Drenched New Orleans passes post-Katrina hurricane test

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• Drenched New Orleans passes post-Katrina hurricane test
• California law encourages lessons on guest worker program
• Trayvon Martin shooter wins appeal for new judge
• Navy SEAL's book gives different account of bin Laden death
• Southern California town declares emergency over quake swarm
• Health groups sue U.S. for failing to protect food supply
• Yosemite closes part of popular campground over hantavirus outbreak
• Witnesses detail hair and beard-cutting attacks by Amish sect
• Marijuana activists seek vote to block Los Angeles dispensary ban
• U.S. cases of West Nile virus set record, deaths rise: CDC
• U.S. Open tennis official pleads not guilty in husband's murder
• Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail
• Man gets 40-year sentence for butchering Brooklyn Jewish boy
• Isaac's downpours threaten rice, soybeans
• U.S. oil industry waits out Isaac, no damage reported
• Veteran FBI crime-fighter says "The Wire" rings true
• Boy charged with attempted murder in Baltimore school shooting
• Walmart gives cardholders gas discount through December 24
• US targets Mexican oil services firm linked to drug trade
• Hurricane Isaac weakens slightly as it moves slowly inland: NHC
• California leaders strike public pension reform deal
• California's San Bernardino seeks job, service cuts while in bankruptcy
• Health groups sue U.S. for failing to protect food supply
• Yosemite closes part of popular campground over hantavirus outbreak
• Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail
• Southern California town declares emergency over quake swarm
• Witnesses detail hair and beard-cutting attacks by Amish sect
• California law encourages lessons on guest worker program
• Navy SEAL's book gives different account of bin Laden death
• U.S. oil industry waits out Isaac, no damage reported
• Factbox: U.S. Gulf power outages from Hurricane Isaac rise

Drenched New Orleans passes post-Katrina hurricane test Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:23 PM PDT NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Hurricane Isaac brought widespread flooding to the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday, but elaborate defenses built to protect New Orleans after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina seven years ago seemed to pass their first major test. The huge, slow moving weather system, downgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday, dumped massive amounts of rain to test new levees and flood containment systems and officials were careful not to declare a premature victory. ...

California law encourages lessons on guest worker program Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California's governor has signed a law encouraging schools to teach the history of a guest worker program that brought in Mexican farm laborers as the national immigration debate heats up. The bill, signed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown Tuesday, urges social studies teachers to include material on the "Bracero" program that brought in close to 5 million people over roughly two decades, forming the first big batch of modern Mexican immigrants, supporters said. Many of those immigrants came to California. ...

Trayvon Martin shooter wins appeal for new judge Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:41 PM PDT MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida appeals court ruled on Wednesday that George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, should be granted a new judge in his case. The decision from the three-judge panel came in response to a motion filed by Zimmerman's lawyer asking the court to overturn a ruling by Judge Kenneth Lester refusing to step down from the case. "We direct the trial judge to enter an order of disqualification," the state's Fifth District Court of Appeal wrote in its opinion. One of the judges dissented in the decision. ...

Navy SEAL's book gives different account of bin Laden death Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy SEAL who has authored a first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden says the al Qaeda leader was shot in the head as he peeked from a bedroom door, an account that diverges from the Obama administration's original description of the incident. The book, "No Easy Day," says bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs found him during the raid on his Pakistan compound, according to a source who read the book, which is due to be released on September 4. ...

Southern California town declares emergency over quake swarm Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:34 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage. ...

Health groups sue U.S. for failing to protect food supply Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:28 PM PDT (Reuters) - Two U.S. health and environment organizations sued the federal government on Wednesday for what the groups say is a failure to implement and enforce a new food safety law that could help prevent thousands of deaths caused by food-borne illnesses each year. The groups said government officials had repeatedly missed mandatory deadlines for issuing final regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. They are asking a federal court to order officials at both the U.S. ...

Yosemite closes part of popular campground over hantavirus outbreak Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:13 PM PDT (Reuters) - Yosemite National Park has closed part of a popular campground over a deadly rodent-borne lung disease that has already killed two visitors to the California park, and officials said on Wednesday more cases could emerge. Two park visitors who stayed in the cabins in June in Curry Village, a popular camping area tucked below the park's sheer granite walls, have died after being infected by the illness known as hantavirus, while a third visitor was sickened but is recovering. ...

Witnesses detail hair and beard-cutting attacks by Amish sect Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:38 PM PDT CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The son of an Amish man who prosecutors say was the victim of a hate crime told a Cleveland jury on Wednesday how his elderly father begged for his beard and hair not to be shaved off as his wife and daughters wept. "I heard my father say, 'Don't shear me, don't shear me'," Andy Hershberger told jurors. "I saw hair flying." Hershberger said he also was grabbed and a small part of his beard and hair was shaved. Hershberger was one of two witnesses who gave accounts of hair and beard-cutting attacks at the trial of Amish sect leader Samuel Mullet, Sr. ...

Marijuana activists seek vote to block Los Angeles dispensary ban Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:38 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marijuana activists in Los Angeles, the hub of America's medical cannabis industry, said on Wednesday they will submit a petition of 50,000 signatures to block a municipal ban on pot dispensaries from taking effect next week. The move comes amid a widening dispute over pot shops in California's most populous city. Residents complain dispensaries are a nuisance that draw riffraff, but the store owners say they serve patients with serious diseases like cancer and AIDS. ...

U.S. cases of West Nile virus set record, deaths rise: CDC Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:04 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A total of 1,590 cases of West Nile virus, including 66 deaths, were reported through late August this year in the United States, the highest human toll by that point in the calendar since the mosquito-borne disease was first detected in the country in 1999, health officials said on Wednesday. The toll is increasing quickly. "We think the numbers will continue to rise," said Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases. Through last week, 1,118 cases and 41 deaths had been reported. ...

U.S. Open tennis official pleads not guilty in husband's murder Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:46 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 70-year-old professional tennis official arrested in New York ahead of the U.S. Open on charges she bludgeoned her elderly husband to death with a coffee mug pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Los Angeles. During a brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, a commissioner agreed to lower bail for lineswoman Lois Ann Goodman from $1 million to $500,000, citing her age and ties to the community. ...

Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:35 PM PDT PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona drifter who skinned a cat and wore its tail and innards around his neck was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday. An Arizona Superior Court judge also sentenced Russell Christopher Hofstad, 25, to four years probation on his release, the Maricopa County Attorney's office said. Hofstad pleaded no contest last month to a felony animal cruelty charge and guilty to a burglary charge. According to the criminal complaint, police arrested Hofstad in January after he broke into a Phoenix warehouse used as a music venue. ...

Man gets 40-year sentence for butchering Brooklyn Jewish boy Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:06 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison on Wednesday for the grisly murder of an 8-year-old boy who got lost on his first walk home alone from camp in their close-knit Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Levi Aron, 36, pleaded guilty on August 9 to second-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Leiby Kletzky as part of a deal with prosecutors. The boy went missing on July 11 last year and his body was found two days later. Aron, who was sentenced during a hearing in a state court in Brooklyn, will be eligible for parole in 40 years. ...

Isaac's downpours threaten rice, soybeans Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:30 AM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - Torrential rain from Hurricane Isaac, 20 inches or more in some areas, threaten the soybean and rice crops in the Deep South, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday. "Soybeans are vulnerable and rice may be the most vulnerable to damage," said Andy Karst, meteorologist for World Weather Inc. The lumbering Category 1 hurricane was lashing the Gulf Coast with wind and rain, threatening to flood towns in Mississippi and Louisiana. There were storm surges of up to 12 feet and sustained winds up to 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour). ...

U.S. oil industry waits out Isaac, no damage reported Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:44 PM PDT HOUSTON (Reuters) - Isaac was downgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday as it continued to batter the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing flooding and power outages but so far no discernible damage to refineries or offshore oil and gas platforms. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Isaac from a hurricane to a tropical storm as of 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). The storm center was 50 miles to the southwest of New Orleans and maintained wind speeds as high as 70 miles per hour. U.S. crude oil futures dropped 84 cents to settle at $95.49 a barrel, and gasoline futures fell by around 0. ...

Veteran FBI crime-fighter says "The Wire" rings true Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:08 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal division in New York, one of the nation's highest-profile law enforcement posts, is used to answering questions about her colorful 22-year career as an FBI special agent. April Brooks, 45, the first woman to run New York's FBI criminal division, worked gang cases in Los Angeles near the height of that city's crack epidemic. She was tracking sex offenders and supervising child kidnapping probes in the bureau's Crimes Against Children squad in 2002 when Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart disappeared. ...

Boy charged with attempted murder in Baltimore school shooting Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:50 PM PDT (Reuters) - A 15-year-old boy suspected of shooting a fellow student on the first day of classes at a Baltimore-area high school has been charged with first-degree attempted murder, but police say they do not know the motive for what apparently was a well-planned attack. Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. also left an ominous message on his Facebook page before heading off to Perry Hall High School in Baltimore's northeast suburbs on Monday morning. "First day of school, last day of my life," the posting read. It concluded: "fuck the world. ...

Walmart gives cardholders gas discount through December 24 Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:25 PM PDT (Reuters) - Walmart is cutting gasoline prices by up to 15 cents per gallon for drivers in 20 U.S. states who pay with its cards in a bid to appeal to loyal shoppers hit by big price increases at the pump. Meanwhile, Kroger Co, the country's largest traditional grocer, is extending its summer gasoline discount promotion through the end of the year in 25 states after customers said they wanted the program to last longer. ...

US targets Mexican oil services firm linked to drug trade Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Department said on Wednesday it has targeted a Mexican oil services firm owned by Francisco Antonio Colorado Cessa, who it has already identified as a drug trafficker and is U.S. custody awaiting trial on money laundering charges. The action prohibits U.S. companies and individuals from doing business with ADT Petroservicios SA De C.V. and freezes any assets the company has under U.S. jurisdiction. ...

Hurricane Isaac weakens slightly as it moves slowly inland: NHC Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:05 AM PDT (Reuters) - Hurricane Isaac weakened slightly as it moved slowly inland over southeastern Louisiana, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. At around 10 am EDT (1400 GMT), the center of hurricane Isaac was located 5 miles east of Houma, Louisiana, and about 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, the NHC said. Isaac is moving toward the northwest around 6 miles per hour (9 km/h) and this general motion is expected to continue through tonight. Isaac was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h). (Reporting by NR Sethuraman; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

California leaders strike public pension reform deal Posted: 28 Aug 2012 09:00 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown and lawmakers have reached a deal to raise public employees' retirement ages, have them pay more into their pension accounts, and cap retirement payments in a vast overhaul of the state's pension system that he says will save $30 billion. Union leaders panned the deal between Brown and fellow Democrats who control the legislature and hope to drum up support for his tax measure on the November ballot by showing voters they can tackle big challenges. ...

California's San Bernardino seeks job, service cuts while in bankruptcy Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:01 PM PDT (Reuters) - Officials in the California city of San Bernardino, which filed for bankruptcy this month, presented a plan on Wednesday to slash its budget by 30 percent and eliminate more than 100 jobs and cut services. The 71-page plan, presented to the city mayor and council in a special closed session - and unexpectedly released publicly on Wednesday evening - asks for the elimination of over 100 full-time city jobs, from the mayor's office, through city departments and in the fire and police services. Many other vacant jobs will not be filled and some part-time jobs will be eliminated. ...

Health groups sue U.S. for failing to protect food supply Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:28 PM PDT (Reuters) - Two U.S. health and environment organizations sued the federal government on Wednesday for what the groups say is a failure to implement and enforce a new food safety law that could help prevent thousands of deaths caused by food-borne illnesses each year. The groups said government officials had repeatedly missed mandatory deadlines for issuing final regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. They are asking a federal court to order officials at both the U.S. ...

Yosemite closes part of popular campground over hantavirus outbreak Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:13 PM PDT (Reuters) - Yosemite National Park has closed part of a popular campground over a deadly rodent-borne lung disease that has already killed two visitors to the California park, and officials said on Wednesday more cases could emerge. Two park visitors who stayed in the cabins in June in Curry Village, a popular camping area tucked below the park's sheer granite walls, have died after being infected by the illness known as hantavirus, while a third visitor was sickened but is recovering. ...

Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:35 PM PDT PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona drifter who skinned a cat and wore its tail and innards around his neck was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday. An Arizona Superior Court judge also sentenced Russell Christopher Hofstad, 25, to four years probation on his release, the Maricopa County Attorney's office said. Hofstad pleaded no contest last month to a felony animal cruelty charge and guilty to a burglary charge. According to the criminal complaint, police arrested Hofstad in January after he broke into a Phoenix warehouse used as a music venue. ...

Southern California town declares emergency over quake swarm Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:34 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage. ...

Witnesses detail hair and beard-cutting attacks by Amish sect Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:38 PM PDT CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The son of an Amish man who prosecutors say was the victim of a hate crime told a Cleveland jury on Wednesday how his elderly father begged for his beard and hair not to be shaved off as his wife and daughters wept. "I heard my father say, 'Don't shear me, don't shear me'," Andy Hershberger told jurors. "I saw hair flying." Hershberger said he also was grabbed and a small part of his beard and hair was shaved. Hershberger was one of two witnesses who gave accounts of hair and beard-cutting attacks at the trial of Amish sect leader Samuel Mullet, Sr. ...

California law encourages lessons on guest worker program Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:37 PM PDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California's governor has signed a law encouraging schools to teach the history of a guest worker program that brought in Mexican farm laborers as the national immigration debate heats up. The bill, signed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown Tuesday, urges social studies teachers to include material on the "Bracero" program that brought in close to 5 million people over roughly two decades, forming the first big batch of modern Mexican immigrants, supporters said. Many of those immigrants came to California. ...

Navy SEAL's book gives different account of bin Laden death Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy SEAL who has authored a first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden says the al Qaeda leader was shot in the head as he peeked from a bedroom door, an account that diverges from the Obama administration's original description of the incident. The book, "No Easy Day," says bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs found him during the raid on his Pakistan compound, according to a source who read the book, which is due to be released on September 4. ...

U.S. oil industry waits out Isaac, no damage reported Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:44 PM PDT HOUSTON (Reuters) - Isaac was downgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday as it continued to batter the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing flooding and power outages but so far no discernible damage to refineries or offshore oil and gas platforms. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Isaac from a hurricane to a tropical storm as of 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). The storm center was 50 miles to the southwest of New Orleans and maintained wind speeds as high as 70 miles per hour. U.S. crude oil futures dropped 84 cents to settle at $95.49 a barrel, and gasoline futures fell by around 0. ...

Factbox: U.S. Gulf power outages from Hurricane Isaac rise Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:38 PM PDT HOUSTON (Reuters) - More than 730,000 homes and businesses along the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi remained without electricity Wednesday evening even as a weakened Isaac slowly crawled ashore in Louisiana. Most of New Orleans was without power and outages were on the rise elsewhere in Louisiana as Isaac, downgraded from a hurricane to a strong tropical storm with heavy rain and sustained wind of 70 mph, moved inland knocking out power in new areas. The slow-moving storm prevented Louisiana utilities from sending teams out to assess storm damage. ...

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