Reuters US Domestic News Summary

08/20/2016 8:56

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Man whose death sparked Milwaukee riots was shot in chest and arm

The African-American man whose shooting death by police over the weekend sparked riots in Milwaukee was shot once in the chest and once in the right arm, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's office said on Friday. It did not release additional information about its autopsy on Sylville Smith, 23, fatally shot on Saturday by a police officer who said Smith refused to drop his gun.

U.S. Justice Dept to send team to Turkey for Gulen probe: Bloomberg

The U.S. Justice Department will dispatch a team to Turkey in coming days to pursue allegations by the Turkish government of criminal activity by Fethullah Gulen, Bloomberg news reported on Friday, citing an Obama administration official. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has demanded the United States extradite Gulen, a Turkish-born cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, accusing him of being behind a coup attempt last month. Gulen has denied the accusation.

California firefighters make gains after 100 homes destroyed

Firefighters gained ground on Friday against a wildfire burning in a Southern California mountain pass that has forced tens of thousands of residents to flee and destroyed about 100 homes, officials said. The Blue Cut fire, named for a narrow gorge near its origin in the Cajon Pass about 75 miles (120 km) northeast of Los Angeles, has blackened 37,000 acres (14,973 hectares) of drought-parched heavy brush and chaparral after breaking out on Tuesday.

Conservatives split over U.S. land transfers to Western states

Every time Dean Finnerty sees the locked neon-yellow gate and "No Trespassing" sign deep in Oregon's Elliott State Forest, he bristles at the growing movement to transfer federally owned land to U.S. states. The 52-year-old conservationist and lifelong political conservative worries that cash-strapped states that acquire such land will ultimately be forced to sell to private companies only to extract oil, gas and timber.

Texas appeals court halts execution of man who did not kill anyone

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday halted an execution planned for next week of a man convicted as an accomplice to a murder he did not commit in a case that raised questions about how the state applies the death penalty. Jeffery Wood, 43, was scheduled to be executed on Aug. 24 by lethal injection. He was convicted of taking part in a 1996 convenience store robbery during which clerk Kriss Keeran was fatally shot.

New York nabs global property crown from London on Brexit fears

New York has knocked off London as the world's premier city for foreign investment in commercial real estate due to fears the vote to leave the European Union would diminish the British capital's appeal as a global financial center. Data on cross-border property transactions indicate greater unease among investors prior to the referendum, which voters unexpectedly approved on June 23, than had been captured in the capital markets prior to the vote.

U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds

The United States Army's finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced. The Defense Department's Inspector General, in a June report, said the Army made $2.8 trillion in wrongful adjustments to accounting entries in one quarter alone in 2015, and $6.5 trillion for the year. Yet the Army lacked receipts and invoices to support those numbers or simply made them up.

Travelers former CEO Jay Fishman dies at 63

Jay Fishman, chairman and former chief executive of property and casualty insurer Travelers Cos Inc, died on Friday. Fishman, 63, disclosed in 2014 that he had a neuromuscular condition and that he might have been battling a variant of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Florida governor confirms Zika transmission in Miami Beach

Florida officials said on Friday they have identified a new area of Zika virus transmission through local mosquitoes in a small area in Miami Beach, the second area in Miami-Dade county where the Zika virus is spreading. Florida Governor Rick Scott said state health officials have identified five cases of Zika believed to be contracted in Miami Beach.

U.S. judge seeks criminal contempt charges against Arizona sheriff

A federal judge recommended on Friday that prosecutors bring criminal contempt charges against Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, finding that the controversial sheriff had violated court orders stemming from a 2007 racial profiling case. U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow also urged criminal contempt charges against Arpaio's second-in-command, Gerard Sheridan, along with Maricopa County Sheriff's Captain Steve Bailey and an Arpaio attorney, Michele Iafrate.

08/20/2016 8:56