Ann Romney's plane makes emergency landing, all safe

Ann Romney's plane makes emergency landing, all safe
First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting
Secret Service did not compromise security during Colombia prostitute scandal: probe
Amanda Bynes charged with driving on suspended license
Chicago teachers to vote October 2 on new contract
"Fatal Vision" author doubts defense theory in 1970 killing
Man jumps into tiger pit at New York's Bronx Zoo, gets mauled
Illinois cannot make pharmacists give 'morning after' pill: court
U.S. outlines corruption case against ex-Detroit mayor
Man releases hostage, surrenders to police in Pittsburgh
Texas cheerleaders win court battle over high school 'Bible banners'
First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting
Walmart to hire more than 50,000 for U.S. holiday rush
Crew diver drowns on set of new "Lone Ranger" movie
Dewey settlement contributors named in step towards recovery
Chrysler says CAW deal is too pricey: union leader
Colorado's Chimney Rock named National Monument
Florida's jobs report undermines official optimism
Alcatel-Lucent unit settles fraud claim for $4.2 million
Pentagon should take over nuclear plant security: lawmaker
Fed's Lockhart - slow progress on jobs "call to action"
NYPD urges iPhone 5 owners to be smart and register device
Space shuttle Endeavour home in Los Angeles after final flight
Lawmakers seek limits on arsenic in rice
House ethics panel to end bank aid probe of lawmaker
Three states join lawsuit challenging Dodd-Frank law
California regulator defends CO2 market design
Idaho wildfire roars through former uranium mine site
Abused Georgia teen banished to California by stepfather: police
Amanda Bynes charged with driving on suspended license
Secret Service did not compromise security during Colombia prostitute scandal: probe
First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting
"Fatal Vision" author doubts defense theory in 1970 killing
Illinois cannot make pharmacists give 'morning after' pill: court
Man jumps into tiger pit at New York's Bronx Zoo, gets mauled
Space shuttle Endeavour home in Los Angeles after final flight
Man releases hostage, surrenders to police in Pittsburgh
U.S. outlines corruption case against ex-Detroit mayor
Chrysler says CAW deal is too pricey: union leader

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:19 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ann Romney's airplane made an emergency landing in Colorado on Friday after its cabin filled with smoke, the campaign of her husband, Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, said. Everyone on board the private plane was safe, a campaign spokesman said. Mrs. Romney and her husband spoke shortly after the landing, Rick Gurka, a Romney campaign press aide, told reporters traveling with the candidate in Las Vegas. The cause was believed to be an electrical fire, Romney campaign press secretary Andrea Saul said in a tweet. ...

First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:48 PM PDT

DENVER (Reuters) - Three Colorado moviegoers who were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a July screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" on Friday sued the owner of the theater, Cinemark USA, accusing it of failing to provide adequate security, their lawyers said. The action marks the first known civil lawsuits filed over the July 20 shootings at a suburban Denver screening of the Batman movie that killed 12 people and wounded 58 others. James Holmes, a 24-year-old former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the case. ...

Secret Service did not compromise security during Colombia prostitute scandal: probe

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:09 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thirteen employees of the U.S. Secret Service were entangled in a prostitution scandal in Colombia earlier this year but their actions did not compromise the safety of the president, a Department of Homeland Security investigation found. In a letter to members of Congress obtained by Reuters on Friday, acting Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards summarized his agency's findings after an investigation into the biggest scandal to hit the Secret Service. ...

Amanda Bynes charged with driving on suspended license

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:16 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former child star Amanda Bynes was charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving on a suspended license on Friday, after the actress was stopped and cited by police last week in Burbank city, police officials said. According to documents obtained by celebrity website TMZ.com, Bynes was cited twice by the same airport authority police official on September 16 - the second incident an hour and a half after the first - for driving on a suspended license near Burbank's Bob Hope Airport. ...

Chicago teachers to vote October 2 on new contract

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:49 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago teachers will vote October 2 on whether to approve a contract with the nation's third-largest public school district following their first strike in 25 years, school and union officials said on Friday. Some 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students missed seven school days when teachers walked off the job for the first time since 1987. Representatives of the 29,000 teachers and support staff voted on Tuesday to suspend the strike and accept a compromise agreement on a new three-year contract with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ...

"Fatal Vision" author doubts defense theory in 1970 killing

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:45 PM PDT

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (Reuters) - The author of a best-selling book about an Army doctor convicted of killing his family testified on Friday that he never heard a key defense witness admit to being present at the 1970 murders that are once more back in the national spotlight. Author Joe McGinniss, who penned "Fatal Vision" after getting unlimited access to former Green Beret Jeffrey MacDonald and his attorneys during the doctor's 1979 trial, said he also doubted a former defense lawyer's claim that the witness had privately admitted to involvement in the crime. ...

Man jumps into tiger pit at New York's Bronx Zoo, gets mauled

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tiger critically injured a man who jumped into the big cat's den at New York City's Bronx Zoo on Friday, retreating only after emergency workers scared it off with a fire extinguisher. The man, 25, was riding the zoo's monorail in the afternoon and leapt from a car, clearing a fence around the tiger enclosure, according to a statement from the zoo. He has been taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition, the New York City fire department said. "It looks like he had some very severe wounds on his back or his torso," said Frank Dwyer, a fire department ...

Illinois cannot make pharmacists give 'morning after' pill: court

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:16 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Illinois appellate court Friday affirmed a lower court finding that the state cannot force pharmacies and pharmacists to sell emergency contraceptives - also known as "morning after pills" - if they have religious objections. In 2005, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich mandated that all pharmacists and pharmacies sell "Plan B," the brand name for a drug designed to prevent pregnancy following unprotected sex or a known or suspected contraceptive failure if taken within 72 hours. ...

U.S. outlines corruption case against ex-Detroit mayor

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:51 PM PDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick ran a criminal enterprise out of his office to enrich himself and family and friends, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday at the opening of Kilpatrick's public corruption trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Chutkow told jurors the prosecution case would rely on testimony from former Kilpatrick associates and text messages to and from the former mayor in what is expected to be a four-month trial. ...

Man releases hostage, surrenders to police in Pittsburgh

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:28 PM PDT

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - A man armed with a kitchen knife and a hammer took a business owner hostage for several hours inside a Pittsburgh high-rise building on Friday and posted messages on Facebook before surrendering to police, officials said. Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, released his hostage unharmed after holding him for about six hours, said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper. Police had been negotiating with Thaxton by telephone after he went into the 16th-floor office of 3 Gateway Center shortly after 8 a.m., grabbed his hostage and told everyone else in the office to leave, Harper said. ...

Texas cheerleaders win court battle over high school 'Bible banners'

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:44 PM PDT

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Cheerleaders at a Texas high school have won a court order allowing them to continue featuring Biblical quotes on the large paper banners that they hold up for football players to tear through when they take the field at the game opening. The ruling by a Hardin County judge late Thursday over the so-called "Bible Banners" at the school in the east Texas town of Kountze marked the latest twist in a broader national clash over the separation of religion from public schools. ...

First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:04 PM PDT

DENVER (Reuters) - Three Colorado moviegoers who were hurt when a gunman opened fire in a crowded theater in July sued the owners of the theater, Cinemark USA, on Friday accusing it of failing to provide adequate security, their lawyers said. The action marks the first known civil lawsuits filed over the July 20 shooting at a suburban Denver screening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" that killed 12 people and wounded 58 others. James Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the case. ...

Walmart to hire more than 50,000 for U.S. holiday rush

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:41 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to hire more than 50,000 seasonal employees to work at its Walmart stores in the United States, slightly more than it did last year, as it gets ready for the winter holiday season, its busiest time of year. The world's largest retailer also said on Friday that it would give current workers the chance to work more hours during the season. Some Walmart workers have said that they are not given the opportunity to work as many hours as they would like. ...

Crew diver drowns on set of new "Lone Ranger" movie

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:29 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A diver working on the set of Johnny Depp's new Western movie "The Lone Ranger" drowned on Friday while cleaning out a tank, police and movie studio Walt Disney Co said. The man, who was not immediately identified, was wearing scuba equipment to carry out maintenance at a deep pool on a ranch near Palmdale, in the desert north of Los Angeles, where "The Lone Ranger" is being shot, a spokesman at the Palmdale Sheriff's station said. It was not immediately clear how the man died. ...

Dewey settlement contributors named in step towards recovery

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:59 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The wind-down team of defunct Wall Street law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf revealed the identities of partners participating in a proposed $71.5 million settlement on Thursday night, and disclosed how much money each partner had agreed to pay. The settlement, if approved, would be the first major recovery for creditors who claim they are owned more than $500 million. Partners are agreeing to contribute back compensation -- between $5,000 and $3.5 million each -- in exchange for being released from potential clawback claims. ...

Chrysler says CAW deal is too pricey: union leader

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:45 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC and the Canadian Auto Workers had constructive talks on a new contract on Friday, the head of the union said, but remained apart with the automaker complaining the union's template deal was too expensive, Fiat SpA's Chrysler is the only Detroit Three automaker without a labor contract in Canada after the union reached a four-year tentative deal with General Motors Co. overnight following Monday's agreement with Ford Motor Co. The Ford deal set the union's bargaining pattern with the other two companies, and Ford workers will vote on it this weekend. ...

Colorado's Chimney Rock named National Monument

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:59 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado's Chimney Rock, an archeological site spiritual to Native Americans, was named a national monument on Friday by President Barack Obama. The 4,726-acre (1,912-hectare) site in southwest Colorado holds the ruins of hundreds of structures built by the Pueblo people about 1,000 years ago. They include the highest-elevation ceremonial "great house" in the southwestern United States, the White House said in a statement. "Chimney Rock draws thousands of visitors who seek out its rich cultural and recreational opportunities. ...

Florida's jobs report undermines official optimism

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:59 AM PDT

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's unemployment rate held at 8.8 percent for a second consecutive month in August, authorities said on Friday, in a report dealing a new blow to Republican Governor Rick Scott. Scott, who has spent the past several months touting his state's economic recovery, highlighted the 28,000 new jobs created in August. Florida's jobless level, however, continues to lag behind the rest of the nation which saw the unemployment rate in August fall to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July. ...

Alcatel-Lucent unit settles fraud claim for $4.2 million

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:39 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent SA has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle allegations by the U.S. government that it submitted misleading information while working on a military contract, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. The unit, Lucent Technologies World Services Inc, was awarded a $250 million U.S. Army contract in 2004 to design and build an emergency communications system in Iraq, the department said. ...

Pentagon should take over nuclear plant security: lawmaker

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:13 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department should take over security for U.S. nuclear weapons sites after a nuclear complex was broken into with ease in July by an 82-year-old nun and two other peace activists, a top lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday. Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services panel that oversees the Energy Department's nuclear weapons complex, has drafted legislation to put the U.S. military in charge of protecting facilities like the Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ...

Fed's Lockhart - slow progress on jobs "call to action"

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:43 AM PDT

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said slowing U.S. economic growth, a stagnating labor market, and a belief that monetary policy could boost jobs convinced him to throw his weight behind the central bank's latest stimulus. In the leadup to last week's Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting, Lockhart had said he was undecided on whether more easing was needed. ...

NYPD urges iPhone 5 owners to be smart and register device

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 07:52 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Smartphones do not necessarily make for smart owners. In response to a sharp spike in iPhone thefts from unwitting consumers this year, the New York City Police Department will station officers at Apple Inc. sales locations throughout the city for Friday's release of the new iPhone 5. The officers will help customers register iPhone serial numbers, or engrave them with unique identification numbers prefaced with the letters "NYC. ...

Space shuttle Endeavour home in Los Angeles after final flight

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:37 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The space shuttle Endeavour touched down in Los Angeles on Friday on the back of a jumbo jet, greeted by cheering crowds as it ended a celebratory final flight en route to its retirement home at a Southern California science museum. The 75-ton winged spaceship, ferried by a modified Boeing 747, landed at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 1:00 p.m. after hop-scotching across the country from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and flying a victory lap over California. ...

Lawmakers seek limits on arsenic in rice

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:03 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three lawmakers are introducing a bill on Friday to limit the amount of arsenic allowed in rice and rice-based products, a legislator said. The move comes after Consumer Reports urged limits for arsenic in rice. Tests of more than 60 products, from Kellogg's Rice Krispies to Gerber infant cereal, showed most had some inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen in humans. The proposed RICE Act - Reducing food-based Inorganic and organic Compounds Exposure Act - requires the Food and Drug Administration to set a maximum level of arsenic in rice and food containing rice. ...

House ethics panel to end bank aid probe of lawmaker

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:21 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives' ethics panel plans to drop allegations against Democratic Representative Maxine Waters following a long probe into whether she improperly aided a bank in which her husband owned shares, the panel's head said on Friday. Acting House Ethics Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, a Republican, said the panel was prepared to accept a recommendation from an outside lawyer hired to examine Waters' conduct, Billy Martin, not to pursue further investigation of her role in the matter. ...

Three states join lawsuit challenging Dodd-Frank law

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:09 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Three U.S. states have joined a lawsuit against federal regulators, challenging the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that overhauled U.S. financial oversight and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The attorneys general of Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina are challenging a portion of Dodd-Frank that empowers the Treasury secretary to order the liquidation of failing financial institutions, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday. ...

California regulator defends CO2 market design

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:22 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 21 (Reuters Point Carbon) - California's top air regulator offered a stern defense of the state's forthcoming carbon cap-and-trade system, battling back against complaints from industry that it will cost jobs and drive up consumer prices at a hearing on Thursday. Industry and manufacturing groups that have opposed the carbon market said at a meeting held by the state's air regulator in Sacramento that the program was poorly designed, and complained that their input has been ignored. ...

Idaho wildfire roars through former uranium mine site

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 09:54 PM PDT

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A wildfire in east-central Idaho has burned through three former mining sites containing traces of radioactive thorium and uranium and was advancing a fourth such site on Thursday, but state officials said they believed the risk to human health was low. As a precaution, state environmental authorities planned to take air samples in North Fork, a small community in the fire zone north of Salmon, to assess any radioactive hazards posed by fire damage to the sites. One area of concern is a defunct uranium mine and milling operation 5 miles west of North Fork, where the ...

Abused Georgia teen banished to California by stepfather: police

Posted: 20 Sep 2012 09:48 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A small, gaunt Georgia teen who turned up at a Los Angeles bus terminal told police his abusive stepfather had given him $200 and a list of homeless shelters before putting him on a bus, authorities said on Thursday. Police were called to the city's Greyhound Bus Station on September 11 by a retired sergeant, Joe Gonzales, who was working security there, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in a news release. ...

Amanda Bynes charged with driving on suspended license

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:16 PM PDT

Secret Service did not compromise security during Colombia prostitute scandal: probe

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:09 PM PDT

First lawsuits filed against theater in Colorado shooting

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:48 PM PDT

"Fatal Vision" author doubts defense theory in 1970 killing

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Illinois cannot make pharmacists give 'morning after' pill: court

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:16 PM PDT

Man jumps into tiger pit at New York's Bronx Zoo, gets mauled

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:01 PM PDT