Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/07/2016 19:54

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Seeking escape from home, Kansas man robs bank, goes straight to jail

A Kansas man robbed a bank last week in order to go to jail and avoid his wife, court documents showed. Lawrence John Ripple, 70, told his wife following a fight on Friday that "he'd rather be in jail than at home."

U.S. House to vote on bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudis: source

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on legislation that would allow the families of Sept. 11 attack victims to sue Saudi Arabia's government for damages, a House leadership source said on Wednesday. Since the U.S. Senate passed the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," or JASTA, unanimously in May, House passage would set up a potential showdown with the White House, which has threatened a veto.

Mural depicts Maine governor as Klansman, Mickey Mouse

A graffiti artist lampooned Maine Governor Paul LePage in a mural depicting the two-term Republican wearing a Ku Klux Klan cape and hood, two weeks after he left a profane voicemail for a Democratic lawmaker he believed had called him a racist. The mural, which appeared over the weekend in Portland on a wall where graffiti is allowed by law, has been repainted to remove the reference to the white supremacist group, with the hood replaced with Mickey Mouse ears and a new caption "no hate" joining the existing "racist homophobe moron governor," in which the word "governor" was struck through.

Jury selection opens in Bundy brothers takeover case in Oregon

Jury selection began on Wednesday in the case of ranchers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five other anti-government activists who led an armed 41-day takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The seven defendants are charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers and possession of firearms in a federal facility during the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about 300 miles (483 km) southeast of Portland.

Florida politicians urge use of Intrexon GM mosquitoes for Zika

Intrexon Corp said on Wednesday a bipartisan coalition of Florida politicians had urged the U.S. government to step up efforts to fight Zika, including sanctioning the emergency use of the company's genetically engineered mosquitoes. The Florida House members, led by Speaker-designate Richard Corcoran and Democratic leader-designate Janet Cruz, have written to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeking permission for the state and local governments to use the GM mosquito, the company said.

Ferguson, Missouri, protest leader found shot dead in burning car: police

Missouri detectives have not determined a motive or identified any witnesses in an investigation into the death of a man who led protests in the city of Ferguson following the fatal 2014 shooting of Michael Brown by a law enforcement officer, police said on Wednesday. Protest leader Darren Seals, 29, was found shot inside a burning car in the village of Riverview, about five miles east of Ferguson, early on Tuesday, St. Louis County Police said in a statement.

Party lines split U.S. on terror threat 15 years after 9/11: poll

With the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks nearing, Americans are sharply divided on party lines over the threat of a major terrorist attack on the United States, according to a poll released on Wednesday. Forty percent of Americans say the ability of terrorists to strike the United States is greater than it was at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Pew Research Center survey of 1,201 adults.

Oklahoma teen gets life in prison for killing five family members

An Oklahoma teenager pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murdering his parents and three siblings with weapons including knives and a hatchet, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a court official said. Robert Bever, 19, pleaded guilty to five counts of murder. His brother and co-defendant, Michael Bever, 17, who is also charged as an adult in the case, did not enter a plea and had a June 2017 date set for a trial by jury, the court clerk said.

Oklahoma Sept. 3 earthquake was strongest recorded in state -USGS

An earthquake in Oklahoma on Sept. 3 was the strongest on record in the state and had a magnitude of 5.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Wednesday. The quake, felt in an area stretching from Texas to South Dakota, hit near the northern Oklahoma town of Pawnee. It fueled growing concerns about seismic activity linked to a decade-long boom in oil and gas production after advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.

U.S. judge halts fracking plan for federal lands in California

A U.S. judge on Wednesday halted a plan to allow fracking on public lands in central California, saying a federal agency's environmental plan should have taken a "hard look" at the potential impact of the process. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald, was at least the second setback in three years for fracking in California and came as the Obama administration's rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands have been tied up in another court.

09/07/2016 19:54