Reuters US Domestic News Summary

08/09/2016 19:51

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. judge upholds 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois governor

A federal judge on Tuesday upheld the 14-year prison sentence for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich despite his emotional plea for leniency after an appeals court had set aside part of his public corruption conviction. U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel ruled Blagojevich, 59, must remain in a Colorado prison, siding with demands by prosecutors that he serve out his original, full sentence through 2024.

MIT, NYU, Yale sued over fees for employee retirement plans

Three well-known U.S. universities, MIT, New York University and Yale, have been accused of charging millions of dollars in excessive fees to participants in their retirement plans, according to federal civil lawsuits filed on Tuesday. The complaints against the three universities accuse them of breaching their fiduciary duties by causing the plan participants to pay millions of dollars in unreasonable and excessive fees for record keeping, administrative and investment services.

Out-of-control California wildfire grows, forces schools to close

A wildfire burning out of control in mountains and foothills east of Los Angeles mushroomed more than 50 percent overnight, forcing authorities to order three school districts to cancel classes due to heavy smoke and dangerous conditions. More than 900 firefighters were battling the so-called Pilot Fire, which has charred some 7,500 acres of bone-dry tinder and brush in the San Bernardino Mountains since it broke out around noon on Sunday.

U.S. recovers data recorder from sunken cargo ship El Faro

The data recorder from the cargo ship El Faro, which sank near the Bahamas during a Caribbean hurricane last October, has been recovered, offering possible answers about why the vessel went down, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday. The device, found late on Monday on the ocean floor after 10 months of searching, could provide navigational data and communications between crew members that could help determine what happened in the final hours before the 790-foot (241-meter) ship sank, officials said.

Delta Air Lines to cancel nearly 250 flights on Tuesday

Delta Air Lines Inc said it was canceling nearly 250 flights on Tuesday as it looks to restore operations after a power outage hit its computer systems on Monday, causing the cancellation of about 1,000 flights. "We were able to bring our systems back on line and resume flights within a few hours yesterday but we are still operating in recovery mode," Delta said in a statement on Tuesday.

Clinton urges Congress to reconvene, pass Zika bill

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged federal lawmakers currently on summer recess back into session to pass a crucial funding bill to combat the Zika virus as she visited a health clinic at the heart of a local outbreak in Miami on Tuesday. Lawmakers should pass the $1.1 billion bipartisan bill for the mosquito-borne virus, Clinton said, or come up with a new compromise. The funding comes as Florida grapples with at least 21 cases of locally transmitted Zika.

Justice Department report on Baltimore police expected Wednesday: reports

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to announce that it has found unconstitutional practices within the Baltimore Police Department in a probe stemming from the death of black detainee Freddie Gray last year, two newspapers reported on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal and the Baltimore Sun said the findings were expected to be released on Wednesday. Spokesmen for the police and the Justice Department declined to comment.

Chicago mayor condemns reported gang threats against police

Threats against police officers by Chicago gang members angry about the police shooting of an unarmed black teen last month were "unacceptable," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Tuesday, as debate over excessive force by law enforcement continues to roil U.S. cities. On Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Chicago Police Department had warned officers that leaders of three gangs had met and plotted to shoot police in response to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Paul O'Neal on July 28.

U.S. must bury coal to save miner jobs: Interior secretary

From Appalachia to Wyoming, surging demand for cheap natural gas, tougher environmental regulations and multiple coal company bankruptcies have left behind a devastated coal business, lost jobs and billions of dollars in cleanup work. Many of the jobs are gone for good, but ex-miners can repair the damaged land and shape a post-coal economy, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on a recent visit to coal country, offering up a future starkly different from Donald Trump's.

Florida says four new locally transmitted Zika cases, Congress must act on funds

Florida has four new cases of people likely infected with Zika through mosquito bites in Miami, Governor Rick Scott said on Tuesday, as he urged Congress to reconvene and approve additional money to combat the virus. The additional cases are all in a one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County that includes Miami's Wynwood district, Scott said, bringing the total of locally transmitted cases in the state to 21.

08/09/2016 19:51