Hurricane Sandy slogs toward U.S., 41 killed in Caribbean

Hurricane Sandy slogs toward U.S., 41 killed in Caribbean
Florida judge delays gag order ruling in Trayvon Martin case
Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash
Former Senator McGovern remembered as passionate, principled
Penn State trustees clear way for deals with Sandusky sex abuse victims
New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police
New Yorker fined for hanging peace sign in window sues city
Judge rules for U.S. government in fatal Wyoming bear attack
Training for U.S. "green jobs" falls far short of goals-watchdog
U.S. East Coast battens down ahead of Hurricane Sandy
Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail
New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police
U.S. Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash
Taxpayer data exposed in cyber attack on South Carolina agency
New Orleans torn between Madonna show and Halloween go-go boys
Anti-bullying program draws more participants despite boycott call
Statue of Liberty's renovated crown to reopen this weekend
Attorney for accused mobster Bulger asks again for trial delay
BP spill trial delayed until February 2013
Washington lobby shooting suspect pleads not guilty to terrorism
Final farewell set for former Senator George McGovern
New York man who sued Facebook faces criminal charges
Cold War jet-fuel tanks, other debris hauled from Alaska parks
Planned Parenthood sues again over Texas health program
Police hope to interview New York nanny in children stabbing
Alabama to vote on removing racist words from constitution
Iowa farmland sale hits new record high at $21,900 an acre
Canadian embassy in Washington cleared briefly for suspicious letter
Alabama justice ousted over Ten Commandments may reclaim post
Los Angeles gears up for ballot battle over city pensions
Penn State trustees clear way for deals with Sandusky sex abuse victims
New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police
Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash
U.S. Navy sends ships to sea ahead of "Frankenstorm"
Hurricane Sandy weakens a little: NHC
Northeast U.S. oil refineries prepare for Hurricane Sandy
Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail
Training for U.S. "green jobs" falls far short of goals-watchdog
Florida judge delays gag order ruling in Trayvon Martin case
Judge rules for U.S. government in fatal Wyoming bear attack

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:54 PM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, a late-season Atlantic cyclone that threatens to be one of the worst storms to hit the Northeast in decades, slogged slowly northward on Friday after killing at least 41 people in the Caribbean. Forecasters said wind damage, widespread and extended power outages and coastal and inland flooding were anticipated across a broad swath of the densely populated U.S. East Coast when Sandy comes ashore early next week. "We're expecting a large, large storm. ...

Florida judge delays gag order ruling in Trayvon Martin case

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:25 PM PDT

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida judge on Friday delayed her ruling on whether to impose a gag order in the case of George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain charged with fatally shooting unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. During a hearing in Seminole County Circuit Court, Judge Debra Nelson said that she plans to issue her ruling on Monday. A gag order would ban media, lawyers and others from publicly discussing the case. ...

Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:17 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was treated for minor rib and hip injuries on Friday after the vehicle in which he was riding was involved in an accident on a Las Vegas interstate highway, his office said. The 72-year-old Democratic senator, who was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident, walked in on his own to the University Medical Center Hospital, his office said in a statement. Reid was released from the hospital later on Friday. "He's fine," said University Medical Center spokeswoman Karen Gordon. ...

Former Senator McGovern remembered as passionate, principled

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:40 PM PDT

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) - Former Senator George McGovern was remembered on Friday as a man of principle and a passionate opponent of the Vietnam War who shaped the Democratic Party even in his lopsided 1972 presidential election loss to Richard Nixon. McGovern, who died on Sunday at age 90, was the son of a Methodist minister, a decorated bomber pilot in World War Two and a leading advocate in the fight against world hunger. ...

Penn State trustees clear way for deals with Sandusky sex abuse victims

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:14 PM PDT

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Penn State University's Board of Trustees passed a resolution on Friday giving a special committee the authority to approve settlements on the school's behalf with victims of convicted child sex offender Jerry Sandusky. The resolution passed unanimously, although several board members were not present, including Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett. Sandusky, 68, the former defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team, is in state prison after being sentenced to 30 to 60 years for his June conviction on 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys. ...

New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:45 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The nanny suspected of slaying a Manhattan professional couple's two young children began stabbing herself as the mother entered the bathroom and began screaming when she saw the dead bodies in the bathtub, New York's police commissioner said on Friday. The nanny, YoSelyn Ortega, had been employed by the family of Kevin and Marina Krim for two years before she killed their children and attempted suicide on Thursday in the family's luxury apartment, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. ...

New Yorker fined for hanging peace sign in window sues city

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:54 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman who was forced to pay an $800 fine for nailing a peace sign to her window frame in violation of zoning regulations sued New York City in U.S. federal court on Friday, claiming the law infringed upon her right to free speech. Brigitte Vosse, who owns a condominium on Manhattan's Upper West Side, received a ticket from the city's department of buildings for the peace symbol she hung in her living room window for a year and a half. ...

Judge rules for U.S. government in fatal Wyoming bear attack

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:12 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A judge has ruled the U.S. government cannot be held liable for a grizzly bear attack that killed a man hiking in Wyoming, just hours after the animal had been captured, collared and released by federal researchers. U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal this week rejected a $5 million wrongful death suit brought by the widow of Erwin Evert, 70, who was fatally mauled by the male grizzly in June 2010. Evert's widow, Yolanda Evert, filed the lawsuit in U.S. ...

Training for U.S. "green jobs" falls far short of goals-watchdog

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:36 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $500-million "green jobs" program to train U.S. workers for new jobs and help spark recovery from the great recession has fallen far short of its goals, according to a report from the Labor Department's internal watchdog released on Friday. As of June 30, fewer than 31,000 people who went through training programs got green jobs, only 38 percent of what had been projected, the department's Inspector General said in the report. ...

U.S. East Coast battens down ahead of Hurricane Sandy

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:19 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Governors up and down the U.S. East Coast declared states of emergency on Friday before a potential pounding from Hurricane Sandy, as authorities urged residents to stock up on food, water and batteries in case the storm lives up to forecasters' worst fears. From the Carolinas to Maine, municipal authorities kept a close watch on forecasts tracking the shifting path of the fierce "Frankenstorm," which could come ashore on Monday with heavy rain, storm surges and near hurricane-force winds. ...

Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:37 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A radical Islamist cleric facing U.S. terrorism charges will be outfitted with new prosthetics after authorities refused to allow him to wear metal hooks in place of his missing hands when he is outside of his jail cell, his lawyer said on Friday. The Egyptian-born preacher, Abu Hamza al-Masri, who is missing both hands and his right eye, appeared in Manhattan federal court for the third time since his October 6 extradition to the United States from Britain as prosecutors and lawyers discussed procedure with the judge. ...

New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:52 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The nanny suspected of slaying a Manhattan professional couple's two young children began stabbing herself as the mother entered the bathroom and began screaming when she saw the dead bodies in the bathtub, New York's police commissioner said on Friday. The nanny, YoSelyn Ortega, had been employed by the family of Kevin and Marina Krim for two years before police said she killed their children and attempted suicide on Thursday in the family's luxury apartment, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. ...

U.S. Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:33 PM PDT

(Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was treated for minor rib and hip injuries after the vehicle in which he was riding was involved in an accident on a Las Vegas interstate highway on Friday afternoon, Reid's office said. The 72-year-old Democratic senator, who was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident, walked in on his own to the University Medical Center Hospital, his office said in a statement. He has been cleared for release from the hospital, the statement said. ...

Taxpayer data exposed in cyber attack on South Carolina agency

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:09 PM PDT

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - As many as 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers belonging to South Carolina taxpayers could have been exposed in recent cyber attacks on the state Department of Revenue's computers, officials said on Friday. The vast majority of the credit card numbers were encrypted, but about 16,000 were not, meaning the data was fully exposed, state police said. None of the Social Security numbers were encrypted, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry. ...

New Orleans torn between Madonna show and Halloween go-go boys

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 03:45 PM PDT

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - In a city that loves nothing better than flamboyant costumes and extravagant parties, the annual Halloween bash in downtown New Orleans on Saturday night to benefit people with AIDS would seem like a sure-fire hit. But patrons of the costume contest and stage show are also wild about Madonna, whose first local concert in almost three decades is scheduled the same night at the New Orleans Arena. "When Madonna comes to town, how do you go up against that?" asked Arthur Roger, organizer of this year's Halloween show and a founding member of Halloween's in New Orleans, Inc. ...

Anti-bullying program draws more participants despite boycott call

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:25 PM PDT

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - A record number of schools will participate in a national anti-bullying program, organizers said, despite a conservative Christian group's push for a boycott of the event on the grounds it would "promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools." Nearly 3,000 schools nationwide - about 30 percent more than last year - will take part on Tuesday in "Mix It Up at Lunch Day," an annual event that encourages students to sit by someone in the cafeteria with whom they would not normally socialize. ...

Statue of Liberty's renovated crown to reopen this weekend

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:08 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The crown of the Statue of Liberty will reopen to the public on Sunday - the 126th anniversary of its dedication - after a year-long renovation to make the New York landmark safer and more accessible to people in wheelchairs. The $30 million renovation of the statue, which towers over Liberty Island in New York Harbor, improved fire alarms, sprinkler systems and exit routes to bring Lady Liberty in line with New York City safety codes, the National Park Service said. ...

Attorney for accused mobster Bulger asks again for trial delay

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:27 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Attorneys for accused mobster James "Whitey" Bulger asked a District Court on Friday to delay his trial on 19 counts of murder by eight months until November 2013. Defense attorney J.W. Carney in a court filing repeated his complaint that his team would not have enough time to review 366,000 pages of evidence gathered by prosecutors before the scheduled March 4 trial date. Bulger's attorneys had initially sought a year's delay in the trial. In June, Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler rejected that request, but granted a delay until the current March start date. ...

BP spill trial delayed until February 2013

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday delayed until February 2013 the start of a massive trial to determine liability from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, citing tourist events that will keep New Orleans' hotels booked. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who is presiding over a massive three-part hearing to decide liability for BP Plc.'s 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, said the trial will begin on February 25, 2013. That trial, which had been delayed by nearly a year already due to a pending $7. ...

Washington lobby shooting suspect pleads not guilty to terrorism

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:38 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The suspect in an August shooting at a conservative Washington advocacy group pleaded not guilty on Friday to new charges that include terrorism. The suspect, Floyd Corkins II, was indicted by a grand jury this week on seven new District of Columbia offenses in the August 15 shooting at the Family Research Council. Corkins, of Herndon, Virginia, pleaded not guilty in a brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts. The charges include committing an act of terrorism while armed, attempted murder while armed, aggravated assault while armed, and weapons charges. ...

Final farewell set for former Senator George McGovern

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:05 PM PDT

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) - Mourners gathered on Friday for the funeral of former U.S. Senator George McGovern, a soft-spoken South Dakota native and passionate opponent of the Vietnam war who shaped the Democratic Party even in a landslide defeat in the 1972 presidential race. Close friends, family and those he mentored directly and indirectly called McGovern a man of principle and decency during a prayer service on Thursday night. ...

New York man who sued Facebook faces criminal charges

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:43 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A New York man was arrested Friday on charges he forged documents in a multibillion-dollar scheme to defraud Facebook Inc and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, through a lawsuit claiming a huge ownership stake in the Internet company. Paul Ceglia, 39, a one-time wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York, was charged with mail and wire fraud over what federal prosecutors and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said was fabricated evidence to support his claim to a large stake in Facebook through a 2003 deal with Zuckerberg. ...

Cold War jet-fuel tanks, other debris hauled from Alaska parks

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:54 PM PDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The U.S. National Park Service has completed a five-year clean-up of fuel tanks ejected by U.S. fighter jets over Alaska during the Cold War, along with other junk unrelated to the planes, officials said on Friday. The litter, largely consisting of spent fuel tanks dumped by military jets doing maneuvers in the 1970s, was hauled off park lands in the Kobuk Valley National Park and the Noatak National Preserve in northwestern Alaska. ...

Planned Parenthood sues again over Texas health program

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:10 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Planned Parenthood family planning providers in Texas filed a new lawsuit on Friday over a rule that bars its clinics from a state health program for low-income women because the organization performs abortions. The suit was filed in state court, after a federal appeals court declined on Thursday to reconsider a ruling allowing Texas to withhold funding for women's healthcare from Planned Parenthood clinics. The new lawsuit tries a different legal tactic, filing in state rather than federal court, and arguing that the way the Texas rule is written violates state law. ...

Police hope to interview New York nanny in children stabbing

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:40 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police on Friday are hoping to interview the critically wounded nanny suspected of stabbing to death two children of a CNBC television executive in the family's luxury Manhattan apartment, a police official said. The New York Police Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the nanny, identified as Yoselyn Ortega, remains sedated in critical condition at a Manhattan hospital. Ortega, 50, who police say cut her own throat, has not been charged because police have not been able to interview her. ...

Alabama to vote on removing racist words from constitution

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:23 AM PDT

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Voters in Alabama will decide next month whether to remove racist language from the state's 111-year-old constitution, and the ballot measure has drawn opposition from what might seem an unlikely group: black lawmakers. Amendment 4 asks voters if they support deleting references to separate schools for white and black children and a poll tax, wording already invalidated long ago by federal law. ...

Iowa farmland sale hits new record high at $21,900 an acre

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:22 AM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - As the Midwest struggles with the ripple effects of this year's devastating drought, farmland prices in Iowa hit a new record high on Thursday when an 80.47-acre parcel sold for $21,900 an acre, the auction firm that handled the sale said Friday. The parcel is located in Sioux County near Boyden, Iowa, about 42 miles southeast of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The sale soared past last year's record price tag of $20,000 per acre which was set in an auction for a 74-acre parcel held in the same county in northwest Iowa. ...

Canadian embassy in Washington cleared briefly for suspicious letter

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:41 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Canadian embassy in Washington was evacuated briefly on Friday because of a suspicious letter, forcing out employees for more than an hour, officials said. U.S. Secret Service and local emergency responders investigated the incident but found nothing dangerous. "It was found to be non-hazardous," Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said of the letter. Embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett said the embassy's 325 employees were evacuated at around 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) after a suspicious letter was found in the mail room. ...

Alabama justice ousted over Ten Commandments may reclaim post

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 08:28 AM PDT

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - The Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who was removed from office for refusing to take down a Ten Commandments monument appears well-positioned to regain his post in the November 6 election. Republican Roy Moore became a hero for many conservatives after he was booted from the state's high court in 2003, and political observers say he has a solid chance at another victory in the heavily Republican state known for its Christian electorate. The controversy over his previous ouster by a state judicial court does not appear to have hurt, political analysts say. ...

Los Angeles gears up for ballot battle over city pensions

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 08:59 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Pension changes recently endorsed by the Los Angeles city council don't go far enough for former Mayor Richard Riordan, who aims to put more aggressive fixes on the city's May 2013 ballot. A referendum, if 250,000 signatures are collected by the end of the year, will spice up the political campaign to replace the city's Democratic mayor as public pensions have become a hot political topic in California and across the nation. The overhaul backed by the leaders of the second-largest U.S. ...

Penn State trustees clear way for deals with Sandusky sex abuse victims

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:14 PM PDT

New York nanny attempted suicide in front of dead children's mom: police

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:45 PM PDT

Senator Reid treated for minor injuries in car crash

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 05:17 PM PDT

U.S. Navy sends ships to sea ahead of "Frankenstorm"

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:47 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Friday ordered all ships in the Norfolk, Virginia, area - including the nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier - out to sea beyond the reach of approaching Hurricane Sandy. It was just one of the storm precautions being announced by the Pentagon, which said around 61,000 members of the National Guard were ready to respond, if needed. Sandy, dubbed a "Frankenstorm" by one government forecaster, has begun merging with a polar air mass over the eastern United States, potentially spawning a hybrid super-storm that could wreak havoc along the U. ...

Hurricane Sandy weakens a little: NHC

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:47 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy has weakened a little, with maximum sustained winds dropping to near 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour) though with higher gusts, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin on Friday. Sandy, located about 430 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, is moving toward the north near 7 miles per hour (11 km per hour) and a general northward motion is expected to continue today and tonight, the agency said. ...

Northeast U.S. oil refineries prepare for Hurricane Sandy

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:47 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil refineries along the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard on Friday braced for Hurricane Sandy, putting in place emergency plans ahead of the storm's expected landfall in the Northeast early next week. Six East Coast oil refineries representing 1.19 million barrels per day - or 7 percent of total U.S. capacity - could potentially be hit by the deadly storm, which left at least 41 dead as it roared through the Caribbean and churned northward. The storm threat boosted gasoline and heating oil futures as well as cash product prices in the New York Harbor over the past two sessions. ...

Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:37 PM PDT

Training for U.S. "green jobs" falls far short of goals-watchdog

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:36 PM PDT

Florida judge delays gag order ruling in Trayvon Martin case

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:25 PM PDT

Judge rules for U.S. government in fatal Wyoming bear attack

Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:12 PM PDT