiana using postal and courier deliveries. A federal indictment charged 40 people with a drug conspiracy. All but two of them had been arrested by late on Wednesday, according to FBI spokeswoman Wendy Osborne. The 26-count indictment said the drug ring also dealt in heroin, LSD and the synthetic drug PCP. ...

California governor declares state of emergency as wildfires rage

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:53 PM PDT

USDA Forest Service handout satellite image of forest fires burning in northern CaliforniaRed Bluff, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties on Wednesday after raging wildfires destroyed 50 buildings and threatened more than 200 others. Some 3,000 people have been evacuated as the so-called Ponderosa fire burns through more than 24,000 acres of steep, rugged terrain in the rural California counties of Tehama and Shasta, about 125 miles north of state capital Sacramento. ...


Marines to start F-35 training at Florida air base

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:16 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Marine Corps pilots will soon begin training flights on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at a Florida air base, underscoring the service's confidence in the new radar-evading fighter jet, two people familiar with the plans said. Lockheed Martin Corp has delivered 10 F-35B model jets -- which can take off from shorter runways and land like a helicopter -- to Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle. ...

Orange juice prices jump as Isaac may become hurricane

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York orange juice futures jumped almost 6 percent on Wednesday after U.S. forecasters warned Tropical Storm Isaac would strengthen into a hurricane and could hit the south coast of citrus-rich Florida by Monday. The National Hurricane Center said Isaac was strengthening in the Caribbean. Fears of damage to the country's top citrus-growing region pushed benchmark November frozen concentrated orange juice on ICE Futures U.S. up 5.9 percent to settle at a six-week high of $1.222 per lb. ...

Conoco natgas plant flash fire burns four in Wyoming

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:19 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four workers were burned in a flash fire on Wednesday morning at ConocoPhillips' Lost Cabin natural gas processing plant in central Wyoming, according to a company statement. "A flash fire that extinguished itself immediately occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. MDT today during a planned maintenance operation. We know of four contract employees working on the site who were injured and have been transported to receive medical attention," ConocoPhillips said in a statement. The statement said all personnel have been accounted for. ...

Lawyer for ex-Penn State president blasts Freeh report

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:29 PM PDT

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A lawyer for Penn State's ex-president assailed a report on the university sex abuse scandal on Wednesday as a myth filled with unsupported and outrageous conclusions against former university leader Graham Spanier. Timothy K. Lewis, a former federal judge and prosecutor who represents Spanier, criticized the author of that report, Louis Freeh, also a former judge and a former FBI chief, who was hired by the university to investigate the scandal that rocked U.S. college football and Pennsylvania's biggest university. ...

BMO Financial offers drought relief to U.S., Canadian farmers

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:28 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - BMO Financial Group said on Wednesday it was offering its U.S. and Canadian farmer customers financial drought relief to help them get through one of the worst droughts to hit North America in more than 50 years. The Toronto-based bank said it is providing drought-hit farmers more access to capital, fee concessions, working lines of credit and in some cases loan deferrals. "It comes down to a case-by-case issue and how the drought affected a particular customer," said Patrick O'Herlihy, a spokesman for BMO Harris Bank, the U.S. ...

U.S. West Nile cases, deaths jump in latest week

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:45 PM PDT

A Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito is seen in this undated handout photoDALLAS (Reuters) - The number of U.S. West Nile virus infections has jumped more than 60 percent in the past week, putting this year's outbreak on track to be the worst on record, and federal health officials are stumped by its severity. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday said 1,118 cases and 41 deaths have been reported so far this year, up from fewer than 700 cases and 26 deaths just one week ago. That is the highest number of West Nile virus infections reported through the third week of August since the virus was first detected in the United States in 1999, the CDC said. ...


Prosecutors say accused Army gunman must be compelled to shave

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:44 PM PDT

Undated file photo of Major Nidal HasanSAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Military prosecutors urged an appeals court on Wednesday to allow accused Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan to be forcibly shaved if he continues to refuse to remove his beard for his court martial, saying the beard could inflame a jury panel to his detriment. Hasan is accused of opening fire at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009 and faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the shooting at the sprawling Army base. He faces the death penalty if convicted of murder. ...


Storm Isaac threatens Caribbean, U.S. Republican Convention

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:08 PM PDT

NOAA handout image of Tropical Storm IsaacMIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Isaac swirled over the Caribbean on Wednesday and was forecast to become a hurricane as it moved on a track that would put it off the coast of Florida on Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Isaac was already dumping heavy rains on the Leeward Islands on Wednesday afternoon and hurricane watches were in effect for many places, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Isaac could also potentially threaten U.S. energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico, weather experts said. ...


BP says 200 U.S. retail outlets received off-specification fuel

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:11 PM PDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Wednesday that about 200 retail outlets in the northwest Indiana and Chicago areas received off-specification gasoline from company terminals in the past week that has caused mechanical problems in vehicles. BP was recalling the 50,000-barrel batch of regular-grade gasoline blended last week because it contains too much polymeric residue, which can cause problems with vehicles, including difficulty starting. Retail outlets obtained the fuel from storage terminals in Whiting, Indiana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ...

Federal judge: Poker's no crapshoot. No crime, either

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:01 PM PDT

Poker players compete in Day 7 of the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas Hold'em main event at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las VegaNEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge for the first time has given legal backing to something card sharks have known for ages: Poker is a game of skill, not chance. In a 120-page ruling that advocates of legalized online poker say could further their cause, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn threw out the conviction of a New Jersey man for hosting a high-stakes poker game at a Staten Island, New York, warehouse. Lawrence DiCristina's twice-a-week games of "Texas Hold'em" do not qualify as "gambling" under a 1970 federal gambling law, Weinstein ruled on Tuesday. ...


U.S. auto efficiency rules coming soon: DOT

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:05 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Wednesday it plans to complete rules "soon" that significantly boost automobile efficiency, despite calls from some Republicans for further evaluation of the regulations. The Obama administration had planned to finalize standards last week that would require companies to reach an average fuel efficiency across their U.S. fleets of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, but the release of the regulations was delayed. While declining to provide a specific timeline, the Transportation Department stressed the rules are moving forward. ...

New Jersey woman decapitates son, then kills self

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:31 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A New Jersey woman decapitated her 2-year-old son with a kitchen knife, placed his head in the freezer and then stabbed herself to death on Wednesday, officials said. A woman identified as Chevonne Thomas, 33, called the 911 emergency line shortly after midnight to report she had stabbed her child after briefly blaming it on her boyfriend, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor. When Camden police arrived they found the body of the boy, Zahree Thomas, on the floor and his head in the freezer, Laughlin said. ...

Minnesota lawmakers set to vote on disaster aid following flood

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:41 PM PDT

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Minnesota legislators are set to vote on a $167.5 million disaster aid agreement following devastating flood and wind damage to Duluth and other northeastern Minnesota communities in June, Governor Mark Dayton said on Wednesday. Dayton and legislative leaders from both parties signed off on the aid package lawmakers will be asked to vote on with no amendments in a one-day special session planned to start Friday afternoon, the governor's office said. ...

Middle class set back over last decade: report

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 11:32 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The middle class has shrunk drastically over the last 10 years as Americans' net worth has plunged, wages declined and standards of living slipped away, according to a report released on Wednesday. Middle-income earners, long seen as the solid center of the country, are pessimistic and place the blame squarely on U.S. lawmakers, banks and big business, the findings by the Pew Research Center showed. "America's middle class has endured its worst decade in modern history," researchers wrote. ...

Powerball winner contacts Michigan Lottery, agency says

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 11:22 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The Michigan Lottery said on Wednesday that the winner of last week's $337 million Powerball jackpot had contacted the agency, but officials were still keeping the winner's identity under wraps. In a brief statement, the agency said, "details about the prize-winner will not be released until the prize, the third largest in Powerball history, is claimed." The winner has one year from the August 15 drawing to claim the prize, the agency said. The single winning ticket was purchased at a Sunoco gas station and convenience store in Lapeer, Michigan, about 60 miles north of Detroit. ...

Warmer temperatures eyed in devastation of Massachusetts butterflies

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 08:55 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The devastation of native cold weather butterfly species in Massachusetts and the arrival of southern subtropical species is likely tied to climate warming and signals a massive shift in the butterfly population of the U.S. East Coast, a new study shows. The research, published in the current issue of the journal Nature Climate Change, shows 17 of 21 species of butterflies whose habitat is centered north of Boston have declined since 1992 - some by as much as 90 percent. ...

New York's MTA payroll tax unconstitutional: judge

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 07:07 PM PDT

(Reuters) - New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority could lose $1.5 billion of revenue a year after a state court ruled on Wednesday that a payroll tax was unconstitutional, partly because it applies to only 12 counties in the state. The tax is paid by employers located within the downstate area served by the MTA, which runs New York City's buses, subways, commuter railroads and some major bridges and tunnels. ...

Man accused of threatening Obama appears in Seattle court

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:42 PM PDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Seattle-area man appeared in federal court on Wednesday on charges of threatening to assassinate President Barack Obama in a taunting email to the FBI and assaulting a federal agent sent to arrest him. Caluori, 31, was arrested at his apartment south of Seattle on Tuesday after the FBI notified the Secret Service about the alleged threat. He had five guns, including two assault rifles, when arrested, according to the criminal complaint against him. "I will kill the president!" Caluori wrote in a profanity-laden email, according to the complaint. "Come get me. ...

Ex-Penn State president blasts Freeh report on child sex abuse

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:05 PM PDT

Dr. Graham Spanier, former president of Penn State, speaks to ABC News' Josh Elliott about the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal during an interview with the networkPHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Penn State's ex-president assailed a report that accused him of covering up a pedophilia scandal as "absolutely wrong," saying on Wednesday he never heard even a hint of child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky. Graham Spanier, in an interview broadcast by ABC News, said he has a heightened sensitivity to child abuse because as a boy he suffered beatings by his father that were so severe he required four surgeries to correct the physical damage. "I've never met anyone who had a higher level of awareness," Spanier, 64, told ABC News. ...


California town settles dispute that prompted bankruptcy

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:03 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Mammoth Lakes, one of three communities in California to recently declare bankruptcy, said on Wednesday it reached a tentative agreement to settle the legal dispute that threatened to swamp the town's finances. The resort town of about 8,000 residents in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains said on its website that it settled a $43 million court judgment awarded to a developer over a property dispute. The terms of the agreement will remain confidential until fully documented and executed, according to the town's statement. ...

California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:50 PM PDT

A hillside lies scorched by the Ponderosa Fire near Red BluffRED BLUFF, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties on Wednesday after a wildfire that has already destroyed 50 buildings advanced with 75-foot flames on a tiny community at the doorstep of a national park. Firefighters scrambled to head off the so-called Ponderosa Fire, which had already scorched 24,000 acres, before it reached the outskirts of Mineral, a community of less than 200 people just south of Lassen National Volcanic Park. ...


Cousins get 2 days in jail for starting Arizona's largest fire

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:24 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Two cousins who admitted to accidentally starting the largest wildfire in Arizona history by leaving a still-smoldering campfire unattended were each sentenced to 48 hours in jail on Wednesday and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. Caleb Malboeuf, 27, and David Malboeuf, 25, were also placed on five years' probation by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Aspey in Flagstaff, Arizona, for the raging wildfire that torched 840 square miles (2,178 square km) in eastern Arizona and New Mexico last summer, according to assistant U.S. attorney Patrick Schneider. ...

Georgia men accused in attack plot get 5 years in prison

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:39 PM PDT

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Two Georgia men accused of being part of a domestic militia were sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for conspiring to obtain equipment and explosives for attacks on government buildings and federal employees. Frederick Thomas, a 73-year-old man described by federal authorities as the group's leader, and Dan Roberts, 68, both pleaded guilty in April in federal court to conspiracy charges in the case. ...

House committee seeks IRS documents on healthcare law

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:36 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of a House of Representatives investigatory panel sought documents on Wednesday from the Internal Revenue Service in a battle with the White House over the Democrats' controversial healthcare law. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa demanded all documents and communications between the IRS and President Barack Obama's White House after the healthcare overhaul law was signed into law in March 2010, in a letter released on Wednesday. ...

Top court halts Texas execution of convicted triple murderer

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:32 PM PDT

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A man convicted of fatally shooting three sleeping teenagers in 1998 won a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, less than an hour before he was due to be put to death in Texas. It was the third time that John Balentine, 43, has been granted a stay of execution. Justice Antonin Scalia reviewed Balentine's emergency appeal and referred the case to the full court for consideration. Balentine, 43, also got a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court last year on the day he was scheduled for lethal injection, and from the U.S. ...

Indiana inmates accused of running meth ring from prison

Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:22 PM PDT

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The FBI said on Wednesday it broke up a methamphetamine dealing ring coordinated by two Indiana prison inmates helped by corrections officers that brought illegal drugs from California to Indiana using postal and courier deliveries. A federal indictment charged 40 people with a drug conspiracy. All but two of them had been arrested by late on Wednesday, according to FBI spokeswoman Wendy Osborne. The 26-count indictment said the drug ring also dealt in heroin, LSD and the synthetic drug PCP. ...

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