| Romney takes slight lead over Obama in presidential race: Reuters/Ipsos poll Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican challenger Mitt Romney has pulled ahead of President Barack Obama in the race for the White House for the first time in more than a month and leads 45 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Wednesday. With just under four weeks to go before the November 6 election, Romney's surge followed his strong performance against Obama in last week's debate and erased a jump in support that Obama had enjoyed following the September 3-6 Democratic National Convention. ...
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| Pharmacies under scrutiny over meningitis outbreak Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:12 PM PDT  BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts specialist pharmacy linked to a company at the center of a major health scare closed temporarily on Wednesday and a state regulator clamped down on such operations in the wake of a meningitis outbreak that has claimed a dozen lives. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said Ameridose LLC, a compounding pharmacy which shares ownership with the New England Compounding Center (NECC) tied to the tainted steroid treatments, had temporarily closed. ...
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| Convicted child abuser Jerry Sandusky loses $59,000 annual pension Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:17 PM PDT  PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, just sentenced to what amounts to life imprisonment in a child sex abuse scandal, has now lost his state pension, worth nearly $59,000 per year, a state document revealed on Wednesday. The decision by the State Employees Retirement System to revoke his $4,908 monthly pension was unveiled in a letter to Sandusky, 68, dated October 9, the same day he was sentenced in Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court to prison for 30 to 60 years for molesting children. ...
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| Zimmerman's brother goes on Twitter tirade in Trayvon Martin case Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:32 PM PDT  ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The brother of the Florida man charged in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin took to Twitter to criticize a lawyer involved with the case, which could complicate the accused murder's legal defense. Robert Zimmerman Jr., whose brother George Zimmerman faces up to life in prison, recently appeared on several TV and radio shows complaining about a "vast mis-information campaign," as well as highlighting an "official letter of condolence" to Trayvon Martin's family. ...
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| Oregon guardsmen say were knowingly exposed to toxic chemicals in Iraq Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:41 PM PDT PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - Lawyers for 12 Oregon National Guardsmen suing contractor KBR Inc for negligence and fraud told a jury in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday that the soldiers were knowingly exposed to toxic chemicals in Iraq that made them ill. The Oregon Guardsmen said the exposure took place while they were in Iraq in 2003 following the U.S.-led invasion to provide security for civilian workers restoring an oil industry water treatment plant that was contaminated with sodium dichromate. KBR was contracted to run the project at the plant at that time. ... |
| South Carolina voter ID law blocked until 2013 Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:36 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court ruled on Wednesday that South Carolina may not implement a photo ID law for voters until 2013, in the latest setback for a mainly Republican effort to establish identification rules in several states before the November 6 elections. South Carolina joined Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin as states with voter ID laws that have been blocked or deferred by state or federal judges. A three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Washington said unanimously that South Carolina's law would not discriminate against racial minorities. The U.S. ...
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| Whoops! Florida governor gives phone sex number for meningitis hotline Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:30 PM PDT  TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - In an embarrassing mistake, Florida Governor Rick Scott gave out a phone sex hotline number to Floridians seeking information on a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. Scott was providing an update on the outbreak at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday when he announced what he said was the hotline's toll-free phone line, but gave out the wrong number. The governor's office was alerted by a public radio station in Tampa, WUSF, which was monitoring the cabinet meeting and posted the number on its website. ...
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| Supreme Court justices challenge affirmative action at universities Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:07 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supreme Court justices on Wednesday vigorously challenged a University of Texas admissions program that favors some African-American and Hispanic applicants in a case that could determine how universities use affirmative action at campuses nationwide. The legal battle is the most closely watched case of the court's current term, striking at the heart of two defining American characteristics - race and opportunity. ...
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| California gasoline prices ebb at last after record run Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:34 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Record-high retail prices for gasoline in California began to ease on Wednesday, receding from an unprecedented jump to $5 a gallon in some areas, even as further refinery disruptions threatened to slow the decline. More politicians weighed in with calls for regulatory scrutiny of the price spike, which began just over a week ago, while a state senator announced a legislative committee hearing on the matter to be held in San Francisco next month. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state dipped by a half cent to $4. ...
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| U.S. sets steep final duties on Chinese solar panels Posted: 10 Oct 2012 04:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday set steep final duties on billions of dollars of solar energy products from China, but turned down a request from lawmakers and U.S. manufacturers to expand the scope of its order. Chinese solar manufacturers criticized the decision, adding more heat to the U.S.-China trade relationship following a congressional panel report on Monday urging American companies not to do business with two Chinese telecommunications companies because of security concerns. ...
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| IRS names acting commissioner, Shulman steps down Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:23 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The Internal Revenue Service said on Wednesday that Steven Miller will become acting head of the tax agency after Doug Shulman, the present commissioner, steps down on November 9. Shulman had been expected to resign at the end of his term in early November as head of the 104,000-employee agency that each year collects trillions of dollars in federal tax revenue and enforces the nation's complex tax laws. Miller, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement since September 2009, is a 25-year veteran of the agency. ...
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| California man linked to anti-Islam film denies violating probation Posted: 10 Oct 2012 04:38 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man linked to an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests in the Muslim world denied on Wednesday that he had violated his probation on a bank fraud conviction, and he was sent back to jail until his case can be heard on its merits. The man, who has been known publicly as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, denied under oath in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that he committed eight probation violations, including lying to officials over the scope his role in the film and using aliases. ...
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| Analysis: After California pump price spike, NY heating oil could be next Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:18 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fuel price shocks that had Californians gasping at record high pump prices over $5 a gallon may next hit heating oil users in New York, where depleted supplies and new green regulations could push bills up sharply this winter. This year, new state environmental regulations require heating oil users in New York to fill their furnaces with the same diesel used by trucks and other motor vehicles for the first time. But a string of East Coast refinery closures have cut supplies of the motor fuel in and around New York to a third below the level of last October. ...
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| Three Ohio cities deemed best in U.S. for working moms: Forbes Posted: 10 Oct 2012 02:59 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Women seeking the best place to work and raise children in the United States may want to head to Ohio, where three of its cities have been voted among the 10 best for working mothers. Columbus topped the ranking by Forbes, edging past New Orleans and Hartford, Connecticut and their surrounding areas. Cincinnati and its suburb of Middletown came in fourth, just ahead of Providence and neighboring towns in Rhode Island. With a population of 1.8 million, Columbus scored high marks for its higher than average salaries for women, who make up 44 percent of the city's workforce. ... |
| Suspect in brutal New York murder flees to Mexico as police close in Posted: 10 Oct 2012 02:07 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man suspected of cutting off a youth soccer coach's ear and slashing him to death fled to Mexico City hours before New York police detectives learned his name and added him to a no-fly list, a law enforcement official said on Wednesday. Orlando Orea, 32, bought a one-way ticket on an Aero Mexico flight just before its departure from Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday, according to the official, who is not authorized to discuss the investigation and declined to be named. ... |
| California gasoline prices ebb at last after record run Posted: 10 Oct 2012 12:08 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Record-high retail prices for gasoline in California began to ease on Wednesday, receding from an unprecedented jump to $5 a gallon in some areas, even as further refinery disruptions threatened to slow the decline. More politicians weighed in with calls for regulatory scrutiny of the price spike, which began just over a week ago, while a state senator announced a legislative committee hearing on the matter to be held in San Francisco next month. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state dipped by a half cent to $4. ...
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| U.S. seized $31 million from suspected Peruvian drug clan Posted: 10 Oct 2012 11:40 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities in New York on Wednesday said they had seized $31 million in drug trafficking proceeds stashed in U.S. bank accounts by a Peruvian crime family. In court papers, authorities said Peru's Sanchez-Paredes family had established the accounts to launder drug-selling proceeds dressed up as legitimate profits from mining companies and shell companies. "While this allegedly notorious drug trafficking family may be beyond our reach, the proceeds from their decades-long money laundering scheme are not," Manhattan Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. ... |
| Cyclist Armstrong accused of elaborate doping operation Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:30 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on Wednesday of cheating his way to the top of the cycling world with an elaborate doping operation - a claim his lawyer rejected as a "hatchet job." The agency said evidence that the American cyclist used and distributed a range of performance-enhancing drugs included financial payments, emails, scientific data, laboratory test results, and testimony from 11 former teammates. ...
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| Skydiver's jump from stratosphere delayed until Sunday Posted: 10 Oct 2012 11:25 AM PDT  (Reuters) - An Austrian adventurer will have to wait at least until Sunday to skydive from a balloon flying 23 miles above New Mexico in an attempt to break a long-standing freefall record and the sound barrier. Felix Baumgartner, 43, had hoped to make the jump on Thursday following two delays this week because of high winds in Roswell, New Mexico. But the weather will keep Baumgartner, a licensed helicopter pilot, hot-air balloonist and professional skydiver, grounded until at least Sunday. "Sunday is looking like an option," team spokeswoman Sarah Anderson wrote in an email. ...
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| Romney says won't pursue new abortion laws Posted: 09 Oct 2012 07:20 PM PDT  CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, in an apparent fresh move toward the political center, said on Tuesday if elected he would not pursue specific legislation targeting abortion. "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda," Romney told the Des Moines Register's editorial board during a campaign visit to Van Meter, Iowa. Romney's comment could be construed as reassuring some women voters who have had reservations about his candidacy. ...
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| US Airways flight attendants to take strike vote Posted: 10 Oct 2012 10:54 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The union representing flight attendants at US Airways Group Inc said on Wednesday it plans to take a strike vote after its members twice rejected a proposed contract with the carrier this year. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said the strike poll will run from October 31 to November 20. The present US Airways, which has about 6,700 flight attendants, was formed from a 2005 merger with America West Airlines. ...
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| California man behind anti-Islam film headed for probation hearing Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:02 AM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man behind an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests in the Muslim world was due in court in Los Angeles on Wednesday for a hearing on whether he violated his probation on a bank fraud conviction and should be sent back to prison. The Egyptian-born man, known publicly as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, has been in federal custody since late last month and was due to appear before a U.S. district court judge under his legal name, Mark Basseley Youssef, court papers showed. ...
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| Ex-U.S. House leader DeLay asks court to overturn convictions Posted: 10 Oct 2012 11:49 AM PDT  AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A lawyer for former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay asked a Texas appeals court on Wednesday to overturn the Republican's 2010 convictions for money laundering and conspiracy, calling the case "the most nakedly political prosecution I've seen." Known as "The Hammer" for his tough political tactics, DeLay was found guilty of conspiring to illegally funnel $190,000 in corporate campaign donations to Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature in the 2002 elections. ...
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| San Francisco sheriff reinstated after domestic abuse scandal Posted: 10 Oct 2012 12:33 AM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A divided San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to reinstate Ross Mirkarimi to his elected post as sheriff late on Tuesday after he was suspended by the mayor following a domestic-abuse conviction. The vote to return Mirkarimi's badge came after a nearly year-long political firestorm within San Francisco over a New Year's Eve quarrel with his wife, Venezuelan soap opera actress Eliana Lopez, that turned violent. ... |
| Safety regulators warn about counterfeit air bags Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:53 AM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators warned consumers Wednesday that their repaired vehicles may contain air bags that fail to inflate during an accident. Only vehicles that had an air bag replaced over the past three years - by repair shops that are not part of new-car dealerships - may be at risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The safety agency said testing revealed that counterfeit air bags were being used to replace bags in vehicles involved in crashes over the past three years. ... |
| California education reform election campaign goes negative Posted: 09 Oct 2012 09:46 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A battle to save California's schools through ballot box politics is turning ugly as two competing campaigns and their allies train their focus on each other, risking both initiatives. California voters have shown profound skepticism about raising taxes, but a ballot measure sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown is squeaking by in polls ahead of the November election. However, Brown is promoting his measure in terms that his rival considers unfairly similar to her own, and she is fighting back. ...
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| U.S. home heating oil cost to rise 19 percent this winter: EIA Posted: 10 Oct 2012 07:03 AM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. households that mainly use heating oil to warm their homes should pay 19 percent more for it this winter compared to a year earlier, as low distillate stocks and new fuel regulations drive up prices, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. The roughly 6 percent of U.S. homes that rely on the fuel will pay an average of $407 more this winter, according to the government agency's Winter Fuels Outlook. About 80 percent of all U.S. homes that use heating oil are in the Northeast. The report said low inventories in the U.S. ...
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| Oregon guardsmen say were knowingly exposed to toxic chemicals in Iraq Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:41 PM PDT PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - Lawyers for 12 Oregon National Guardsmen suing contractor KBR Inc for negligence and fraud told a jury in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday that the soldiers were knowingly exposed to toxic chemicals in Iraq that made them ill. The Oregon Guardsmen said the exposure took place while they were in Iraq in 2003 following the U.S.-led invasion to provide security for civilian workers restoring an oil industry water treatment plant that was contaminated with sodium dichromate. KBR was contracted to run the project at the plant at that time. ... |
| Convicted child abuser Jerry Sandusky loses $59,000 annual pension Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:17 PM PDT PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, just sentenced to what amounts to life imprisonment in a child sex abuse scandal, has now lost his state pension, worth nearly $59,000 per year, a state document revealed on Wednesday. The decision by the State Employees Retirement System to revoke his $4,908 monthly pension was unveiled in a letter to Sandusky, 68, dated October 9, the same day he was sentenced in Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court to prison for 30 to 60 years for molesting children. ... |
| Pharmacies under scrutiny over meningitis outbreak Posted: 10 Oct 2012 06:12 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts specialist pharmacy linked to a company at the center of a major health scare closed temporarily on Wednesday and a state regulator clamped down on such operations in the wake of a meningitis outbreak that has claimed a dozen lives. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said Ameridose LLC, a compounding pharmacy which shares ownership with the New England Compounding Center (NECC) tied to the tainted steroid treatments, had temporarily closed. ... |
| Zimmerman's brother goes on Twitter tirade in Trayvon Martin case Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:32 PM PDT ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The brother of the Florida man charged in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin took to Twitter to criticize a lawyer involved with the case, which could complicate the accused murder's legal defense. Robert Zimmerman Jr., whose brother George Zimmerman faces up to life in prison, recently appeared on several TV and radio shows complaining about a "vast mis-information campaign," as well as highlighting an "official letter of condolence" to Trayvon Martin's family. ... |
| Whoops! Florida governor gives phone sex number for meningitis hotline Posted: 10 Oct 2012 05:30 PM PDT TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - In an embarrassing mistake, Florida Governor Rick Scott gave out a phone sex hotline number to Floridians seeking information on a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. Scott was providing an update on the outbreak at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday when he announced what he said was the hotline's toll-free phone line, but gave out the wrong number. The governor's office was alerted by a public radio station in Tampa, WUSF, which was monitoring the cabinet meeting and posted the number on its website. ... |
| U.S. sets steep final duties on Chinese solar panels Posted: 10 Oct 2012 04:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday set steep final duties on billions of dollars of solar energy products from China, but turned down a request from lawmakers and U.S. manufacturers to expand the scope of its order. Chinese solar manufacturers criticized the decision, adding more heat to the U.S.-China trade relationship following a congressional panel report on Monday urging American companies not to do business with two Chinese telecommunications companies because of security concerns. ... |
| California man linked to anti-Islam film denies violating probation Posted: 10 Oct 2012 04:38 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man linked to an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests in the Muslim world denied on Wednesday that he had violated his probation on a bank fraud conviction, and he was sent back to jail until his case can be heard on its merits. The man, who has been known publicly as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, denied under oath in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that he committed eight probation violations, including lying to officials over the scope his role in the film and using aliases. ... |
| Romney takes slight lead over Obama in presidential race: Reuters/Ipsos poll Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican challenger Mitt Romney has pulled ahead of President Barack Obama in the race for the White House for the first time in more than a month and leads 45 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Wednesday. With just under four weeks to go before the November 6 election, Romney's surge followed his strong performance against Obama in last week's debate and erased a jump in support that Obama had enjoyed following the September 3-6 Democratic National Convention. ... |
| South Carolina voter ID law blocked until 2013 Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:36 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court ruled on Wednesday that South Carolina may not implement a photo ID law for voters until 2013, in the latest setback for a mainly Republican effort to establish identification rules in several states before the November 6 elections. South Carolina joined Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin as states with voter ID laws that have been blocked or deferred by state or federal judges. A three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Washington said unanimously that South Carolina's law would not discriminate against racial minorities. The U.S. ... |
| IRS names acting commissioner, Shulman steps down Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:23 PM PDT (Reuters) - The Internal Revenue Service said on Wednesday that Steven Miller will become acting head of the tax agency after Doug Shulman, the present commissioner, steps down on November 9. Shulman had been expected to resign at the end of his term in early November as head of the 104,000-employee agency that each year collects trillions of dollars in federal tax revenue and enforces the nation's complex tax laws. Miller, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement since September 2009, is a 25-year veteran of the agency. ... |
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