Government shuts probe of controversial Arizona sheriff, no charges filed

Government shuts probe of controversial Arizona sheriff, no charges filed
Caller hung up on University of Colorado minutes before shooting
California legislature approves pension reform
CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak
As Isaac fades, sparring over disaster funding
AMR, US Airways say evaluating potential merger
Oil and gas firms work to restore output after Isaac
Three dead in shooting at New Jersey grocery store
SEAL who wrote bin Laden book denies spilling secrets
Hundreds pay tribute to Neil Armstrong at Kennedy Space Center
Wyoming wolves to lose Endangered Species Act protection
U.S. loans emergency oil to refiner after Isaac
Arizona reaches deal over education of English language learners
California legislature approves pension reform
CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak
Arizona sheriff accused by ex-lover cleared of wrongdoing
Scientists test new marine robot hurricane-hunters
Five LA police officers investigated over death in custody
Shell moves step closer to oil exploring off Alaska
West Shore replaces section of damaged Badger pipe in Illinois
Prosecutor seeks criminal probe of Brooklyn Democrat
Arizona sheriff Paul Babeu cleared of wrongdoing in probe
Michigan railroad engineer claims big lottery prize
"Troubling ineptitude" in security at nuclear bomb plant
Iowa begins mandatory testing of milk for aflatoxin
Supreme Court to review class-action case
BP restaffing U.S. Gulf platforms Friday after storm
Labor fines pension adviser $1.27 million over fee disclosure
Startup NuScale holds its own in game of nuclear giants
Caller hung up on University of Colorado minutes before shooting
Obama to visit storm-hit Louisiana on Monday: White House
Factbox: Gulf of Mexico oil, gas operations affected by Isaac
Shell says Ho-Ho pipeline restarted, Convent refinery restarting
Wyoming wolves to lose Endangered Species Act protection
Government shuts probe of controversial Arizona sheriff, no charges filed
Arkansas conservative group seeks to block medical pot vote
California legislature approves pension reform
CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak
Scientists test new marine robot hurricane-hunters

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:43 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The government has closed a criminal probe into Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, who styles himself "America's toughest sheriff," and no charges will be filed, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Friday. Arpaio and his deputies have been under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department since 2008. Last December, the department said he and his office violated U.S. civil rights laws by engaging in racial profiling of Latinos and making unlawful arrests in their bid to crack down on illegal immigrants. Arpaio denied any wrong doing, and said he would cooperate with investigators. ...

Caller hung up on University of Colorado minutes before shooting

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 06:12 PM PDT

DENVER (Reuters) - A caller who phoned the University of Colorado Hospital less than 10 minutes before a mass shooting that killed 12 people hung up without speaking, officials said on Friday, a day after the accused gunman's lawyer said he may have made such a call. An attorney for James Holmes raised the call during a hearing on Thursday as she questioned university psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton about her doctor-patient relationship with the former graduate student accused of carrying out the rampage at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie. ...

California legislature approves pension reform

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:19 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California's legislature passed pension reform on Friday that cuts some of the most generous public employee retirement benefits in the United States, but critics said it is only a first step in fixing a pension deficit that has been decades in the making. The pension bill, unveiled by Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday after months of talks with fellow Democrats, would raise retirement age and reduce benefits for new employees. It also will eliminate some practices that have led to exorbitant pensions for a relative handful of workers. ...

CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:00 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Some 10,000 people who stayed in tent cabins at Yosemite National Park this summer may be at risk for the deadly rodent-borne hantavirus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The CDC urged lab testing of patients who exhibit symptoms consistent with the lung disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, after a stay at the California park between June and August and recommended that doctors notify state health departments when it is found. ...

As Isaac fades, sparring over disaster funding

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The remnants of Hurricane Isaac brought heavy rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to the Mississippi Valley on Friday as Gulf Coast residents cleaned up and energy facilities prepared to grind back into operation. Major offshore oil drillers returned staff to their platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, although operations were expected to take several days to ramp up. One Louisiana refinery tapped into the U.S. government's emergency crude oil stockpile to speed up its output. ...

AMR, US Airways say evaluating potential merger

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:26 PM PDT

(Reuters) - American Airlines parent AMR Corp and US Airways Group Inc have signed a non-disclosure agreement as they evaluate a potential merger that would create an airline that rivals leader United Continental Holdings Inc in scope. The two carriers said on Friday they agreed to share confidential information, work with bankrupt AMR's creditors committee, and not talk to third parties about any terms of their possible combination. American has also signed non-disclosure agreements with other parties, according to a memo the company sent to managers on Friday. ...

Oil and gas firms work to restore output after Isaac

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy firms worked on Friday to resume oil, gas and refining operations in the U.S. Gulf region following Hurricane Isaac, with most offshore production still shut and several refineries offline. Nearly 95 percent of oil and 68 percent of natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remained shut as of Friday, little changed from Thursday, according to government figures. Four refineries representing 878,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) of capacity remained shut, government figures showed. Several other refineries continued to operate at reduced rates. ...

Three dead in shooting at New Jersey grocery store

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 01:33 PM PDT

OLD BRIDGE, New Jersey (Reuters) - An employee at a suburban New Jersey supermarket opened fire in the store in the pre-dawn hours on Friday, killing two co-workers and then taking his own life, a prosecutor said. The 23-year-old shooter, identified as Terence S. Tyler by a police source, was on a night shift at the Pathmark grocery when he left the store about 3:30 a.m. EDT. He returned shortly after with an AK-47 automatic rifle and a handgun, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan told a news conference. ...

SEAL who wrote bin Laden book denies spilling secrets

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 12:02 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after threatening to take legal action against a former U.S. Navy SEAL for an unauthorized book about the commando raid which killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials are still debating whether there are sufficient grounds for doing so. But a lawyer for Matt Bissonnette said on Friday that the former SEAL took his obligations to keep government secrets "seriously" and had made sure the book did not contain secrets. ...

Hundreds pay tribute to Neil Armstrong at Kennedy Space Center

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 02:22 PM PDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - As family and friends of Neil Armstrong gathered in Ohio on Friday for a private memorial service, NASA paid tribute to the Apollo astronaut, calling him a great American and a space hero. "He never dwelled on his remarkable accomplishments or sought the limelight," Kennedy Space Center director and former astronaut Robert Cabana said during a short tribute to Armstrong at the Visitor Complex's Apollo-Saturn 5 Center. "He just wanted to be part of this remarkable team and to continue to move us forward," Cabana said. ...

Wyoming wolves to lose Endangered Species Act protection

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:54 PM PDT

JACKSON, Wyoming (Reuters) - Gray wolves in Wyoming, the last still federally protected in the northern Rockies, will lose endangered species status at the end of next month, opening them to unregulated killing in most of the state, the U.S. government said on Friday. The planned delisting of Wyoming's estimated 350 wolves caps a steady progression of diminishing federal safeguards for a predator once hunted, trapped and poisoned to the brink of extinction throughout most of the continental United States. ...

U.S. loans emergency oil to refiner after Isaac

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 01:38 PM PDT

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States will loan 1 million barrels of crude from emergency reserves to Marathon Petroleum Corp after one of its refineries slowed output in the wake of Hurricane Isaac, the Department of Energy said on Friday. The Obama administration has been considering plans to tap a larger amount of crude from the 727 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve as tension over Iran's nuclear program and Western sanctions on Tehran have boosted oil prices. ...

Arizona reaches deal over education of English language learners

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:29 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona has agreed to offer targeted reading and writing instruction to tens of thousands of public school students who were wrongly denied services under an English Language Learner program, the Justice Department said on Friday. The settlement resolves a complaint filed with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice that students had been incorrectly identified as fluent in English over the past five school years or prematurely moved out of the language assistance program. ...

California legislature approves pension reform

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:24 PM PDT

CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:30 PM PDT

Arizona sheriff accused by ex-lover cleared of wrongdoing

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 03:22 PM PDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A tough-on-immigration Arizona sheriff, who resigned as co-chair of Mitt Romney's state campaign after allegations he threatened a male lover with deportation, has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, the state attorney general's office said on Friday. Earlier this year, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu asked the office to investigate claims made by his former boyfriend, Jose Orozco, accusing the lawman of abuse of authority, threats and intimidation. ...

Scientists test new marine robot hurricane-hunters

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:34 PM PDT

(Reuters) - As Tropical Storm Isaac was on its path through the Caribbean before becoming a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this week, U.S. scientists were testing an experimental new weather spy tool - an unmanned, marine robot about the size of a surfboard that can gather storm data at sea level. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)research laboratory in Miami sent the "Wave Glider," a floating platform of sensors with an underwater stabilizer christened Alex, into ocean waters about 100 miles north of Puerto Rico last week to try to intercept Isaac. ...

Five LA police officers investigated over death in custody

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 02:34 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police are probing the actions of five officers involved in the rough arrest of a woman who died shortly after being taken into custody, in the latest of a string of high-profile incidents that have raised questions about appropriate use of force. The case under investigation involves the death of 35-year-old Alesia Thomas, a mother of two, who resisted arrest on suspicion of child endangerment and died after being put in the back of a squad car, police said on Friday. ...

Shell moves step closer to oil exploring off Alaska

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 02:09 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell will soon get a temporary air permit to operate a drilling rig offshore Alaska, the Environmental Protection Agency said, helping the company move closer to its long-delayed goal of exploring for oil in the Arctic. The EPA plans to issue an air permit for Shell's Discoverer drilling rig as soon as this weekend, a source at the bureau said on Friday. A compliance order the EPA will issue expires in a year and will not waive any of Shell's permit requirements or any air quality standards, the agency said. ...

West Shore replaces section of damaged Badger pipe in Illinois

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 01:32 PM PDT

(Reuters) - West Shore Pipe Line Co said it replaced a damaged section of its Midwest Badger refined products pipeline near Palos Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and expects to complete major construction activities on Friday. The pipeline was shut down on Monday after it leaked jet fuel. The affected section will be tested before restarting service and will remain shut until it is deemed safe to operate by company officials and regulatory authorities, the company said. ...

Prosecutor seeks criminal probe of Brooklyn Democrat

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 01:20 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brooklyn's district attorney asked a state court on Friday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate New York state Assemblyman Vito Lopez, a local Democratic power broker who faces sexual harassment accusations from two female interns. District Attorney Charles Hynes recused himself from the probe to avoid the appearance of impropriety, he said in a court filing. ...

Arizona sheriff Paul Babeu cleared of wrongdoing in probe

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 12:58 PM PDT

Michigan railroad engineer claims big lottery prize

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 11:49 AM PDT

LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - A 44-year-old Michigan railroad engineer said he quit his job and told family members to do the same when he learned he had won the third-largest winner's share ever for a U.S. lottery drawing. Donald Lawson was accompanied by his two daughters and his mother, whom he jokingly called "Mama Warbucks," when he was introduced as the winner of the multi-state Powerball lottery on Friday. "I'm a millionaire now, but I'll still eat at McDonald's," Lawson told a news conference in the Michigan capital of Lansing. "I don't like filet mignon or lobster. ...

"Troubling ineptitude" in security at nuclear bomb plant

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Guards at a government plant for storing weapons-grade uranium failed to spot activists, including an 82-year-old nun, who cut through its fences until they walked up to an officer's car and surrendered, an official report said on Friday. The report from the Energy Department's inspector general, Gregory Friedman, criticized multiple failures of sophisticated security systems and "troubling displays of ineptitude" at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in July. ...

Iowa begins mandatory testing of milk for aflatoxin

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 11:03 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Iowa, the No. 1 corn producer in the United States, on Friday began requiring the state's dairy processors to test all milk received in the state for aflatoxin, the toxic byproduct of a mold that tends to spread in drought-stressed corn. The Iowa Department of Agriculture said the required aflatoxin screening of all milk will continue indefinitely. The order requires milk processors to screen all Grade A and Grade B farm bulk milk pickup tankers and farm can milk loads for aflatoxin on a weekly basis. ...

Supreme Court to review class-action case

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 10:02 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider the constitutionality of a legal tactic that can make it harder for companies to defend against class-action lawsuits, in a case it will review in the term that starts on October 1. At issue is whether a company can be forced to defend itself in a state court, rather than in federal court as it might prefer, when a plaintiff's lawyer has his client sign a binding "stipulation" limiting the size of the case. ...

BP restaffing U.S. Gulf platforms Friday after storm

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 09:44 AM PDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc, the largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico, said on Friday that the company was restaffing its shut oil and gas platforms and would restart production "in coming days" once it was deemed safe, the company said. BP said aerial inspections of its Gulf operations "did not identify any significant damage" after Isaac, which came ashore on Tuesday as a hurricane. The storm later weakened but hovered over coastal Louisiana, hampering Gulf producers' restaffing and restarting efforts. By Friday what was left of the storm had moved north of Louisiana. ...

Labor fines pension adviser $1.27 million over fee disclosure

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:53 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Labor has fined an adviser more than $1 million for failing to disclose fees it received related to 13 pension plans it oversees, a sign the agency is toughening its enforcement of fee disclosure rules, attorneys said on Friday. On August 23, the Labor Department announced that USI Advisors, a Glastonbury, Connecticut-based fiduciary investment adviser, agreed to pay $1.27 million for failing to disclose marketing fees it received from funds in 13 pension plans it oversaw from 2004 to 2010. ...

Startup NuScale holds its own in game of nuclear giants

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 07:54 AM PDT

CORVALLIS, Oregon (Reuters) - Nuclear power startup NuScale Power LLC is competing against some of the biggest names in the business for a U.S. federal grant to develop the next generation of nuclear reactors -- and it is playing the safety card. The smart money may be on Babcock & Wilcox Co, a long-time provider of reactors for U.S. submarines, in the competition to be one of two companies to split a $452 million grant, according to industry experts. But NuScale is trumpeting the safety aspects of its new technology, and has found helpful supporters including U.S. ...

Caller hung up on University of Colorado minutes before shooting

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 06:12 PM PDT

Obama to visit storm-hit Louisiana on Monday: White House

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT

ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - - President Barack Obama will visit Louisiana on Monday to meet officials in the state dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday. Obama intends to visit first responders and survey the damage from Hurricane Isaac, and is "making sure that unmet needs are being met," Carney said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has led the storm recovery efforts. The president has steered clear of the U.S. Gulf Coast region as emergency responders dealt with the damage. ...

Factbox: Gulf of Mexico oil, gas operations affected by Isaac

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Isaac, now a tropical depression, continued to threaten the lower Mississippi valley with heavy rain and flash floods as it moved north after forcing offshore energy producers and coastal refiners to shut operations. Energy companies have begun assessing the damage caused by the storm, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday. Some will be resuming operations on Friday. Phillips 66 said floodwater at the Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana did not reach more than 2 feet in depth, although it did not say which parts of the refinery were flooded. ...

Shell says Ho-Ho pipeline restarted, Convent refinery restarting

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said on Friday it had restarted its Houma-Houston pipeline and its joint-venture Motiva Enterprises refinery in Convent, Louisiana, was restarting after Isaac. The 235,000 barrels-per-day Convent refinery would run at reduced rates after finishing its startup "while some electrical power issues are resolved," the company said. Motiva Enterprises is a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Aramco. The 300,000 bpd Houma-Houston pipeline carries crude oil from Houma, Louisiana, to Houston, and is slated to be reversed next year. ...

Wyoming wolves to lose Endangered Species Act protection

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:54 PM PDT

Government shuts probe of controversial Arizona sheriff, no charges filed

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:43 PM PDT

Arkansas conservative group seeks to block medical pot vote

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:35 PM PDT

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - A conservative Arkansas group seeking to prevent the state from becoming the first in the U.S. South to allow medical marijuana filed a lawsuit on Friday to knock a pot-as-medicine proposal off the November election ballot. The lawsuit filed in the state Supreme Court by the Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Values argues the ballot's title, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, is misleading and the act itself hard to understand at 8,000 words long. ...

California legislature approves pension reform

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:19 PM PDT

CDC says 10,000 at risk of hantavirus in Yosemite outbreak

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Scientists test new marine robot hurricane-hunters

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:34 PM PDT