Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/02/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Hurricane Hermine hammers Florida, barrels north toward Atlantic Coast

Wind and rain from Hurricane Hermine toppled trees and power lines along Florida's northern Gulf Coast, inundating coastal areas with storm surges before it weakened to a tropical storm over land and plowed toward the Atlantic Coast on Friday. Hermine made landfall early on Friday near St. Marks, Florida, 20 miles south of the capital of Tallahassee, dumping heavy rains and packing winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), leaving tens of thousands of households without power along Florida's Gulf Coast.

Accused L.A. airport gunman to be spared death penalty in plea deal

The man accused of killing a security screener and wounding three others in a 2013 shooting at Los Angeles International Airport has agreed to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors that would spare him the death penalty, according to court documents filed on Thursday. Murder of a federal officer, the most serious offense among the 11 criminal counts to which Paul Anthony Ciancia, 26, has agreed to plead guilty, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without parole.

University of Chicago weighs free speech vs. crackdown on hecklers

Disruption of a local prosecutor's speech at the University of Chicago by hecklers unhappy with her handling of a police shooting may have been the last straw for administrators at one of the country's most prestigious schools. After years of tolerating dissenters who shouted down unpopular speakers on campus, the school is now considering a policy of meting out suspensions, expulsions or other punishment for those it sees as violating free speech rights.

U.S. fights Zika mosquitoes with limited arsenal

Over Wynwood, the Miami neighborhood where Zika gained a foothold in the continental United States, low flying planes have been spraying naled, a tightly controlled pesticide often used as a last resort. It appears to be working, killing at least 90 percent of the target mosquitoes. Across the Biscayne Bay in Miami Beach, wind and high-rise buildings make aerial spraying challenging. So, the effort in the popular tourist destination has focused on ground-sprayed pyrethroids - pesticides that are safer but don't always work.

China criticizes U.S. case against ex-Air China worker

China's Foreign Ministry on Friday criticized the U.S. indictment of an ex-Air China Ltd employee for smuggling packages on behalf of Chinese military personnel stationed at China's U.N. mission in New York. Ying Lin, 46, a resident of New York's Queens borough, was previously arrested in August 2015 and charged for structuring financial transactions. She pleaded not guilty.

German man convicted of setting dozens of fires in Los Angeles area

A German national dubbed the "Hollywood Arsonist" was found guilty on Thursday of setting dozens of fires in the Los Angeles area nearly five years ago, prosecutors said. Los Angeles County Superior Court jurors found Harry Burkhart, 29, guilty of 25 counts of arson of property, 18 counts of arson of an inhabited dwelling and other charges including possession of an incendiary device, the local district attorney's office said in a statement.

NFL's Kaepernick kneels during national anthem, continuing protest

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt with his arms folded during the performance of the U.S. national anthem during a pre-season game in San Diego on Thursday, continuing his protest against racial injustice and police brutality. Kaepernick, 28, had pledged to continue sitting during the performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before National Football League games, a move that has been both criticized and cheered by commentators.

Rocket explodes on launch pad in blow to Elon Musk's SpaceX

An explosion destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX and its cargo during preparations for a routine test firing at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday, two days before it had been due to blast off and place a satellite in orbit. SpaceX said there were no injuries and that an "anomaly" during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocket and a communications satellite owned by Israel-based Space Communication which was going to be used by Facebook to expand internet access in Africa.

Melania Trump sues Daily Mail, blogger over 'defamatory' stories

Melania Trump, the wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, sued the Maryland-based publisher of the Daily Mail Online and a blogger on Thursday over stories about her past she believes were "tremendously damaging," her attorney said in a statement. A Daily Mail story last month cited a Slovenian magazine's report that a modeling agency that Trump worked with in New York in the 1990s also served as an escort business, linking wealthy clients with women for sexual services.

Stanford swimmer convicted of sex assault set for release from jail

A former Stanford University swimmer, whose six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015 was widely decried as too lenient, is set to be released from a San Francisco-area jail on Friday. Brock Turner, 21, is scheduled to leave the Santa Clara County's main jail in San Jose after serving just three months for assault with intent to commit rape, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person. Prosecutors had asked that Turner be given six years in state prison and, under normal sentencing guidelines, he likely would have received at least two years.

09/02/2016 8:55