Thursday, January 10, 2013

One student critically wounded in California school shooting

One student critically wounded in California school shooting


One student critically wounded in California school shooting

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:02 PM PST

People look at police tape outside Taft Union High School after a shooting incident in Taft, California(Reuters) - A student armed with a 12-gauge shotgun opened fire in a California high school on Thursday, critically wounding a fellow student before two staff members talked the boy into putting down his weapon, authorities said. The suspected sole gunman, a 16-year-old boy, was arrested by police who arrived at Taft Union High School in inland Kern County about a minute after being called, said County Sheriff Donny Youngblood. ...


Colorado judge orders accused movie theater gunman to stand trial

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:27 PM PST

Police handout photo of James HolmesDENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado judge ordered accused movie theater gunman James Holmes on Thursday to stand trial on charges he killed 12 people and wounded dozens more in a shooting rampage at a midnight screening of a "Batman" movie last summer. Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester ruled that prosecutors had shown probable cause during a three-day preliminary hearing earlier this week that Holmes committed the crimes, and ordered him bound for trial on all counts. ...


Three witnesses won't be charged in Ohio football rape case: documents

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 06:20 PM PST

(Reuters) - At least three members of a high school football team in Steubenville, Ohio, received word they would not be prosecuted just days before testifying against teammates accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, according to documents obtained by Reuters. In letters from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office addressed to each student's lawyer, the state committed to not prosecuting Evan Westlake, Anthony Craig and Mark Cole, three witnesses for the prosecution. But DeWine said on Thursday his office had made no deal with any of the witnesses involved in the case. ...

U.S. officials to launch review of Boeing's Dreamliner: source

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:55 PM PST

Japan Airlines' Boeing Co's 787 plane which encountered the mishap of a fuel leak arrives in Narita airport, Japan(Reuters) - U.S. transportation officials will hold a press conference on Friday to discuss issues related to recent electrical problems on Boeing Co's new 787 Dreamliner, according to a person familiar with the matter. The source, who declined to be identified because the information is not public, declined to provide further details. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will announce a review into the jet's power system at the Friday press conference, according to Bloomberg News. ...


U.S. faces shortages of flu vaccine, Tamiflu treatment

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:15 PM PST

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino addresses delegates during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte(Reuters) - One of the worst U.S. flu seasons in a decade has created shortages of vaccine and the Tamiflu treatment for children, raising the prospect that people considered at high risk of getting the flu might not get the protection they need. Though shortages are not unusual, the flu's early arrival and this year's especially nasty strain mean the situation could worsen. ...


New York ferry captain says mechanical problem preceded crash

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST

A victim of a commuter ferry crash is cared for by an FDNY EMT on the scene in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - The captain of a ferry that crashed into a pier near New York's Wall Street told investigators the reverse thrusters failed to work as the vessel neared the dock, leading to the crash that injured 57 people, federal officials said on Thursday. The 36-year-old captain, the Seastreak ferry line's most experienced with 12 years at the helm, told the National Transportation Safety Board that he attempted to slow the vessel on Wednesday morning but the commands did not respond, the board said after its first full day of inquiry. ...


Sandusky begins appeal of sex abuse conviction

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 12:14 PM PST

Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after his sentencing in his child sex abuse case in BellefonteBELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, appearing thinner but upbeat, returned to court on Thursday to hear his lawyers argue that his child sex abuse conviction should be tossed because they had insufficient time to prepare for trial. Sandusky, 68, dressed in a red prison uniform, smiled at about a dozen supporters in the courtroom, including his wife, Dottie, as he was escorted to the defense table. ...


Judge won't block New York City circumcision law

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:34 PM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge refused to block a New York City regulation requiring people who perform circumcisions and use their mouths to draw away blood from the wound on a baby's penis to first obtain written consent from the parents. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald refused to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the change to the city's health code, which some members of the city's Orthodox Jewish communities called an unwarranted government intrusion on religious freedom. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Report links drug agents to Secret Service prostitute scandal: NBC

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 04:31 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two drug enforcement agents "facilitated a sexual encounter" between a prostitute and a Secret Service agent before an international summit in Colombia last April, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing a Justice Department investigation. The two Drug Enforcement Administration agents also admitted paying for the sexual services of a prostitute, and used their government-issued BlackBerry devices to arrange the encounters, NBC reported. ...

California budget plan has surprise: a surplus

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:23 PM PST

California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at a news conference in Los AngelesSACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown delivered rare good news on Thursday in his state budget plan, saying California's budget deficit is gone after years of financial troubles as he proposed increased spending on education and healthcare. Brown vowed to push back at legislators eager to increase spending even more by restoring the billions of dollars to social services and other state programs cut in lean years. ...


Boeing Dreamliner fuel leak traced to valve-related problem

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:29 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - A valve-related problem caused a fuel leak on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Boston airport earlier this week, operator Japan Airlines Co. Ltd said on Thursday. In one of several problems relating to Boeing's newest model in recent weeks, about 40 gallons of fuel spewed onto the taxiway in Boston, compelling the plane to cancel take-off and to return to the gate. "The cause of the fuel leak in Boston was an issue surrounding the valve," a JAL spokesman said. No reason was given for the problem, which caused the valve to open. ...

U.S. Border Patrol beefs up California coast enforcement

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:26 PM PST

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Border Patrol has assigned more agents to the Southern California coast following an increase in attempts to smuggle people and drugs into the United States by water, a Border Patrol official said. The agency's San Diego Sector, which employs some 2,600 agents to police 60 miles of land border and 114 miles of coast, has seen maritime apprehensions triple in the past five years while arrests on land have dropped to less than a sixth of 2008 levels. ...

U.S. mulls tougher rules on telecom firms to keep 911 running

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:07 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators may require telecommunications companies to do a better job of safeguarding the 911 systems that are used to call for emergency help, according to an official at the Federal Communications Commission. The agency criticized some 911 providers for suffering outages that resulted from "avoidable" problems as basic as a lack of backup power, following a freak 2012 storm . ...

Florida slashes estimated cost of Medicaid expansion to $3 billion

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 12:21 PM PST

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - In a dramatic about-face, Florida's health agency now says the cost to state taxpayers of expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law would be barely more than a tenth of its original estimate. Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who had fought hard against the reform law known as Obamacare, had complained on Monday that the optional expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare would cost Florida taxpayers $26 billion over the next decade, using the original estimate by the state's Agency for Health Care Administration. ...

New York State ranks first for smuggled cigarettes in U.S.

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 10:15 AM PST

(Reuters) - New York State sells more bootlegged cigarettes than any state, with 60.9 percent of the cigarettes sold secreted into its borders improperly, according to a report released on Thursday. Arizona and New Mexico also had high rates of smuggled cigarettes, at 54.4 percent and 53.0 percent, respectively, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., business-oriented tax research organization. New York has higher tobacco taxes than any other state, at $4.35 per pack. That does not include a local New York City tax of $1.50 per pack, the group said. ...

California Governor's budget has surprise: a surplus

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST

California Governor Jerry Brown speaks at a news conference in Los AngelesSACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California's budget deficit is gone after years of financial troubles, Governor Jerry Brown said on Thursday, proposing a state budget plan that would raise spending on education and healthcare, boosting total expenditures by 5 percent with a surplus remaining. But Brown vowed to push back at legislators eager to increase spending even more by restoring the billions of dollars to social services and other state programs cut in lean years. ...


Drought eases slightly, Plains states still suffering

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:49 AM PST

(Reuters) - The Plains remain tightly gripped by severe drought, according to a report issued Thursday, and fears mounted that another hot and dry year could lie ahead for the key crop-growing and cattle-grazing region. Good rains have fallen in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas over the last few days, which should provide some improvement to dry soils and shrunken rivers and streams. But generally the worst-hit areas remain in sad shape, said Brian Fuchs, climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. ...

Shell may have moved rig to avoid taxes: lawmaker

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 10:41 AM PST

House Energy and Power Subcommittee member Markey (D-MA) speaks during the committee's second hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline on Capitol Hill in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell may have moved an oil rig that ran aground off Alaska last month to avoid millions of dollars in taxes, U.S. Representative Ed Markey said on Thursday, disputing company assertions that it relocated the rig based on weather forecasts. The 30-year old Kulluk rig ran aground on New Year's Eve in what were described as "near hurricane" conditions while it was being towed south for the winter. Markey, in a letter sent to Shell President Marvin Odum on Wednesday, said the decision to move the rig "may have been driven, in part, by a desire to avoid ... ...


One student critically wounded in California school shooting

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 01:18 PM PST

People look at police tape outside Taft Union High School after a shooting incident in Taft, California(Reuters) - A student armed with a shotgun opened fire at a California high school on Thursday, critically wounding a fellow student before two adult staff members talked the boy into giving up his weapon, and he was arrested, authorities said. The shooting comes less than four weeks after a December rampage at a Connecticut elementary school where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in an attack that shocked the nation and has fueled a heated national debate over gun control. ...


Ex-wife hog-ties Florida man, drags him behind truck: police

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 09:00 AM PST

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida man's ex-wife used a stun gun on him, tied him to a truck bumper and dragged him for half a mile before he escaped, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported. Robert Hall, 54, remained in the surgical intensive care unit on Thursday at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where he was being treated for a broken pelvis, broken facial bones and bleeding in his brain, according to the sheriff's office. ...

Honda to build new Accord hybrid car in U.S.

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 05:52 AM PST

DETROIT (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd said on Thursday it will invest $23 million to build a hybrid version of its popular Accord sedan at its plant in Marysville, Ohio. The Japanese automaker said it will add about 50 jobs at the plant to build the car, which will go on sale this fall as a 2014 model. It will be the third hybrid vehicle Honda builds in the United States, following hybrid versions of the Civic and Acura ILX built at the company's Greensburg, Indiana, plant. ...

Border Patrol beefs up California coast enforcement

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:59 PM PST

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Border Patrol has assigned more agents to the Southern California coast following an increase in attempts to smuggle people and drugs into the United States by water, a Border Patrol official said. The agency's San Diego Sector, which employs some 2,600 agents to police 60 miles of land border and 114 miles of coast, has seen maritime apprehensions triple in the past five years while arrests on land have dropped to less than a sixth of 2008 levels. ...

One in 25 U.S. teens has attempted suicide: study

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:14 PM PST

(Reuters) - About one in 25 U.S. teens has attempted suicide, and one in eight has thought about it, according to a national study based on interviews with thousands of teens. Researchers, whose findings appeared in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, said those numbers are similar to the prevalence of lifetime suicidal thinking and attempts reported by adults, suggesting that the teenage years are an especially vulnerable time. ...

No comments:

Post a Comment